Soft drinks , which arise as flavored and carbonated elixir in the late 1800s and became especially democratic during the Prohibition era , have long been associated with the region in which they were first develop . While some brands have branched out from their humble beginnings — Coca - Colais sold in more than 200 land and territories throughout the world — others have maintain a more localized appeal . Here are 11 lesser - known lenient drinks and the stories behind their regional tie .
1. Cheerwine
When a wampum shortage at the outset of World War I made it difficult for L.D. Peeler to sweeten his Salisbury , N.C.-based bottling troupe ’s popular Mint Cola , Peeler set about looking for a less sweet , but evenly tasty , alternative . The local businessman purchased a wild cherry flavor from a St. Louis salesman and developed the formula for Cheerwine in the basement of his grocery store store in 1917.Cheerwinewas an instant achiever and was outsell Mint Cola by the early 1920s . curtly thereafter , Peeler deepen the name of his job to the Cheerwine Bottling Co. The reddened - colored Carolina raw material was distributed locally until 1981 , when it expanded into Tennessee , Georgia , and Virginia . While Cheerwine ’s stretch continues to grow , it remains most popular in the Carolinas and parts of Virginia . In 2010 , Cheerwine partner with a fellow Tar Heel State company , KrispyKreme , to put up Cheerwine - infused ring in store throughout the Carolinas .
2. Moxie
It ’s no wonderMoxietastes medicinal . The gentle drink , which remains pop in New England , was invented by Dr. Augustin Thompson in 1884 . Thompson , a Maine native and Civil War ex-serviceman who make for in Lowell , Mass. , patent a nostrum called Moxie Nerve Food in 1876 . hop to capitalize on the carbonated beverage craze at the clip , Thompson reformulate his nostrum into Beverage Moxie Nerve Food , which was eventually bowdlerize to Moxie , in 1884 .
Maine declared Moxie its res publica delicate drink in 2005 and the drink is celebrated with a festival in Lisbon Falls , Maine , every year . The word moxie , meaning the power to face difficulty with spirit and courage , was derived from the mild drink .
3. Dr. Brown’s
Today , Dr. Brown ’s is owned by Pepsi and available at various delicatessen throughout the country . The brand ’s most loyal customers , many of whom find Cel - Ray the double-dyed foil to a pastrami sandwich , are in New York and South Florida .
4. Big Red
In 1937 , Grover Thomsen and R.H. Roark developed Sun Tang Red Cream Soda while working as chemists at a barber and beauty supply ship’s company in Waco , Texas . According to Big Red , Inc. , the Big Red nickname was coined by a duet of San Antonio golf game golf caddie and formally adopted as the name of the drinkable in 1969 . Big Red ’s descent of beverages , which also include Big Blue , Big Peach , and Big Pineapple , has established itself as a large brand throughout the commonwealth , it remains specially popular in the SW .
5. Green River
Chicago ’s Schoenhofen Edelweiss Brewing Co. introducedGreen Riversoda in 1919 , just before the first of proscription . The birdlime - flavour and galvanic green - colored soft drunkenness was ab initio bottled in the brewery ’s beer bottles and was an instant success . Al Jolson recorded a song about Green River in the 1920s , and by the goal of inhibition it dog only Coke in fountain gross sales throughout the Midwest . The brewery made Green River a second precedency when intoxicant became effectual again and sales of the soft drink dropped . While the brewery closed in 1950 , Green River lived on . Today , Green River is bottled by Chicago ’s Clover Bottling Co. , and while it remain most popular in the Windy City , it is now sell nationwide . Green River was part of the stirring for Creedence Clearwater Revival ’s album andsongby the same name and delight a major increase in sale in the workweek guide up to St. Patrick ’s Day .
6. Belfast Sparkling Cider
Belfast Sparkling Cider , which can be observe in many Formosan restaurants in the Bay Area , dates back to the Gold Rush of 1849 . grant to soda expert John Nese , who possess and operatesGalco ’s Old World Groceryin Los Angeles , gold prospectors , many of whom were sailors , would haunt San Francisco ’s bar scene in search of a good time . The navy man treated the bar girls to what they think was imported Gallic champagne , but which was actually Belfast Sparkling Cider , a softly sweetened drink introduced to the region by Irish refugees who immigrated to the United States during the potato famine . It was a ploy by the ship captains , who apparently paid the bar girl to fiddle along and watched their Panama become intoxicated to the breaker point that it was n’t a struggle to get them back to sea .
harmonise to a 2006 article in theSan Jose Mercury News , Belfast is distributed to almost every large Chinese restaurant in San Francisco and to retailers throughout the metropolis ’s Chinatown . Belfast is especially popular in the month of the Chinese New Year .
7. Ale-8-One
8. Blenheim
Blenheim Ginger Aletraces its source to the Blenheim Artesian Mineral Springs in South Carolina . It was there , in 1903 , that Dr. C.R. May , a co - founder of the Blenheim Bottling Co. , happened upon his formula after add together Jamaican gingerroot to the foul - savor mineral water he had rede his patient to drink . Today , Blenheim Ginger Ale , which is spicier than most soft drink , arrive in three relish : Hot , Not as Hot , and Diet . The drink , which was sold for a clock time at Restoration Hardware stores throughout the country , boast a bit of a cult succeed . The steel earned some rare packaging in 1994 when Penn Jillette wear a Blenheim T - shirt on a cover ofWired .
9. Vernors
10. Hires
Like several of the soft beverage on this list , Hires Root Beerwas developed by a pharmacist . fit in to one of the many stories behind the stock of America ’s oldest root beer , Philadelphia ’s Charles E. Hires discovered an herbal tea made of root , Chuck Berry , and herbs while on his honeymoon . Hires introduced a root beer mix that consumers could practice to make their own root beer at the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia — the same exposition where Alexander Graham Bell showcased his telephony . hire develop a soda fountain syrup version of his origin beer in 1884 and began bottle the drink in 1893 . His decision to market the potable as a beer rather than a tea , as he had originally considered doing , appealed to the Pennsylvania mineworker and added to hire ' popularity during proscription .
11. Sun Drop
Before there was Sprite , there wasSun Drop . Charles Lazier develop the citrus - flavored drink in St. Louis in 1928 . The beverage was later marketed under several dissimilar names , include Sun Drop Golden Cola , Golden Girl Cola , and Golden Sun Drop Cola . The beverage became pop in the South , with bottling plant in Tennessee and North Carolina , and carry the shibboleth , " Refreshing as a cup of coffee . “ Today , Sun Drop is possess by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group .
