Kinnie

Kinnie is a carbonated soft drink from Malta. It was first developed in 1952 by Simonds Farsons Cisk in Malta. Kinnie is amber in colour. It has a bittersweet flavour. Kinnie is drunk straight or mixed with alcohol to create a mixed drink. Unlike cola products Kennie actually quenches thirst. The taste takes some getting used to. But it is very popular with locals and visitors.
History.
Kinnie was first produced in 1952. It was an alternative to the cola drinks that were popular in post-war Europe. Kinnie's recipe is kept secret. The official website has more information about its ingredients. Kinnie may owe its bittersweet taste to a blend of "Mediterranean chinotto bitter oranges". It may be combined with a dozen different aromatic herbs and spices. These include anise, ginseng, vanilla, rhubarb and liquorice. A sales slogan was: "The problem with drinking kinnie is that you just can not get enough".
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 slightly darker colour and a stronger orange flavour. It is advertised as only having one calorie per bottle. The latest Kinnie variant is "Kinnie Vita" which is naturally sweetened using a blend of sugar and stevia leaf extract.
Sales locations.
Kinnie is exported to the UK, Italy, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands, It is also exported to Libya and Canada. In recent years, Simonds Farsons Cisk also started to franchise Kinnie production overseas. As a result, Kinnie is now produced under licence in Australia. 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. They reached almost 100 trial outlets by September 2010.