 Can and glass of Materva, showing the color of the drink | |
| Product type | Soft drink |
|---|---|
| Owner | Cawy Bottling Co. |
| Country | Cuba |
| Introduced | United States, Canada, Spain |
| Previous owners | 1920 – Materva Soft Drink Company |
| Website | www |
Materva is a mate-based soft drink, originally produced and popularized in Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution. It has been produced in Miami since the 1960s by Cawy Bottling Company.
Materva is a carbonated drink made from yerba mate, a tea popular in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Unlike the somewhat bitter tea-like mate on which it is based, Materva is sweet, with a flavor described as similar to ginger ale [1] or cream soda. [2]
Current production includes a diet version called Diet Materva. [3]
The Materva Soft Drink Company was founded in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1920. Materva became known as a "famous Cuban brand" [4] and advertising included celebrity endorsements that touted the drink's energizing properties. [5] [6]
During the Cuban Revolution, the Materva bottling plant was targeted for strikes by revolutionaries, along with the Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottling plants in the country. [7] Materva was produced and sold in Cuba until 1960 when it was nationalized along with other private industry. It is no longer produced in Cuba. [8]
The Cawy Bottling Company of Miami was founded to produce the Cawy lemon-lime soda that had been popular in Cuba. The company began producing Materva in the United States in the 1960s in an attempt to diversify after the founder of the company realized that there were many large American companies already competing with lemon-lime drinks. [9] [10]
Materva has been described as a part of the "standard Cuban pantry", [11] and as "the old standby Cuban soda". [12] Because of its significance as a popular drink in Cuba prior to the Revolution, it is often cited as a source of "shared memories" and "nostalgia" of pre-Revolutionary Cuba by Cubans who live in the United States. [13] [14] [15] [8]
In Miami, politicians use the drink to symbolize Cuban-ness, such as when a congressional candidate told local media in 2010 that he had spoken about Materva to President Obama during a presidential visit to the city. [16] Travel books also often recommend the drink to visitors to Miami. [17] [18] In 2002, Materva was given the "Best Local Soft Drink" award by the Miami New Times. [19]
Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils, and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imitated by other manufacturers. Most colas originally contained caffeine from the kola nut, leading to the drink's name, though other sources have since been used. The Pemberton cola drink also contained a coca plant extract. His non-alcoholic recipe was inspired by the coca wine of pharmacist Angelo Mariani, created in 1863.
A soft drink is any water-based flavored drink, usually but not necessarily carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used can be natural or artificial. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute, or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives and other ingredients.
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.
Barq's is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer" until 2012. Some of its formulations contain caffeine.
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.
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 Canada Dry originated in Canada, as the brand name suggests, it 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.
Double-Cola is the name of a carbonated soft drink. It is manufactured by The Double Cola Company, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Sun Drop is a citrus-flavored soft drink produced by Keurig Dr Pepper with a yellowish-green color. Among soft drinks, it is known for its high caffeine content. Orange juice is an ingredient in the drink, and remaining pulp matter from the orange juice provides some of the soft drink's taste and appearance. Sun Drop competes primarily against the Coca-Cola Company's Mello Yello and PepsiCo's Mountain Dew.
Shasta Beverages is an American soft drink manufacturer that markets a value-priced soft drink line with a wide variety of soda flavors, as well as a few drink mixers, under the brand name Shasta. The company name is derived from Mount Shasta in northern California and the associated Shasta Springs.
Slice was a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks originally manufactured by PepsiCo and introduced in 1984 but discontinued by PepsiCo in North America in the late 2000s. Slice was reintroduced in the United States and Canada as a brand of organic juices by "New Slice Ventures LLC", which acquired the trademark rights in those countries.
Polar Beverages is a soft drink company based in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is a manufacturer and distributor of sparkling fruit beverages, seltzer, ginger ale, drink mixers, and spring water to customers in the United States. It is the largest independent soft-drink bottler in the United States.
The PoP Shoppe is a soft drink retailer originating in 1969 at London, Ontario, by Gary Shaw in Canada. The PoP Shoppe avoided using traditional retail channels, selling its pop through franchised outlets and its own stores in refillable bottles in 24-cartons.
Mate or maté is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink. It is also known as chimarrão or cimarrón, and ka’ay in Guarani. It is made by soaking dried yerba mate leaves in hot water and is traditionally served with a metal straw in a container typically made from a calabash gourd, but also made from a cattle horn in some areas. A very similar preparation, known as mate cocido, removes some of the plant material and sometimes comes in tea bags. Today, mate is sold commercially in tea bags and as bottled iced tea.
White Rock Beverages is an American beverage company located in Whitestone, Queens, New York City. The company was established in 1871 by pharmacist H.M. Colver in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Potawatomi Indians and settlers believed that the nearby White Rock natural spring had special medicinal powers, so White Rock Beverages started out as a destination for vacationers and health seekers. By 1876, the company was bottling and distributing the natural spring water throughout the country.
Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia. It is now known as Asahi Lifestyle Beverage having originally arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbury Schweppes, the company was eventually re-separated on 27 February 2009 and, in April 2009, Schweppes Australia was acquired by Asahi Breweries.
Cawy Bottling Company is a soda beverage company founded in Cuba in 1948 and nationalized after the Cuban Revolution when communists took over in 1959. Two of the company's executives emigrated to the U.S. and restarted the brand in 1962, first offering lemon-lime soda and then diversifying outside of that competitive market by offering Materva and then other tropical flavors.
Bickford's Australia Pty. Ltd. is an Australian beverage manufacturer based in South Australia. The brand produces traditional cordials, soft drinks, and iced coffee mix originally manufactured by A. M. Bickford & Sons, a pharmaceutical chemist founded by Anne Margaret Bickford in 1864. In 1999, the brandname was acquired by the Kotses family and later renamed Bickford's Australia, after which the brand saw a revival in popularity with the introduction of new flavours and products. In 2006, Bickford's lime juice cordial was recognised by the National Trust of South Australia as a Heritage Icon.
In 1962, Vicente Cossio relaunched the Cawy brands in the U.S. ... eventually expanding its offerings to include ... Materva, a yerba mate soda.
tr.: "To read [this book] is to remember brands of products manufactured in Cuba [list including Materva] and many others that bring us the smells of great memories to those who are older."
