Scottish Blog

Irn Bru is an internationally sold soft drink that is produced in Scotland.

Irn Bru was first created in 1901 by the A.G Barr Company. Originally the drink was named Iron-Brew, but a law change in 1946 saw it prohibited from using the term “brew” as it was technically brewed. The original Irn Bru formula is still used in today’s Irn Bru. The recipe is still a closely guarded secret, known in full only by the A.G Barr board of directors, with a single written copy being kept inside a safety box. Playing on this secrecy, Irn Bru was at one point claimed to be “made out of girders”, in a number of advertising campaigns. Irn Bru is subject to a number of myths and rumors, regarding it exact ingredients, some of the most popular contest that Irn Bru is made out of either seaweed or barley, although its manufacturers have neither denied nor verified these claims.

Irn Bru has being jokingly dubbed as “Scotland’s other national drink”, in reference to Scotch whisky, although this might be attributed to various Irn Bru advertising campaigns which proclaimed this to be the truth.

Through its unique advertising and taste, Irn Bru has until very recently been the largest selling soft drink in Scotland, only losing to Coca-Cola in recent years. It has consistently held a spot as the third largest selling soft-drink in the United Kingdom.
Irn Bru is sold through a number of countries throughout the world. Alongside the Scottish production factories for Irn Bru, there are five production areas in Russia and a number in Canada, South Africa and Australia.