The Hindu Business Line : Beverages, biases and politics

These days `beverage' is getting more than average attention. "Coke and Pepsi stumble in India," reads the headline of Amelia Gentleman's article dated August 22 in International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com).

She mentions that Coke has received about 2,000 calls, in response to print ads `inviting Indians to visit its plants to see how the beverage was made'. It seems `experience has shown that consumers are often reassured by the sight of the water filtration process in the factory'.

The Tatas have spent more than $1.3 billion to acquire beverage companies overseas, write Thomas Kutty Abraham and Pratik Parija on www.bloomberg.com, in a report about the latest buy by Tata Tetley of 30 per cent of Energy Brands Inc, US, for $677 million.

One learns that the Tatas thus get the `opportunity to be present in the unfolding crossover space in the beverages market' even as consumer trends in the US are changing.

"While US sales of soda fell for the first time in at least two decades last year, unit sales of non-carbonated drinks such as flavoured water and sports drinks rose 14 per cent to $18 billion, according to industry journal Beverage Digest."

Tata Tea's Vice-Chairman Mr R.K. Krishna Kumar has explained that with `wellness beverages', the company is `going for a share of the bladder'.

The `latest headline' on www.beverage-digest.com is that Coca-Cola Enterprises CEO John Brock and Cott CEO Brent Willis are to join `Future Smarts Programme' scheduled for December.

And that "former PepsiCo Chairman Roger Enrico will receive `Visionary Award.'" Something that anti-cola activists may find difficult to digest. Meanwhile, let us come to terms with `beverage'.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as `a drink other than water.' However, `Beverages almost always largely consist of water,' enlightens http://en.wikipedia.org.

The site has a page for `Beverage (Rock Band)'. A search for `beverage' in The Free Encyclopedia leads one to an elaborate discussion on `drink', where the non-water categories include juices, soft drinks, carbonated beverages, dairy drinks and so on.

The word beverage is `used mainly in commercial contexts' says Encarta. `A drinkable liquid,' says Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. `A prepared drink, especially a hot drink (e.g. tea or coffee) or an alcoholic drink (e.g. beer),' defines www.allwords.com.

In `A Dictionary of Modern English Usage,' H.W. Fowler classifies beverage as a `stylish word', and suggests `drink' as a `working word,' instead. He'd similarly suggest `school' for `college', `enough' for `sufficient', and `morning' for `forenoon'. Fowler also discusses `beverage' under an entry for `pedantic humour', which is on the use of `out-of-the-way words' instead of the simple ones.

Beverage is `a drink of any type,' according to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. "Hot beverages include tea, coffee and hot chocolate," reads an example.

"We do not sell alcoholic beverages," is another, which should appeal to non-alcoholics, who may rather relate to Bill Bryson's comparison of a bar to `a funeral parlour with a beverage service,' as in a quote from `Neither Here Nor There'.

"Alcoholic beverages have been widely consumed since prehistoric times by people around the world, seeing use as a component of the standard diet, for hygienic or medical reasons, for their relaxant and euphoric effects, for recreational purposes, for artistic inspiration, as aphrodisiacs, and for other reasons," educates Wikipedia.

"Beer and wine are typically limited to a maximum 15 per cent alcohol, although brewers have reached 25 per cent alcohol. Beyond this limit yeast is adversely affected and cannot ferment," informs a section on `distilled beverages'.

Beverage is from Latin bibo, says Webster's 1828 Dictionary. "Liquor for drinking. It is generally used of a mixed liquor.

Nectar is called the beverage of the gods," it says. "In the middle ages, beverage, beveragium, or biberagium was money for drink given to an artificer of other person over and above his hire or wages," is more from history.

"A person who had a new garment was called onto pay beverage, that is, to treat with liquor." It seems there was also `beverage' as `treat on first coming into prison'!

Beverage is "usually applied to drink artificially prepared and of an agreeable flavour, as an intoxicating beverage," states Webster Dictionary, 1913. "He knew no beverage but the flowing stream," is a quote of Thomson cited on http://machaut.uchicago.edu.

A Shakespearean beverage

In the stream of the Bard's works, you'd find `wholesome beverage' in The Winter's Tale, possibly the only place where he uses the word. Don't be disheartened, because www.ambev.com.br, the site of AmBev, `the largest private industry of consumer goods in Brazil and the largest brewer in the Latin America,' has a page on `History of Beer', where a paragraph is titled `A Shakespearean Beverage'.

It reads: "William Shakespeare, in his works, mentions the word `ale' 14 times and the word `beer' five times. This leads us to two conclusions: the first is that in Shakespeare's times — he lived from 1564 to 1616 — beer was already a very popular beverage; the second is that in addition to being a genius, the playwright was a man of good taste."

For those with literary taste, here are a few spirited sources, from among tragedies and histories: `To suckle fools and chronicle small beer,' in Othello; `beer-barrel' in Hamlet; `a pot of good double beer, neighbour,' in King Henry VI; and `small beer' in King Henry IV.

Were you to probe the etymological source of the word in focus, by visiting www.etymonline.com, you'd find that beverage dates back to 1237.

The reference explains the roots as follows: "From Anglo-French beverage, from Old French bevre `to drink' (from Latin bibere `to imbibe;' see imbibe) + -age, suffix forming mass or abstract nouns." Imbibe is from circa 1386, with origin in "Old French embiber `to soak into,' from Latin imbibere `absorb, drink in, inhale,' from in- `in' + bibere `to drink,' related to potare `to drink.'"

Reference is given to Sanskrit pati `drinks,' panam `beverage,' and Greek pinein `to drink.'

In Timon of Athens, the Bard asks, "Can you eat roots, and drink cold water?"

Obviously, the answer is `no'. To help wet the throat, there are many alternatives, and to each, there is a preferred beverage.

For instance, "The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort and refinement," declares Arthur Gray. And Samuel Goldwyn may agree, saying, "Coffee is not my cup of tea."

Thus, over time, beverages wield more power than mere drinks.

They become part of our biases and prejudices, of philosophies and politics.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

More Stories on : Beverages | Coming to Terms

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Future of India-US nuclear deal

The knowledge gaps

Public health concerns: Confined to colas?

Drug prices — Competition key to control

Citizens' initiative

Zone of war

Private participation in power — Enabling environment vital to energy security

Beverages, biases and politics

Controlling PSBs

Dams and floods