When fancy fizzy drinks took over the market, the traditional pill soda fizzled out. Now that same pill soda is making a sharp comeback at restaurants as a fun drink
When fancy fizzy drinks took over the market, the traditional pill soda fizzled out. Now that same pill soda is making a sharp comeback at restaurants as a fun drink
Goli do “Push the marble down with your thumb and you’ll hear a pop, followed by a hissing sound, when you drink the goli soda,” Jagannath Das tells diners at Spicy Venue (a restaurant that serves goli dos). Traditional Telugu food in Hyderabad. The latest favorite is the bottle to pop pill soda.
While youngsters enjoy trying out the strength of their finger with the bottle, however, this isn’t exactly new. Pill soda has only made a comeback, and its resurgence in fancy incarnation after nearly three decades is a new drink while dining out. Pill Soda A fizzy carbonated soft drink that is usually flavored and comes in a uniquely shaped cod-neck bottle. The drink gets its name from marble (pill) in cod-neck and is therefore known as goli soda, banta soda or goti soda. Apart from India, the only country that still has pill soda is Japan, where it is called rumune.
bullet spark sodagolis | photo credit: Varun Kumar Mukhiya
Roadside liquor, the drink sold on handcarts or in small kiosks, is gaining a new lease of life to the delight of the old times. Ramesh Bharvi, a retired bank manager, 70, says, “It was common to stop at stalls for cold drinks on the way home in summers. It used to be a favorite drink here as it was mostly plain soda with lemon and salt or sugar; No colors, no artificially added flavors. When pet bottles of various carbonated drinks flooded the market, this local drink eventually had to drop out. ,
1920’s Soda Pill
No wonder he was pleasantly surprised to see a sparkling version of pill soda at a family function. There, not only the old-timers, but also the youth seemed eager and excited to crack the marble. “I noticed that no one cared much about the name on the label, it was the joy of doing something they had looked up to as a child, but didn’t get a chance to try,” says Bharavi. It is unimportant now that a bottle that cost less than ₹1 a few decades ago is now much more expensive; A bottle of 330 ml pill soda now costs ₹60 and 220 ml costs ₹30.
leave the pill
Mohammad Abdul Khader, who started manufacturing Spark Goli Soda in 2019, says it took him two years to break into the business-to-business (B2B) segment. According to him, he and his partners Abhishek Patwar and Mohammad Abdul Aslam launched Spark at a time when no local drink with a touch of nostalgia was in the market. Abdul says, “During the Covid 19 lockdown, we could not bring our product in the market. We only made progress into 2021 and to our surprise, this product was an instant hit with diners at the Spicy Venue where we first introduced it. ,
Khadar says, “For now, we are working in B2B segment and will soon offer online or from supermarkets.” On the disappearance of pill soda, he says, “One factor was the traditional filling system. It was cumbersome and required a lot of manpower. Expensive production method contributed to its disappearance. Following the development of new semi-automatic filling machines with modern technology. It made a comeback. ,
Explaining the bottling process, Khadar says, “Salt and water are mixed with different flavours, and then poured to fill the cod-neck bottle. The bottle is then placed in a soda maker and the container that holds the bottle is rotated two or three times to disperse the carbon dioxide, thus pushing the marble up to the neck of the bottle against the gasket at the top. The marble acts as a seal.
Codd. one for
The code-neck bottle is named after the inventor Hiram Codd. He patented the bottle in 1872.
The bottles, which became popular throughout the British colonial empire, are still in production exclusively for two countries: India for pill soda and Japan for ramoon.
Since children often break bottles to reach marbles, it is difficult to find old bottles. Making Old Cod-Neck Bottles Collector’s Goods
Until the 1900s, when manufacturing of these bottles began in India, the bottles were imported from Britain. Bottles from India’s pre-independence era are collector’s items.
Spark introduced the first premium branded Goli Soda in Telangana. Then came the 1920’s Goli Soda which operates on a franchise model of business and deliberately kept the price at least ₹20. Another brand that is popular among caterers is Bubble Pill Soda.
The most popular flavors in soda are lemon, orange and Spices, The orange flavor is closest to the popular 1980s Gold Spot. Sudhakar Naidu from Hyderabad, an entrepreneur who wanted to revive Goli Soda from the 1920s, says, “We range in price from an auto to an Audi. We operate on a franchise model and are happy with the feedback. Customer response is good and we are regularly reaching out to our stalls. The most popular flavor is the traditional lemonade and orange.”
While we’re at it, the popping of pill soda also makes for a nice slo-mo video on Instagram.
While we’re at it, the popping of pill soda also makes for a nice slo-mo video on Instagram.