Adding a little more “POP” into Soda Making!
The invention of flavoured soda can't really be credited to any single person or country. But we could probably all agree that one of the most significant innovations in the realm of flavoured soda was the invention of Coca-Cola. The new era of Cola-flavoured sodas lead to the popularisation and consequent inundation of the soda market!
Flavoured sodas can be traced all the way back to the medieval middle east where street vendors would flavour soda with various sweeteners and lemon, apple or pomegranate to make a simple enjoyable beverage. The origins of Coca-cola wouldn't start until decades later in 1885 when Dr John Pemberton came up with his famous recipe. The doctor, who had been wounded in the American civil war, ventured to find a substitute for morphine to quench his morphine addiction. He invented “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca”; this recipe included two key additives to soda: African Kola nut, the source of caffeine and cocaine derived from coca leaf. It became popularised in drug-stores throughout the United States, and by the 20th century successful marketing campaigns had made “Coca-Cola”the most iconic drink of North America.
Today, the popularisation of “soft drink” - the counterpart to hard liquor - would become one of the largest markets in the food industry. Numerous soft-drinks have come onto the market since, with cola flavoured beverages such as “Dr. Pepper '' and “Pepsi” continuing to dominate the market. It is important to note that modern cola drinks no longer contain cocaine but are still slightly caffeinated and sweet!
Since a cultural shift in the mid-20th century, where healthy eating and drinking was becoming more normalised. Soft-drinks have adapted by reducing the amount of high fructose corn syrup and additives to soda drinks and instead opted for various artificial sweeteners such as aspartame. Despite all these advances, we still prefer our humble soda drink infused with our __name of brewyo product___ with a “pop” of pomegranate and maybe a generous dash of gin.
Fun fact: Coca-Cola drinks produced in Mexico, colloquially known as “Mexicoke” are sweetened with cane sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup giving it a slightly different and unique taste!
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