KA - 2 Reviews

While I know in reality this is not true, with all of my heart I want to believe that the huge contribution of the Jamaican/Caribbean culture in England came from the Clash going to record Give …€˜Em Enough Rope in Jamaica. I'd like to think that they got so hooked on the cuisine on their trip that they came back home and made it for everyone and it just caught on like wildfire. It's such a ridiculous notion that it's wonderful.

I unfortunately know this isn't true because the Ka soft drink company started in the 1960s, nearly 20 years before Mick, Joe, Topper and Paul make their trek. The company claims their drinks are based on original Jamaican soft drink recipes, but they are either liars, or they just did something wrong. I've had pineapple sodas from its country of inception and they are generally wonderful. This Ka pineapple soda is completely middle of the road. It tastes very generic. I wouldn't ever question it if it were store brand. It's perfectly fine for family parties, but I wouldn't drink it for my own pleasure. I will listen to the Clash's second masterpiece now and pretend I have a more fitting soda.

If the labels on can and bottles are any indication everyone in Jamaica ingests nothing but ginger beer all day long. Okay, sometimes they mix in a little pineapple pop, but other than that straight ginger beer. I think that is a place I would like to visit. You wake up in the morning turn on the tap and out flows ginger beer. Even the “water” in the toilets is actually ginger beer. It's heaven for those who crave the burn. For those who are babies and can't handle the spice it's akin to the lake of fire in Hades.

I find it humorous that I bought this drink in Canada by way of the United Kingdom. It's like playing Seven Degrees of Jamaica. I was up in Toronto with Night Birds, and I was the definition of a glutton. I don't think I stopped consuming food and beverages from the moment I stepped out of the car until I was driving back to Buffalo. At the point when I saw this I was already ridiculously full and had to pee like nobodies business, which is terrible in a city with no bathrooms. I'm shocked that Toronto doesn't ever really smell like urine. Good job guys. Anyway there I was walking around and I passed a candy shop that had a bunch of coolers inside. I really didn't have a chance but to enter. One of the coolers was pretty much all British drinks. Unfortunately I was almost out of Canadian money and I needed to save some for veggie dogs on the way home. Ever the sucker for ginger beer I went with this can. Sure I could have just held on to it, but the gluttony was calling my name, so I cracked it open the moment I finished off my bubble tea. It smells very spicy, but I thought it had a medium burn. I let (read: made) my friend Dave Dluga try it and he said it burned the hell out of his mouth. I guess I've built up a tolerance. It was extremely flavorful with a bit of a kick. It was actually a nice blending of burn and flavor. If I ever find myself back in the UK I'll be sure to drink a bunch of these, especially with a 49p price tag on it. I ended up paying $2.25 Canadian. Ouch.