It’s a shock that a carbonated beverage could be this popular in one country, yet relatively unknown around the world. Hang around in Scotland and you’ll learn one thing – Irn Bru is as big as Coke or Pepsi, if not bigger.
I moved to Edinburgh for the month of August and couldn’t escape this distinctly orange soda, which Scots seem to down in pints or liters. It’s so pervasive that a past commercial even showed a midwife trying to talk a baby out of its mother’s womb by offering one to the unborn child.
What does it taste like? A bit like carbonated bubble gum, so sickeningly sweet that I found it difficult to drink more than three gulps. The drink’s bite is so alarming that it is no surprise to find that Irn-Bru is rumored to have thirty-two flavoring agents in its recipe.
The recipe itself is closely guarded. According to Wikipedia, “The ingredients in Irn-Bru are a secret and known only to Robin Barr, the Chairman, and one unnamed person (who are not allowed to travel on the same plane together). A copy of the recipe is kept in a bank vault in Switzerland. Robin Barr himself mixes the essences of the drink in a sealed room at their headquarters in Cumbernauld once a month.”
Creepy? Creepy.
The Irn-Bru website contains a bevy of information about the soft drink, including past advertisements. The company is quite famous for its button-pushing ads, like the one featuring a gorilla and the tag line “Give Me Irn-Bru Or I’ll Shuffle My Nuts In Front Of Your Mother.”
Perhaps the world’s weirdest drink. If you don’t agree already, just check out the advert below.
You Gonna Drink That?
Fascinated by beverages? Be sure to check out strange discovery in Argentina, as well as some of the world’s other strangest libations.
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Oh my god, that commercial….
My sister loved Irn Bru when she lived in Paris, but I had no clue it was so popular in Scotland.
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Of course it’s popular in Scotland, it’s made here. In fact Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca Cola is not the biggest selling soft drink.
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That’s a sweet commercial! So good even a snowman will lose his nose to drink it. I’m intrigued.
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Fascinating! I wonder if it’s available in other countries in Ireland and the British Isles, too? Not that I love 32-flavored drinks but I’m intrigued.
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How is it possible that nobody knows the recipe?! I’m dying to try it now.
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Man, I’m watching TV in the wrong country. Let’s hear it for the Scots!
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This is a country known for eating deep fried mars bars, black pudding and haggis. Nothing surprises me about their culinary culture any more…
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it’s the greatest drink in the world. the only thing i really miss when i’m away from scotland, well apart from curry anyway.
it’s much more complex than just another bubblegum drink, in my opinion. it has a slight roughness to it, for want of a better word. for the new yorkers out there, it can be bought in a UK store, near greenwich village-it’s called something like tea and sympathy. try it!
in response, black pudding is a fairly common product in various culinary tradtions-france, argentina for example-it can be a decent addition if it isn’t too greasy nor too dry. as for haggis and deep fried mars, no-one really eats them. you forgot that we have the best beef in europe and some of the best salmon and oysters in the world-but who am i to ruin your cultural stereotype?
we also
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If you’re going to try it make sure its ‘Barr’s Irn Bru’ and not one of the dodgy supermarket knock-offs! Even my overly food fussy italian housemate loves the stuff…
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