I’ll have a soda, a soft drink or a soda

Drinks without alcohol. No matter what you call them, we’re a nation of soda lovers (Midwesterners call it “pop”), whether it’s Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Fanta Orange, A&W Root Beer, Dr Pepper, or any of dozens of other deals you get. because Americans consume a whopping 650 eight-ounce servings a year per person, even though the 2016 figure is the lowest in nearly 30 years. There’s no question the addition of designer coffee and energy drinks has taken its toll on the soft drink industry, but the U.S. sweetened beverages. (Dentists love you!)

This time, exploring Marco Polo cannot take credit. Of course, the Chinese had been drinking tea for centuries, but mineral springs in Europe apparently inspired early Parisians to add honey and lemon to naturally sparkling spring water and began selling the tasty drink to the French. This delicious alternative to hot tea and coffee appeared in the middle of the 17th century and was called “lemonade”. Chemists were later able to double the carbonation and add it to still water, achieving the same effect. An instant success, it was probably the precursor to Perrier.

In 1810, two enterprising men from Charleston, South Carolina named Simon and Rundell took out the first US patent for their invention that gave pure water its bubbly quality. But it wasn’t until twenty years later that inventor John Mathews came up with his own design that added carbonation, and began marketing the fizzy stuff in soda fountains. At first, extracts of sarsaparilla and fruit were added to the water, and Americans flocked to pharmacies in search of these new fizzy drinks. Many of the drugstore owners promoted their flavored bubbly drinks as beneficial to health. The origins of cola, for example, are attributed to an Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, in 1886. He invented the original formula and sold it at his pharmacy source as a medicine. No wonder it lit as much as the gangsters: it contained cocaine. Oh!

Creating new flavors for their sparkling water was a lot more fun than handing out cough drops and syrups, so once again, another pharmacist named Charles Alderton created Dr Pepper in 1885, in Waco, Texas. It is reported that it contained 23 different flavors to create its unique taste, and Alderton may have alluded to Dr Pepper’s “digestive benefits” as a selling point. (At least, he made you burp.) In 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair, as hot dogs and ice cream cones made their debut, Dr Pepper and a variety of soft drinks became all the rage, and America’s thirst was insatiable. .

More companies were quick to capitalize on the growing popularity and sell their products in grocery stores, but the main challenge was keeping the carbonation in the drink after bottling. It wasn’t until 1892 that a successful cap was invented by a Baltimore machinist named William Painter, who patented his invention and successfully prevented bubbles from escaping. Of course, this opened the door for glassmakers, and the Libby Glass Company, among others, got in on the action.

During the 1920s, the first six-packs arrived with the convenient cardboard case and vending machines soon followed. Soft drinks are here to stay. With
In addition to cans, larger and larger packs of soft drinks appeared on supermarket shelves, allowing shoppers to stock up on their favorites.

Although consumption has declined in recent years, especially among “diet” drinks that contain artificial sweeteners, there is no question that Americans love their beverages. And that will never go down.