As a kid, my main soda was Mountain Dew. This was back before it was spelled MTN DEW and you could still find glass bottles with a hillbilly on it. For variety, I might throw in a blue cream soda or the Pepsi version of 7Up, Teem. Now, it’s Coke Zero Sugar and whatever sparking water is on sale.
This week, I hit the local Rocket Fizz, a national franchise (Canada too) that sells retro candy and soft drinks. Some flavors, like sweet corn soda, are weird by design, but others are regional flavors or retro brands that are still hanging on. I bought three.
Moxie
Moxie, Coca Cola, and Pepsi Cola all started as patent medicines – over-the-counter potions sold in the second half of the 1800s that promised all kinds of cures. The sugar and flavoring was there to cover the bitter “medicine.” Moxie is the oldest of the three and still contains gentian root extract, which is why it’s funkier than Coke or Pepsi.
On the pour, Moxie looks a little more red than a cola with a slight medicinal whiff of camphor or menthol. The flavor is like a cola, but with splashes of orange soda and root beer. It’s more herbal than similar soft drinks, maybe some clove, and definitely has a mild bitter finish because of the gentian root. The same extract is used in Angostura bitters, so it’s along those lines. You know how there are foods you like as a grown-up that you didn’t like as a kid? I’d guess it’s like that.
The Coca Cola Company bought the Moxie brand in 2018, but I suspect my bottle was made before the sale. The label in my hand lists “pure cane sugar,” but Coke’s website says “high fructose corn syrup.”