Beverage Creates a Buzz - Los Angeles Times

Beverage Creates a Buzz - Los Angeles Times: Coca-Sek, bottled by a Colombian tribe, gets its kick from coca leaves. The not-so-soft drink has stirred debate about drugs and sovereignty.

By Chris Kraul, Times Staff Writer
April 12, 2006

INZA, Colombia – Call it the "Real Thing." Indians in this remote mountain village in southern Colombia are marketing a particularly refreshing soft drink that harks back to Coca-Cola's original formula, when "coca" was in the name for a reason.

Advertising posters here describe the carbonated, citrus-flavored Coca-Sek as "more than an energizer" – a buzz that just might be provided by a key ingredient, a syrup produced by boiling coca leaves.

Friends who've tried chewing coca leaves tell me that this isn't Cocaine, but it's quite pleasant, and loaded with vitamins' and minerals.