Customer Reviews

Vernors Ginger Soda - 8 Bottles, 16.9 Oz

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Vernor's. VERNOR'S! If you grew up in Michigan, or even lived there for a while, you've probably seen it. Here in NC, when I ask for it people look at me like...well, like a Yankee.

Canada Dry might be a bigger brand. Schewppe's might be better-known.

Canada Dry and Schweppe's are sugar water. They're not ginger ale. You want ginger ale, you want Vernor's.

I sound like an advertisement. I should be. I am. This stuff is wonderful. It boggles my mind that Vernor's is not a national brand; I figure the other manufacturers must be paying them to not compete, because those other kids know: if Vernor's had the kind of distribution and availability that those other alleged ginger ales have, those other alleged ginger ales would have to be removed from the market.

I don't have any real knowledge of this, in fact I'm making it up as I type, but I have a pet conspiracy theory (that I made up, just now) that the whole reason Cadbury/Schweppe's bought the Vernor's brand was so if worse came to worst, they could always change the name of the place to Cadbury/Vernor's.

Spicy, bubbly, with a ginger-and-vanilla-and-who-cares-what-else mix of flavors aged for four years in wooden barrels, Vernor's is the oldest soda in the US, and it's still the best.

All over the world, people drink 7-up for an upset stomach; in Michigan, we drink Vernor's. People make root beer or 7-up or sprite 'floats,' with vanilla ice cream. In Michigan, it's Vernor's and Hudsonville. During the holiday season, some people have egg nog; we have warm Vernor's. Some people have spiced cider; we have warm Vernor's. Some people drink rum and Coke; we drink rum and Vernor's.

Some soft drink connoisseurs suggest that the taste of Vernor's is closer to some very small, regional, 'hot' ginger beers. I've had a few of these myself, and while they're not bad...they're not Vernor's. Certainly, if you think the national brands are how ginger ale is supposed to taste...well you, my friend, are grievously misled by the propaganda of the anti-Vernor's cabal. Fortunately, I am here to save you, rip those blinders off your tongue (have a mixed metaphor) and show you the One True Path Of Ginger Aleightenment...the Path, of VERNOR'S.

It is my eternal torment that even in this age of YouTube and Amazon.Com, I cannot find for my life a copy of a Christmas television commercial from the 1980's for Vernor's featuring Paul Stanley from KISS. All you see is a goblet of Vernor's being passed from hand to hand, down a line, all beautiful hands with long nails and red polish, and the goblet is handed to Mr. Stanley, who looks dead at the camera and says (as only He can): "You warm your Vernor's your way...and I'll warm my Vernor's...MY way." That's some classic 80's regional advertising right there.

I digress. Vernor's! It cures cancer! It will bring you closer in spirit and action to the deity of your choosing! It will reverse the aging process! Take two inches off your waistline! Stop spam e-mail in its tracks! Ensure that the next federal election brings us true leaders of vision, courage, wisdom, and honor! It endows all parents with patience, all children with obedience, all husbands with virility and courage, all wives with allure and wit! Why, I bet if we sent a crate of this stuff to those ol' Osama bin Laden, he'd just surrender to get his hands on more!

That's it. That's IT! Send cases of Vernor's to all the government, religious, and social leaders of the world, and it's a sure thing that we won't have to 'Imagine' world peace anymore! Why, those antagonistic ol' dictators and politicians, insurgents, guerillas, rebels, factions, warlords, and the like will be so busy giggling at the bubbles in their noses they won't be able to THINK about war! THAT'S RIGHT! VERNOR'S IS THE KEY TO WORLD PEACE!!!11!1!

*looks around and realizes the entire room has gone dead quiet*

*ahem*

Okay, maybe it's not the key to world peace. But it's the best darn soda I've ever had. It's next-to-impossible to find here in NC - although I notice someone has *finally* started distributing Squirt here - in fact, I can't say that I've ever seen it here. My mom still has a bottle or two - GLASS, 20OZ BOTTLES WITH METAL SCREW-TOP CAPS - stashed in a hole someplace, but that's it. Thank heaven for Amazon's new grocery item selection; they're far better priced than the small handful of other online distributors.

Vernor's: It really IS The One Of A Kind Soft Drink, With A One Of A Kind Taste.

(Disclaimer: Neither I nor anyone close to me is employed by Vernor's, Cadbury-Schweppe's, Coca-Cola, Amazon.Com, or any other trademark holder mentioned in this review. I have no particular knowledge of the Cadbury/Schweppe's business plan, and the statements regarding mental and physical health have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not endorsed by Vernor's or Cadbury/Schweppe's Inc. Although I do have an Amazon Associates' account laying around idle somewhere, I think. I'm not being compensated for writing this review. No world leaders were harmed in the production of this article. Tag not to be removed except by consumer under penalty of law. Batteries not included. Place a moderate amount, about the size of a quarter, in the palm of the hand. Apply to wet hair. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. This article contains at least 40% recycled materials.)

(Caveat: If you're lucky enough to have it available in glass bottles, buy it in those. If you aren't, buy cans. Do NOT buy Vernor's in two-liter plastic bottles unless you plan on using it as soon as it's opened; it goes flat in about four seconds. I can't speak to the plastic bottles sold here...but I'll be buying the cans, just to stay on the safe side.)

