Karma Cola and Wellington’s Roxy Cinema have come together to create a Hollywood romance and Americana-inspired beverage called Roxy Cherry Cola.
With the flavour of cola with a cherry twist, it’s the result of Karma Cola’s Cosmo Hawke and The Roxy Cinema’s co-owner and mixologist Ray Letoa bringing their creative entities together. Hawke says they’ve worked together in the past messing around with cocktails and have always been looking for new flavours.
He says there’s something about The Roxy’s Hollywood glamour that made them think of cherries, and describes the combination of the cherries, Letoa’s talent and Karma Cola as “the bomb”.
Letoa goes on to describe the cherry cola fizzy as a “nostalgic scent with an olden day citrus backbone”.
“It’s vibrant with a cherry-ness that brings an undertone of tang complemented with sweet vanilla and rounded out with African cola nut. Definitely not sweet but definitely addictive,” he says.
Like all other Karma Cola products, the ingredients are organic, with the cherry concentrate coming from Turkey. And every bottle makes money for the Karma Cola Foundation, supporting cola farmers in Sierra Leone. The Karma Cola Foundation is working to get the farmers and their families back on their feet after a ten-year civil war. It hopes to foster independence, not dependence.
Hawke says the foundation supports a lot of initiatives like educating children, building infrastructure, future proofing food supplies and helping people set up their own businesses.
“Ideas that help eight villages become independent through trade rather than dependent on charity.”
“We’re into things that taste good, look good and do good and when we get to play with other companies who are just as excited about these things, just like The Roxy Cinema, it makes work a whole lot more rewarding.”
So far, the foundation has given over $150,000 to the people of Boma and Tiwai communities in Sierra Leone. The Roxy Cherry Karma Cola is available throughout August from The Roxy Cinema and selected outlets.
Karma Cola’s partnership with The Roxy Cinema follows its partnership with Best Ugly Bagels in June to create the ‘Karma Bagel’. It was made with cherry and cola jam and $1 from every one sold was donated for the Foundation. In total, $1575 was raised.
