Golden Kola · The Soda That Beat Coca-Cola
Inca Kola
Photo: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Peru is one of the only countries on Earth where a local soda outsells Coca-Cola — Inca Kola's bright yellow bottle is practically a national emblem.
Inca Kola is a bubblegum-yellow, lemon-verbena-flavored soda created in Lima in 1935 by a British immigrant family. It's sold from every street cart and corner shop in Peru, often poured over ice alongside anticuchos or a plate of ceviche.
Why it's made this way: Its dominance over Coca-Cola in the local market became such a threat that Coca-Cola eventually bought a large stake in the company rather than keep losing to it, and Inca Kola remains a point of national pride.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
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