When it comes to Cola Quest and artisanal colas, quite simply nothing compares to Germany. This covers conventional well-known brands like Vita and Sinalco, through to more modern craft-style drinks like Mio Mio.
Mio Mio Cola is one of Germany’s newer wave “craft soft drinks” and has quickly built itself a cult following, in part thanks to its distinctive half-litre bottle and its unusual flavour profile. It is very clearly designed with mixing in mind, especially with spirits.
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The Mio Mio Cola Story
Mio Mio is produced by Berentzen, a German drinks company with a long history in the alcohol and soft drinks market dating back to the 18th century. The Mio Mio range itself was developed much later as part of a modern push into energy drinks and “urban lifestyle” soft drinks aimed at younger consumers.
The cola variant was introduced as part of this expansion, positioned as an alternative to mainstream colas with a more distinctive flavour identity. Rather than trying to directly imitate Coca Cola, Mio Mio leaned into a more experimental German soft drink tradition, where herbal notes and less sweetness are often used to differentiate products.
Over time, it has become part of a broader cult category of German “mix colas,” often found in clubs, kiosks and late-night convenience stores rather than traditional supermarket soft drink aisles.
Click to read about Vita Cola.
Availability of Mio Mio
Mio Mio Cola is widely available across Germany, particularly in urban areas. It is commonly sold in supermarkets, discount chains, petrol stations, kiosks and vending machines. Its half-litre bottle format has become part of its identity, making it instantly recognisable on shelves.
It is priced slightly above standard budget colas but still firmly within everyday drink territory, usually sitting in the low-to-mid price range depending on retailer and promotions.
The Mio Mio range also includes energy drinks, mate-based drinks and flavoured sodas, all sharing the same branding style and positioning. Outside Germany, availability is limited but it can occasionally be found in specialist import shops in neighbouring European countries.
#ColaQuest Score and Flavour
OK, so this big gem of a bottle is pretty bloody good. It is flavourful and comes across as a premium soft drink with its own identity, rather than just a weaker copy of Coca Cola. This fits very much with how Germany does cola when it does it well.
The overall taste is noticeably less sharp than Coke, with an almost herbal undertone that makes it closer in feel to something like dandelion and burdock than a standard cola. That slightly unusual profile is exactly what makes it work so well as a mixer.
It pairs well with vodka, works strongly as a chaser for Jägermeister, and would likely hold up very well in a Long Island iced tea. Probably my third favourite cola in Germany after Vita Cola and Sinalco, but still a solid entry.
Cola Quest score: 7.5/10. It loses some points for a slightly diet-like aftertaste, but overall it is a strong and distinctive product.
Click to see my East German Tours.