Drinking a glass of lemon water on a hot Sunday? Doesn't feel too refreshing, right? Let's put some ice cubes in it. Better, but still, we all would love that extra fizz, right?
Well, our ancestors have never disappointed us when it comes to food and drinks. Just imagine an emperor of the Middle East sweating badly, while his advisors try to find a way to cool him before he beheads them. Funny, but that's how all this began. Soldiers were dispatched towards the north and south of the world to gather snow and ice, while engineers were hired to build large vaults to store them. This valuable, solid water was a marvel, a luxury and a privilege to have then. So, let's dive and swim our way through the icy currents of time, where every splash reveals a new chapter in the history of cold drinks, from ice-filled wine glasses to the bubbles in your favourite soda today.
Invention: The First Taste of Cold
As mentioned before, our ancestors were always great at eating and drinking. It was more than 4000 years ago when the concept of mixing ice and snow in drinks came to light. Credit can't be given to any particular person or kingdom, as people in different parts of the world have developed this method called ?ice harvesting?. From China to Mesopotamia and from Romans to Persians, everybody was busy mixing ice with fruits, wine, water and honey. While in the East, ice houses were built to store the snow and ice, the Westerners built domes which used insulation and desert night air to keep their water frozen. However, this was a luxury only the rulers and the ultra-rich could afford. So let's flow to the next part, wherein iced drinks became a medium of trade connecting all these civilisations.
Ice For The People: From Luxury to Trade
The Asians were ahead of the Europeans in terms of serving chilled drinks. ?Sharbat? (a non-alcoholic drink made from fruits, flowers, herbs or spices) And? Panna? (another non-alcoholic drink made from raw mangoes) had become popular in Asia. Vendors set up their shops, selling these drinks with ice and snow brought from the Himalayas. This had become a profitable business, and even the royal families of different kingdoms started trading them among each other. As is a common gesture today, families used to serve these drinks to guests back then as well.
Coming to Europe, cold drinks were still a luxury meant for the wealthy. In some cases, snow or ice was imported for special occasions, but this was rare and expensive. So, to fix this issue, let's move ahead to see what they did.
Fizz and Flavour: The Carbon Revolution
The turning point in the history of cold drinks came in the 18th century, when English chemist Joseph Priestley discovered how to mix carbon dioxide in water. A few years later, a Swiss watchmaker by the name of Johann Jacob Schweppe decided to switch his profession due to scientific curiosity. In 1783, he developed a method for mthe ass production of carbonated water. Then, in 1819, an American physician, Samuel Fahnestock, invented the first soda fountain, a device designed to pour carbonated water from under a counter. Finally, it was John Matthews who brought the soda revolution in the 1830s. So many people work just so that we get the taste of the fizz! And what followed next was widespread soda fountains being set up everywhere in the world. These soda fountains became an alternative to bars as a dry place for social gatherings. Even the artists joined in by painting these fountains, some were even crafted out of marble, brass and mirrors! Even performers joined in. These were young servants who operated the fountain with grace and charm.
However, the world here being talked about is the free world, i.e., America and Europe. The rest of the world was under colonial rule and far away from these inventions. Soda fountains were introduced gradually, but they were kept away from the common people to maintain the disparity between them and the colonial rulers. Hence, most of Asia, in particular, continued with their traditional sharbats and pannas.
But, as you know, change is the only constant. Eventually, people were fed up and started looking for alternatives in the 20th century. They wanted even easier access to sodas. So, let's move on from soda fountains now.
Modern Era: How Cold Drinks Keep Evolving
Coca-Cola (1886) and Pepsi (1893) had begun their intense rivalry during the soda fountain era itself. Both of them grew into symbols of cold drinks around the world. Coca-Cola, in particular, was seen as a sign of American culture and freedom during the World Wars. Entering new regions, both companies began introducing cold drinks in local flavours, like mango in India, Guarana in Brazil and so on.
However, again, a section of society got fed up and started looking for healthier alternatives, which led to the launch of many brands like Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Thums Up, Limca, Campa Cola, etc., and today we have hundreds of cold drink flavours and brands to choose from. I bet our ancestors might be feeling jealous from up there!
Since people wanted easier access to cold drinks, these companies began selling them in glass bottles initially. However, the unreliability of glass bottles led to the introduction of plastic packaging. Now this sounds familiar, right? Cold drinks that we have today are in cans and bottles. And with the introduction of computer science and artificial intelligence, new flavours and bottles of different shapes and sizes are being launched now and then. Humanity that once struggled to get snow and ice from the mountains is now having a cold drink sitting at home!
The Future Slip: A Refreshing Story Being Written
Cold drinks, our refreshing friends, have come a long way, from kings and queens to the common man; what once took huge efforts to make is now just opening a bottle cap away. I think we must thank our previous generations for their efforts, curiosity and inventions that have allowed us to enjoy and refresh ourselves. But hey, don't fall into nostalgia! This journey is far from over. With science by our side, we need to make sure that our future generations thank us as well! We aren't here to just drink and burp! So the next time you hear the fizz, remember that our friend, the cold drink, still has a long road ahead, and we, the lazy ones ourselves, are to guide it!