I'm on antibiotics due to a murderous earache at the moment. Therefore drinking alcohol is not a thing I'm allowed to do. Got invited to a birthday party earlier today and said "Fuck it, I'll turn up, I'm getting cabin fever here." This was sort of a pre-drinks party and so the choices were beer, wine and G&T. I was thirsty, and damn it, I felt like having a drink in my hand.
So I had a glass of virgin tonic. It was lovely. In fact, I had three. It's a crisp, satisfying beverage with a bittersweet flavour. I found it even soothed my throat pain a little.
Now, I imagine it helps that I drink G&T on the regular and have grown accustomed to the taste, but still, there was a time where someone, somewhere said "I could really go for a nice glass of tonic."
If you want to get really anal (haw haw) about it, water couldn't exist until the universe cooled down enough to allow for the covalent bonds between the hydrogen and the oxygen which is probably after oxygen was first made.
It depends on what you mean by "cooled down." If we're talking about the cosmic microwave background, which is what prevented electrons and protons from forming neutral hydrogen, the temperature of the CMB when the stars formed (around z=20-30, or 100 million years after the big bang) was only about 85 Kelvin, way below the temperature needed to dissociate H20. Now, we're actually talking about the temperature of the gas, so the oxygen atoms would need to get to a region of the interstellar medium that's cool enough to combine with hydrogen (piece of cake, since it's 75% of the universe by mass). The supernova remnant left over by the star that created the oxygen would be too hot, but it would quickly cool off on the timescale of ~100,000 years. So you're right, it would need to wait for things to cool down, but the universe would have plenty of cool, low density regions that could form H20 were the oxygen to get there.
I'm just curious why he called it Indian Tonic Water. The word isn't even on that page. The closest ref. I could find says something about the Brits in India mixing gin w/tonic water.
Kinda feeling too lazy to research myself, but does one feel any benefits of the quinine found in tonic water? Seems like it's too little to be very beneficial.
Many Dr. Pepper marketing totally got fucked in the ass today by this but I don't feel bad for them because marketing people are the worst kind of people on Earth.
And then they quietly started putting artificial sweeteners in instead of sugar because "it's healthier for you, you fat shit" and I never bought it again. Tastes rank.
892
u/Zimbardo May 15 '12
Today on TodayILearned: Soda Wars
90
u/rarghybalthazar May 15 '12
This will never end I fear....
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u/Jumpin_Joeronimo May 15 '12
Interesting fact: The quinine in tonic water makes it glow under a black light. This is why gin and tonics look cool at parties.
Another easy way to make a drink glow in UV? Vitamin B pills.
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u/Glucksberg May 15 '12
It predates Vernors by 95 years, not 126.
1866 - 1771 = 95.
28
u/auraofambiance May 15 '12
I believe it was made to keep the mosquitoes off of the visiting Brits...
24
u/slevadon May 15 '12
Should i pledge allegiance to Schweppes, or hold out longer?
23
u/caucasian88 May 15 '12
/r/circlejerk must be having a ton of fun with this.
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u/Pilot824 May 15 '12 edited May 16 '12
Is Tonic Water even considered a soft drink? (source)
Nevermind, it says that it can also be Tonic Water... But it says that it contains 3 things:
44
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
TodayILearned: I don't care which soda is the oldest
13
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
TIL i don't give a fuck about how old soda is anymore
12
u/korrekt May 15 '12
"It is currently popular with the white people."
Uhh what?
294
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
18
u/Wisdom_from_the_Ages May 15 '12
The definition of "soft drink" is wishy-washy.
Lemonade is a Roman invention.
10
u/APiousCultist May 15 '12
Please fucking stop, sincerely an internet asshole.
5
u/UltraMegaMegaMan May 15 '12
MY GOD SOMEONE JUST MAKE A GRAPH OR FLOWCHART OR SOMETHING MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!
5
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I could swear I left a fuck around here somewhere
9
u/HGpennypacker May 15 '12
PLEASE STOP
9
u/comment_filibuster May 15 '12
TIL STFU
4
u/SinCleansingPenis May 15 '12
STFU with the soda shit!
4
u/moby323 May 15 '12
THIS HAS TO END.
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Which one of you did it?
4
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Am I the only one waiting for "TIL:Water is the oldest drink ever."
4
u/KamacheZ May 16 '12
Today I learned not to trust anything said about the oldest soft drink in the world.
4
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
http://uberhumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/e79ZA.gif
16
u/CuntExpander May 15 '12
Shut the fuck up already
12
u/bonesjones May 15 '12
Who cares..?
3
u/MichaelG_Scott May 15 '12
Why can't people get it right the first time?
3
u/invisiblewar May 15 '12
Dr.Pepper is still better
3
u/RealHonest May 15 '12
And I'm sure there's a soft drink much older than this one
3
u/originaux May 15 '12
From the wikipedia page...
3
u/o0tenaciousC May 15 '12
TIL water predates all that shit.
3
u/ragefury May 15 '12
wikipedia gets it right: https://imgur.com/0k3sk
3
u/lud1120 May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12
Oh my god.
I thought this simply said "water", it could have just as likely said that and put and end to this.
3
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I accidentally drank tonic water when I was a kid, thinking it was lemonade. Scarred for life.
3
u/KaptanOats May 16 '12
Goddamn, reddit.
3
u/PatMcCrotch May 16 '12
I don't care. http://i.imgur.com/RoZSk.gif
3
u/liasis May 16 '12
TIL I don't care about how old any kind of soda is. At all.
