Cola Cubes are one of the simpler ideas in British boiled sweets - take a popular soft drink flavour, put a chewy centre inside a hard shell, and cut it into a cube rather than leaving it round. The idea is simple; pinning down exactly when it started is less so.
What actually makes it a Cola Cube
The defining feature isn't just the cola flavour - plenty of sweets are cola-flavoured - it's the combination of a hard, cube-shaped sugar shell wrapped around a distinctly softer, chewier centre. That contrast in texture, hard outside and yielding inside, is what separates a Cola Cube from a simple hard cola-flavoured boiled sweet, and it's the detail most fans of the format actually remember.
The name most associated with it
Stockley's is the manufacturer most closely linked with Cola Cubes in the UK. The company dates back to 1918, when Malcolm Stockley returned home to Accrington, Lancashire, after serving in the First World War and resumed toffee-making in a shed on the town's high street. Stockley's has kept making traditional boiled sweets, this one included, ever since, and the brand is still the name most people reach for when they want the classic version.
An honest gap on dates
We can't give you a confirmed invention year for Cola Cubes specifically - it isn't documented anywhere we could verify. What's well remembered, rather than strictly dated, is that they were a fixture of 1970s pick 'n' mix counters, and several other retro-sweet makers have marketed the flavour on exactly that nostalgia since. Treat the 1970s as the earliest well-attested era of popularity, not a confirmed launch date.
What we stock
We carry Stockley's Cola Cubes 3kg and Dobsons Cola Cubes Jar 2.72kg. See more classic boiled sweets in our Retro Sweets collection, and the rest of the brand in our Stockley's range.
Frequently asked questions
What's inside a cola cube?
A hard, cube-shaped cola-flavoured shell around a softer, chewy centre.
Who makes the classic Cola Cubes?
Stockley's, founded in Accrington in 1918 by Malcolm Stockley, is the name most associated with them.
When were cola cubes invented?
No documented date exists - they're well remembered from 1970s pick 'n' mix counters, which is the earliest well-attested era, not a confirmed launch year.
What cola cube products do you stock?
Stockley's Cola Cubes 3kg and Dobsons Cola Cubes Jar 2.72kg.