It is extremely rare that we get a truly good and high entry to #ColaQuest, but in Hamoud Cola we have just that. This is not just a great tasting cola that can stand toe to toe with Pepsi and the like, but it also comes from an esteemed company that not only has a wider range, but can trace its lineage back to 1878.
How though does Hamoud and its range truly compare with the big guns, as well as cola from the rest of the world.
Click to read about Ize Cola.
Table of Contents
What the Hamoud Cola?
Hamoud Boualem is one of the oldest and most respected drinks companies not just in Algeria but in all of North Africa. Founded way back in 1878 in Algiers, the company originally made syrups and soft drinks long before global colas had even properly entered the region. What makes Hamoud interesting is that it never tried to be a cheap knock off of Coke or Pepsi, but instead carved out its own identity with a proper Algerian twist.
The company’s first major hit was the lemonade drink Hamoud, followed by the much more famous Selecto, which Algerians will defend with their lives even if the stuff tastes like bubblegum perfume to foreigners. Hamoud Cola came later, created to compete with the international giants who flooded into the Algerian market in the 1990s and 2000s. Unlike Selecto, Hamoud Cola is much more straightforward. Dark, fizzy, sharp, balanced and without the chemical weirdness that ruins a lot of local colas. It is smooth, it is clean, and it is made with a recipe that clearly went through a lot of trial and error.
The range now includes diet versions, flavoured drinks, syrups, and the usual line of lemonades. But Hamoud Cola stands out as the one product that actually competes on taste with the global brands and does not embarrass itself. The company itself remains proudly Algerian, still based in Algiers, still family linked, still pretty much a national treasure. And that is not something you can fake.
Where can you drink Hamoud?
Hamoud Cola is everywhere in Algeria. You get it in restaurants, cafés, local fast food places, and even in the random little kiosks that sell cigarettes, tissues, and whatever else people stuff on the counter. In some restaurants they only serve Hamoud products and refuse to stock Coke or Pepsi, which tells you how loyal the customer base is.
You also see it in bottles in supermarket chains across the country, and it pops up in some parts of Tunisia and France where there are large Algerian communities. Basically if you are in Algeria you will have zero trouble getting your hands on it.
How does it mix with liquor?
Alas being from a Muslim country without much booze I could not try Hamoud against the big guns. This is where it unfortunately lost half a point. I would though go out on a limb and say that it would mix a treat with rum or vodka. It will also make a fully fine cocktail mixer in something like a Long Island. The flavour is clean enough and strong enough that it would cut through without turning weird or chemical like some local colas do.
Again though this is still just theory rather than a scientifically tested fact. Therefore the jury is still very much out.
Overall taste and score
This is a great cola and one of two that are non Coke or Pepsi that are sold in Algeria. The other one, Selecto, is not very good. Hamoud though is great and there are not just restaurants that only serve the local stuff, but even when head to head Hamoud is often picked out. And while part of this might be politics, some of it is taste. I can also confirm this having done so myself.
It does though as mentioned lose half a point for lack of being able to test it with liquor. Overall I put this at the 8 mark, around the Ize Cola of Cambodia level. It could though easily go to 8.5, which would put it up with the non-Coke bests of the cola world.
Click to check my Algerian Tours with YPT.