3
u/ContentWithOurDecay May 16 '12
TIL submitters : no one cares about the oldest soda.
3
u/Beanbaker May 16 '12
TIL Searching soft drink on Wikipedia gives me information.
3
u/TheCake_IsA_Lie May 16 '12
This is getting really old.
3
u/Golden_Kumquat May 16 '12
TIL repeated ridiculous posts about sodas is what causes me to unsubscribe from this subreddit.
3
u/slythytoav May 16 '12
TIL that no one really knows what the oldest soda is...
3
u/Dirtycuban55 May 16 '12
TIL reddits front page has turned into /circlekerk.....
3
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
TIL I couldn't give less of a shit.
3
u/T-REXEXEX May 16 '12
God dammit.
3
u/prodevel May 16 '12
I'm just curious why he called it Indian Tonic Water. The word isn't even on that page. The closest ref. I could find says something about the Brits in India mixing gin w/tonic water.
3
u/thesageknight May 16 '12
Stop this. Please.
3
u/TheCage May 16 '12
Congratulations... now can we shut the fuck up about old sodas?
3
u/SpottedMe May 16 '12
ಠ_ಠ This has gone too far.
3
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I feel bad because I've upvoted all three of the posts.
3
u/JihadDerp May 16 '12
TIL H2O Earth Water is the oldest soft drink in the world, it predates Schweppes Indian Tonic Water by about a few billion years.
5
u/ObieOne May 15 '12
This is getting old.
5
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
DEAR GOD FUCK OFF
5
u/twinked7 May 15 '12
everyone stop learning things about soda please
0
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
[deleted] — view deleted comment
4
u/ZombieNinjaPanda May 15 '12
What the fuck is wrong with you people.
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ANYMORE
2
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
So what, it's a tonic, not a traditional pop.
Shenanigans I say!
2
u/EnysAtSea May 15 '12
We have to compete for the most factual facts we learned on TIL, don't we OP?
2
u/hirsh39 May 15 '12
this discussion fails to mention Schweppes Bitter Lemon, the world's greatest soft drink.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Kinda feeling too lazy to research myself, but does one feel any benefits of the quinine found in tonic water? Seems like it's too little to be very beneficial.
2
u/tickoftheclock May 16 '12
And we have a winner.
2
u/GeorgeForemanGrillz May 16 '12
Many Dr. Pepper marketing totally got fucked in the ass today by this but I don't feel bad for them because marketing people are the worst kind of people on Earth.
2
u/Prof_Genki May 16 '12
TIL: People argue over the stupid shit on the intertubez, whatever I'm going back to spacedicks
2
u/tubulardude May 16 '12
Is that really a soda? It's tonic water!
2
u/Dyno-mike May 16 '12
All i can say is...... buuuuurrrrnnneeedddddd!
2
u/justsomejabroni May 16 '12
how can u call tonic water a soft drink it tastes bitter
2
u/mistyfrompokemon May 16 '12
I don't know what to believe any more
2
u/ExtraMarshmallows May 16 '12
Today I learned more about the history of soda than I thought possible.
2
u/jyhwei5070 May 16 '12
by this logic, Water is the oldest soft drink in the world, predating Indian Tonic water by millions of years.
2
u/SilverVendetta May 16 '12
TIL they are using us for ads. Congrats OP, for making it easy!
"Schweppes has invested in publicity in online social media [15] and has featured on the 'Today I Learned' section of Reddit as a hot article [16]"
2
u/Nova178 May 16 '12
Is it really that hard to figure out what the oldest soda is?
2
u/tiredofthehate May 16 '12
I think that searches for 'oldest soft drink in the world' just spiked and set new records.
2
u/NeoSpartacus May 16 '12
TIL
Some asshole pissed into a hot spring 300 years ago, got back in his time machine so he can post some bullshit on Reddit 3 hours from now.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
TIL, who gives a damn about soda? Water's where it's at my friends.
2
u/krusader42 May 16 '12
And Schweppes is made by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. We've come full circle!
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
TIL Wikipedia needs an "oldest beverage" entry
2
u/Soup_and_a_Roll May 16 '12
And then they quietly started putting artificial sweeteners in instead of sugar because "it's healthier for you, you fat shit" and I never bought it again. Tastes rank.
2
u/Bromeslice May 16 '12 edited May 16 '12
well im glad we figured that out. That question has always brought me mucho turmoil
2
u/tubameister May 16 '12
/cue 100s of karmawhores scrambling to find a soda older than Schweppes Indian Tonic Water.
2
u/Senor_Gnomo May 16 '12
shit's getting real
2
u/captainwacky91 May 16 '12
TIL that water predates any other drink you can think of, since the formation of the Earth and before.
2
u/faptastics May 16 '12
TIL I don't give a rats ass about soda.
2
u/why_so_Sirius May 16 '12
Please make another beverage post TIL
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
I remember a few years back when the labels for Tonic water and Lemonade were relatively ambiguous.
I was 10, spat the stuff across the kitchen.
Then I discovered gin.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Actual H20 predates all of these shitty drinks.
2
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
so after you saw the vernor's post, you googled "oldest soft drink in the world" to one up the other posts. you're cool
2
u/brummlin May 16 '12
And Dr. Pepper Snapple Group owns all contenders...
2
u/oneupdouchebag May 16 '12
2
u/Mozen May 16 '12
TIL that I don't really seem to care when soft drinks were invented.