 | |
| Type | Root Beer |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Keurig Dr Pepper |
| Country of origin | 117-119 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Introduced | 1876 |
| Discontinued | 2010s |
| Color | Caramel |
| Related products | A&W Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer, Mug Root Beer, Barq's |
| Website | www |
Hires Root Beer was an American brand of root beer that was manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper. Introduced in 1876, it was one of the longest continuously made soft drinks in the United States. [1]
Hires Root Beer was created by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires. The official story is that Hires first tasted root beer, a traditional American beverage dating back to the colonial era, while on his honeymoon in 1875. [2] However, historical accounts vary and the actual time and place of the discovery may never be known. [3]
By 1876, Hires had developed his own recipe and was marketing 25-cent packets of powder which each yielded one US gallon (3.8 L) of root beer. At Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition in 1876, he cultivated new customers by giving away free glasses of it. Hires marketed it as a solid concentrate of 16 wild roots and berries. It claimed to purify the blood and make rosy cheeks. [4]
In 1884, he began producing a liquid extract and a syrup for use in soda fountains, and was soon shipping root beer in kegs and producing a special fountain dispenser called the "Hires Automatic Munimaker." In 1890, the Charles E. Hires Company incorporated and began supplying Hires root beer in small bottles [5] [6] claiming over a million bottles sold by 1891. [7]
Hires's choice of name for his product caused a problem: the word "beer" drew the wrath of the temperance movement.[ citation needed ] He had his root beer tested by a laboratory, and trumpeted their conclusion that a glass of his root beer contained less alcohol than a loaf of bread.[ citation needed ] Hires Root Beer was promoted as "The Temperance Drink" and "the Greatest Health-Giving Beverage in the World". Hires advertised aggressively, believing "doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does." [2]
One of the major ingredients of root beer was sassafras oil, a plant root extract used in beverages for its flavor and presumed medicinal properties. The medicinal properties of root beer are emphasized in the advertising slogan, "Join Health and Cheer; Drink Hires Rootbeer". The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned sassafras oil in 1960 because it contains the carcinogen and liver-damaging chemical safrol. However, a process was later discovered by which the harmful chemical could be removed from sassafras oil while preserving the flavor. [8]
Prior to the move to "natural and artificial flavors", Hires ingredients included carbonated water, sugar, dextrose, caramel, plant extracts of birch, sassafras, licorice, vanilla, spikenard, sarsaparilla, hops, wintergreen, pipsissewa, ginger and flavor.
Hires Root Beer kits, available in the United States and Canada from the early 1900s through the 1980s allowed consumers to mix an extract with water, sugar and yeast to brew their own root beer. However, most consumption was of bottled root beer.
A mid-1960s' advertising campaign featured jingles by jazz singer Blossom Dearie, wherein she sang in a Betty-Boop voice: "Hires Root Beer! Hires Rootin' Tootin' Root Beer! Hires Rootin'-Tootin' Rabble-Rousin', lion-roarin', Roman-candle-lightin' Root Beer!"
Consolidated Foods bought the company from the Hires family in 1960, and sold it two years later to Crush International. Procter & Gamble bought Crush in 1980, and sold it to Cadbury Schweppes in 1989. Cadbury divested its soft drinks arm in 2008, and the beverage company renamed itself Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
In Canada, the Hires brand is no longer sold by Keurig Dr Pepper; retailers and vending machines have replaced it with Pepsi-owned Mug Root Beer since the 1990s and DPSG markets Stewarts Root Beer in Canada. The Hires brand is now offered by Canada Dry Motts as an alcoholic drink, Hires Root Beer and vodka. [9]
Hires' availability in the U.S. was phased out as other Dr. Pepper owned brands like A&W Root Beer were promoted on behalf of the same company. [10]
As of 2023 [update] , the Keurig Dr. Pepper web page no longer lists Hires among its list of brands on the all products listing search on its website. [11]
7 Up or Seven Up is an American brand of lemon-lime–flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo.
RC Cola is a cola-flavored carbonated beverage owned in the United States by Keurig Dr Pepper and internationally by RC Global Beverages, Inc.
Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically, but not exclusively, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A common use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.
Yoo-hoo is an American brand of chocolate-flavored beverage that was created by Natale Olivieri in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1928 and is currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper. As of 2019, the drink is primarily made from water, high-fructose corn syrup and whey.
Stewart's Fountain Classics is an American brand of premium soft drinks. Stewart's are nostalgic "old fashioned" fountain sodas, having originated at the Stewart's Restaurants, a chain of root beer stands started in 1924 by Frank Stewart in Mansfield, Ohio. In 1990, the bottling rights to Stewart's were acquired by the Cable Car Beverage Corporation. Cream Soda and Ginger Beer flavors were introduced in 1992. Other flavors have been added since then. In November 1997 Cable Car Beverage Corporation was purchased by Triarc. Cadbury Schweppes PLC acquired the Stewart's brands in 2000 along with Snapple and Mistic Brands for $1.45 billion.
Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemist Neil C. Ward. Most flavors of Crush are caffeine-free.
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. was a soft-drink manufacturing company based in Plano, Texas. It was created by the merger of Dr Pepper, Inc. and The 7 Up Company on May 19, 1986. The merger was a result of the independent bailouts of both companies and the subsequent Federal Trade Commission blockage of a Dr Pepper merger with Coca-Cola. The DPSU merger resulted in the breakup of international branding rights held by the two independent companies.
Schweppes is a soft drink brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schweppes was one of the earliest forms of a soft drink, originally being regular soda water created in 1783. Today, various drinks other than soda water bear the Schweppes brand name, including various types of lemonade and ginger ales.
Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple. For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers. Although it originated in Canada, Canada Dry is now produced in many countries such as the United States, Panama, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, and in a number of countries of Europe and the Middle East.
Sussex Golden Ginger Ale is a "golden" ginger ale originally bottled in the town of Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. It is produced by Canada Dry Motts, a subsidiary of Keurig Dr Pepper. The beverage is retailed in Canada's Maritime Provinces and northern areas in the state of Maine.
A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W brand and inspiring a chain of A&W Restaurants founded that year. Originally, A&W Root Beer sold for five cents.
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Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Europe, Asia, North and South America. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Dr Pepper is sold as an imported good. Variants include Diet Dr Pepper and, beginning in the 2000s, a line of additional flavors.
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Sunkist is a brand of primarily orange-flavored soft drinks that launched in 1979. Sunkist primarily competes with The Coca-Cola Company's Fanta brand and Keurig Dr Pepper's Orange Crush brand.
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