What was the original name of Pepsi-Cola when it was first created in 1893?

When Pepsi-Cola was first created in 1893, it was called Brad’s Drink.

Caleb Bradham developed the beverage while working as a pharmacist and sold it at his drugstore in New Bern, North Carolina. The early drink was intended as a fountain beverage that would be appealing, refreshing, and associated with digestion and energy. Its original recipe included ingredients such as sugar and vanilla.

Bradham renamed the product Pepsi-Cola in 1898. “Cola” referred to its cola flavor, while “Pepsi” was associated with digestion and the word dyspepsia, meaning indigestion. Despite a popular misconception, the drink did not contain the digestive enzyme pepsin.

The name change helped turn a local drugstore fountain drink into a recognizable commercial brand. Pepsi began being bottled in six-ounce bottles in 1904, and sales expanded rapidly. The original name is easy to confuse with the later brand name, but “Brad’s Drink” is the historically correct answer for the beverage’s first identity.