Laoshan Cola
According to Qingdao Laoshan Mineral Water Company, Laoshan Cola (崂山可乐) was China’s first domestically developed cola. Developed during the early 1950s with support from the Chinese government, the drink was launched in 1956 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. It combines a traditional cola base with Chinese herbal ingredients, including black jujube, cloves, galangal, dahurian angelica, and amomum fruit. Caffeine is derived from coffee beans.
Qingdao Laoshan Mineral Water Company traces its origins to the production of mineral water from the Laoshan area near Qingdao. During the 1980s, Laoshan Cola became one of China’s best-known domestic cola brands. According to contemporary Chinese sources, the brand held approximately 20% of the national cola market in 1985 and more than 80% of the market in Qingdao during its peak years. The rapid expansion of The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo in China during the 1990s brought an end to this success, however, and production ceased in 1997.
After an absence of seven years, Qingdao Laoshan Mineral Water Company reintroduced Laoshan Cola in 2004. The brand is sold in cans and PET bottles and remains most closely associated with the Qingdao area, where it continues to be widely available. The revival appears to have been supported by nostalgia among consumers who grew up with Laoshan Cola during the 1970s and 1980s. Whether the brand will ever regain its former popularity remains doubtful.
The five herbs
The five herbs that define Laoshan Cola are cloves, galangal, dahurian angelica, amomum fruit, and black jujube. Cloves are dried flower buds with a warm, aromatic flavor, while galangal is a ginger relative with spicy, citrus-like notes. Dahurian angelica is a flowering plant whose root has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Amomum fruit, a relative of cardamom, is valued both as a spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Black jujube is a processed form of the jujube fruit with a sweet, caramel-like flavor, commonly used in Chinese foods and herbal preparations.
