June 6, 2008 at 10:28 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Energy Drink, Herbs, Irn Bru, Pop, Red Bull, Regulation, Soft Drink, Supplements
The energy drink business, which seems to be all the craze in the beverage industry, is interesting for its relationship to classic carbonated beverages. As I discussed in my last post, many American pops had their origin in a health-food fad as herbal supplements of one kind or another.
Although Iron Bru (Irn Bru) is considered the first energy drink (1901), Japanese and Austrian brands have brought the business into the mainstream of world pop culture. Interestingly, energy drinks are considered a dietary supplement and are often located in a different section (even in the vitamin aisle) in many stores. Read the rest of this entry »
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June 2, 2008 at 7:39 am (History, Pop)
Tags: beer, Carbonated Beverage, Ginger Ale, Pop, Root Beer, Soda, Soft Drink, Wine
Having an interest in the beverage industry, I’ve been reading about the beginnings of the American soft drink industry that is warring on the teeth of the world. In contrast to pop, beer has no sugar. But, even some soft drinks have their beginnings from types of “beer” such as root beer and ginger ale/beer–which are now usually entirely non-alcoholic and the colas have their origins in a mixture of wine and cocaine (if the old formula would have stuck, we’d be talking about the hard drink industry–with hard drugs!). Interestingly, only one of the firsts was not invented/founded by pharmacists trying to make you think you’re going to be healthier drinking their stuff. Only one of them was made with the expressed intent of just having fun and drinking a sugar packed drink.
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March 25, 2008 at 7:39 am (History, beer)
Tags: American colonies, monastaries, small beer
“He who drinks beer sleeps well. He who sleeps well cannot sin. He who does not sin goes to heaven. Amen.” -Anonymous Monk
The first commercially sold beers were brewed by monks. Until then, people brewed their own beer at home or the neighborhood eatery brewed beer for their patrons who did not have a kitchen of their own. Beer was largely seen as something drunk with food (not to get drunk) and generally had a low alcohol content. Read the rest of this entry »
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March 25, 2008 at 6:34 am (economics and beer)
Tags: barley malt, beer, cans, corn, craft beer, economics, ethynol, hopps, kegs, malt, metal, Samuel Adams, stock beer
Is the price of beer on the market going up or down? Some recent trends are sending the price of beer into strange waters. The price of metals used in cans and kegs has gone up. Craft beers have become serious competitors to stock beers. And hops are being affected by everything from ethanol to weather. Read the rest of this entry »
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