National Beverage Day falls on May 6 and we couldn’t be more excited. The day encourages us to sit back, relax, and enjoy our favorite beverages. Beverages come in many forms. And whether you prefer a hold or a cold one, the good news is, there is one for every taste. The only thing that matters is that you pick up or make some of your favorites, gather with family and friends, and get ready to enjoy and unwind.
- 900 AD – The Mayans consume a beverage made from Xocolatl, better known these days as cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate.
- 1025 – Sharbat, a popular drink made from fruits or flower petals and usually served chilled, is mentioned in the “Canon of Medicine”.
- 16th Century – The world’s first coffee as we know it today is thought to have been made by a Yemeni named Omar in the 16th century.
- 1783 – The father of the soft drink industry is generally held to be German-Swiss jeweler Jacob Schweppe, who was the first large-scale producer of aerated water around 1783
- 1807 – The first carbonated drinks were made in the United States in 1807.
- 19th Century – Coca-Cola was created in the late 19th century.
- 1812 – The first known reference to the term “Pop”, was in 1812 in a letter written by English poet Robert Southey
- 1891 – Over 1500 types of cork and other bottle stopper patents were filed to attempt to stop aerated drinks from losing their carbonation too quickly. Finally, in 1891, in the United States, William Painter invented the “crown cork”, which gave the first truly effective, mass-producible, way to stop the carbonation from escaping from bottled carbonated drinks. This allowed, for the first time, people to buy carbonated beverages they could store at home.
- 1921 – The earliest mention of a National Beverage Day was in 1921 when “Bottled Carbonated Beverage Day” was named in a trade publication called The Re-Ly-On Bottler.
- 1925 – The Bottled Carbonated Beverage Day during this time assures customers that bottled soda is free from impurities and good for health.
- 1952 – James Bond makes his first appearance — his favorite beverage: martini, shaken, not stirred.
- The first recorded beers were made in ancient Egypt, where it was so weak that even children drank them. However, it is suspected that beer could date back to the Neolithic period.
- In ancient cultures, people believed that bathing and drinking mineral waters from springs, which were naturally carbonated, could cure many diseases.
- As such, scientists and inventors sought ways to artificially produce these mineral waters. Artificially produced carbonated beverages get their start from this; the first carbonated beverages were just non-flavored carbonated water sold as mineral water tonics.
- The term “soda-pop” was a moniker given to carbonated beverages because people thought the bubbles were produced from soda (sodium bicarbonate), as with certain other products that were popular at that time. A more correct moniker would have been “carbonated pop”.
- Keeping aerated drinks in a bottle was a huge problem for a long time in the distribution of soft drinks. As such, until the advent of crown cork (crown cap), carbonated beverages were generally only available in pharmacies.
- The most consumed beverage in the world is tea.
- Beer takes second place.
- Water is not considered a beverage!
- The largest beverage company in the world is Coca-Cola.
- If you shine ultraviolet light on tonic water, it becomes fluorescent, because of the quinine in it.
- Dean Martin was often seen carrying a glass of whiskey. In actual fact, he rarely, if ever, drank. The image was just part of his act.
- The official drink of the USA is bourbon.
- Lots of children first became entrepreneurs when they opened a lemonade stand near their homes.
- The day before Thanksgiving—known as Blackout Wednesday—is the biggest drinking day of the year in many areas of the United States.
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