Old Overholt Whiskey Origins

The origins of the Old Overholt brand can be traced back to the charming farming village named West Overton, located approximately forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Established in the year 1810, Old Overholt holds the unique distinction of being the oldest continuously existing whiskey brand in the United States.

Henry Oberholzer, a farmer with German Mennonite heritage, moved to West Overton, Pennsylvania, in 1800. He settled on the banks of Jacobs Creek in Western Pennsylvania, where he and his sons diligently worked to clear 150 acres of untouched wilderness on their 263-acre farm situated next to Jacob's Creek—a waterway that flowed into the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the formidable Monongahela River. Their primary goal was to cultivate and develop the land.

Emerging from a renowned German region specializing in the production of "korn," or rye whiskey, Henry introduced this tradition to the local area. In 1803, the Overholts constructed a log still-house and commenced the production of small batches of whiskey using the grain they cultivated.

In 1810, Abraham Overholt, Henry's son, assumed control of the distillery and skillfully transformed it into a viable enterprise. By the 1820s, the distillery's productivity escalated to producing 12 to 15 gallons of rye whiskey per day.

A pivotal figure of the Gilded Age, Abraham's grandson Henry Clay Frick, an influential industrialist, took over the distillery in 1881. In 1888, he christened his flagship rye with the name "Old Overholt." Collaborating with Andrew Mellon and Charles W. Mauck, he formed a partnership, with each holding a one-third share in the business.

In 1959, production expanded to an adjacent site known as Broad Ford, which rapidly evolved into one of the world's most substantial distilleries.

Starting from December 2015, the brands Old Overholt and Old Grand-Dad, both falling under the ownership of Beam Suntory, have been jointly marketed under the name "The Olds." In late 2017, they introduced a 100-proof version aged for four years, labeled as "bottled in bond."
Old Overholt Whiskey Origins

Brotherhood Winery - The oldest operating winery in the United States

John Jaques, a French cobbler, began cultivating indigenous grape varieties in his backyard in Washingtonville, NY, in 1824. In 1837, he acquired land in Washingtonville where he planted the grape seeds. By 1839, he shifted his focus to winemaking and introduced his inaugural commercial vintage, which he named "Blooming Grove Winery." Although the majority of sales did not come from the general public, local clergies became the primary customers.

In 1858, Jaques retired from winemaking and passed the vineyard on to his sons John, Oren, and Charles, who renamed it "Jaques Brothers' Winery." The Jaques Brothers successfully operated the winery for another 28 years, expanding their manufacturing and distribution facilities across the Northeast region.

In 1886, James M. Emerson and his son, Edward R., purchased the winery from Charles, the last surviving Jaques brother. To accommodate the growing production demands, the small Washingtonville vineyard underwent significant expansion, including the construction of multiple buildings and underground vaults. The Emersons rebranded the business as "Brotherhood" and further improved the facilities by preserving the sole remaining original building on the winery's property and establishing spacious underground winemaking facilities. Additionally, Emerson expanded the enterprise by setting up a shipping point and headquarters in New York City, as well as acquiring vineyards and wine cellars in Hammondsport, NY.

Despite the challenges of the Prohibition era, the winery continued its operations by producing sacramental wine for the Catholic Church. In 1921, ownership of the winery passed to Louis Farrell and his son, Louis Jr. The Farrells retained ownership until 1947 when both the father and son passed away in quick succession.

In 1987, Chilean winemaker Cesar Baeza purchased Brotherhood with the aim of transforming it into a prestigious wine destination and revitalizing interest in its storied past.
Brotherhood Winery - The oldest operating winery in the United States

Hires Root Beer

Charles Hires, Philadelphia pharmacist, was on his honeymoon around the same time when he discovered an herbal tea. During honeymoon he was served root tea made up of sixteen wild roots and berries, including, pipsissewa, spikenard, juniper wintergreen, sarsaparilla, and hops. Charles persuaded his hostess to part with her recipe for root tea.

After taking the recipe of herbs, berries and roots home to Philadelphia with him, he began selling a packaged dry mixture to the public made from many of the same ingredients as the original herbal tea. Well received, Hires soon developed a liquid concentrate blended together from more than 25 herbs, berries and roots.

Hires originally developed his root beer as a medicinal syrup or tonic, while still living on his father’s farm in Stow Creek Township.

Hires decided to call his herbal tea “root beer” at the suggestion of a friend, Dr. Russell Conwell (founder of Temple University) who thought that given the popularity of beer at the time, more people would buy it.

The public loved the new drink and as a result, Hires introduced commercial root beer to the public in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. In no time, it became a popular drink of its day. The Hires family continued to manufacture root beer and in 1893 first sold and distributed root beer in bottle.

Charles Hires sold 115,000 glasses of root beer during their first year. That quickly expanded to 700 million glasses. The Hires Root Beer Company lost the patent for the name “Root Beer” in 1879. Charles remained in charge of his company until 1925, when his two sons took over.

