1921 São Paulo soda flavored with guaraná-fruit extract, 70mg caffeine per 355mL can. Brazil's homegrown alternative to Coca-Cola.
1921 São Paulo — Pedro Baptista de Andrade developed the recipe for Companhia Antarctica Paulista using guaraná seeds (Paullinia cupana) sourced from Maués, Amazonas; extraction moved to a Maués plant only in 1962. AmBev (formed in 1999 from Antarctica's merger, now part of AB InBev) holds the brand today. The drink predates Coca-Cola's Brazil entry by 21 years.
Guaraná Antarctica outsells Coca-Cola in Brazil's Northeast and North regions; nationally Coke leads but the gap shrunk to under 5 points by 2018. Brazil consumes ~3.4 billion liters of guaraná soda yearly across all brands.
Pale amber-gold, fizzy. Tastes like apple-pear-cherry candy with a faint herbal-medicinal undertone — the guaraná seed itself. Sweeter than cola, less acidic. Caffeine is from the seed, not added; gives a slow-build buzz, not a coffee jolt.
Guaraná seeds contain ~4-6% caffeine by weight (vs coffee's 1-2%) plus theobromine and tannins, which slow caffeine release. Seeds are roasted, ground to paste, extracted with water. AmBev sources from a 8,000-hectare plantation in Maués; the indigenous Sateré-Mawé people domesticated the vine.
Variations
Guaraná Jesus from Maranhão is bubblegum-pink, cinnamon-spiked; Kuat (Coca-Cola's competing brand) is sharper-citrus; Guaraná Antarctica Zero uses sucralose; Guaraná Baré is the Amazonas regional original, drier and more bitter.
On the Palate
Where Guarana Antarctica sits in the Brazilian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
3 steps · 3 min active + 1 min waiting
- 11 min
Note: this is a commercial soda; home version is a 1:8 mix of guaraná syrup and chilled sparkling water.
- 22 min
Combine 30 ml guaraná syrup with 240 ml cold sparkling water in a tall glass.
Watch outPour the syrup down the side and stir once, slow — the more you stir the faster the fizz dies.
- 31 min
Stir gently to preserve fizz; serve over ice with a lime wedge.
Watch outServe the second it's mixed, over plenty of ice — this drink is all about the sharp cold sting and the bubbles.
