Kinnie () is a Maltese bittersweet

carbonated Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic ch ...

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

brewed from

bitter oranges Bitter orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the citrus tree ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of the world. It is probably a cross bet ...

and extracts of wormwood. It was first introduced in 1952 by the brewery

Simonds Farsons Cisk Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, commonly known as Farsons, is a Malta, Maltese food and beverage conglomerate. The businesses of the Farsons Group include brewing, production, sale and distribution of beers and soft drinks; importation, wholesale and ...

, and continued to be produced by Farsons in

Attard Attard ( mt, Ħ'Attard) is a town in the Central Region, Malta, Central Region of Malta. Together with Balzan and Lija it forms part of "Three villages of Malta, the Three Villages" and has been inhabited since the Classical antiquity, Classic ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Kinnie is brown in colour, and is drunk straight or mixed with alcohol. It holds a reputation for being Malta's favourite non-alcoholic beverage, sometimes even called the 'national soft drink'.

History

Kinnie was invented by

's managing director Anthony Miceli Farrugia and was first produced in 1952 as an alternative to the cola drinks that proliferated in post-war Europe, specifically

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

. Its taste was deliberately kept different from its international competition due to branding reasons. In 1975, it became the soft drink of the year of the French Comité International d'Action Gastronomique et Touristique. Kinnie's recipe is kept secret, though it is speculated to contain

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as Korean ginseng ('' P. ginseng''), South China ginseng ('' P. notoginseng''), and American ginseng ('' P. quinquefolius''), typically characterized by the presence of ginsenosides an ...

and

rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...

. A ''Diet'' version for Kinnie appeared in 1984. In 2007, a new low calorie version of Kinnie called ''Kinnie Zest'' was made available. This has a stronger orange flavour, and is advertised as only having one calorie per bottle. Simonds started selling Kinnie Vita in 2014, which is sweetened using a blend of sugar and

stevia Stevia () is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species ''Stevia rebaudiana'', native to Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), which h ...

leaf extract.

Sales locations

Kinnie is exported to the UK, Italy, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Libya, and Canada, while also being available in Japan. Kinnie is produced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

by Maltese Beverages Pty Limited, under a licence from Farsons. In March 2009, it was announced that Farsons were going to start exporting Kinnie into Russia. In the summer of 2010, Farsons and Kinnie UK Limited soft-launched Kinnie and its two variants in London's West End, reaching almost 100 trial outlets by September 2010. In April 2021, Kinnie launched an alcoholic version of the drink called 'Kinnie

Spritz Spritz may refer to: * Hair spray * Spritz (cocktail), an aperitif consisting of wine, sparkling water, and liqueur * Spritz (wine), a term referring to small amounts of carbon dioxide added to wine * Spritz (cipher), a cryptographic stream cipher ...

References

External links

Company website
{{citrus sodas Carbonated drinks Maltese cuisine Products introduced in 1952 Drink brands

History

Sales locations

See also

References

External links