Cheerwine

[PrincessFiona]

have you guys ever heard of this stuff?

It's a soda pop. I bought the 'diet cheerwine' last night and it's pretty good.... But what the heck IS it?

kris

[DCJenn]

I think Cheerwine is a Southern soda. Maybe our resident Southern Belles will now.

Jenn

I think Cheerwine is a cherry flavored soda, but I have never tried it myself. Did you like it? I had never heard of it either until we moved to the South. Whenever I heard a radio commercial for Cheerwine, I always assumed it was some kind of cheap wine (with a very high alcohol content) until I saw it at the grocery store.

Wow. Talk about cultural diffusion - cheerwine has made it up to Minnesota. It's a sweet cherry flavored drink that originated in North Carolina almost 100 years ago.

Okay, now I'm going to ask a stupid question. Did RC cola ever make its way to the Midwest or Northeast back in the day?

Oh, I don't know exactly what's in cheerwine, but no alcohol that's for sure (but I'm sure you knew that).

My favorite diet sodas these days are Sunkist, A&W root beer, and suprisingly Pepsi One (since I don't really care for regular Pepsi -- also from the Tarheel state). Didn't want anyone to lie awake at night wondering what my diet cola preferences were.

So, what are some regional drinks in the midwest or other areas that we probably don't have here in the South?

[DCJenn]

Vernor's ginger ale used to be a Pennsylvania thing- and it used to be as strong as the chi-chi ginger ales that you can find at places like Whole Foods. but as with all things, they were bought out and homogenized and now, really, there's not much difference between Safeway brand and Vernor's.

Jenn

RC made it to Ohio. I haven't noticed it in Kansas yet, but I'm not a fan and wouldn't look for it.

Is Cotton Club a national thing? DC Jenn is right - Vernors used to knock the wind out of you back in the day.

As for my soda preferences:

1. I call it soda even though I was born and raised in Ohio where it's "pop".
2. I long for the days of Tab

I am terrified of slipping back into pop.


Hey, what kind of Coke did you want?

We have RC in WI.

I must not have been far enough South because I never heard of Cheerwine.

Regional drinks in Wisconsin are Leinies, Point and Walters :~

my sodas of choice are:
A&W diet
Diet Coke with Lime
Black Cherry

My favorite soda is Diet Barq's.....but I can't for the life of me find it out here. All the grocery stores carry is the regular Barq's.

[lilponygirl]

They sell RC Cola here in Missouri. I don't really drink it, but I (for some strange reason) remember seeing it at the grocery store last week.

My favorites are...Diet A&W Cream Soda, Diet Vanilla Coke, and OH! When we were driving down to Destin on our honeymoon I discovered Peach Crush...that was AWSOME...unfortunately I think I only saw it in gas stations once we hit Alabama

I discovered Peach Crush...that was AWSOME...unfortunately I think I only saw it in gas stations once we hit Alabama Sad

Wow. I used to live in Alabama, but I never tried it. I'll have to ask some friends who are bama natives how I might procure some of that. It sounds great.

[SuzySunshine]

We had RC in Kansas when I was growing up, I don't know how much it is still around though.

[Auspicious]

RC is actually the cola of choice among our rural central-Illinois relatives, who go beyond the soda/pop debate and call it "sodee-pop." As in, "Hey, you kids want some sodee-pop? We got some RC out in the garage."

I was just in Massachusetts this weekend and my husband and I were talking about his love of Polar as the regional soda of his youth. Of course they call all sodas "tonic," though.

[Liz2254]

Julie, I think we're from the same neighborhood...

[Sheherezade]

I'm a sucker for Orangina.

In Florida, where I grew up, I don't remember any Cheerwine. Is that a NC thing or just a newer soda?

I can't adjust to saying "pop". I just can't. It's soda.

[Auspicious]

Julie, I think we're from the same neighborhood...

Could be. I'm actually from the outer 'burbs of Chicago, but my dad's side of the family is down there in Pawnee/Auburn/Taylorville, outside of Springfield, so we grew up visiting frequently.