Paso de los Toros (drink)

Paso de los Toros (Passing of the Bulls) is a Uruguayan commercial line of carbonated soft drinks named after the Uruguayan city Paso de los Toros. Originally produced by a local company, it is currently manufactured by Pepsi. Originally being a name for tonic water, Paso de los Toros was expanded into a line in itself, with the inclusion of orange and grapefruit flavored drinks.

History

The brand name "Paso de los Toros" comes from a drink created in the city of Paso de los Toros in Uruguay. It refers to a kind of tonic water made in part from orange peel and quinine. It was an invention by chemist Rómulo Mangini, who created the formula at the request of his English friends who worked on the railways in the north of the country. In the beginning he made it just for them and with the passage of time the drink gained popularity in the local marketplace, eventually getting the drink to be sold in Montevideo. Years later, once it had become popular and Mangini had disappeared, the drink was purchased by Pepsico, which continues to distribute it to this day, being also sold Argentina. The Mangini family required that the drink keep its original name: "Agua Tónica Paso de los Toros" (Passing of the Bulls Tonic Water).