Cola
Cola is a sweet, dark, sparkling soft drink with caramel and spice flavours, no alcohol and, in most bottles, some caffeine; Coca-Cola’s UK site gives its standard bottle 10.6g of sugar in 100ml. It is the mixer in a Rum and Coke or a Cuba Libre, and a 30ml float colours our Long Island Iced Tea.
Quick Facts
We keep an opened bottle in the fridge and use it within a day or two, before the fizz fades.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Coca-Cola’s UK site lists no allergen in Original Taste, but Franklin & Sons’ and Fever-Tree’s UK sites list barley malt extract in their colas: check the bottle.
About Cola
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Sweet and caramel-rich with warm spice and a citrus edge; bold enough to carry dark and spiced spirits.
Sugar, caramel, acid and caffeine
The ingredients on Coca-Cola’s UK Original Taste run carbonated water, sugar, caramel colour (E150d), phosphoric acid, natural flavourings and caffeine, at 10.6g of sugar in 100ml. Craft colas vary it: some name kola nut, coffee or spices, and some take their colour from barley malt extract, which brings gluten with it. Coca-Cola dates its first glass to May 1886, at a pharmacy in Atlanta.
Three colas compared, per 100ml (Fever-Tree’s, Franklin & Sons’ and Coca-Cola’s UK sites, read 17 October 2026)
Coca-Cola Original Taste
- Sugar
- 10.6g
- Sweetened with
- Sugar
- Colour from
- Caramel (E150d)
- Gluten
- None declared
- Flavour led by
- Natural flavourings, not named
Franklin & Sons 1886 Original Cola
- Sugar
- 9.9g
- Sweetened with
- Sugar
- Colour from
- Caramel sugar syrup, barley malt extract
- Gluten
- Yes
- Flavour led by
- Kola nut and Colombian coffee
Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Madagascan Cola
- Sugar
- 4.4g
- Sweetened with
- Fructose
- Colour from
- Roasted barley malt extract
- Gluten
- Yes
- Flavour led by
- Vanilla, cassia, lime, kola nut
| Cola | Sugar | Sweetened with | Colour from | Gluten | Flavour led by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coca-Cola Original Taste | 10.6g | Sugar | Caramel (E150d) | None declared | Natural flavourings, not named |
| Franklin & Sons 1886 Original Cola | 9.9g | Sugar | Caramel sugar syrup, barley malt extract | Yes | Kola nut and Colombian coffee |
| Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Madagascan Cola | 4.4g | Fructose | Roasted barley malt extract | Yes | Vanilla, cassia, lime, kola nut |
In a highball, the cola sets the taste
Cola makes up three quarters of a Rum and Coke, so the bottle you pick largely decides the taste. A very sugary cola smothers the rum, while one with a bitter backbone leaves room for it. Our Cuba Libre squeezes in 10ml of lime, and that acid turns rum and cola into a different drink.
Tequila, whiskey and amaro take it too
Our Batanga lengthens blanco tequila with 120ml of cola and half a lime’s juice, the Fernandito softens Fernet-Branca with about 150ml, and the Jack’s Godfather Highball pairs it with Tennessee whiskey and amaretto. The Long Island Iced Tea, as in the Texas Iced Tea, it is only a 30ml float, laid over a bar spoon for colour; any more and cola becomes the flavour.
Some colas contain gluten
Coca-Cola’s UK Original Taste lists no allergens, but craft colas made with barley malt extract contain gluten: Franklin & Sons’ 1886 cola and Fever-Tree Madagascan Cola both do. Read the ingredients if gluten is a concern.
Chilled, just opened and added at the end
Warmth and stirring both strip out the fizz, so keep the cola cold, put the spirit over a full glass of ice and let the cola run in slowly. Recapped in the fridge, we give a part-used bottle a day, perhaps two; after that it makes a sweet, dull drink.
Using Cola
Usage
Most of our cola drinks use 120 to 150ml against 50ml of spirit over plenty of ice in a highball, the cola going in last and slowly. The Long Island and Texas Iced Teas treat it differently: a 30ml float on the surface, for colour more than flavour.
Pro Tip
When a rum and cola tastes of cola and not much more, shorten the cola before changing the rum. Going from 150ml to 120ml brings the spirit forward, and it costs nothing.
Top Tips
- Ice to the brim, spirit in, cola last and slowly.
- Use full sugar unless you prefer diet; diet keeps the sweetness but not the body.
- Measure the float in an iced tea: 30ml colours the drink, more takes it over.
- Look for barley malt on the label if gluten matters; some craft colas include it.
Possible Substitutions
- Cherry cola (sweeter, fruitier)
- A spicier cola style for more warmth
Production Method
Carbonated water, caramel colour, an acid (usually phosphoric), natural flavourings, sugar or sweeteners and, in most colas, caffeine. A few craft colas take colour and depth from barley malt extract or caramel sugar syrup instead.
History & Context
Coca-Cola dates its first glass to May 1886, poured at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta from a syrup made by Dr John Pemberton (The Coca-Cola Company’s published history, read 10 October 2026).
More to explore
Common Questions
What is cola?
Full-sugar or diet cola in cocktails?
What is the difference between a Rum and Coke and a Cuba Libre?
Which spirits go with cola?
Does cola contain gluten?
How much cola goes in a rum and coke?
How long does cola keep once opened?
Why is there cola in a Long Island Iced Tea?
Sources.
Correct as of 17 October 2026.
- Coca-Cola Great Britain, “Coca-Cola Original Taste”.
- The Coca-Cola Company, “The birth of a refreshing idea”.
- Franklin & Sons, “1886 Original Cola”.
- Fever-Tree (UK), “Refreshingly Light Madagascan Cola”.
From the Guides
Made with Cola
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Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 17 October 2026