For a time back in early to mid 2016, there was a long stretch when pretty much all the foods and beverages I featured were from Washington D.C.'s Union Market, with its large selection of stores which sell many foreign products. Well, I kind of lost track of at least one, so it'll be discussed today--Inca Kola, from Peru. And then by coincidence I located another Peruvian drink, chicha morada (From Inca's Food), in a supermarket near the NJ shore.
Chicha morada is a traditional drink in Peru, made from purple corn, which is another term for blue corn. Purple corn is quite popular in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, especially. One website I consulted claims that purple corn is a special type of corn, which can lower cholesterol and fight obesity. It didn't link to scores of scientific test results and journal articles, so I don't know if this is necessarily accurate, much less "proven," as the site stated. But, whatever its health benefits, aside from traditional corn dishes, purple corn is used in the previously mentioned areas as a natural food coloring and also in a popular pudding dessert and smoothie. Chicha morada is usually made with pineapple, cloves, cinnamon, and sugar. Chicha de jora is the alcoholic version. Otherwise, I'm unable to do my usual brief company overview, as I couldn't find a website for Inca's Food, and its New Jersey based importing company, Peruvian Import Company, has a website, but it's in Spanish, with no English translation provided (which I found odd for an American business). I was able to discern that Inca's Food also sells peppers, pasta, sauces, grains, fruit, snacks, olives, and herbs/spices.
Inca Kola is made by the Landley Company. This beverage selling business was created in 1910 by a British immigrant to Peru, Joseph Robinson Lindley. In 1935 Lindley decided to come up with a new drink to help celebrate the 400th anniversary of Lima, Peru. The resulting Inca Kola was flavored with lemon verbena, and its taste is often compared to bubble gum, or typical cream soda. Inca Kola quickly became huge in Peru, partly because it became synonymous with the country itself. This pride in their country's unofficial national drink was so strong that Inca Kola successfully outsold the American soda giant Coca-Cola in Peru. Finally, in 1997 the Coke corporation gave up and bought out the Lindley Company. Since then, Inca Kola sold in every country in the world save Peru is done by Coca-Cola, while Peruvian consumption of this soft drink is still done by Lindley. Lindley also is now licensed to sell other Coca-Cola drinks in Peru.
1) Inca's Food, chicha morada purple corn drink. Came in a 16 ounce/473 mL bottle, and was, not surprisingly, a rich purple color. It had an odd taste. Sweet, but strangely savory, too--I guess it's the corn. My initial impression was that it was alright, but not great, and I wouldn't buy it again. But as I kept drinking it, it kind of grew on me. By the end I was sort of liking it.
2) Inca Kola. Alas, I misplaced my notes for my reactions to this. However, I do have some recollection of it. It's a yellow color, which is why it's also known as "champagne kola," or "golden kola." I seem to recall thinking it was like a weak cream soda. I don't remember particularly liking or disliking it--I think it was kind of average, or "meh." Certainly I wasn't impressed enough to try it again. Although I do appreciate that this local drink beat Coca-Cola. Even if I don't like it that much, that's pretty cool.
I'll conclude with a few fun/interesting facts about Peru. As you can tell from both the drink names, it was the center of the powerful and influential Inca Empire, which comprised much of what's now South America from 1438-1533. Moving on, the world's tallest sand dune, Cerro Blanco, is found here--it's 1176.5 meters (3860 feet) from the base to the summit. The potato was first grown in Peru, and parts of Bolivia. Peru is also one of the places where the largest flying bird lives--the giant Andean condor. This creature can be up to 33 pounds (about 15 kilos), with a wingspan of up to almost 11 feet (3.35 meters). The start of the mighty Amazon River is in Peru, at Cordillera Rumi Cruz of the Rio Mantaro. Getting ridiculous, and a little gross, the world's most expensive coffee, which can run $1400 per kilo, is Peru's coati dung coffee. (The coati (aka coatimundi) is a small mammal, in the raccoon family and this situation is reminiscent of the civet crap coffee, which I discussed in my October 13, 2014 post.)
As far as famous Peruvians, there's Hernando de Sota Polar, a world renowned economist. Actor Henry Ian Cusick is probably best known for roles on the television shows "Lost" and "Scandal." Alex Acuna is a successful and respected drummer, who played with the band Weather Report, and with famous musicians like Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Ella Fitzgerald, Carlos Santana, Chick Corea, Seal, and Beck, to name just a few. Sofia Mulanovich Aljovin won the world title in surfing in 2004, and she was elected to the Surfers Hall of Fame in 2007. Boxer Kina Malpartida was the women's WBA featherweight champ from 2009-13. Going fictitious, the Paddington Bear character was originally from Peru. Finally, for the category of bizarre human feats, there's the world's youngest mother, Lina Medina. In 1939 she gave birth at the age of only 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days! She suffered from an extreme case of precocious puberty. Some folks (reasonably, I guess) think that this was a hoax, but there's supporting evidence in the form of photos, medical records, doctor's accounts, etc. The people at the Snopes website accept it as true, if that helps convince anyone.
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