Print Edition is now available on Art of Drink for $10.95 plus it included a free eBook edition – Fix the Pumps This past October marked the 4th year I’ve been posting on Art of Drink, this being the 459th post. Last year I decided that I should do something a little more cohesive like write a book. Deciding on […]
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Book: Fix the Pumps
Fix the Pumps tells the real history of the soda fountain, starting with its invention, through its golden era of creativity and into its dependence on patent medicine and narcotics. The history of the soda fountain is as vibrant as any other period in American history. Fix the Pumps provides a wealth of information on techniques employed by soda jerks. […]
Fix The Pumps Amsterdam!
If you happen to be residing in Europe, or loitering around the area on vacation or other such adventure, there is a little event happening in Amsterdam on August 23rd at Vesper. Philip Duff has offered to host this intimate soiree and introduce attendees to some lost drinks and interesting soda fountain ingredients from the book Fix the Pumps. Philip […]
What is Grenadine Made From?
What would you say if I told you the literal translation of grenadine from French didn’t mean pomegranate in the context of the sweet red syrup called grenadine? What would you think if I said modern grenadine is an over-simplified corruption of a once complex and interesting product? I’m sure you would be curious, so let’s break this down because […]
Maple Phosphate
Every year as winter cedes into the past, the maple tree sap starts to run. A time-honoured tradition in the north is to tap a spile into these maples and siphon off a few buckets of sap, then boil it down into a syrupy brown liquid and drizzle it on everything. That is the taste of spring. Since I’m in […]
eMail Updates
As I work on reviving Art of Drink in 2019, I’ve been updating older articles and adding new information from things I find while researching other topics. Usually, all these updates go unnoticed, except by the people who stumble across these update posts. That seems like a waste, so to get the word out I’ve decided to send out a […]
Non-Alcoholic Bitters Recipe
Can you make non-alcoholic aromatic bitters? Yes you can with this relatively easy recipe.
Talk with the Soda Men of Atlanta (1885)
This is a great article from the June 7th, 1885 Atlanta Constitution detailed the state of affairs at the local soda fountains. The reporter interviews a local soda proprietor and gets all the goods. One of the great things about this article is that it mentions Coca-Cola for the first time, though the reporter spells it “coco cola”. If you […]
Horsford Acid Phosphate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6cs6at18QQ The most popular drink in the world was once made using Acid Phosphate. Today, Coca-Cola no longer uses this unique ingredient, instead, they have simplified their formulation by using phosphoric acid, which still makes it a phosphated soda, but not the classic version. The “phosphate drink” was the most popular drink at soda fountains for over 70 years, but […]
Coca-Cola’s Recipe
A few years ago I wrote a piece on the Secret of Cola and the ingredients used to make cola flavoured beverages. Obviously, Coca-Cola is the king, but Pepsi isn’t doing too bad. The fact is cola flavoured products are tremendously popular, but very few people know what makes that flavour so unique. I’m not going to rehash that part; […]
Pedro Ximénez Phosphate
When you think about the fortified wine called sherry, the soda fountain probably doesn’t come to mind, but it should. People have done a great job sanitizing the evils of the soda fountain from our collective mind, but just like bars, soda fountains in the 1800s had a large repertoire of drinks including spirits and fortified wines. I’m sure you […]
Murder, Soda and Intrigue
We all know the history of alcohol’s prohibition, but did you know that the soda fountain also had its own prohibition? When I was writing Fix the Pumps, and detailing the effects the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 had on the soda fountain, I wondered what effect pulling all those drugs from circulation had on the mood of […]