Here at Sip & Savor we occasionally try to impart a little bit of pop culture trivia into our blog posts. Today we're giving you a few nuggets that may help you out at your next cocktail party, family gathering or other social adventure.

Like other products, many of our industry's diverse beverages have a story behind how they got their names. For the inquiring minds that read this blog, here are the stories behind three very well-known soft drinks produced by ABA member companies.

To set the stage:  In the early days, the setting inevitably was a drugstore. As now internationally famous drinks were invented, the local pharmacist often was what today we'd call the chief of new products development.  Focus groups were the customers who happened to be sitting at the soda fountain. And the bookkeeper also could turn out to be a marketing genius.

When pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, created and served up a new drink, customers at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store took to it and started asking him to shoot them a "Waco." But, according to legend, the drugstore's owner named Dr Pepper after the father of a young girl with whom he was once in love.

Over in Atlanta, Ga., Dr. John Pemberton produced a new syrup and added carbonated water.  The patrons at Jacob's Pharmacy readily paid 5 cents for the new soda fountain drink. Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, decided that "two Cs would look well in advertising."  He penned his suggested name, Coca-Cola, in distinctive handwriting.  The trademark and his penmanship - with only slight changes over the years - live on today.

And during one hot and humid summer, the patrons at a New Bern, N.C., drug store quickly dubbed Caleb Bradham's new creation "Brad’s Drink," but the pharmacist ultimately called it Pepsi-Cola.  As they say, the rest is history.

That's a brief look at how three iconic beverages - and brands - came to be.  Look for more tidbits of trivia from Sip & Savor in future blog posts.