European sodas?

Hi! I've my anxiety that I've been quenching with sodas but I'd like to move away from anything America branded overall into some local alternatives. What are some soda alternatives 100% EU?

61 points · 65 comments · view on lemmy.world

65 Comments

emigu@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 229d (3 replies)

I'm a big fan of Fritz-cola, and they have plenty of other sodas as well. Don't know how easy it is to find though

dello_iv@piefed.social · 1 pts · 229d (2 replies)

Are you in CH? I am but can't find it anywhere in TI, sadly. I am relying on Denner/Coop cola
Edit: spelling

simsala@feddit.org · 2 pts · 229d

Hi, fellow swiss here! I just recently compiled a list for European alternatives when grocery shopping and you can find some soda suggestions there too (the post). I think in Coop you can find Sinalco and Elmer which do Cola, Fanta and Sprite-like stuff.

emigu@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 229d

No sorry, no idea where to find it in CH

sasquash@sopuli.xyz · 9 pts · 229d

Many countries have their own brands. Where are you at?

BennyTheExplorer@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 228d

Fritzkola is german

Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 229d (4 replies)

I like Fritz though I’m not sure it’s available outside of Germany

musubibreakfast@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 229d (2 replies)

It's available in Paris and Amsterdam as well.

Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 229d (1 reply)

On my last bike tour of the Netherlands and Belgium I couldn’t find it but in my defense there was lots of cheese

angelmountain@lemy.nl · 5 pts · 229d

It's available in some places in NL, like bigger Albert Heijn supermarkets and some cafes, but not too many.

jlow@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 229d

It's available in hipster coffee shops in Scotland, at least ...

bagbrugsen@piefed.social · 8 pts · 229d (2 replies)

I do recommend a well unknown soda from Denmark... you might never taste it, but its great. Maybe one of the greatest sodas of eu? ny1yJuF2wslEFRA.jpg

Jesus_666@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 229d

I love obtusely named flavors hiding among obvious ones. Drink Hancock! We have flavors like lemon, orange, and sports!

(Relatedly, German chocolate brand Ritter Sport has a variety called "Olympia". Admittedly easier to remember than "yogurt honey crisp hazelnut with dextrose".)

Scrollone@feddit.it · 1 pts · 228d

I've tried the Cola but I didn't like it; it tasted too much like candy

DmMacniel@feddit.org · 6 pts · 229d

Fritz!Kola straight from my hometown Hamburg :D

AccoSpoot@lemmynsfw.com · 6 pts · 228d (4 replies)

Irn Bru!

Gonzako@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 228d (2 replies)

Hi Bru, I'm Gonzako

AccoSpoot@lemmynsfw.com · 1 pts · 228d (1 reply)

For a pun like that you definitely need to try some Irn Bru as pennance!

Gonzako@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 227d

Sure! I'll send ya my post office and ya can mail me some at my name

Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 228d
danielhvf@piefed.social · 6 pts · 229d

Sumol is a portuguese brand

rmuk@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 229d

I maintain that the best sugar-free cola you can buy is Freeway XL, the in-house brand at Lidl. Way better than Pepsi Max or Coke Zero.

Lysergid@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 229d

Freeway cola from lidl is surprisingly good and almost twice cheaper.

jok@piefed.social · 5 pts · 229d (3 replies)

Cockta is a Slovenian brand. Kofola Czech, I like both.

oong3Eepa1ae1tahJozoosuu@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 229d (2 replies)

Kofola is life, Kofola is love. 😍

moderatecentrist@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 228d (1 reply)

I've heard good things about Kofola. I'll try to remember to buy some if I find myself back in central Europe.

oong3Eepa1ae1tahJozoosuu@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 225d

I always drink lots of it when visiting countries that have it. Classic flavour is the best, but there are lots of different ones.

comrade_twisty@feddit.org · 5 pts · 229d

I switched to tap water. Better for my health, better for the environment and better for my wallet.

