Q: Dear 100hr board,
What is the difference between seltzer and club soda?
Me
A: Dear "Me"
Excellent question - especially if you are looking to get some stains out of your clothes. Or your husbands as he has a tendency to drop things on them.
In short, seltzer water and club soda are essentially the same thing: purified water with carbonation added to it. But there are some subtle differences in modern usage, so I will explain. First, carbonation is the addition of carbon dioxide gases into water to make it bubbly. This also adds carbonic acid H2CO3 to the water, giving it that slight acrid, tangy taste we are familiar with. I'll offer you a quick timeline to help.
- Original seltzer is bottled from an effervescent mineral water in Niederseltzers Germany
- 1767: Artificial carbonation is invented in england by Joseph Priestley
- 1807: Benjamin Silliman of Yale sells the first commercial seltzer water
- 1830: Lemon-lime, grape and orange, sweet soda water is sold and popular
- 1838: First soda counter in Phillie
- 1891: More soda fountains in NYC than bars
- 1886: Kola nut extract added to coca extract (yes cocaine) as a headache and hangover fix and sold by John S. Permberton in a pharmacy - Coca Cola begins
- 1893: My hero Hires invents root beer (also a pharmacist)
- 1920's: "Hom-Paks" (6-packs) and vending machines invented
- 2006: Coca-Cola made $24 Billion on 'soft drinks'
Now days seltzer water and club soda are basically interchangeable, but club soda ussually has addeds salts for taste (sodium bicarbonate - i.e baking soda, table salt, potassium chloride, etc.) That's why the 100 Hour Board prefers cranberry and seltzer over cranberry and club soda (but some bartenders don't know the difference). Club soda is a great stain remover - including wine. Just ask for some at the restaurant.
The real question is: if you get a club soda stain, what do you use to get it out?
100 HB
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