Kola Facts

• Cola drinks are named after the kola nut, one of the original ingredients. Kola nuts, which come from African kola trees, actually contain caffeine as well as a floral aroma and bittersweet flavor that becomes sweeter the longer it is chewed. Kola nuts gave cola drinks caffeine, sweetness and the familiar dark opaque coloring. Cola drinks are now mostly made with artificial ingredients and sweeteners as well as caramel coloring that mimic the kola nut's effects.

Fruity Flavors

• Some of the most recognizable non-cola drinks are the ones flavored like familiar fruits. Lemon-lime soda is not only one of the most popular non-cola drinks, it is also a non-cola drink with a few variations made by different companies. Other notable fruit flavors include orange, grape, cherry, strawberry and even pineapple. Some fruit flavors may be coupled with cola drinks, like a cherry cola, but these beverages are still considered cola drinks. Most fruity carbonated beverages also have little or no caffeine.

Beer Me

• A few non-cola drinks actually started out as something more adult. Carbonated drinks like root beer, birch beer and ginger beer came from small beers, low alcohol beers popular in the early days of the United States. Modern soft drink beers are mostly non-alcoholic and cover a wide range of flavors. Root beer, which originally got its flavor from the sassafras plant, is by far the most popular. Other popular beers include the aforementioned birch and ginger beers, as well as horehound and spruce beers.

Other Fizzies

• The world of carbonated soft drinks encompasses a wide variety of flavors, many of them a far cry from cola. Some drinks have real or imitated spice flavoring, like the vanilla in cream soda, ginger in ginger ale and cinnamon in a few red sodas. Non-cola drinks also have many different specialty flavors, such as chocolate, key lime pie and bubble gum soda. If you are feeling adventurous, try a far out flavor like peanut butter and jelly, bacon or apples and jalapenos.