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. 

Pop has its origins in the 1770s when English and Swedish scientists figured out ways to infuse carbon into water.  In 1806, a Yale Chemistry professor sold soda waters in New Haven, Connecticut.  Soon, other Americans were building and manufacturing soda water fountains and selling carbonated water in pharmacies.  It was sold in pharmacies because carbonated water was seen as a healthy habit and many people went to the fountain daily. 

Before long, pharmacists started infusing the water with herbs and flavors to make it healthier and more enjoyable.  Since there was no set way of making it healthier and pharmacists competed in making the best tasting and healthiest soda water, it was inevitable that some of them would stick and become more popular than the others.

• 1866-Vernors Ginger Ale is considered to be one of the first two pops continuously made in the US until modern times.  First created by a Detroit, Michigan, pharmacist.  When Vernors became increasingly popular, he began franchising its production to other pharmacies under strict quality control.  Ginger ale was first brewed in Scotland as a mildly alcoholic beverage.  It was considered an herbal beverage that helped in a variety of ailments, including upset stomach.  Vernors is one of the few big brand ginger ales that still uses ginger root.  It is now owned by the Dr. Pepper people (as is Canada Dry Ginger Ale).

• 1866-Hires Root Beer was first made by a philadelphia pharmacist and shares the title of first pop. Root beer was also originally mildly alcoholic (0.4% ABV–which is low enough to be considered a non-alcoholic beverage even in its original form).  Root beer is mainly an herbal infusion of sasafras root extract and other ingredients, sometimes licorice root.  It was also considered an herbal supplement with curative qualities.  Hires Root Beer is now also owned by the Dr. Pepper people (as is A&W and ICB Root Beer).

• 1885-Dr. Pepper was invented by a German pharmacist in Waco, Texas.  Later it was marketed as a new kind of cola in 1904.  It was originally referred to as a ”Waco” at the pharmacy–”A round of Wacos for everyone!” 

• 1886-Coca Cola was modified from a cocawine that had been invented in 1885 in Columbus, Georgia, by a pharmacist following the lead of a Corsican blend of wine and cocaine called Vin Mariani–the American version was called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca.  In 1866 Georgia entered a phase of prohibition which meant that the brew needed to be converted to a non-alcoholic variant.  A sugary syrup was formulated to mimic the taste of wine–the cocaine stayed in the recipe.  The new beverage was introduced in a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.  Early on cocaine was viewed as having high medicinal potential, explaining why a pharmacist would experiment with making new “herbal concoctions” with the drug.  Only later was cocaine replaced by the socialy acceptable caffeine.

• Early 1890s-Pepsi was invented by a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina.  It was originally called “Brad’s Drink” in 1898–referring to the pharmacist-inventor Caleb Bradham and was later renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1903.

• 1905-RC Cola was invented as yet another cola drink by a Columbus, Georgia, pharmacist.  RC Cola is now owned by the Dr. Pepper people and appears to function as their cola product–as every soft drink company needs a version of this.

• 1907-Faygo is founded in Detroit, Michigan, by two brothers who were Russian immigrants and bakers.  Their original three flavors were Strawberry (now Red Pop), Fruit Punch, and Grape–based on cake frosting recipes they used in their baking days in Russia.  The brothers would make the pop one day and sell it the next for 3 cents or two for a nickel.  If the selling was slow (particularly in the winter), they’d sell bread and fish instead.  Faygo is also credited with spreading the Canadian word “pop” into the American midwest instead of the more American “soda.”  In the 1960s, Faygo came out with a Faygo Brau (German for “brew”) which was a ginger beer that looked and poured like beer.  It has subsequently been discontinued.   

This one’s a freeby for you:  Colas (pop with the flavor cola) are so acidic that you can use them to clean rust off of cars and hub caps.  First pour the cola on a cloth, then rub the rust.  It may help to soak the rusted item or keep a soaked cloth on it for a bit to eat away the rust.  If a tooth is placed in a glass of cola, it will disolve in a rather short amount of time.  Now, think about this:  If you drink cola every day, it’s like you’re soaking it day after day after day.  No wonder you get cavities!

“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.  During the American colonial period, the beer that was popular was called small beer and was low in alcohol content, most likely similar to the Northern European traditional beers that are less than 3% ABV, usually about 2% ABV.  This Nordic traditional beer is still brewed in homes, factory cafeterias, university cafeterias, kids camps, and sold in stores by a variety of brands in each country. 

It is considered non-alcoholic and tea todlers consider it an acceptable beverage.  When asked, “Do you drink?” if the answer is, “I’ve never drunk anything stronger than small beer,” then you are not considered to have ever drunk.