How It's Made

Carbonated Soft Drinks

Water, Water, Everywhere

Carbonated soft drink beverages are mostly water. So the quality of the water going into your favorite soft drink is very important. A series of filtration systems produces the high quality water that is fresh, clean and clear.

The Flavor Secret

Here's where the magic happens. From secret recipes, flavorings are added to give each soft drink its unique taste. By combining sweeteners, herbs, berries, and many other ingredients, a syrup base is created which is added to the pure water.

Adding Bubbles Is a Gas

After the flavors are added to the water, the result is a great taste. Now, the bottler brings it to life by adding carbon dioxide, a tasteless, odorless, natural gas, with a machine called a carbonator.

Fill 'er Up

Now we're ready to put the great tasting, bubbly into a container. It is transferred under pressure to a filling machine. The filling machine squirts just the right amount into squeaky clean containers which are immediately sealed for freshness.

Now For the Warm-Up

Throughout the manufacturing process, soft drinks are usually chilled. If they are transferred this way, condensation would form on the outside of the container and make cartons and cases wet. Therefore, every container is sprayed with warm water to bring it to room temperature and then dried before moving on to shipping.

Name It and Send It Packing

Many soft drink containers have labels pre-printed before they arrive at the soft drink plant. If not, they are applied, placed in cartons or trays, bundled into large pallets, and whisked away to you.

To understand how carbonated soft drinks are made, click on Coca-Cola’s Virtual Plant Tour.