The Brasilena and the recipe for coffee soda

Hot summer afternoons need drinks which provide refreshment and cool you down: the Brasilena, or coffee soda, is made precisely for this purpose.

Carbonated enough, with a few ice cubes, is what you need for a cool break.

When was it first created and how come it is less well-known than other drinks? Let’s discover together.

Brasilena: a drink made in Italy

Coffee soda is impossible to find in almost every region in Italy, except the place where it was born: Calabria.

Here, you can taste it today in almost every bar.

This coffee-based soda has earned itself so many fans that it has been able to withstand the dominance of the big international brands.

The Brasilena was invented by a company in the provinces of Catanzaro that bottled mineral water: it became widespread between the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Until about 50 years ago, in Calabria andother parts of Italy, there were many such drinks like fizzy orange soda, lemon soda or other flavors, but only the Brasilena gained such huge success, so much so that today it can boast many imitations, most of which are from the region of Calabria.

There are a few, simple ingredients – mineral water, coffee, sugar – even if the original recipe is a secret.

The drink was originally sold in glass bottles and today, it is possible to still find it in this format, or in cans.

Coffee soda: the recipe for making it at home

The bad news is that, unless you are extremely lucky, it will be hard for you to find a coffee soda outside Calabria.

But if you have tasted it, fallen in love with it, you can quite easily make your own home-made versionto enjoy any time you want.

Let’s see what you will need to make one liter of this refreshing drink.

Ingredients for 1 liter of coffee soda:

• 28.7 fl oz of highly carbonated water
• approximately 100 ml of coffee
• 1.76 oz of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of caramel
• A few drops of lemon juice

You will also need an empty bottle that can hold one liter.

Have you already got everything? Then it’s time to get to work. Here’s the procedure to follow:

1. Fill the one-liter bottle with 28.7 fl oz of water.
2. Prepare 4-5 espresso cups of coffee/shots, using the espresso machine or the moka. You can choose a more intensely flavored coffee like the Forte blend, or if you prefer, Delicato, according to your personal preferences.
3. Add sugar to the boiling hot coffee and mix until it has completely dissolved; leave it to cool.
4. Pour the coffee with sugar into the bottle, add a few drops of lemon juice and add the caramel, which will sweeten the drink further and will give it that typical cola color.
5. Keep the drink in the fridge. Serve in a tall glass with a few icecubes.

Enjoy your coffee soda!