A beverage can is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as a carbonated soft drink, alcoholic beverage, fruit juice, herbal tea etc. Beverage cans are made of aluminium (75% of worldwide production) or tin-plated steel (25% worldwide production). Worldwide production for all beverage cans is approximately 52 billion units.

Beginning in the 1930s, after an established history of success with storing food, metal cans were used to store beverages - first with beer and then not long after that sodas with their higher acidity and somewhat higher pressures. The key development that got cans considered to be used for storing beverages was the interior liner, typically plastic or sometimes a waxy substance, that helped to keep the beverage's flavor from being ruined by a chemical reaction with the metal. Another major factor for the timing was the end of Prohibition in the US at the end of 1933. Canned beverages were factory-sealed and required a special opener tool in order to consume the contents. Cans were typically formed as cylinders, having a flat top and bottom. These would become known as "punch top" cans, as they required a opener tool, typically a wedge shaped metal cutter that latched onto the top rim for leverage where lifting it by hand would cut a triangular opening at the top edge of the can. A small second hole was usually punched at the opposite side of the top in order to let air in, allowing the beverage to flow freely.