The Spirit of Georgia

I saw this ad on TV recently and it had me scratching my head. (Cut and paste to watch.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xwNXfnyN_I

What was this "The Spirit of Georgia" drink all about?

Not surprisingly, this new beverage is made by Coca-Cola, which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Coca-Cola already has several other drinks marketed around the world with the word "Georgia" in the name.

"The Spirit of Georgia" comes in three flavors: Blood Orange Cactus fig, Lemon Wacholderberry (juniper berry) and Green Mango Kiwi.

Georgia is meant to compete with the very popular German Bionade brand of soft drinks, which you can find in the U.S., by the way. Bionade has five flavors: Ginger-Orange, Elderberry, Lychee (fruit of the Chinese Lychee tree), Herb (yes, an herbal-flavored soft drink), and "sporty" Forte. I can only speak for the Elderberry flavor. Lecker.

Bionade and Georgia are both fermented but have no alcoholic content, use only organic ingredients and have no corn syrup, making them less sweet than other soft drinks. "The Spirit of Georgia" is made in Germany and sold only in Germany and Austria. It is still very new, so time will tell if Germans will make the switch from Bionade.