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.  With soft drink producers jumping on the bandwagon with the smaller energy drink companies, they are returning to the original intent of pops.  However, trouble is brewing.  Just as cocawine became the victim of regulation in 1886, now energy drinks are drawing much greater criticism from government and health groups. 

Could it be that energy drinks will be another one of these historical quirks where future generations will look back and say, “What were they thinking, ingesting that stuff?”  It is very possible.  Some countries have banned or considered banning energy drinks.  Others have made ingredient regulations.  Now, there is further discussion of regulating them. 

To be quite honest, I don’t blame them.  I for one have never had an energy drink and don’t plan to.  I even avoid soft drinks, such as Sobe, that have herbs infused into them.  I am too nervous about the strenth of artificially produced herbal beverages and beverages with artificially added caffeine.  For now, I’ll stick to my tea, chamomille infusion, and yerba maté.

Recent articles on energy drink regulation (do a google search on “energy drinks” news and you will find articles from around the world about the dangers of energy drinks):

Energy Drink Safety Questioned by German Agency

Energy Drinks May Put Teenagers At Risk

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. 

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. 

As a result of the popularity of craft beers, large beer companies are acquiring small craft beer companies.  These beers can then be mass marketed as craft beers and the only thing that signals their true owner might be a small stamp on the bottom of the carton.  As a result of this competition and reorganizing of large beer companies, these large companies are decreasing production of their mainline stock beers.  

Meanwhile, beer consumption continues to grow, although most of the growth is in the craft beer area.  This growth is not only seen in binging, but in fine dining at brewpubs, microbreweries and the like.  Since craft beers are sold for higher prices and the decreased production of stock beers is decreasing the supply, the overall effect of the craft beer phenomenon is a rise in the price of beer across the board.  Add to this the other factors.

The price of metal is going up due to the incredible demand for metal and other commodities in China.  This is why copper pipes in houses and air conditioners are being stolen and one of the reasons oil prices keep rising.  This affects the price of beer through kegs and cans.  Once again, a factor that raises beer prices.

The third big reason for a rise in beer prices is the situation with hops and barley malt.  Last year, the European hops harvest failed.  At the same time, hops growers and perhaps some malt growers, seduced by subsidies, have been switching to corn to produce ethanol.  The combined effect of a bad hops harvest and the growth of ethanol production have made it difficult for a breweries to find the raw materials needed to brew beer. 

The net result of all these factors is a considerable growth in beer prices.  I predict that the craft beer phenomenon is here to stay–even if malt and hops might drive some small breweries out of business, now the big companies are vying for first place in craft beer production (led by Samuel Adams).  Metal prices will continue to go up, and so long as the ethanol fad continues and government interferes through subsidies, we can expect that malt and hops will continue to become rare.  The trends indicate that the price of beer will continue to go up and the best place to invest is in the craft beer industry or such companies that are adjusting well to this phenomenon.

 Dec. 2007-The Economist: Trouble Brewing

Dec. 2007-Sky News: Beer Industry Warns of the 4 pound Pint

July 2007-Scrap Metal Prices Up . . . Along With Beer Keg Thefts