As a Chicagoan raised by Detroiters, I can guarantee you this is the best ginger ale in the world.


My only warning; once you drink it you will likely not be able to tolerate the other brands again. This beverage has substance. It has bubbles that will make you sneeze. It stands up to bourbon and it laughs at ice. It might have supernatural properties as well - if I ever get a cold or flu and can't get any Vernor's <knock on wood>, it might never clear up.I now live in New York; because I'm fed up with the other brands that are so very pale in comparison (pun intended) I will now proceed to spend more than is humanly reasonable on a non-alcoholic beverage because I want, I need, I must have some Vernor's and I can't wait until the holidays to get it. My husband didn't understand, he's from California. He has since been shown the way of the Vernor's, so when this case arrives I will have to hide it in the compost bin where he won't find it.


John Henry, I tip my hat to your brilliant ode. And you, Vernor's, with your whimsical green and gold can and your spicy amber bubbles - you are the stuff of legends. I shake my fist at your strictly local distribution but admit in the same breath; only you would I spend $3 a bottle for.


Please come to New York. I'm lonely and homesick without you.

I like "Vernor's", and drink it all the time. It is old fashioned drink from Michigan, since 1866, and the labeling was known for its lovely green and gold colors and the gnome character. If you look at the can it is actually called ginger soda instead of ale and is different than typical ginger ale in taste. Vernors has a strong vanilla presence, is smoother and more moist, and sweeter than a ginger ale. It is closer to a cream soda than ginger ale, very good. A ginger ale is more dry, higher in carbonation, and has a spicier bite to it. Vernors has 39 grams sugar per can, versus 33 grams per can for Schweppes Ginger Ale. Neither has caffeine.

The recipe has changed a bit over the years mostly in the choice of sweeteners. They use the same high fructose corn syrup that the cost cutting mega soda companies use, rather than the cane sugar they used to use. The down side to that is that the corn syrup syrup drowns out some of the flavors. Many microbrews are using cane sugar again, although it costs more, to get a better taste. Vernor's is still aged in oak barrels for 3 , no doubt accounting for the smoothness. All in all a great soda for anytime. The soda is also known, like other ginger drinks, for its use as a home remedy for an upset stomach.
Vernor's is a regional soda, and there are many areas of the country you can't find it in. That is why it sells here. They may be selling it in glass bottles again soon, at least there is a page that says so the day I am writing this comment. Search at Amazon for ASIN: B001JK2SEG to see what I mean. Vernors has quite a history, and there are two books at Amazon about the soda. The first is Vernor's Ginger Ale (Images of America: Michigan) ISBN-10: 0738551856. The second book is "The Vernor's Story: From Gnomes to Now" ISBN-10: 0472066978 a book about the company's marketing green and gold packaging with the famous gnome, and Vernor's fans.

Up Here in Michigan where all the factories have been boxed up and shipped to China, we still have Vernors. In the Great lakes, its called pop, not soda. It has a real pop, drink it too fast and you will sneeze from the ginger attacking your nose and lungs, Good stuff, one of a kind and pure Michigan.

I live in Ohio. The only name that comes to mind when anyone says "ginger ale" is Vernor's!

Ordered this as a Christmas present for my brother who is not doing too well lately. When we were little our grandparents would give us this as a treat when we visited. I remember how it used to tickle my nose and make me sneeze. It was great to still be able to enjoy that great taste, there is nothing that compares. When my brother opened the box he laughed out loud, something he hasn't done in a long time... it seems he had just mentioned this product to someone a few weeks before and never expected to see it.
I ordered two eight-packs. Only one showed up before Christmas and the other was apparently lost in delivery. I notified the seller who was gracious enough to replace the missing eight-pack. Thank you for giving us one more memory of years gone by...

I visited a pub in a neighboring city back in 1987 who had Vernor's on tap. When I sampled this ginger ale, I completely gave up Canada Dry, on which I had been raised. The strong (but not overpowering) presence of the ginger flavor reminded me of the old-fashioned soda fountain style sodas where the syrup and carbonated water never mixed until they were put in your glass. This is what Vernor's is like for me. Although the diet version is not as tasty to me, I drink the "fully leaded" version sparingly since it is heavy in calories. Still, I think it is the ginger ale by which all others should be measured. And yes, the bottled version tastes better than the canned.

For a native Detroiter or anyone who has been lucky enough to taste Vernors it's the best pop/soda drink ever. Vernors is a ginger beer that's been around since the turn of the 20th century and was made in Detroit. It's refreshing and spicy and like nothing one has tasted with the closest thing I can think of being Jamaican Ginger beer which to me isn't as good as Vernors. The fact that the companies who now own it have done nothing to market it to a mass market is amazing to me. You can't even buy it at the Det airport as the other- retailers that have the lease for selling pop/soda in the airport don't own Vernors. It's wonderful to have retailers like Amazon who will ship it to you when you cannot find it in stores where you live outside MI. What a wonderful surprise to discover Amazon has several sellers that will send Vernors to you. Thanks Amazon for your worldwide understanding of what people want.