The hard seltzer market is becoming extremely crowded and maturing at a rapid rate. In just 5 years, White Claw and Truly have become not only household brand names, but pantry staples for many homes and ever increasingly in bars and restaurants. How did this come to be? Seltzer is nothing new. 18th Century chemist Joseph Priestly is credited as the inventor of infusing carbon-dioxide into water. Flavored carbonated waters gained popularity in the 19th Century, with flavors like orange, lemon, plum, cherry, melon and many other fruit-based flavors. Towards the end of the 19th Century, roots, nuts and barks began to flavor seltzers and tonics in drug stores, giving the rise to soda pop. Many of these originally contained some alcohol and assorted other harder drugs like morphine and cocaine (i.e., Coca-Cola), however, the hardest chemical in these soft drinks today are caffeine or high-fructose corn syrup and copious amounts of sugar.