https://golipopsoda.com/journal Short reads on the marble, the fizz and the shelf, from Goli Pop Soda. en-gb Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-marble-in-the-bottle https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-marble-in-the-bottle Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT The marble How a glass ball came to seal the world's fizzy drinks, why it vanished, and where it never left. A Codd-neck bottle is sealed from the inside: the drink's own gas presses a glass marble against a rubber ring. Hiram Codd, an English engineer, patented it in 1872. Within a generation it was used across the world. The cheap metal crown cork of 1892 replaced it almost everywhere. It survives in two places above all: India, as goli soda, and Japan, as ramune. https://golipopsoda.com/journal/goli-soda-banta-ramune https://golipopsoda.com/journal/goli-soda-banta-ramune Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT The marble The same English bottle became a street drink in India and a festival drink in Japan. A short guide to the family. Goli soda is India's marble-sealed soda. Goli means marble in Hindi and Gujarati. In Delhi and the north the same drink is called banta, often served with lemon, ice and spiced salt. Ramune is Japan's marble soda. Its name comes from the English word lemonade. All three use the Codd-neck bottle patented in England in 1872. https://golipopsoda.com/journal/what-is-a-prebiotic-soda https://golipopsoda.com/journal/what-is-a-prebiotic-soda Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT Know your fizz The fastest-growing corner of the soft drinks aisle, what the word on the can means, and how to read the label. A prebiotic soda is a fizzy drink with fibre added to it, usually a few grams a can, and usually less sugar than a classic soda. Prebiotic is the name science gives to certain fibres. In the European Union and the United Kingdom, brands may not use it to promise a health benefit. A 2026 study of 108 such drinks found that, on average, they held as much sugar as fibre. Three numbers on the label tell you what you are buying: grams of fibre, grams of sugar, and the size of the bottle. https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-fibre-gap-in-numbers https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-fibre-gap-in-numbers Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT Know your fizz How much fibre adults are advised to eat, how much they actually eat, and what 6 g looks like beside both. Adults are advised to eat 25 g of fibre a day in the European Union, 28 g in the United States and 30 g in the United Kingdom. Most people fall well short. In the United Kingdom the average adult eats about 20 g. In the United States more than 90 per cent of women and 97 per cent of men do not reach the advised amount. Fibre comes from plants: vegetables, fruit, pulses and whole grains. A drink can add to that. It cannot stand in for it. https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-gulf-sugar-tax-of-2026 https://golipopsoda.com/journal/the-gulf-sugar-tax-of-2026 Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT On the shelf The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia stopped taxing sweetened drinks by price and began taxing them by sugar. What that means for a drink, an importer and a shelf. Since 1 January 2026 the UAE and Saudi Arabia charge excise on sweetened drinks per litre, by how much sugar they contain. It replaces a flat 50 per cent of the price. In the UAE a drink with less than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml pays no excise; from 5 g it pays 0.79 dirhams a litre; from 8 g, 1.09 dirhams. The tier is decided by a certified sugar figure, so the lab report has become a trade document. https://golipopsoda.com/journal/how-to-open-a-marble-soda https://golipopsoda.com/journal/how-to-open-a-marble-soda Sat, 10 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT Pop culture Four moves, one rule, and the small trick with the marble that everybody learns on their first bottle. Tear the seal band off the cap and lift out the plunger. Stand the bottle on a table, sit the plunger in its mouth and press down firmly with your palm. Keep pressing for a few seconds while the fizz settles. Then lift the plunger away. Tilt gently when you drink, so that the marble rests in the pocket of the neck.