There aren’t many countries where Coca-Cola isn’t the most popular drink. Scotland is one of them. And unlike some of the others — such as North Korea or Cuba — it’s not because Coke isn’t sold. It’s because of the popularity of Irn Bru, Scotland’s ‘other national drink’.
Few soft drinks have such a devoted following as Irn Bru. It has inspired tattoos, poetry (‘a drop ae yer liquid gold’) and — in true Scottish style — its own batter. Why is it so popular? It helps that it is an excellent hangover cure, but it has something else going for it — a sense of fun. Irn Bru is known for pushing things a little too far in advertising campaigns. There was a famous billboard in 2003 to promote the diet version which featured a bikini-clad model and the caption ‘I never knew 4.5 inches could give me so much pleasure’.
Irn Bru was founded in Falkirk in 1901 by the Scottish pharmacist Robert Barr after his career as a cork cutter came to an end. While the bright orange soft drink does contain a very small amount of iron (0.002 per cent), Barr had to change its name from ‘Iron Brew’ in 1947 owing to the fact it isn’t actually brewed. Few people are sure what exactly is in Irn Bru. It is said that only three people know the recipe — Robin Barr, the great-grandson of the founder, his daughter Julie, and a mystery third person. Connoisseurs say they can detect hints of citrus, blackcurrant and ginger. I taste bubble gum with a hint of steel.
I will not have been the only one who felt a wave of panic last week when the manufacturer, A.G.
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