themorgue.org

Growing up in Michigan, the only real choice of ginger ale was Vernor’s. As I would find out later in life, this wasn’t such a bad thing. After moving to North Carolina for graduate school, I discovered that not everyone knew what Vernor’s (or ginger ale in general) was all about. The grocery stores there usually only stocked Seagram’s, Schweppes, Canada Dry, and some store brands. I had never had anything but Vernor’s growing up, so I assumed that they probably all tasted about the same. I couldn’t have been more wrong. All of the other brands that I tried tasted like Sprite with the slightest hint of ginger. This is totally unlike Vernor’s which has a strong ginger flavor and a lot of bite to it. There is even a “You know you might be from Michigan” joke that goes “You know you might be from Michigan if you can drink Vernor’s without coughing.”

I did finally find Vernor’s in North Carolina, but it was very expensive (probably twice what it cost in Michigan). My parent’s would also bring some with them whenever they made a visit to see me, which made it a little expensive as well since Michigan has a 10 cent deposit on all pop cans and bottles. I did come across some other ginger ales in the Whole Foods store in Raleigh by Reed’s. While Reed’s is better than the weak stuff you get in regular grocery stores, it goes a bit overboard. The herbs and spices are too strong for my taste.

I found inexpensive Vernor’s again while living in Colorado, but alas, I was only there for a few months. Now that I’m in Oklahoma, it’s difficult to find again. However, when I discovered Pops on Route 66, I was introduced to a much better selection of ginger ales than I had ever seen before. In my first visit, I selected Dr. Tima’s Honey Ginger Ale as my first ginger ale experiment.

I didn’t hold a lot of hope for Dr. Tima’s Honey Ginger Ale due to my previous experiences with other ginger ales, but I didn’t hold that opinion for long. Dr. Tima’s Ginger Ale not only has honey in it, but that is the only sweetener in it. There are no refined sugars or corn syrups. The first taste was very pleasant. It didn’t have quite the bite that Vernor’s does, but it had a great ginger flavor. The honey introduced a warmness to offset the tang of the ginger. Overall, it’s a great ginger ale and I enjoyed every sip more than the previous one. I’ll have to sample a few more bottles of it (and the other 20 or so brands of ginger ale at Pops) to see how the taste wears on me, but at the moment, it reigns my top choice of ginger ales.