Puma Kola

What does an oceanographer do when he suffer from seasickness? For Randy Sprecher from Oregon, an increasing tendency toward seasickness led him to retrain as a brewer in the early 1980s. After a brief stint at Pabst in Milwaukee, he decided to go independent and founded the microbrewery Sprecher Brewery in 1985.

Sprecher Brewery produces a wide range of seasonal beers, but somewhat ironically, it is best known for its soft drinks. In particular, Sprecher’s Root Beer—sweetened with honey from Wisconsin—has received widespread recognition in the U.S.

Sometime in the 1990s, Sprecher Brewery launched Grand Cola. Randy Sprecher later admitted that naming it “Grand Cola” was a mistake: “You can’t compete with a cola. I should have called it Love Potion No. 9 – anything – and it would have flown by itself. We’ll probably have to re-issue that someday with a different label,” he said.

In the end, production of Grand Cola ceased around 2000–2001.

It wasn’t until around 2004 that Sprecher Brewery returned to the cola market—this time with Puma Cola. It remains unclear whether this is an entirely new formula or simply a rebranded version of Grand Cola.

Staying true to the company’s concept, Puma Cola is also sweetened with Wisconsin honey.

Sprecher also produces a Cherry Cola.