17 signs you may be a TaB addict…

1. People who know you even casually associate you with TaB.
2. You usually prefer TaB to drinking anything , even liquor.
3. TaB can be substituted for any well-balanced meal.
4. When you know that they are not at your destination, you have packed TaB in flight cargo, only for them to implode everywhere.
5. You have rehearsed a set comeback for “Oh, wow, TaB. I didn’t know they still made it.” or “My mom used to drink TaB.â€�
6. When you wake up with no TaB in your fridge, you panic and desperately speed to a store to quickly replenish your supply, praying to find one in some drink machine on the way.
7. You have a heightened admiration for a movie star when you see him with TaB in hand. And may consider even stalking him.
8. You smuggle your precious can(s) into airplanes, concerts, games, parties (even cocktail!) restaurants, and theatres.
9. You keep an extra cold one in your purse and vehicle at all times, and your precious mom keeps them refrigerated at her home just for you.
10. You collect TaB bottles, bottlecaps, pins, and have yellowed TaB framed ads decorating your home. You wear TaB clothes.
11. You keep TaB newspaper articles and statistics in your wallet, hoping to share them with others, even strangers on the street.
12. You husband/wife is your TaB b*tch. S/he is your stockboy. S/he knows your moods directly correlate to your TaB supply. S/he has been known to cower when you are low, and hide if you are out.
13. 30 years of “this has been known to cause cancer…” didn’t even slow you down.
14. You know all the local stores that carry TaB, what days they get delivery of TaB, and the contact information for your local bottler just in case of an emergency.
15. You have the ILoveTaB.com messageboard set as your homepage.
16. Your have brought TaB with you on vacation when you know it is not available at your destination.
17. You have considered/and or created a website devoted to Tab.

Thanks to Sally & Lisa

TaB was the first major diet cola…

TaB was the first major diet cola, and the first sugar-free cola The Coca-Cola Company developed.

TaB debuted in April 1963.

Read a fantastic article from Atlanta Magazine on “Project Alpha,” which details the development of TaB (from the formula, package design, and naming).

“The year Diet Coke was introduced, TaB had a 4.3 percent share of the soft drink market. As Diet Coke went up, TaB headed south. In 1984 TaB tumbled to 1.8 percent of the market.” (Marketing Warfare, Al Ries)

TaB stands for “totally artificial beverage.” Fact or Myth??

Interview with Liquor Land, Millbrae, CA

The Oakland Coca-Cola distributor has not bottled TaB since the mid 1990s, leaving the San Francisco Bay Area tragically TaB-less. Chris moved to San Francisco in 2000, and did some investigating into TaB sources but came up empty, especially since he didn’t have a car and was limited to San Francisco proper. When Natalie moved to SF in late 2003, finding a TaB source again became a top priority.

By first calling the Oakland Coca-Cola distributor, Natalie eventually tracked down a single source in the San Francisco area–Liquor Land in Millbrae, specifically.

On January 24, 2004 we drove the 30 minute drive to Millbrae to get stocked up on TaB, and also had a chance to speak with Robert, one of the owners of Liquor Land. Liquor Land is family owned and operated, and has been in business for over 28 years. They always carried TaB in their store, along with other Coca-Cola products supplied by the Oakland distributor. In the mid-1990s however, Oakland stopped bottling TaB. Soon after, Liquor Land noticed a demand for TaB, possibly encouraged by long time employee Jayne who drinks the beverage, and started driving to the Sacramento bottler to pick up TaB.

Ever since, Liquor Land drives the 200 mile round trip every 5-6 weeks to pick up 75-85 cases of TaB. They have more than 20 regular customers that come in and buy multiple cases at one time, usually the most being 10 cases or so (we bought 10 on this trip).

Robert, one of the owners, told us that often he gets calls from people in New York, Florida, etc–they are traveling to the Bay Area for business or pleasure, and want to confirm a source–no one wants to be TaB-less! He also mentioned that TaB buyers are loyal, regular customers, which of course we already know 😉

Hopefully he will tell Liquor Land’s other TaB customers about ILoveTaB.com–we welcome them!

Thank you Liquor Land!

Please visit Liquor Land in Millbrae, and tell them we sent you!

Liquor Land
1599 El Camino Real
Millbrae, CA 94030
650.588.4044