While her friend Verena Koch was visiting recently from Slovenia, Sue Reichelt, of Chocowinity, wanted to give her a taste of North Carolina—literally.

Sue took Verena and her son, Grega, to the birthplace of Pepsi at the corner of Middle and Pollock streets in New Bern.

Relaxing at the re-created soda fountain where pharmacist Caleb Bradham mixed elixirs and invented a sweet concoction in 1898 that later he patented as Pepsi-Cola, the four enjoyed Pepsis.

Phil Buffa, a part-time employee, asked Verena and Grega if they had ever tried Mountain Dew, a Pepsi product. They hadn’t, but were interested in giving it a taste test. After several sips, Verena smiled and nodded her approval and Grega agreed, “Very interesting. Something new. I like it.”

Asked if he enjoyed his overall experience that morning, Grega replies, “We have Pepsi in Slovenia, but nothing like this place. We could buy gifts and drink Pepsi. This is very great.”

That proud endorsement would indeed have been music to the ears of Caleb Bradham, whose popular drink eventually gained more than local fame.

Bradham was born in Chinquapin in 1867. He dreamed of becoming a doctor, and after graduating from the University of North Carolina he headed to Maryland to study medicine. But a family crisis forced Bradham to abandon those plans, and he returned to North Carolina, where he began teaching.

Envisioning a life in commerce, Bradham purchased his own drugstore in New Bern. He devoted his energies to promoting people’s well- being, experimenting with the dispensing of helpful potions—similar to what a Georgia druggist did in 1885 when he invented the syrup that led to Coca-Cola.
One of Bradham’s formulas quickly became popular with residents. He nicknamed it “Brad’s Drink.”

So how did it become Pepsi-Cola? That’s one of the most popular questions asked by thousands of visitors worldwide to The Pepsi Store.

Folklore has its naming tied to Christ Episcopal Church next door. Some say that Bradham, who enjoyed gazing outside his window every day at the historic church, took the word “Episcopal,” scrambled it and came up with Pepsi-Cola.

But according to official Pepsi history, “His drink was developed not only as refreshment, but also as a means to invigorate a tired soul. It is believed that the name Pepsi-Cola is derived from a combination of the words pepsin and cola. Bradham believed that his new drink aided digestion similar to the way the pepsin enzyme does. However, Pepsi never contained pepsin. ‘Cola’ represents the refreshing and invigorating qualities of the drink.”

Pepsi-Cola’s popularity skyrocketed. Working out of his basement, Bradham formed the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1902 to manufacture and sell Pepsi-Cola syrup in five-gallon drums. Three years later, to facilitate the sale of Pepsi-Cola in bottles, he opened the first bottling plant and began offering the rights to franchise that bottling. The growth was phenomenal, and by 1910 there were 240 bottlers in 24 states. That same year, Bradham convened the first-ever Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Convention in New Bern.

A cataclysmic event outside Bradham’s control forever changed his association with Pepsi-Cola—World War I. Sugar was rationed during the war, sending its price from 3 cents per pound to more than 28 cents per pound. Concerned that the price would continue to skyrocket, Bradham purchased huge quantities at the higher price. After the war’s conclusion, the sugar market collapsed, leading to the eventual bankruptcy of the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1923, and its assets were sold.

Unfazed, Bradham returned to his life as a druggist. And he thrust himself into numerous civic endeavors, serving the community until his death in 1934.

But he never got to see the financial resurrection of the Pepsi-Cola Company and the global success it would one day attain.

The wooden building that housed Bradham’s pharmacy burned down in 1931. The Minges family, of Ayden, who bought a Pepsi bottling franchise in 1935 and still operates it today, eventually purchased the property where the original pharmacy stood. The family opened The Pepsi Store in 1998 at that location in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Pepsi-Cola’s invention.
“The Minges family is proud of the heritage of Pepsi-Cola and its history in this area,” explains Sabrina Bengel, who manages the store’s operations.

“We’re not a museum as such, but we are re-creating what we think it might have looked like back in the day,” she adds, pointing to some of the original wooden flooring that still remains.
“We get so many people who drink Pepsi regularly make their pilgrimage to its birthplace,” Buffa says. “They walk in starry-eyed. They just can’t believe they’re here.”

Outside the front door, an elderly couple stops so the wife can have her picture taken in front of the store. “Pepsi is my favorite drink,” she says.

When the husband mentions that he likes its competitor, the wife playfully retorts, “Honey, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap.”