The History of Carbonation:
From Priestley's Experiment to Your Kitchen Counter

1767: Joseph Priestley and the First Sparkling Water

Joseph Priestley, a British chemist and theologian, is credited with creating the first artificially carbonated water in 1767. Working next to a brewery in Leeds, he suspended a bowl of water over fermenting vats — noticing that the fermentation produced a gas (CO₂) that dissolved into water when agitated near the liquid surface. He called the resulting drink "impregnated water" and published a pamphlet describing the process.

Priestley had no commercial interest in his discovery. He gave the knowledge away freely, noting that the resulting water tasted pleasant and might have medicinal properties. He won the Royal Society Copley Medal in 1773 partly for this work, though his later political views eventually led to him fleeing to America.

1783: Schweppe Commercializes Carbonation

It was Swiss watchmaker Johann Jacob Schweppe who turned Priestley's observation into a business. By 1783 Schweppe had developed a more reliable compression method of dissolving CO₂ into water, and he moved to London in 1792 to commercialize it. The company he founded — J. Schweppe & Co. — is still making carbonated beverages today.

Early carbonated water was sold primarily as a health product, associated with the naturally carbonated mineral springs of Europe (Baden-Baden, Bath, Vichy) that had long been considered therapeutic. Schweppe marketed his artificial sparkling water as an affordable, accessible version of these medicinal springs.

The American Soda Fountain Era (1800s)

By the early 1800s, carbonated water had arrived in the United States, initially through drugstore soda fountains. Pharmacists carbonated water on-site using large cast-iron equipment and sold it as a health tonic, often flavored with medicinal herbs and fruit extracts. The American soda fountain became a cultural institution — a social gathering place that predated the coffee shop by over a century.

• 1807: Benjamin Silliman of Yale begins selling carbonated water commercially in New Haven, CT
• 1876: Hires Root Beer introduced at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
• 1886: Coca-Cola formula created by pharmacist John Pemberton in Atlanta
• 1892: William Painter invents the crown bottle cap — making bottled carbonated beverages possible
• 1893: Pepsi-Cola formula created

Home Siphons: The Original Home Carbonation (1910s–1950s)

Home carbonation is older than most people realize. Seltzer siphons — glass or metal bottles pressurized with small CO₂ chargers — were common household items in Europe and the United States from the 1910s through the 1950s. Seltzer deliverymen made regular home deliveries, and the siphon bottle was a fixture on dining tables and home bars. The term "seltzer" itself derives from Selters, a German town famous for its naturally carbonated mineral spring.

1970s–1980s: SodaStream's First Consumer Era

SodaStream was founded in England in 1903, originally supplying carbonation equipment to hotels. It introduced a consumer home carbonation product in the 1970s in the UK, becoming a TV advertising icon with the "Get Busy with the Fizzy" campaign. The product sold well in the UK and spread to other European markets but never fully crossed to the American mainstream in this era.

2010s: The Home Carbonation Renaissance

The convergence of the craft beverage movement with increasing concern about single-use plastics created the conditions for the modern home carbonation revival. SodaStream sales rose dramatically after rebranding around sustainability. Third-party competitors entered the market. Home brewers began applying force-carbonation techniques to sparkling water, craft sodas, and cocktails. PepsiCo acquired SodaStream in 2018 for $3.2 billion — a signal of how significant the category had become. Today, home carbonation has never been more accessible, precise, or culturally interesting.