Beech Tree News Network

While eating pizza and drink RC, my favorite, one Sunday night, I wondered about the origins of the cola.  RC Cola was originally launched in 1905 by pharmacist Claude A. Hatcher of Columbus, Georgia.  Customers first knew of the cola as Chero Cola.  In 1934, Chero Cola was reformulated and rereleased as Royal Crown (RC), a brand admired even more today for going against the grain (see what I did there?) of other American colas.

The Royal Crown brand comes in various forms.  There is RC with lemon, RC Lite, RC Zero (sugar free), RC Kick (energy drink), RCQ (introduced as Nehi in 1920).  Hatcher described a competitor’s glass bottle as “knee-high”, thus the name.  Today, RCQ flavors include orange, grape, strawberry, lemon, kiwi strawberry and mango melon.  The product line is offered in regular, diet/lite, zero and formulations with real juice content.

GL7 is RC’s answer to Gatorade’s PowerAde, and the price is lower.  Orient Emporium Tea Company is RC’s all-natural healthy tea drink.  Upper 10 has a unique heritage dating back to 1933.  Produced with real cane sugar, Upper 10 is a refreshingly authentic, caffeine-free, lemon-lime soda.  Upper 10 has many flavors-cranberry twist, cherry splash, orange squeeze and tropical breeze.  These flavors satisfy customer’s thirst for variety while remaining true to the personality of Upper 10.

RC’s Red Rain is the company’s refreshing energy drink that reportedly reduces drowsiness and increases focus.  Flavors include regular, diet, cran-orange, blueberry, tropical mango, cappuccino-mocha and 60ml energy shot.  The newest beverage in the RC line-up, from Premium Cola, is called Icon.  Icon is a combination of robust flavorings that come from spices and citrus fruits using unique distillation and extraction methods.  Chocolate with sugar cane compensated with pure sugar cane as sweetener.  You can tell even from a distance, because of packaging and labeling, that this is no ordinary cola.

RC Mixers are non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, highly carbonated beverages to be mixed with another beverage.  Ginger Ale (dry), tonic water (quinine), Bitter Lemon (citrus extracts) and club soda (added salts, calorie-free) are the flavors. 

Which RC do I choose? I stick to the original.  Now that I’ve probably made you thirsty, go ahead and pour a glass/open a can of RC. 

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Hello, my name is Andy Sullivan. I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in May 2009. I began writing for Beech Tree News in July 2009.  I enjoy playing guitar, the occasional Wii game, writing, and listening to music. I write a sports blog that can be found at http://andy-sportshorts.blogspot.com. If you have a comment, feel free to leave it in the space below.