Stappj is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 beverage soda beverage company. Despite the fact that the name appears to have a Scandinavian ring to it, it has no connection to anything Scandavian. It is actually the Molisan dialectal variant of the Italian "stappa", meaning "uncork".

History

Founded in 1896, by Filippo Di Iorio, along with his wife, the business began producing carbonated beverages. It was handed down to the sons, and the business has since remained in the family. The location of the factory is of great importance to the taste of the final product, as the 20,000 square meter factory can be found deep within the Molise

Molise

Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...

, renowned for the quality of its springs.

Taste

Stappj is renowned for having a very harsh aftertaste. Some consider it to be due to the mineral water

Mineral water

Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...

 used; still others think it is due to bottling techniques that are more than a hundred years old. Some liken the taste to a strong alcoholic beverage, and most who have had a taste can attest to this.

Varieties of Stappj

• Chinotto
• Caffé
• Orange
• Robaro
• Bitter Red/ Bitter White
• Stappjno
• Lemon
• Tonica
• Gassosa

Distribution

Stappj is a rather difficult beverage to find outside of its native Italy. This is due to the difficulty in finding a clientele able to stomach its potent blend of sugar and spring water.