Sparkling Portello is a carbonated soft drink brewed in Sri Lanka under the auspices of the Coca Cola Company which (very) occasionally finds itself sold in the UK. It is not officially sold anywhere other than Sri Lanka, as far as I know.

The drink itself is pinkish-purple in colour, and tastes sort of halfway between strawberry and raspberry, neither of which come anywhere near it during its manufacture. Well, that's the best way of describing it short of a comparison to the pinkish sweet-tasting cough syrup you might give to small children. Like many other drinks brands owned by Coca Cola, Sparkling Portello is very much dependent on artificial colourings and flavourings. And it has an extremely heavy sugar content.

Actually, I don't think that last sentence does justice to how sugary this drink is. It is horribly sweet. In fact, I could literally feel my teeth squirm in agony under the glucose assault provided by this saccharine, purplescent brew. A quick glance at the "Nutrition Information" panel on the side of the bottle told me why; per every 100ml, Sparkling Portello boasts no fewer than 16.0g of sugar, which compares to other soft drinks as follows:

  • Coca Cola - 10.7g/100ml

  • Cherry Coke - 11.2g/100ml

  • Red Bull - 11.3g/100ml

  • Tropicana - 9.0g/100ml

  • Irn-Bru - 10.5g/100ml

  • V Energy - 11.2g/100ml

  • Lucozade Energy - 17.1g/100ml

  • So, as you can see, it puts the sugar content of just about everything else to shame, and only Lucozade Energy, which is a self-confessed glucose syrup based concoction - which is to say it's little more than pure glucose syrup with things added to it - can beat it in those stakes. And yes, there is a noticeable taste difference between it and those other drinks. With Sparkling Portello, you can taste and even feel the sugar on your teeth.

    I do NOT recommend the regular consumption of this beverage. Even as I write this node, several hours after its consumption, I can still feel the sugar eating away at my teeth. And I only had one glass!