Tuuktuuk@anarchist.nexus · 5 pts · 229d (7 replies)

I recently got a machine for adding bubbles to water. Cost me 10 € used, including an empty CO₂ bottle which I can change for a full one at any hypermarket by paying 7 € for the content (which enbubblifies a 1-litre bottle about 60 times, they promise).
And then I can mix that with some lemonade concentrate to get cola or sprite or orange lemonade or whatever. Or I can just put a lemon juice on the bottom of the glass, add a little bit more sugar than that amount, and then pour that water with bubbles atop it.

Works like charm and has the added bonus that I don't need to lug full bottles of lemonade in my backpack to my district that is located unfairly on top of a very mean hill. I can always make just the amount of lemonade I really want, and I can have one glass of this taste and one glass of that. Any juice concentrate works for adding the taste. I found orange juice concentrate that has simply "orange" as its ingredients and makes much tastier lemonade than anything I could buy from the shop.
Plus, the mark's own cola concentrate is tasty.

And obviously you can always just buy water with bubbles. But then you'll have to lug it around, which kind of meh. It weighs.

DmMacniel@feddit.org · 2 pts · 229d (6 replies)

Would be cool if they could branch out to other countries. Here in Germany the predominantly brand is sadly Sodastream.

Tuuktuuk@anarchist.nexus · 1 pts · 229d (5 replies)

Their site exists in German... And they do sell their products in Germany. Somewhere.They do say that you can get new CO2 cylinders "in shops" and that you can use CO2 cylinders of several marks, not just their own, but that's a bit ridiculously lacking level of information still. I did just write them an email asking (telling...) them to increase their accessibility by telling where the hell their products can be bought. But anyway, they seem to want only 7 € of postage to Germany on their online shop?!
You just need to ask in some big shop around if they would have a system for changing CO2 available. The MySoda site hints in a semi-unclear manner that that should be a relatively common service in Germany. I'd venture to ask at least at the closest Kaufland and Karstadt for what they have for offer.

They do tell here that you can use CO2 cylinders of "most marks", and mention Aarke, Sodapop and Aga as examples.

SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social · 2 pts · 229d

And you can order cylinders in Germany via http://sodabaer.de/

RidderSport@feddit.org · 1 pts · 228d (3 replies)

Supermarkets with soda exchange are (from the top of my head and without heaving a sodamachine): Netto (red), Rewe, Edeka, Kaufland, tegut

Tuuktuuk@anarchist.nexus · 1 pts · 228d (1 reply)

MySoda answered my email and told the following shops: Marktkauf, Kaufland, Rossmann, DM, Lidl. And they mentioned www.sodataste.com and www.sodalivery.com as further online sources for CO2.

Then, they also mentioned CO2 cylinders by Wassermaxx and Aldi being compatible (beside "basically all cylinders", with practically the only exception being that most Sodastream cylinders are incompatible), and from the existence of Aldi cylinders I'll venture to make a guess that Aldi has them as well 🤪 And since we've now covered Lidl, Red Netto and Aldi, I'd be surprised if Penny Markt didn't have the same as well. The dog Netto usually has nothing anyway, so probably not this service either?

Anyway, doesn't seem to be an insurmountable problem in Germany at all!

RidderSport@feddit.org · 2 pts · 228d

Penny would only have them if Rewe has them, they belong to the same company

Tuuktuuk@anarchist.nexus · 1 pts · 228d

Any idea of which are made by companies opposing genocides and which by the company that actively participates in a genocide?

Lembot_0006@programming.dev · 4 pts · 229d

The easiest way: go to the nearest supermarket and take a bottle with a name you never heard of. Just read the label too. You can easily expect that local supermarket will have more local brands and they will be cheaper. Approach with looking for the complete list of European manufacturers and then searching for concrete names according to that list looks too tedious and overcomplicated.

quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 229d

Good question! I've been searching a few minutes for Spanish brands and everything seems to have been bought or is distributed by cocacola, pepsico or suntory.

