Mar24

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Tang! The space-age drink that’s still a worldwide staple

When you think of Tang – if you think of Tang at all – you probably think of its association with the United States space program in the 1960s. After all, “Tang was chosen for the Gemini astronauts,” as a 1966 ad for the classic orange drink stated. Gemini was NASA’s second human spaceflight mission in the lead-up to the moon landing. The beverage always will be connected to the golden era of midcentury space exploration, but NASA actually did not invent Tang.

Tang orange drink mix is inextricably tied to ’60s space exploration, but the beverage remains popular today. Tang debuted in 1957 as a vitamin C-packed breakfast drink. Its selling point was that the powdered mix was shelf-stable, and it was promoted as a healthier and more convenient alternative to fresh orange juice. (And while it certainly may be more convenient than juicing oranges to order every morning, the first two items on Tang’s ingredient list are sugar and fructose.)

But General Foods, Tang’s original parent company, had contracts with the military for producing rations and other food items, such as instant coffee. Thanks to these connections and the aforementioned shelf-stable, “just add water” capability of Tang, NASA sent the drink mix into space with John Glenn on his famous orbit of Earth in 1962. General Foods’ advertising strategy shifted to capitalize on the popularity of all things outer space, and Tang henceforth became marketed as the astronaut’s drink of choice.

But Tang isn’t just a space age relic. It’s still popular across the globe, from South America to Asia, and produced in a number of flavors – including pineapple, mango, lemon, calamansi and its newest Filipino flavor,  Coco Plus Buko Pandan. Tang is also a popular drink during Ramadan in the Middle East, according to Mondelez International, the food corporation that now owns the brand.

Not only that, but home cooks around the world have been showing their ingenuity by using Tang in dishes that go far beyond a simple stir-it-up breakfast drink. Some of the popular recipes have been: Tang Creamsicle Pie, Frothy Tang-infused milkshake, Orange chicken, Tang Ice Pops, Tang Ice Cream, Friendship Tea, and Tang Beer.

Tang is an enduringly popular ingredient in kitchens around the world. Even after all these years, Tang remains, to quote the vintage ad, “for spacemen and earth families.”

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“whoo, what a day! i’m gonna drink tang all day until i forget it all!”

-jhonen vasquez 

 

 

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Source credits: Casey Barber, CNN, Kraft Foods, General Foods, Monedelez Int., NASA

 

 

 

 

 

 

72 responses »

  7. I have a sneaking suspicion that a childhood devotion to Tang (and, let’s say, my old pal Ovaltine) was a contributing factor to my adult onset diabetes, Beth. Sugar and fructose-forward, indeed. Although I haven’t had Tang (or Ovaltine) pass my lips in five decades, I can still taste it in my mind.

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  12. I didn’t know Tang is available in different flavors. I remember seeing the orange one as a kid; it was certainly popular! My parents wouldn’t buy it. And I like OJ just fine, so never felt to be missing out.

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  16. We were recently discussing whether Tang is still manufactured when our grandson, age four, shared that he is going to be a pirate astronaut. Now I know. I never liked Tang and seldom purchased it, except as an adult to mix up a hot tea mix many years ago.

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  18. I hadn’t thought of Tang in years and didn’t know it was still around. I did think it was a product of the space program, directly or indirectly. And now that Minnesota has mentioned it, I seem to recall a homemade tea mix that used it.

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