Big Red Pop is a carbonated soft drink made and sold in Texas. It is also available in Panama and in British Columbia, Canada.
It is very red. Some swear it even tastes red. The colouring comes from red dye # 40.
It has a candy flavour, that many describe as liquid bubble gum; others, say they detect lemon, orange and vanilla in the taste.
It is available in cans and large plastic bottles. There is also a diet version.
Big Red Pop is omnipresent at many barbeques in southern Texas.
The drink “Texas Sunrise” is made from Big Red and tequila.
Some people like to mix Big Red with rum and half a lime.
History Notes
In 1937, a company named “Perfection Barber and Beauty Supply” began making artificial flavourings under a separate company name of “Sun Tang” in Waco, Texas, the same town that the soft drink “Dr Pepper” was created in 52 years earlier. Among other things, the company made artificial Grenadine syrup.
In that same year, two Sun Tang employees, Grover C. Thomsen and R.H. Roark, created Big Red Pop. The first name for it was “Sun Tang Red Cream Soda.”
In 1943, the Sun Tang company name was changed to “Perfection Co., Inc.”
The product name was changed to “Big Red” in 1959 by Harold Jansing, who was president of the company at the time.
In 1973, the company name was changed to “Big Red, Inc.”