Kool-Aid facts for kids
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| Product type | Drink mix |
|---|---|
| Owner | Kraft Heinz |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1927 |
| Markets | Worldwide |
Kool-Aid is a popular American brand of flavored drink mix. It is owned by the company Kraft Heinz. The idea for Kool-Aid started in 1927 with a man named Edwin Perkins, who first made a liquid drink concentrate called Fruit Smack.
Contents
The Story of Kool-Aid
Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in his mother's kitchen in Hastings, Nebraska. His first product was a liquid called Fruit Smack. Shipping heavy bottles of liquid was expensive. To solve this, Perkins found a way to remove the water from Fruit Smack in 1927. This left a powder, which he named Kool-Aid.
In 1931, Perkins moved his company to Chicago. Later, in 1953, a large company called General Foods bought Kool-Aid. The city of Hastings is still proud of its connection to the drink. Every summer, they hold a festival called Kool-Aid Days to celebrate. Kool-Aid is even the official soft drink of Nebraska.
Today, you can also find Kool-Aid flavors for SodaStream machines. This lets people make their own fizzy Kool-Aid at home. Some people even collect old Kool-Aid packages, and rare ones can be worth a lot of money!
How Is Kool-Aid Made?
Kool-Aid is usually sold as a powder in packets or tubs. To make the drink, you mix the powder with sugar and water in a pitcher. It's best served chilled or with ice. There are also sugar-free versions available.
You can also buy Kool-Aid in other forms. There are small packets to pour into a water bottle and ready-to-drink juice pouches and bottles.
A fun fact about Kool-Aid is that its bright colors can stain. Because of this, some people use the powder as a safe dye for their hair or for yarn.
The Kool-Aid Man
The official mascot for Kool-Aid is the Kool-Aid Man. He is a large, friendly pitcher filled with Kool-Aid. The character was created in the 1950s.
In commercials, the Kool-Aid Man was famous for bursting through walls to bring the drink to thirsty kids. His famous catchphrase is "Oh, yeah!". In 2013, the Kool-Aid Man was updated into a computer-generated (CGI) character.
A Rainbow of Flavors
Kool-Aid has been made in many different flavors over the years. Here are some of them:
| The First 6 Flavors | Cherry, Grape, Lemon-Lime, Orange, Raspberry, Strawberry |
| Single-Serve Packet Flavors | Black Cherry, Tropical Punch, Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Cherry, Watermelon, Orange, Summer Punch |
| Sugar-Free Flavors | Cherry, Grape, Lemonade, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade, Tropical Punch, Raspberry, Watermelon, KiwiLime |
| Water Enhancer Flavors | Jamaica, Mandarina-Tangerine, Mango, Tamarindo, Piña-Pineapple |
| Other Flavors From Around the World | Apple, Berry Blue, Blastin' Berry Cherry, Blue Moon Berry, Candy Apple, Cola, Golden Nectar, Grape Blackberry, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade, Kickin-Kiwi-Lime, Man-o-Mangoberry, Mountainberry Punch, Oh-Yeah Orange-Pineapple, Peach, Pink Swimmingo, Purplesaurus Rex, Rainbow Punch, Roarin' Raspberry Cranberry, Rock-a-Dile Red, Root Beer, Sharkleberry Fin, Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi, Solar Strawberry-Starfruit, Strawberry Falls Punch, Surfin' Berry Punch, Tangerine, Watermelon-Cherry |
A Famous Saying
You might hear people use the phrase "Drinking the Kool-Aid". It has become a saying that means to believe in an idea or follow a group without thinking for yourself.
This expression comes from a sad event in 1978 in a place called Jonestown. The leader of a group, Jim Jones, convinced his followers to drink a flavored beverage that was mixed with poison. It is not clear if the drink used was actually Kool-Aid or another brand called Flavor Aid, as both were found there. Because Kool-Aid was the more famous brand, its name became linked to the event.
See also
In Spanish: Kool-Aid para niños
