Mezzo Mix is one of the weirdest soft drinks out there. Basically, people started mixing Coke with Orange Fanta back in the 1950s and it became so popular that the concoction became known as Spezi.
And because this home-brew mix had become so popular, Coke did what they always do and took away all the fun by deciding to dominate the market. This came with the invention of Mezzo Mix, essentially a bottled version of Coke and Fanta. It is now, and indeed the whole Spezi genre is now, a HUGE deal in Germany.
Click to read about Vita Cola.
Table of Contents
The Spezi – Mezzo Mix Story
The story of Spezi actually begins long before Mezzo Mix. During World War II, Coca Cola’s German operators – The Nazis – were cut off from syrup supplies coming from the United States. Forced to improvise, the company created Fanta using whatever ingredients were available. This was not always good and certainly not the Fanta we know today. It did though spark the idea for what later become by far the worlds leading, if not best organ soda.
By the 1950s people had begun mixing cola and orange soda together, creating what would become known as Spezi. The drink proved particularly popular in southern Germany, where it developed something of a cult following. Seeing the opportunity, (and being the ruthless bastards that they are) Coca Cola launched Mezzo Mix in 1973 as its own take on the formula.
Today Spezi is a whole freaking genre in a country that takes its soft-drinks almost as seriously as a beer. That is no exaggeration at all.
Where Can You Get Mezzo Mix and Spezi?
Mezzo Mix is available pretty much everywhere in Germany. You will find it in supermarkets, kiosks, petrol stations, bars, restaurants, train stations and vending machines. It is one of those drinks that is so common you almost stop noticing it.
Outside Germany it is much harder to find, although it does appear in Austria, Switzerland and various European countries with large German populations. It is also a staple of German supermarkets abroad and specialist import stores.
Competition is fierce, though. Paulaner Spezi remains a major rival, while countless supermarket and regional brands produce their own versions. This also includes in the wider realm of artisan colas, again many of which do their own Spezi.
Despite this, Mezzo Mix remains the Big Kahuna when it comes to the genre that is Spezi.
#ColaQuest Mezzo Mix?
So, I will not give Mezzo Mix a Cola Quest score as it honestly is very much its own genre. This is a uniquely tasting drink that is quite literally a hybrid of cola and orange soda, or rather Coke and Fanta. This means the citrus of the soda is tamed by the silky sexiness of Coke.
Of course this makes it perfect with many a liquor, with me personally pairing it with vodka. Rum also works well, particularly if we are talking about a dark Cuban varietal. It would also be very remiss of me not to mention just how good it makes a Long Island Iced Tea.
This is honestly a fabulous drink that I cannot believe is not bigger in the rest of the world. As Spezi goes, you would have to give Mezzo Mix a firm 10/10.
This though also brings up the darker side of the drink, in that Coke, far from simply following trends, will do almost anything to dominate a market. This has included aggressively buying out leading brands and, as is the case here, taking a homemade mix and turning it into a global corporate product.
Long story short, don’t fuck with Coke.
Click to see my stuff in East Germany.