In 1919, Prohibition was introduced in the United States. No longer were people allowed to consume alcoholic beverages, including beer. Prohibition lasted until 1933, and during that time, Hires continued to solidify itself as one of the most popular, and healthy drinks in America.
Hires Root Beer

History of beverage: Fanta

Fanta is a global brand manufactured by Coca Cola Company for international markets. It is best known as orange soda, although it comes in grape, lemon, lime and other flavors. There are over 90 flavors worldwide, but most of them are only available in certain countries.

Fanta was born in the austerity of post-war Germany, when the Coca-Cola company had to use sugar beet rather than cane to sweeten it, and the name is based on ‘Fantasie’. The name was chosen in collaboration with Coca Cola HQ in the US, who weren't impressed by the product and thought it needed an exciting word to sell it.

In the period leading up to World War II, between 1930 and 1936, Coca-Cola set up a division of the company in Germany, and continued that venture during the war.

Coca-Cola was growing rapidly in Germany and the rest of Europe in the pre-war years. Between 1933-39 the numbers of crates of Coke sold in Nazi Germany rose from about 100,000 to 4.5 million per year, and 50 factories were built to meet demand.

It recreated its image as a German company and allowed the Germans to produce all but two, secret, Coca-Cola ingredients in their own factories.

After war broke out in 1939 it became increasingly difficult to transport the syrups needed to make Coke to the German factories due to various embargoes on imports into the Nazi Reich.

With supplies of syrup rapidly diminishing and ceasing altogether by 1941, the head of German operations, Max Keith, looked for an alternative way of driving production and making use of his bottling lines.

In 1941 Max Keith, developed Fanta orange soda using orange flavoring and all the German-made Coke ingredients.

The recipe included scraps and leftovers from various industrial processes. Limited to ingredients available under conditions of rationing, Keith devised a soft drink based on the by-products of industrial cheese and cider production. Whey was used from milk factories and scraps of various fruits, mainly apples, from the fruit pressing factories were added with various other ingredients to make the drink they called Fanta.

The recipe proved successful, with over 3 million cases produced in 1943. The name Fanta itself was decided upon after a brief brainstorming session, when salesman Joe Knipp responded to Keith's request to 'use their imagination' ('Fantasie' in German) by immediately replying 'Fanta!'

Despite the increasing devastation caused by Allied bombing, for most the war the German Coke company maintained profitable annual sales figures of about sixty million bottles.

In 1955, Fanta Orange as the first new product is introduced in Naples, Italy, the first new product to be distributed by the Company. The Fanta line of flavored beverages comes to the United States in 1960. Fanta products, which come in a variety of fruit flavors such as orange and grape, had been sold by Coke bottlers in other countries for many years.

Fanta in the early 1970s, were attacked because they had artificial color. Competitors used this to demean the product even though the coloring was quite safe. The company replaced the artificial coloring with natural coloring, but the impact on product sales was severe for about five years before began to grow again.
History of beverage: Fanta

Maxwell House Coffee

The Maxwell House Coffee Company had its beginning following the Civil War. In 1873, a Kentucky farm boy name Joel Cheek move to Nashville, Tennessee, and found job as a travelling salesman for a wholesale grocery firm.

He befriended Roger Smith, a British coffee broker who could tell the origins of the coffee just by smelling the green, unroasted beans. Like Smith, Cheek shared a passion for coffee and developed a roast for the best coffee in the South.

After years of effort, they convinced Nashville’s newest and most exclusive hotel the Maxwell House to try his new blend. They offered Maxwell House Hotel twenty pounds of the premium roast to sample and serve in its restaurant.

Established in 1859 by former Civil War colonel John Overton Jr. in Nashville, Tennessee, Maxwell House Hotel was one of the city’s most popular lodging facilities. The name of the hotel was derived from Colonel Overton’s wife, Harriet Maxwell. Its guests included presidents, senators, mayors, businessmen, and famous entertainers.

The hotel’s restaurant agreed to offer Cheek’s recipe exclusively to its guests. Within weeks guests were talking about the coffee. One famous visitor upon being asked if he would like another cup, replied, “Delighted, it’s good to the last drop.” President Theodore Roosevelt’s words would become the slogan for a major brand of coffee.

Cheek joined John W. Neal, a lawyer in a grocery firm, and started a distributing company called the Cheek-Neal Coffee and Manufacturing Company. In 1903 the constructed the first Maxwell House plant in Nashville.

On August 1, 1928, the Postum Company acquired the Cheek Neal Coffee Company for approximately $40 million, changing its name to the Maxwell House Products Corporation. One year later, Postum changed its name to General Foods Corporation. Joel Cheek died on December 13, 1936, at the age of 83. The original Maxwell House hotel was destroyed by a fire on December 25, 1961.

In the 1930s Maxwell House experimented to invent another new coffee product one that would not need brewing but instead could be made just by adding water. After using U.S. troops as testers during World War II, Maxwell House began marketing the first successful instant coffee in 1950.
Maxwell House Coffee

McCafé of McDonald’s restaurant

Coffee was the most common beverage consumed in the United States until the 1960s, when soft drinks became America’s beverages of choice.

Premium coffee has had a resurgence, first due to the Starbucks coffee chain and then due to the introduction of premium coffees in Dunklin’ Donuts and Burger King establishments. McDonald’s is doing well with its McCafés, which serve mochas and other gourmet coffees in a separate area of selected McDonald’s units.

McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by and usually located in McDonald’s restaurants.

Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia, in 1993, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees.

As the company opens new restaurants and remodels existing restaurants, it is adding more McCafés in US and European markets. The chain spread to 17 countries by 2001 with the first one in the United States opening in Chicago, Illinois in May 2001 when there were about 300 worldwide.

In December 2016, the company said that they will reintroduce the McCafé concept next year, about eight years after it debuted nationwide. The push follows efforts to upgrade its java and get more of its beans from sustainable sources.
McCafé of McDonald’s restaurant

Charles G. Guth and Pepsi Cola Company

In 1902 Caleb Bradham incorporated the Pepsi-Cola Company and started a manufacturing operation.

The company was certified bankrupt on 1923. It wasn't until a successful candy manufacturer, Charles G. Guth, appeared on the scene that the future of Pepsi-Cola was assured.

Guth was president of Loft Incorporated, a large chain of candy stores and soda fountains along the eastern seaboard. At the time Charles Guth became Loft’ president, Guth and his family owned Grace Company, which made syrups for soft drinks in a plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Coca-Cola Company supplied Loft with cola syrup.

Loft operated over 130 soda fountains in the greater New York area. Guth believed that with that kind of volume, Loft deserved better pricing. Coca-Cola believed that Guth had no choice but to buy their syrup, and refused to offer any discount.

He saw Pepsi-Cola as an opportunity to discontinue an unsatisfactory business relationship with the Coca-Cola Company, and at the same time to add an attractive drawing card to Loft's soda fountains.

Guth entered into an agreement with Roy Megargel to acquire the trademark of Pepsi and its formula and form Pepsi-Cola Corporation.

With just handful of bottles in 1934, the number grew to 315 Pepsi-Cola bottlers in 1939.

He later was sued by his partner and claimed that Guth had misused corporate assets and that his Pepsi stock should be handed over to Loft.

Loft filed a suit in a Delaware state court against Guth, Grace and Pepsi, seeking their Pepsi stock and accounting. After nearly three years of legal procedures, the court ruled that Guth, Pepsi-Cola holding belonged to Loft. Loft became a Loft subsidiary and Walter Mack was chosen to be Pepsi’s new President and Guth continuing as general manager.

After five owners and 15 unprofitable years, Pepsi-Cola was once again a thriving national brand.
Charles G. Guth and Pepsi Cola Company

Coors Brewery of Golden, Colorado

In 1868, a Prussian brewery apprentice named Adolph Herman Joseph Coors found his way to the United States.

He and his partner Jacob Schueler established Adolph Coors Brewing Company 1873 in Golden, Colorado.

Schueler, a Denver businessman put up most of the money and Coors provided the brewing knowledge.  Coors and Schueler chose to build their brewery in Golden, Colorado, a site with access to underground springs and a railroad line that served several towns to the west.

The business thrived and by 1880s Coors was able to buy out Schuler and become the sole proprietor of Adolph Coors Golden Brewery. He renamed the company the Coors Golden Brewery. The company was incorporated in 1913.

During the next decade, Coors’s production in increased from 3500 to 17600 barrels annually, and the brewery continued to prosper until Colorado adopted prohibition in 1916.

During that time, the company produced near-beer, dairy products, and malt products, becoming the country’s third-largest producer of malt products.

In the 1950s, Bill Coors and his staff invented the first aluminium beverage can and became the first company to put the invention into practice.

In 1978, Coors Light was introduced and is now the brewery’s largest selling label. In 1981, Coors products became available easts of the Mississippi River for the first time, and by 1991 Coors products were available in all fifty states.

As part of expansion, Coors built a packaging plant in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1985 and acquired a brewery in Memphis in 1990.

In 2005, Coors merged with Canada’s Molson brewing company to create Molson Coors, and in 2008, the company entered into a joint venture with SABMiller, creating MillerCoors.
Coors Brewery of Golden, Colorado

Tea business in America

Tea came to America in 1650, even before it reached England.  Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America to the colonists in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, which later became New York.

Soon American colonists were consuming more tea than England and the Dutch stayed active in tea trade throughout the Western world.

Once tea did become popular in England, the British could hardly be expected to travel abroad without their precious drink and as a result, tea made second entree to the United States with the British colonists.

By the beginning of the 18th century tea was available in major American cities, but through trade with England. In 1880’s, America came to the forefront as the biggest importer of tea due to faster clipper ships and the ability to pay its debts in gold.

In 1890, Sir Thomas Lipton, who had already helped to popularize tea in England, brought his business acumen to the United States. During the war years, Lipton had enlarged its U.S. sales and in August 1919 it moved its packing plant and main office to a large eleven-story building in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Another British form, Tetley Tea, had sizeable American market share. Salada Tea Company founded in Toronto in 1892 also marketed in the United States.

At the turn of the 20th century the tea bag came along a surprise and Thomas J. Lipton was responsible for designing a four sided tea he dubbed the ‘flo-thru’ tea bag.
Tea business in America