Why Jarritos' First-Ever Soda Flavor Was Coffee

For lovers of Mexican cuisine, your eyes may light up at a restaurant after spotting a row of vibrantly colored Jarritos bottles waiting for you. With many tempting flavors to choose from, they always seem to pair perfectly with a heavy meal, washing it all down while providing a bubbly kick of fruity flavors. Despite the beverage being popular for an array of fruity flavors today, it wasn't fruit that initially inspired the very first flavor to exist. It was coffee.

When the soda's creator, chemist Don Francisco Hill, first concocted the bubbly drink back in 1950, little did he know that Jarritos would one day become the best-selling Mexican drink in the United States. He believed he had a novel idea with his first batch. After many experimental taste tests, he was able to produce a carbonated coffee drink to enjoy cold. The idea was to invent a completely original soda that would be intriguing enough to rival the huge success of the market's leading soft drink company, Coca-Cola. Hill ended up making the world's first coffee soda, a feat the Jarritos website describes as "ahead of his time".

Fast forward to the present, where you've probably seen Coca-Cola or Pepsi's coffee-flavored soda on grocery store shelves, or maybe you've even tried one for yourself. However, you won't find the original coffee-infused Jarritos soft drink among them as Jarritos discontinued that flavor soon after its inception.

Even though iced coffee started booming in America in the 1920s, Jarritos says "the world wasn't ready" for a cold caffeine buzz with carbonation. Instead, Don Francisco Hill decided to lean into the concept of traditional Mexican aguas frescas. Aguas frescas are a refreshing drink consisting of all kinds of freshly squeezed fruits and water. Out of the 13 popular Jarritos flavors, some of the top crowd-pleasers today are pineapple, tamarind, lime, and mandarin. The soda brand even pays a small tribute to its successful lime and mandarin flavors with the colors in its logo, accenting the aguas frescas jugs that Jarritos gets its name from.

One can't help but wonder what the first coffee-flavored soda must've tasted like and if it could have potentially seen success today with how crazy the world goes over all things coffee. You never know. Perhaps in 30 years when Jarritos celebrates a century of business, it might release a coffee-flavored soft drink to commemorate its humble beginnings. For now, we're more than fine with the tasty and unique flavors available, even if coffee isn't on the menu.