Barq's facts for kids
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| Type | Root beer |
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| Manufacturer | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1898 |
| Variants |
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| Related products | A&W Root Beer, Mug Root Beer, Dad's Root Beer, Sarsi |
Barq's is a popular American brand of root beer. Edward Barq created it over 100 years ago. Today, the Coca-Cola Company owns the brand. Until 2012, it was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer." Some types of Barq's drinks contain caffeine.
The Story of Barq's Root Beer
The Barq's story began in 1890 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Two brothers, Edward and Gaston Barq, started the Barq's Brothers Bottling Company. They made fizzy water and their own soft drinks. One of their first popular drinks was an orange soda called Orangine.
In 1897, Edward Barq moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. The next year, he opened the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works. This is where he first made the drink that would become Barq's root beer. Some say it was in 1898, others say 1900.
Edward Barq met a young boy named Jesse Robinson. He hired Jesse and taught him about making drinks. Later, Jesse moved to New Orleans. In 1934, Edward and Jesse made a special agreement. Jesse could create his own Barq's concentrate. This was unusual for drink licenses back then. The two men stayed friends and worked together on new flavors.
There were some differences between Barq's made in Biloxi and in Louisiana. The bottles from Louisiana had red labels. Biloxi bottles had blue labels. This helped people know where to return the empty bottles. The taste also varied a little because of the different water used in each place.
For many years, Barq's was not called a "root beer." This was partly to avoid problems with the Hires Root Beer company. Hires tried to claim the name "root beer" as their own. Also, Barq's was a bit different from other root beers. It was made with sarsaparilla. It had less sugar and more fizz. It also didn't have as much foam on top.
The old slogan for Barq's was simple: "Drink Barq's. It's good." This slogan first appeared on the special diamond-shaped bottle. Edward Barq patented this bottle in 1935.
Barq's Becomes National
In 1976, John Oudt and John Koerner bought the Biloxi Barq's Company. They wanted to sell Barq's all over the country. But it was tricky because Jesse Robinson's family still owned the Barq's companies in Louisiana.
There were many legal fights over who owned the Barq's names. The case even went to a high court. The court decided in favor of the Robinson family. In 2000, Coca-Cola bought the last family-owned Barq's company from the Robinson heirs. This meant Coca-Cola now owned all of Barq's.
In 1990, Barq's helped create the World's Largest Root Beer Float. This happened in Dekalb, Illinois. They mixed 1,500 gallons of Barq's root beer. They also added 1,000 gallons of vanilla ice cream. It was all mixed in a swimming pool!
Since 1995, Barq's has used the slogan "Barq's has bite!" You might have seen TV ads with a Barq's salesman. He would tell people, "Barq's has bite!" Then, when they took a sip, they would have a very energetic reaction.
Regular Barq's root beer has 22.5 mg of caffeine in a 12-ounce serving. This is similar to the amount in green tea. Diet Barq's has no caffeine. Barq's also contains sodium benzoate. This helps protect its flavor.
Sometimes, Barq's from Coca-Cola Freestyle machines has no caffeine. This is because the machine uses the same main ingredient for both regular and Diet Barq's. Only the sweetener is different. Also, Barq's sold in Utah is often caffeine-free. Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints avoid caffeinated drinks.
Barq's Products You Can Find
Barq's makes several different drinks:
- Barq's Root Beer
- Diet Barq's Root Beer - This one has no caffeine. You can find it in Root Beer and Vanilla Cream flavors.
- Barq's Zero Sugar Root Beer - This is the new name for Diet Barq's Root Beer since 2022.
- Barq's Red Crème Soda - There used to be a Yellow Creme Soda too, but it stopped being made in the early 1990s.
- Diet Barq's Red Crème Soda
- Barq's French Vanilla Crème Soda
- Barq's Spiced Cherry (available in Canada)
Some Barq's products are no longer made:
- Diet Crème Soda Barq's French Vanilla
- Barq's Floatz - This drink was made to taste like a root beer float. There were even Barq's Floatz ice cream squeeze tubes for a while!
