Guarana is a tropical berry from which several different popular drinks in Brazil are made.<\/b><\/p>\n
I love Guarana soda. Thank goodness I can get it in grocery stores in the USA, because I really would be sad without it. Lately I’ve even been substituting my morning coffee with a Guarana Antarctica soda – diet of course.<\/p>\n
A natural stimulant, the guarana berry contains significant levels of caffeine, in addition to guaranine<\/b>, another stimulant compound. The Guarani<\/b> people, indigenous to the rainforest region of northern Brazil and namesake<\/b> of the berry itself, considered the berry to hold magical powers.<\/p>\n
Today in Brazil, the overwhelmingly most popular guarana drink is Guarana Antarctica<\/b>, a product of the AmBev company that produces basically all the beer in the country while also enjoying exclusive distribution rights for all Pepsi soft-drinks; not a bad gig. The soda version of guarana is naturally sweet with a crisp taste not entirely unlike ginger ale, if one were to substitute guarana for ginger in the recipe.<\/p>\n
Also very common is guarana natural<\/b> which is a darker, almost iced-tea-like drink that is generally blended on-site in juice shops and bars. The latter is really pretty packed with caffeine, so be careful throwing it down the hatch by the glass on a hot day!<\/p>\n
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Pepsi and Coca-Cola have tried to compete in the guarana market in Brazil and even abroad. Pepsi’s Josta<\/b> failed miserably, but Coca-Cola’s Kuat<\/b> is still widely available in Brazil and even overseas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guarana is a tropical berry from which several different popular drinks in Brazil are made. I love Guarana soda. Thank goodness I can get it in grocery stores in the USA, because I really would be sad without it. Lately I’ve even been substituting my morning coffee with a Guarana Antarctica soda – diet of…<\/p>\n