A Look at More Odd British Soft Drinks

Britain has more than its share of bizarre sugary drinks. Some are medicinal and others are to be drunk just for fun.

One of the most popular of English soft drinks is actually made by an American company. Lilt is a popular drink that is made by Coca-Cola. It has been made famous by its advertising campaign “Here Comes the Lilt Man!” The drink comes in all kinds of flavours including pineapple and grapefruit, mango, mandarin and mango and banana and peach.

Another cola imitator is Barr Cola. This drink, made from kola nuts, used to be called Strike Cola.  It tastes similar to Coca-Cola but is a little creamier and sweeter.

R. White’s Lemonade is produced by Britvic. It is a carbonated drink that has been produced in Camberwell London since 1854.  The beverage is made from real lemons and is available as a cloudy, clear or diet drink.  The main popular advertising character was the Secret Lemonade Drinker who was always sneaking downstairs to grab a drink of R. White Lemonade.

A successful imitator of Coke, that was actually sued by Coca-Cola and won, is Rola Cola which was brought on the market in 1979. This dark carbonated beverage is still going strong and distributed in twenty-two companies.

Another popular bubbly soft drink that is sold in the U.K. was first launched by the company Corona in 1950 is Tango. Tango was originally only sold as an orange flavour but over time was expanded to include lemon, cherry and blackcurrant.

Tizer is a bright red colored soft drink made in Manchester that has been around since 2004. There is no real flavour to this drink which is made from a secret recipe. There have also been Green and Purple flavours of the drink offered as limited Editions.  On the logo Tizer is actually spelled as T!zer.

Another soft-drink that almost has cult status in Britain is Vimto. This was first in vented in 1908 by Noel Nichols to be a health drink. It was a mix of grapes, raspberries and black currants that were flavoured with herbs and spices.  It was originally sold in cordial form but now is sold as a soft drink with added carbonation.  Vimto is produced by Cott Beberabes in both Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

The ultimate health drink in the U.K. is just carbonated spring water called Willow Water.  It is collected from the English Lake District and is drunk to improve the look of the skin.