With millions of cases of the stuff sold every year, many consumers wonder where it comes from and how it all started. The true history of soda isn’t anything exciting – or it is? You’re probably familiar with the term soft drink – you know that stuff that we buy from McDonalds.
Well, there is actually a lot of history behind what we call a soft drink. This name comes from the phrase ‘soda water’, which, amazingly, dates all the way back to 1798. It was in 1767 that Joseph Priestly invented the first-ever carbonated water mixture.
This kind fellow discovered a way to fuse carbon dioxide with water, and ever since then, Americans have never looked back. The first mixture of pop was made with a beer vat and a bowl of water.
The Invention of a Similar Process
After Joseph invented the first formulation, it wasn’t long before a similar process was developed. It was in 1771 that a chemistry professor, known as Torbern Bergman, created a similar process.
In an effort to cure his poor health, this man was desperately trying to find a way to replicate the natural water produced in Earth’s soda springs. He felt that reproducing this mineral water was the only way he would be able to cure his poor health.
Fast-forward To Today
These days, carbonated water is created through the process of injecting pressurized carbon dioxide into tap water, and a carbonator is used for this process. Before the early 20th century, the majority of producers were pharmacists, and these individuals were the ones making it because they had knowledge of chemistry and medicine.
The very first bottled pop was not produced in the United States until 1835. During this time, the local pharmacist was the person who was well-known for producing it. Before 1914, most drugs could be purchased over the counter, so it wasn’t disturbing to see pharmacists filling some of the first bottles of the stuff with cocaine and many other drugs.
Since many types of drugs were being added, it started to give soda fountains a bad reputation because the public viewed them as being habit-forming. One of the first types of soft drink was root beer, which was created and sold during 1876. The famous and well-known beverage Coca-Cola was introduced to the market in 1881.
The Official Soft Drink
It was about 70 years later that the very first official diet soft drink was created, which was in 1952. Many other types were created shortly after. RC cola was created in 1958, and it was the first nationally-distributed diet cola. In the 1960s diet Pepsi and Fresca entered the market.
Since they were first made, there is no doubt that these drinks have come a long way. These days, billions of cases of soda are being sold. This is the basic history of soda. Now, you just need to decide what role you want to play in it.
Do you want to be the person who buys pre-made pop from the big corporations or do you want to be the unique individual who buys their own machine and goes on to make several famous and brilliant flavorful creations? If you want to make amazing homemade pop, then you need to check out our top-three list.
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