In a world that seems to be dominated by the Big Two, Coca-Cola and Pepsi might have to make some room on the shelf for some of these underdogs of the soft drink industry. Whether you call it Soda, Pop, Fizzy-Drink, or Tonic, one thing that we can all agree on… they’re damn tasty!
There’s something to be said about enjoying a frosty carbonated drink in a genuine glass bottle. From the solid feel of the shaped glass to the ritualistic popping of the metal cap, it either swells you with memories of nostalgia or translates into a sense of high-end quality. And you know everyone swears that it tastes better from a glass bottle.
Maybe container material does play a role in perceived taste, but how much of it relates to the brand promise that a classic bottle represents? In that case, how does the brand promise in the overall packaging affect your decision to buy? In our limited observational research of the craft soda industry, three schools of brand-type emerged.
- Turn-of-the-Century Heritage Brands.
- 50′s Baby-Boomer Nostalgia Brands.
- High-Design Contemporary Brands.
If you think these micro-brews don’t affect how the bigger drink companies position their products, have you noticed the throw-back labels on some of your favorite brands? How ’bout those all-natural Pepsi’s and 7Up’s with real cane sugar and real fruit juices? I think they’re trying to remind the public where they came from. Pretty much where these smaller soda bottlers are right now. Real ingredients and attention to quality.
What are some of your favorite hidden gems of the soda world? And what made you first decide to try them out? Flavor? Packaging? Branding? Tell us your answers at the bottom of this post.
Photo by Jason Anfinsen
Mmmm, BBQ sauce. Let’s be honest, it can make or break your grilling experience. Too spicy, too sweet, too bland, there are so many ways to mess it up and so few ways to rescue a good meal gone bad. When sauce is a key factor in taste, what makes certain consumers take risks while reaching toward the shelf of competing flavors? We all have a go-to bottle of BBQ sauce, don’t we? I know I do. But still, each time I approach my favorite flavor I briefly contemplate my decision. This bottle, boring. Poor typography, so-so logo, all around indistinctive label. The other bottles? BAM! Decorated in personality and flooded with adjectives that make my mouth water.
Does what’s wrapped around the bottle properly represent the taste inside? There’s nothing more frustrating than craving a taste explosion and winding up with a sauce that backfires. There’s always the opposite possibility, the labels that over compensate in design may under-whelm in taste. What’s your experience when searching for a bottle of finger-licking BBQ sauce? Do you go for the go-to or the newbie? Why do you pick that particular bottle and how have the results surprised or disappointed you?
Fun fact: Barbecue sauce can be traced back to the 15th century, when Christopher Columbus brought a sauce back from Hispaniola.
What drives you to reach for your go-to bottle of Chardonnay? Sure, the security of pulling the cork and knowing you’ll be pleased is part of it, but what happens when you want to try something new? We’ve all been there, the dead stare and brain boggle while standing in the wine aisle. What do you gravitate toward and why?
Wine manufacturers have started a new trend to try and steal your glance from the competitor’s bottle next to it. Quirky, funny, off-the-wall labels that make us artsy types fall for our own craft. After these labels are made, they’re stuck on a bottle of (insert your drink of choice here). Never under-estimating the power of human curiosity, Wine companies have realized that we quickly correlate that which looks good to something that tastes good, and it is that belief that has formed a new cult of eccentric bottle labels.
Whether it’s a hand written bottle of house wine, or a mischievous upside-down written “Evil”, we each respond to something differently. It is that response which transmits a message to our brain, sending a signal to our arm, and ultimately selecting the bottle for purchase. But what happens when you pour a glass, does the taste live up to the packaging?
Sure, it looks great but how much does that look have to do with the way our taste-buds respond? Then furthermore, this bottle, which we selected strictly due to design, is left empty and where does it go? Wine bottle collection, garbage, recycling? You may have fallen in love with your new favorite Vino, or you may never buy the bottle again, but either way you’ve made the decision to consume something based on its aesthetic appeal.
Fun fact: Did you know that red wine spoils if exposed to light? Hence the tinted bottles.
Don’t let the fear of Merlot mouth stop you from experimenting, pour a glass a let us know!
- Why did you pick that specific bottle?
- Did it taste as good as it looked?
- Would you buy it again?
