SINGAPORE - I first saw it when I was collecting my university graduation gown from a shop down the road earlier in May.

The two-storey National Aerated Water Company's building sits off Serangoon Road, and is considered to be one of the last remaining structures from Singapore's industrial past.

But the abandoned building gave me some serious haunted house vibes when I saw it. It just seemed like the kind of thing hipsters would go stand in front of to take OOTD (that's Outfit Of The Day for non-millenials) selfies.

Turns out, I'm one of many people who probably do not know that the disused bottling factory distributed four popular carbonated drinks of generations past - Sinalco, RC Cola and Kickapoo.

The building made the news on Thursday (Dec 15) as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said it might be conserved after the site was sold to a Malaysian developer.

According to the National Library Board's Infopedia, the company obtained the exclusive right to distribute Sinalco in Singapore and Malaya, in 1952.

Between the 1950s and 1970s, the company introduced other popular carbonated soft drinks, such as the citrus-flavoured Kickapoo Joy Juice and Royal Crown Cola, both from the United States.

These drinks and another popular soda Green Spot have recently been "reissued" by beverage company Pokka, which has packaged the quartet into a limited-edition Classic Soda Funpack with the words "Bringing Back Evergreen Good Taste" on the packaging.

Two drinks, Green Spot and RC Cola, were launched at the final Mambo Jambo party at Zouk at Jiak Kim Street on Nov 30.

While I have heard of Kickapoo and Sinalco, the other two were completely alien to me.

The only famous green spot I know is the traffic light, and I was utterly confused what in the world a remote-controlled cola was.

So I decided to meet these liquified time capsules for myself.

1. Kickapoo Joy Juice

This might be less unfamiliar to the younger generation.

The citrus-flavoured gassy drink is based on the same drink from the American comic strip L'il Abner, about fictional hillbillies living in a village called Dogpatch. It began life as a soft drink in 1965.

The green can carries a yellowish liquid that tastes sweet with a tinge of sourness.

It's the kind of drink you sip on while lying on the beach on a sunny day because you get a very tropical vibe from it.

2. Green Spot

I have honestly never seen this before.

The fizzy orange drink has been around since 1953, according to the outside of the can.

Its signature orange body and - surprise, surprise - green spot and trimming, is supposed to represent a "green oasis in the thirsty desert".

It seems like something people would drink during Chinese New Year, because it's an orange-flavoured carbonated drink. It tastes more sweet than sour.

The beverage was created in the United States, and the brand later established operations in Thailand. It is currently focused on the Asian market.

It used to be a beverage that was not carbonated and sold only in bottles, but these days it can be found carbonated in cans too.

3. Royal Crown (RC) Cola

This is another one I had not heard of before.

Together with Sinalco, they are the granddaddies of fizzy drinks, both existing "since 1905". That makes them 111 years old, in case you were calculating.

It is a cola, like its famous cousins Pepsi and Coke. It actually tastes a lot like Pepsi, but I've been told its taste is somewhat like Coca Cola with salt added, so now I'm just confused.

Surprisingly, it used to give Coke and Pepsi a run for their money, as one of the most innovative in the beverage industry.

The Royal Crown company created the first canned soda called RC Cola, the first caffeine-free soda RC 100, and was the first to take diet cola mainstream.

4. Sinalco Special

Sinalco is the oldest soft drink brand in mainland European, and was the first non-alcoholic international beverage brand of European origin.

Its name is derived from the Latin words "sine" and "alcohole", which means "without alcohol" in English.

Originally German, its trademark was sold to Switzerland in 1981, before returning home in 1997.

Sinalco also comes in multiple flavours such as apple, orange and even beer.

Sinalco Special, the one which Singaporeans might have a soft spot for, is made from four mystery fruits.

The orange-red coloured beverage, which has a strong orange flavour, tastes very sweet, but there's an artificial aftertaste which is overpowering.