The Fanta Flavor You Can Only Find In Costa Rica

Fanta is an iconic soda that's probably one of the first brands you think of if you're asked to picture a fruit-flavored soft drink. Though it's mainly known as the go-to orange soda these days, there's a surprising amount of lore around the fizzy drink, from its early 2000s dance group to its shocking war-time origins in Nazi Germany. But what you also might not realize is that the brand has a variety of different flavors that are exclusively found in other countries. One of the most unique and apparently delicious regional variants is Costa Rica's Fanta Kolita.

Fanta Kolita has a blend of "exotic, floral fruitiness" that's said to be similar to the taste of grenadine, which makes sense given the soda's bright red color. The drink is named after Kola syrup, a key ingredient for "copos", a popular snow-cone treat sold on the streets of Costa Rica's biggest cities. The syrup tastes like a mix of tutti-frutti and bubblegum, and it's been available to Costa Ricans since the 1980s. Except for a few limited runs in El Salvador, Costa Rica remains the only place in the world you can try this special soda.

If a sweet, bubbly, bubblegum-y sensation sounds pleasant to you, especially walking through the tropical heat of a Costa Rican street, Fanta Kolita seems like something you should get your hands on. One review via The Soda Jerk said it was a "great fruit soda," and even though they "couldn't tell what fruits" were in the concoction, it was tasty. A Reddit user was able to pinpoint its flavor a bit more, saying the taste was "a floral strawberry with a hint of vanilla," rating it a 10/10.

If you want to try some of this tasty treat for yourself, you have two options. One is to hop on a plane and head on over to Costa Rica (which we hope you're doing for reasons other than drinking Fanta, but we won't judge). The other is to visit the World of Coca-Cola Experience in Atlanta, Georgia, which includes a sample of many region-specific Coca-Cola products. Since it seems like Costa Rica's soda secret is a top contender to be one of the best Fanta flavors, it's worth trying a cool bottle of Kolita at least once.