Coca-Sek: It's the Real Thing

A tribe in Colombia is marketing its own brand of cola. And the tribe isn't shy about playing up a key ingredient in the soda:

Coca Sek -- a fizzy, sweet yellow drink with a fruity, slightly herbal taste -- is being made using coca leaf by Nasa Indians living in the village of Calderas high in the green mountains of Cauca Province in southern Colombia.

While it will only become commercially available for the first time in the next few months in the southern Colombian city of Popayan, there has been plenty of initial buyer interest and the cooperative which makes the drink hopes eventually to export it.

The Indians, who have invested $13,000 (7500 pounds) and aim to start producing a modest 20,000 bottles per month, hope that by selling a soft drink based on coca they will revive a key part of their culture by bringing it into the modern economy.

Yet another example of the little guy benefiting from globalization. More here.

[Via Sploid.]