How many levels are in this industry? What a mess? There are brands, producers, bottlers, distributors and everything seems to be mixed.

then_three_more@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 229d

Irn-Bru

br3d@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 228d (2 replies)

Orangina is the first that comes to mind. Almost definitively French

chjherzog@jlai.lu · 3 pts · 228d (1 reply)

Orangina is owned by Suntory Holdings. Suntory is a Japanese brewing company. While not American it is not European either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suntory

br3d@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d

Noooooo! My world is a lie

Druivendief@piefed.social · 3 pts · 229d

Ritchie's lemonade in Belgium is quite good, however pricey Personally I have a sweet spot for Club Mate. Kofola and Almdudler are good too

DGen@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 229d

Sinalco, Spezi (different brands..) and Vita Cola from Germany.

Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 229d (1 reply)

You can make your own soda without much difficulty, depending on your preferred taste. Carbonated orange juice/lemonade is what I do, but cola is doable. No clue about root beer or Dr Pepper, but ginger ale is supposedly pretty simple.

SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social · 2 pts · 229d

https://youtu.be/fZb_7JgcsSU

This would at least be a start to cola, fanta and sprite. The German versions, at least fanta would surprise Americans I guess.

RareEarth@piefed.social · 3 pts · 229d

My big trick over the past few years is make my own. So just squeeze a lime into a glass, drop of cordial and add sparkling water.

Now I’m ready to buy one of the machines, with refillable gas canisters. And not feel guilty about all the plastic bottles.

Fresh ginger, or apple juice is also a good mixer

ThunderComplex@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 228d (1 reply)
  • afri cola
  • club mate
  • Deit
  • Gerri
  • Sinalco
  • RedBull
  • Paulaner (They make my fav Spezi)

These are the ones I know and have tasted myself. My favorites would be Gerri who make my favorite orange lemonade by far, and Paulaner Spezi.
I don’t drink energy drinks often but RedBull tastes muuuch better than Monster to the point that the latter makes me nauseated.
Afri Cola is one that I don’t like but it’s an option and not completely horrible.

DontEatTheProstitute@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 228d

Club Mate!!! Just don't drink too many

morlockdilemma@feddit.org · 2 pts · 228d

The one and only Cockta!

EverXIII@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 229d

Tirola Kola from Austria

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 2 pts · 229d

When I was in Germany I remember liking Spezzi and some other one I can not remember the name of, but it reminded me of Dr. Pepper.

rhubarbe@tarte.nuage-libre.fr · 2 pts · 229d

Breizh Cola is a nice exact equivalent: https://www.breizhcola.bzh/

My preference goes for tap water obviously but alternatively I just use an organic concentrated soda juice (such https://www.bigallet.fr/produit/sirop-de-cola-bio/ ).

Defectus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 228d (2 replies)

Rivella - Swizz soda Trocadero,. Zingo, champis, pommac, julmust, Loranga, Sockerdricka, Cuba Cola- Swedish soda.

Trocadero and julmust feels pretty unique

Hiplobbe@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d (1 reply)

Trocadero mentioned!!!!

Defectus@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d

The MVP of sodas. Still sad they they stopped making the soda bottle sour candies

weaselsrippedmyflesh@lemmy.pt · 1 pts · 228d

Shout out to Why Not, organic craft sodas from Portugal

gabelstapler@feddit.org · 1 pts · 228d

Not a classic soda, but refreshing anyways: Bionade

Scrollone@feddit.it · 1 pts · 228d

MoleCola, from Turin, Italy. You can find it at Eataly shops.

urandom@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d

Does Apfelshorle count?

Fedditor385@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 228d
Marzanna@scribe.disroot.org · 1 pts · 228d (1 reply)

It's better to drink kvass and non-alcoholic beer from your local brewery.

protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 228d

or juice

H3ll1@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 229d

I can recommend MioMio. I've tried everything they offer and except the Banana one I loved every sort.

jlow@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 229d