It goes without saying that we were both psyched to be given the opportunity to review Karma Cola.
Karma Cola - #DrinkNoEvil
Based in New Zealand, the first batch of Karma Cola was bottled back in 2012 and has been available in the UK since 2015. They sum their approach up as:
LEAVE A BETTER TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH.
We believe what you drink should not only taste good, it should be good for the land, good for the people who grown the ingredients and as good for you as a fizzy drink can be.
Lofty aims for a soft drinks company, but Karma Cola really do put their money where their mouth is. As winner of the 2014 World's Fairest Trader award, they pump funding back into the communities they source their organic ingredients (all passed by The Soil Association) from, either directly or through ethical sourcing. In Sierra Leone, the home of Karma Cola's cola nuts, the people of Boma have been able to make improvements to local infrastructure, education and sanitation as a result of the 3p given from the sale of every bottle - some £50,000 between 2012 and 2015.
In addition to being better for your conscience, Karma Cola is better for your body. Their full list of ingredients is printed on the label of every bottle, and the absence of typical fizzy drink ingredients like phosphoric acid and high fructose corn syrup is really refreshing to see.
Karma Cola - Taste the Justice
Karma Cola comes in 330ml glass bottles with a screw cap which is a little thing, but... The label designs - in fact, all the graphic design associated with the brand - are really cool, so I was pleased I would be able to reuse the bottles before they made their way into the recycling. With the eco and cool credentials covered , it was time to move on to the taste test! First up was the flagship Karma Cola.
The cola was very sweet, and reminded me more of Pepsi than Coca Cola. For the diet conscious, it did fine on the calorie front; 141 to 140 in the same serving of Coca Cola. It was nice, but we both agreed it needed to be served chilled - and would probably have been better with ice to help dilute the sweetness a little. Our verdict: 4/5.
The lemonade was lovely, not too sweet - and not too sharp either. Calorie wise it performed well too, at 132kcal compared to c. 155kcal in a can of Ben Shaws Cloudy Lemonade. We gave this one 5/5.
I absolutely love the design on this bottle and, as Anthony doesn't like ginger ale, I got it all to myself. I didn't feel too guilty either; at 139kcal per bottle it's a little more calorific than say, Schweppes, but not by much. This one was just beautiful, really refreshing and, although we're scoring out of five, my verdict was 6/5!
Karma Cola - Check it Out!
Karma Cola is available from various ethical online stores, and on the shelves at Waitrose for £1.59 a bottle. Find out more about the brand at www.karmacola.co.uk.