Pop quiz! Who invented your favorite soda? – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 20 questions in the Pop quiz! Who invented your favorite soda? quiz, each with a short explanation. Fizz through the origins, ingredients and stories behind the world's favorite soft drinks. Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 20 questions1. Which English scientist invented artificially carbonated water in 1767?
Answer: Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley found a way to infuse water with carbon dioxide in 1767 by hanging a bowl of water over a beer vat at a brewery in Leeds. He published his method in 1772.
2. Fanta was first created during World War II in which country?
Answer: Germany
Fanta was created in Germany in 1940 under Max Keith, because a wartime trade embargo cut off Coca-Cola syrup supplies. The orange version known today was launched in Naples, Italy, in 1955.
3. Which bitter compound gives tonic water its distinctive taste?
Answer: Quinine
Tonic water gets its bitter taste from quinine, an alkaloid from cinchona bark. Quinine was used against malaria, and British officers in India mixed it with gin to make it easier to drink.
4. Coca-Cola was first sold at a pharmacy in 1886 in which US city?
Answer: Atlanta
Pharmacist John Pemberton created Coca-Cola, and it was first sold in May 1886 at Jacobs' Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia. It cost five cents a glass at the soda fountain.
5. Johann Jacob Schweppe founded his soda company in 1783 in which city?
Answer: Geneva
Johann Jacob Schweppe, a German-born jeweller and amateur scientist, founded his carbonated water business in Geneva in 1783. He moved the company to London in 1792.
6. Which pharmacist invented Coca-Cola in 1886?
Answer: John Pemberton
Atlanta pharmacist John Stith Pemberton created Coca-Cola in 1886 and first sold it at Jacobs' Pharmacy. Asa Candler later bought the rights and turned it into a national brand.
7. Before becoming Pepsi-Cola in 1898, Pepsi was sold under what name?
Answer: Brad's Drink
Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, created the drink in 1893 and called it Brad's Drink. He renamed it Pepsi-Cola in 1898.
8. The name Fanta was shortened from which German word?
Answer: Fantasie (imagination)
Fanta comes from the German word Fantasie, meaning imagination. It was created in wartime Germany around 1940, when Coca-Cola syrup could no longer be imported.
9. Coca-Cola's name comes from coca leaves and which caffeine-rich nut?
Answer: Kola nut
The name Coca-Cola comes from its two original flavour sources: coca leaves and caffeine-rich kola nuts. Pemberton's bookkeeper Frank Robinson suggested the name and wrote the famous script logo.
10. Lemon-lime soda Sprite was launched in 1961 by which company?
Answer: The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company launched Sprite in the United States in 1961 to compete with 7 Up. It grew out of Fanta Klare Zitrone, a clear lemon soda sold in West Germany.
11. British colonists in India drank quinine tonic water to help prevent which disease?
Answer: Malaria
Tonic water began as a way to take bitter quinine, an antimalarial drug, in 19th-century British India. Officers mixed it with gin to make it easier to drink, which gave rise to the gin and tonic.
12. Tonic water glows bright blue when placed under which type of light?
Answer: Ultraviolet (black) light
The quinine in tonic water is fluorescent. It absorbs ultraviolet light and gives it off again as visible blue light, so tonic glows under a black light.
13. 7 Up originally contained which mood-stabilising drug until 1948?
Answer: Lithium
7 Up was launched in 1929 as 'Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda' and contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilising compound. The lithium was taken out of the recipe in 1948.
14. Fanta was invented in wartime Germany because imports of what were cut off?
Answer: Coca-Cola syrup
During World War II, a trade embargo stopped Coca-Cola syrup from reaching Nazi Germany. In 1940, Coca-Cola's German branch under Max Keith created Fanta from whatever ingredients were available, such as whey and apple pomace.
15. Irn-Bru, the bright orange soda, is a famous national drink of which country?
Answer: Scotland
Irn-Bru is made by A.G. Barr, which started in Falkirk, and is often called Scotland's 'other national drink' after whisky. It has been made since 1901 and outsells Coca-Cola in Scotland.
16. Wartime German Fanta was made from whey and leftover pulp of which fruit?
Answer: Apple
During World War II, Coca-Cola's German operation under Max Keith created Fanta from local leftovers: whey from cheesemaking and apple pomace from cider pressing. A trade embargo had cut off the supply of Coca-Cola syrup.
17. Which artificial sweetener is used in Diet Coke?
Answer: Aspartame
Diet Coke launched in 1982 and was marketed heavily on its aspartame sweetening. Aspartame was promoted as sweeter and better tasting than the older sweetener saccharin.
18. Which acid gives Coca-Cola its sharp, tangy bite?
Answer: Phosphoric acid
Coca-Cola gets its tangy bite from phosphoric acid, which appears on its ingredient list next to caramel color, caffeine and natural flavors. Many fruit-flavored sodas use citric acid instead.
19. Pharmacist Caleb Bradham created Pepsi in which US state?
Answer: North Carolina
Pharmacist Caleb Bradham created Pepsi in New Bern, North Carolina, in the 1890s. At first it was called Brad's Drink, and it was renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898.
20. Which orange soda brand, sold worldwide, is owned by PepsiCo?
Answer: Mirinda
Mirinda is PepsiCo's global orange soda brand. It first appeared in Spain in 1959 and competes directly with Coca-Cola's Fanta, while Orangina belongs to Suntory.