Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Vernor's couture


With a mascot like this, it's amazing Vernor's never supplanted Coke as America's favorite pop.


10 comments:

  1. Does Vernor's taste the same? I know, I know... f'n nostalgia. Anyway it seems like the flavor is quite different than I remember. Could be the glass bottles vs. cans or perhaps the flavor changed with a switch from sugar to high fructose corn syrup?

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  2. My mom, who is 77, says Vernor's used to actually taste like ginger. They sell it in a little store near me in San Francisco and I buy it for old time's sake. To me it tastes a LOT sweeter than it did growing up. But my sugar intake is way down these days.

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  3. Once again I have to agree with Smurfs Inc. I think the glass vs. plastic/aliminum and sugar vs. high fructose affects the flavor(as it does with most pops-i.e. living in Phoenix we can get Mexican Coke in a glass bottle with sugar which tastes like the Coke I remember as a kid.) Another major change point was when Vernors moved from local to national distribution-I don't know if that coincides with the other factors but I noticed a change at that point too.

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  4. Mmmm! I used to get a glass of Vernors as a kid when I wasn't feeling well. Vernor's - and Hires root beer - were always my favorites. Both of them taste sweeter to me than they used to, but I rarely drink soft drinks anymore.

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  5. I think you guys are becoming your parents.....I can remember my mom and dad always commenting on how things don't taste the same as they once did....anyway the bubbles from Vernors will still come out of your nose if not careful.

    We liked getting our Halo Burger and sit in the parking lot checking out the mural on the side of the old Peerless Furniture store. The elves were a gas...they looked like they were enjoying their work a little too much.

    Halo Burger has a great cream ale (Vernors and cream ) and boston cooler ( Vernors and ice cream )

    Halo Burger and Vernors two more unique items to our area. I surprised to hear that Vernors made it's way to San Fran.

    How about the Soda Pop Shoppe and M&S Soda ????

    Slick

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  6. My folks always used to heat up Vernors in a pan on the stove to give to us when we were ill. How about that??? Vernors always reminds me of something I drink when I'm sick...and I too miss Hires Root Beer. I don't think it's made any longer...

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  7. This is going to date me -- and those of you who have dated me know how lousy a date I could be -- but I can remember looking forward to that one week each summer that Feke and Yott on Franklin use to have their ham and cheese sandwich sale. They sold these ham and cheese sandwiches on hamburger buns for a nickel a piece and for another nickel you could get a nice cold cup of Vernor's Ginger Ale! It was really cheat eats and damn good to boot. The store could not have made any money on this deal -- but they did it every summer just like clockwork.

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  8. We might be becoming our parents, but what if our parents were right?!? I don't think it is out of the question to suggest that a change in the #2 ingredient (sugar to corn syrup), container (glass to aluminum), and assorted other factors- different bottling facilities, cheaper ingredients, ownership changes, changes in the American palatte, and so on might have had a compound effect over the years.

    If you ever see Barritt's Ginger Beer buy some. You'll never want to quaff a Vernor's ever again.

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  9. I think Vernors is still the most Gingery of the Ale's. I was drinking that Canada dry for the longest time till I found Vernor's again and when I had one it was way better. I'm in San Diego CA and sometimes when I hit my head really hard or suffer from lack of oxygen I miss Detroit. Faygo pop was another one I haven't had in way too long. The fact that when I say pop you people know what I'm talking about is nice too.

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  10. As far as I'm concerned, the change took place after Mr. Vernor died and they took the product national and changed the ingredients and aging process in those oak barrels. Mass production ruined a unique flavor for ever. It's not even close to what it used to be. It was a good tummy tonic too. The electric sign over the store on Saginaw depicted a bottle slowly tipping and filling an hour glass tumbler with bubbly Vernors. I thought it was magic when I was a little kid.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.