No one can drink just one glass of Vernors
It’s like ginger-ale, but it’s not ginger-ale; it’s Vernors.
That’s the only way I can describe Vernors to someone who has never tasted it or who simply heard it’s name mentioned. For those generations of people who grew up in Michigan and then moved away, it is something to be missed like Saunders hot fudge, but that’s another story.
Vernors has a unique taste that is impossible to describe. It tastes like a premium version of ginger-ale, but of a heavier consistency and richer flavor. While it’s impossible to find Vernor’s that tasted the way it did in metro-Detroit in the eighties and before, it is still always a treat to take that first sip.
It’s impossible to be satisfied with only one glass for a Vernors aficionado. The refined taste beckons Vernors lovers back to the refrigerator for an additional glass or two. It’s dark golden color, darker than ginger-ale, adds to the mystique and the illusion of quality. Don’t call this ginger-ale because its beyond anything as passe’ as ginger-ale.
Vernors roots go back a long way. The original drink was first developed at the end of the Civil War, in 1865. James Vernor, a drugstore chemist who went off to fight for the Union Army returned to Detroit to develop the sparkling elixir. Legend has it that Vernor actually left the mix of ingredients in an oak barrel and left Michigan at the beginning of the war, only to return four years later to discover a mixture he said was “deliciously different.” It is to this day.
From the time that James Vernor first concocted his signature drink, he used an herb called Stevia to sweeten it. Stevia is still used to this day in Japan as a sweetener, but has been banned since 1991 by the FDA in the U.S. It was in 1991 that Vernor’s began using high fructose corn syrup. For those of us who have enjoyed Vernors for several decades, the change made a noticeable difference in the taste of Vernors.
There is something else unique about Vernors. It is aged in oak barrels. James Vernor found that leaving the 19 ingredients in Vernors for a period of years in oak barrels imparted a special flavor that nothing else could. This not only made Vernor’s invention wholly unique, but the first truly American soft drink.
Vernors is one of life’s simple pleasures. Anyone who grew up in Michigan can tell you that, but you really have to discover it on your own.
If you really want to experience the ultimate in soda fountain decadence, try Vernors over a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass. Michigander’s call this a Boston Cooler, named after Boston Boulevard in Detroit where it’s thought to have been invented. You’ll call it delicioso.
Copyright 2007 K Richard Douglas
(an update: Stevia is now available again in the U.S. as a sweetener)
