What does victory taste like? For Uno-X it’s a bottle of Faxe Kondi, a Danish soft drink after the company signed a big sponsorship deal with the team.
It’s made in the Faxe Bryggeri, “Faxe Brewery” by Royal Unibrew which has its HQ in the town of Faxe in Eastern Denmark. They also make beer as the name suggests. It’s not readily available outside Scandinavia, Norway is the second market after Denmark.
Kondi is Danish for “condition” or “fitness” and so hints at a sports drink. A sports drink? Maybe but with some irony. Faxe Kondi has sponsored Danish football leagues for years.
The announcement of the deal with the Uno-X team included a fun video featuring team boss Thor Hushovd in a green tracksuit like some 80s sports coach complete with an 80s song chanting “Take it to the limit”.
The logo features on the team kit and vehicles. Above all when Uno-X riders win, soigneurs hand out bottles. According to The Cycling Podcast Royal Brewery has paid a hefty sum for the deal and it’s surely written into the contract that the team has be seen celebrating with it. But is it a winner?
Tasting notes
The town of Faxe has a lakrids liquorice factory too, so there was some curiosity, would it have an unusual taste? Would it surge out of the can like a Uno-X rider attacking at KM0, then lead a chilly charge down the gullet with a long finish worthy of Jonas Abrahamsen?
No, it tastes of Sprite.
It is a clear liquid and moderately carbonated. There’s a light lemon and lime taste that’s more evocative of stainless steel vats of trisodium citrate and potassium carbonate than a stroll through a citrus grove.
Not having had Sprite for years, it was time to buy some and do a blind taste comparison. Get someone else to pour identical amounts into matching glasses, shuffle them on the table like the magician’s cup trick, all while your blogger’s eyes were closed.
Sipping and sampling like a wine anorak made it possible to tell them apart. One was better, with a richer taste and more body. Which one was it? Faxe Kondi. A triumph but it did not leave Sprite trailing, the two came to the finish together and Faxe Kondi was a bike length ahead. This was down to the superiority in flavour. It’s hardly a lemon and lime homebrew but has a richer, more rewarding taste.
Sprite has more calories, 47kcal of every per 100ml compared to 41kcal for Faxe Kondo. Kondi uses dextrose, 9.6g per 100ml and also a small amount of caffeine and salt too, 0.05g per 100ml. This means it certainly doesn’t taste salty but it can help thicken the feel.
Is it a sports drink? It’s marketed as such. Faxe Kondi has caffeine and quinine but seemingly because they are bitter and enhance the aroma. It’s got less energy than Sprite or Coke.
The peloton comparison is Red Bull which has 46kcal per 100ml, comparable. But the Austrian drink has at least four times the caffeine and is what might be called an “acquired taste”, users seem to tolerate the mouthwash or brake fluid aroma as the price of their caffeine fix; when was the last time you saw one of their riders with a can?
The Verdict
Tastes like Sprite but better. A cold can on a hot day is good.
It’s a World Tour team sponsor product you can enjoy in the moment. Only like a PostNL stamp or an FDJ scratchcard, the sales are limited unless you visit the team’s home country.
Uno-X riders might be paid to swig it after winning but it’s light, refreshing and includes useful carbs. It won’t make them faster but it will add to the satisfaction of victory. Skol.
Join us next week, when Inrng lays a floor with Quickstep products.
Joking aside, I like this sort of thing. Globalisation has meant that some sponsors can be seen everywhere (you can find Quickstep floors in any British DIY store), but every now and again cycling sponsorship opens a window into another world where mundane things suddenly seem exotic to a remote audience. And at least its not a betting product that dominate many other sports.
Can we persuade Irn Bru to sponsor a team in time for the Scottish Grand Depart?
It does tell is that the audience for the Uno-X team is Denmark and Norway, both for their title sponsor and now Faxe. But one theory is they are boosted by Vingegaard, he brings in huge Danish audiences and so an entire other team can exist and thrive. They may well manage fine without him but he boosts value for others.
Actually, Faxe beer is a staple at least in Germany, too. Often found at gas stations in its unusual 1 liter can picturing a viking. As far as I can remember, it tastes pretty much like your typical northern European Pilsner/Lager. Might it be that they chose to advertise their soft drink because of limits on alcohol advertising?