Inca Kola: The Tradition Behind a National Peruvian Drink

[placeOK]

Peru, a few years ago, was the only country in the world where the prestigious Coca-Cola drink wasn´t ranked first in the market because a national drink so was deeply rooted in the Peruvian palate.

Inca Kola, the classic yellow drink that accompanied all Peruvian dishes at the tables, was the favorite. That was the reason why Coca-Cola and Lindley Corporation (producer of the local drink) signed a strategic alliance: Lindley would be the official bottler company and Coca-Cola would be the owner of all beverages that were produced.

I discovered part of this interesting story in the tour we had today with Jose Antonio Vera, official guide of the Municipality of Rimac, a very traditional Lima district that witnessed the founding of the Lindley Corporation in 1910 and the emergence of what would later be known as the national drink, Inca Kola, in 1935.

The visit attracted the presence of several local neighbors (rimenses) who were delighted to see the first delivery carriage as well as the simple semi-automatic "crowner" machines (machines that placed the metal caps on the bottles) that are almost a century old.

The huge magnitude of modern machines also served to astonish the visitors who concluded the tour enjoying the delicious drink while watching a video summarizing the entire manufacturing process.

If you are also interested in participating in one of these visits, get your group together and write to [e-mail] to arrange, because the Inca Kola factory is a placeOK.

[placeOK]

Yeah! We, as Peruvians, love Inca Kola not only for its color but, as you say, for its flavor. It´s become better when the soda is very cold. We used to drink Inca Kola with our typical Peruvian dishes as ceviche or our popular chifa.

[Sam Scribe]

I should know better than to drink Inka Cola, yet I've craved it whenever I've visited Peru. What stands out about it is not just the electric yellow color of the drink, but the flavoring, which I'm pretty sure is the same flavoring used in bubble gum.