Sodas are notorious for being unhealthy. However, we could not resist its sweet and refreshing taste. It’s okay to chug down a can or small bottle of soda at a time, especially if you need a quick sugar or energy boost.
Since the first sodas were introduced in the late 18th century, they have been a big part of our average life. All the oldest soda brands on this list have survived, some of them being the world’s biggest brands.
A short history of soda
Sodas or soft drinks are sweet carbonated drinks. They trace their origins to the late 1700s when Joseph Priestly infused water with carbon dioxide, thus producing the world’s first artificially carbonated beverage.
However, sodas were not sold as a sugary treat but as medicine instead. This is why only pharmacists manufactured them at the time. They developed their own recipes and marketed them as tonic or medicine. However, these fizzy drinks eventually became the popular sodas we know today. They come in several flavors and are available anywhere – in supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores, drugstores, restaurants and fast-food chains, gas stations, and online retailers.
The oldest existing soda brands
All soda brands on this list have survived. Some of them are even the world’s biggest and most iconic soda brands.
1. Schweppes (1783)
Schweppes is the oldest soda brand still on the market. Jacob Schweppe started the company in 1783 in Geneva, Switzerland, by manufacturing and selling carbonated water. Schweppes moved to London in 1792 to grow his business. The brand became a huge success thanks to its aggressive marketing campaign.
Besides carbonated water, the company sells variants like the popular Ginger Ale and Club Soda.
Today, Schweppes is sold all over the world. Different companies own it in several countries. For instance, Keurig Dr. Pepper owns the Schweppes brand in North America, while Coca-Cola owns it in several countries (including Australia and New Zealand). Asahi Group Holdings owns the Schweppes brand in Europe and other international markets.
2. Vernors Ginger Ale (1866)
Vernors Ginger Ale is the oldest existing ginger ale brand in the US. It all started when a Detroit pharmacist named James Vernor created Vernors Ginger Ale in 1866, presumably by accident.
According to several accounts, he left a barrel of ginger ale mix when he went to fight in the Civil War. When he returned four years later, he discovered that the ginger ale had turned into a better-tasting beverage. He sold Vernors Ginger Ale at his drugstore.
When his product became very popular, Vernor began selling it to other soda fountains. Eventually, the Vernor family began opening factories to manufacture and distribute the products on a larger scale. Today, Keurig Dr Pepper owns the brand.
3. Dr. Brown’s (1869)
Dr. Brown’s origins in New York City in 1869 are shrouded in mystery. According to legend, a New York physician named Dr. Brown concocted a celery tonic that became popular with kids. In another account, he created the tonic specifically for Jewish immigrant patients.
Either way, Dr. Brown’s became famous in New York City for Cel-Ray, a celery-flavored soda. The brand gained popularity in New York City, especially among Jewish delicatessen. Besides Cel-Ray, Dr. Brown’s other popular flavors include Cream Soda and Black Cherry.
4. Fioravanti (1878)
Fioravanti is an Ecuadorian soda brand, considered one of the world’s oldest soda brands on the market today.
Juan F. Fioravanti, an Italian immigrant, started making it in 1878. The first flavor was strawberry. Later, they added apple flavor. A fire destroyed the factory in 1901, but the company rebuilt it.
Fioravanti changed hands over the years. In 1940, José Peré and his family owned the company and expanded the product’s distribution, making Fioravanti Ecuador’s number-one soda brand. Today, Coca-Cola owns Fioravanti, as the soft drink giant manufactures and markets it in Ecuador and Spain.
5. Moxie (1885)
Augustin Thompson created Moxie in 1885. He was not a pharmacist like many other soda makers. Instead, he was a doctor who wanted to make a safe cure-all drink.
Thompson created a tonic called “Moxie Nerve Food,” whose secret ingredient is now known as gentian root. His friend Lieutenant Moxie, after whom the medicine was named, found the plant.
Thompson later added carbonated water to the drink and marketed the finished product as “Beverage Moxie Nerve Food.” At one point, Moxie was more popular than Coca-Cola. But its sales went down after the 1940s. Today, the Coca-Cola company owns the Moxie brand, which is mainly known in New England and Pennsylvania.
6. Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is the oldest big-name soft drink in the U.S. Charles Alderton, a pharmacist, created it in 1885 in Waco, Texas. He formulated a unique blend of 23 flavors while working at a local drugstore. People first called the drink “Waco.” It was initially sold as a tonic for energizing and digestion.
The drugstore owner, Wade Morrison, named it Dr Pepper after his friend. Morrison and a beverage chemist named Robert Lazenby later bought the rights to the formula from Alderton and expanded the brand.
Dr Pepper grew into a big name and now owns many other popular sodas. Its own unique flavor has made the brand iconic.
7. Coca-Cola (1886)
John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia. He created a syrup consisting of cocaine (from the cola leaf) and caffeine (from the kola nut). Initially, Pemberton developed this drink to overcome his morphine addiction.
He came up with his version of the French coca wine, an alcoholic drink consisting of wine with cocaine. However, because of the alcohol ban in Atlanta at the time, Pemberton made a non-alcoholic version that would become Coca-Cola. After Pemberton died, Asa G. Candler took over and grew the company.
Today, Coca-Cola is the world’s largest and most iconic soft drink brand. It also owns several other soda brands.
8. Pepsi
Coca-Cola’s closest rival, Pepsi, began in 1893 when pharmacist Caleb Bradham developed a drink that he called “Brad’s drink.” It consisted of kola nuts, nutmeg, caramel, and lemon oil. Bradham’s goal was to match Coca-Cola’s success with his version of the kola soda.
In 1898, he changed the name to Pepsi-Cola. The drink had a rough start and even went bankrupt once. But it bounced back and became very popular. Now, Pepsi is one of the biggest soda brands in the world.
9. Barq’s Root Beer
Barq’s Root Beer started in 1898 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Edward Charles Edmond Barq created this tasty drink. At first, he refused to call it root beer to avoid legal problems with other brands, most notably Hires Root Beer (which has been recently phased out). The company experimented with different flavors, including fruit-flavored variants.
The drink became popular and spread across the U.S. In 1995, Coca-Cola bought Barq’s. People still enjoy Barq’s Root Beer today.