Barq’s - The blog with BITE!

I’ve wondered quite a bit about the story behind Barq’s Root Beer and caffeine. The caffeine content fuels many root beer consumers’ dislike for Barq’s, while for others the caffeine BUZZ is the famous BITE!

History of Caffeine in Barq’s
This quote is found on several websites that have a Barq’s history. I can’t verify the original source yet, but it sounds like an accurate history:

The drinks popularity was unstoppable. By 1937, 62 bottling plants had been established in 22 states. The numbers peaked in 1950 at about 200, but by that time the “root beer” had been forced to undergo changes. The first came in 1938 when the federal government banned caffeine in root beer. Barq simply changed the name of his drink to Barq’s Sr. and then set about developing a caffeine free root beer. When the government reversed it caffeine ban in 1960, Barq’s Sr. disappered,and the original recipe once again appeared, as root beer. This created some confusion about what to call the drink. Many had inadvertently called it Barq’s Root Beer, but it wouldn’t take long for the old man to gracefullly straighten one out by saying “Barq’s, son. Just Barq’s.”

I drank my first Barq’s in January 1990. It was bottled in Salt Lake City and was caffeine free. The “Barq’s Has Bite” slogan still applied in my opinion. I had no idea back then that the original Barq’s from the south had caffeine. Barq’s Inc. made a smart move by bottling Barq’s without the caffeine in Utah. Deseret News published an article on September 10, 2003:

Barq’s Root Beer usually contains caffeine, but in Utah, any Barq’s distributed by Swire Coca-Cola is caffeine-free. I called Swire’s offices and was told the company has it specially produced because of the local market.

As many people know the majority of the people in Utah are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For the most part, the LDS population, stay away from caffeinated beverages. In 2001 Coke issued a Barq’s Recall. The cans that said “No Caffeine” actually contained caffeine. I wonder how many people noticed?

So why did the original formula for Barq’s included caffeine? I can only assume it was for taste.
According to the Coke website :

While many soft drinks are caffeine-free, some contain a small amount of caffeine as part of the flavor profile… The caffeine that is added to Coca-Cola classic, diet Coke and the other products in which it is used is for flavor purposes only. We use only the amount necessary to achieve the appropriate optimum flavor profile for the particular product sold. In fact, in the United States and in many other countries, the level of caffeine in most soft drinks is well below the amount legally permitted by regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. FDA.

Taste of Caffeine

Why caffeine is in Coca-Cola®In Coca-Cola, Diet Coke®, and Coke Light®, caffeine plays a vital flavor role by rounding out the true cola taste that consumers love. Flavor is the only reason for using caffeine in these products. The caffeine content of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Light never exceeds the amount necessary to achieve the correct flavor profile.

What caffeine tastes like: Caffeine has a distinctive bitter taste on its own. It also influences other flavor components by enhancing or suppressing their effects. For example, caffeine seems to accentuate sweetness and saltiness … but in experiments it has been shown to reduce the intensity of licorice and some nutty flavors.

The Study: Caffeine May Add Zing to Cola, But It Doesn’t Add Flavor , By Neil Osterweil, in 2000, set out to debunk the “caffeine for flavor” theory:

In the study, which used Coke products, only two out of 25 hard-core cola drinkers were able in a blind taste test to detect whether a soda sample contained caffeine. The results seem to cast doubt on claims made by soft drink manufacturers that caffeine, a proven addictive, mood-altering drug, is present in soft drinks only as a flavor enhancer, suggest the researchers.

More on Caffeine and Barq’s to come…

Links:
Caffeine and Health - Coke’s official statement on caffeine and health
Caffeine Content Table in foods and beverages
Caffeine Calulator by the Sleep Foundation

This entry was posted on Monday, February 7th, 2005 @ 12:44 pm on the category Barq's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.