Senku Cola

While Gen may have mentioned cola as only a way to get Senku’s attention, it truly is what he desired. What makes cola so powerful to form alliances between enemies? It’s refreshing, sweet, and has that particular flavor that can bring back 3700-year-old memories as if it were yesterday. Senku Cola is one reason Gen is one of Senku’s biggest fans.

The recipe given to us by Mecha Senku is quite vague. No measurements or instructions, simply: honey caramel, cilantro, lime, and carbonated water.

There are a few videos on YouTube where fans, and even Inagaki himself, have attempted to make Senku Cola. In these videos, I’ve noticed a few things. The color of the finished product is rather light, and looks like unfiltered apple juice. Once they take a sip, they might say it tasted like “diluted Coke”. Overall, they didn’t seem too impressed but at least had fun making it.

When I launched my attempt to make a good Senku Cola, I focused on a couple of things:

- If the taste is diluted, what can I do to concentrate the flavor?

- Can it really achieve a taste just like cola?

In the end, the answer to the first question seemed to have also solved the second.

As for the honey itself, I assumed that it was only for sweetness. But the honey flavor is definitely an important part of the puzzle. I've used dark, local wildflower honey and I've also used light, generic honey. When I used the light honey, it was clear something was missing from the flavor. The flavor of the dark, local honey is necessary to balance and bring depth to the cola flavor.

At first, I tried to put all of the flavors into the honey. I chopped up cilantro and mixed it in with honey simmering in a skillet. As for the lime, lime juice has a lot of water, so I decided to let that simmer as well and let it evaporate.

Eaten alone, this honey had a great taste but didn’t remind me of cola. Once it was mixed with carbonated water, it really did not taste like cola, or anything fun at all. Cooking the lime juice seemed to have ruined the lime flavor. Also, straining chopped cilantro out of thick honey wasn’t fun either.

For my second try I would try to add the cilantro flavor to the lime juice instead. For juice of one lime, I added as much chopped cilantro as would fit in the liquid, and let it soak up the flavor before strainging it out.

While the water in the lime juice would dilute the finished mixture, I tried to make up for it and still concentrate the honey by reducing it and pack as much cilantro flavor into the lime as possible. I added the honey and lime juice together with only a little heat to get them to blend.

Another thing I noticed about the videos about making Senku Cola, is they added the mixture and carbonated soda to ice. This is a sure way to dilute the flavor. Before assembling the finished soda, I chilled the carbonated water and the honey-lime mixture.

When I finally mixed them, I didn’t use ice at first. The flavor was so intense! And I couldn’t believe how much the flavor tasted like real cola. How the heck did Inagaki think of this? It was truly refreshing. Something I would make and enjoy regularly.

Senku Cola Recipe

1. Put about a cup of dark honey in a small, nonstick skillet on LOW heat. It should be bubbling only a little bit. Stir frequently for 5-10 minutes. Let cool but still warm and liquid.

2. In a separate container, combine lime juice of one lime and cilantro leaves that have been finely chopped. Let sit 5 minutes, then strain out the cilantro.

3. Put about 1-2 tablespoons warm honey into a small microwavable container.

4. Add lime juice and stir. If they don’t mix, microwave it for a few seconds and mix again until blended.

5. Chill this mixture in the fridge. Stir occasionally, it should not separate. The carbonated water should also be chilled. This avoids diluting the flavor if ice is added.

6. Once they are cold, combine the mixture with 8 oz carbonated water and gently stir.

Repeat steps 3-4 wit the rest of the honey before it hardens, save for later.

For a cocktail version, add spiced rum. :D