The Bludwine Company, originally located at 227 Oconee Street in Athens, launched in 1910 and by the time of the First World War had franchised more than one hundred bottlers, largely in the Southeast. Problems emerged during the War years: the Food and Drug Administration challenged claims and slogans that the company made regarding the health benefits of its soda and, in 1918, a batch of defective soda water was delivered to its bottlers, impairing the company’s reputation. in 1920 the company changed its name to Budwine but its financial troubles continued and in 1930, Joseph Costa, Jr., who owned an ice-cream parlor in Athens, purchased the company. Costa sold Budwine and other sodas of his own concoction. After decades of success, he sold the company to the Athens Pepsi Bottling Company, but retained the rights to the Budwine formula. Not running its own distribution service, however, Budwine suffered, as larger soda companies worked behind the scenes to discourage distributors from carrying it. Costa continued to sell the drink locally. His son, Butch Costa, revived the soda in the 1980s and 1990s, but the company still had difficulty competing at the national level. Budwine was sold to Southern Beverages, which in turn sold it to Anheuser-Busch.