Ask anyone who grew up in Scotland about Red Kola and watch their face change. Barr Red Kola is the bright red fizzy one from the corner shop fridge, the bottle bought with pocket money and finished before you got home.
It is not trying to be a cola. It is not trying to be anything else either. It tastes like Red Kola, and that is the whole point.
Nobody over here has heard of it, which is exactly why you miss it. Get it cold, open it, and you are back at the chippy counter in about two seconds.
A: It is: the bright red Scottish one, not a lookalike. It comes over from Britain and ships to you from within Canada.
Q: How big is the bottle?
A: A 500ml bottle, which is one person's worth. Two, if you are feeling generous, which nobody ever is with Red Kola.
Q: How does it arrive?
A: Packed up in our shop in Halifax and sent out so it travels the distance in one piece. The fizz is your responsibility once the cap comes off.
Q: Is it a good thing to send to someone who misses Scotland?
A: Very much so. Nobody else is going to send them a bottle of Red Kola, which is exactly why it lands.
More about Barr Red Kola
In Scotland, the Barr flavours live in the same fridge as Irn-Bru, and Red Kola has always had its own loyal crowd. It is the bottle that turns up next to a fish supper, at a kids' party, or in a carrier bag on the way to the park.
People in Canada go looking for it because it cannot be explained. You can describe it to friends all you like. They will nod politely and still not get it. The only fix is a bottle.
This is a 500ml bottle, one person's worth, or two if you are feeling generous and they are lucky. It sits happily in the cupboard until you want it, but do it the courtesy of a proper chill first. Over ice with chips is the traditional method, and nobody has improved on it.
Red Kola tends to travel with company. The same basket usually ends up holding a bottle of Irn-Bru, a bag of crisps, and a vague plan to make a chippy tea at home that looks the way you remember.
Additional Information
Packaging Accuracy. We keep product information as accurate and up to date as possible. Manufacturers sometimes change packaging, ingredients, nutritional information, allergen advice, pack sizes or branding without notice, so the product you receive may look slightly different from the images shown. If you have a question about ingredients or allergens before ordering, please get in touch and we will gladly check for you.
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A handy shortcut to the British favourites flying out the door.
Every Scottish corner shop had a fridge, and somewhere in it, just past the Irn-Bru, was the red one. You know the one. Barr Red Kola was what you reached for when you fancied a change but had no intention of leaving the family. Currie's makes its own take on the style, and people have opinions about that, but this is the Barr bottle, from A.G. Barr. That is the same Scottish firm that gave the country its other national drink, so it comes from people who do not take fizzy juice lightly.
Read the full story
One family, two cities
It started in Falkirk in 1875, when Robert Barr set up the business. In 1887 his son Robert Fulton Barr opened a second division in Glasgow, because one town was clearly not enough. In 1892 the Glasgow branch passed to Andrew Greig Barr, and his initials became the name on every bottle since: A.G. Barr. The two halves of the family business carried on side by side until 1959, when Falkirk and Glasgow finally merged. Plenty of families have argued over less.
Spelt the way you say it
Irn-Bru was soft-launched in 1899 and officially launched in 1901, when it was still called Iron Brew. New truth-in-labelling rules changed that, and the trademark application for the phonetic spelling dates from July 1946. It has outsold Coca-Cola in Scotland for over a century. It is often called Scotland's other national drink, after Scotch whisky. It even has its own tartan. You do not get a tartan by accident.
Still very much in business
A.G. Barr is headquartered in Cumbernauld these days. It is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange, part of the FTSE 250, which is a long way from one man in Falkirk. Alongside Irn-Bru the range takes in Tizer, Rubicon and Boost, and drinks in the same family as Red Kola are made at its factories in Forfar, Milton Keynes and Cumbernauld. So the next time someone asks what is in the red bottle, you can tell them the whole story. They did ask.
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Christmas is on its way
The Christmas range lands from the UK in early November.
The day it arrives we unpack it, pack your order and send it on its way. Advent calendars go first, and everything reaches you within a few days wherever you are in Canada.
Order now and it has your name on it. The favourites go early every year. The people who leave it until December are the ones who miss out.
