Answer: A Digestive Enzyme

Like most early sodas, Pepsi was created by a pharmacist experimenting with new tonics to offer at his pharmacy. Created by North Carolinian Caleb Bradham, the fizzy drink was intended to aid in digestion and boost energy.

To that end, in 1893, Bradham mixed in pepsin (a digestive enzyme found primarily in the stomach that breaks down food proteins into smaller amino acids) and kola nuts (a caffeine and color-rich nut that gave early colas their color and kick).

The mixture was originally called “Brad’s Drink”, but was changed a few years later in 1898 to Pepsi-Cola—a combination of the name of the digestive enzyme and what it was mixed into. Although the name was later shortened to just Pepsi, the name still maintains a nod to its digestive fortifying origins.