Customer Reviews

The Vernor's Story: From Gnomes to Now

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Wow! This book takes me back to my childhood in MI. It's so richly illustrated & so fun to read! I love it. I am going to buy it for all my friends and family for XMAS. What a great Michigan read!

This unique and eye opening saga into the history of Vernor's, reveals a facinating evolution from a doctor prescribed tummy soother, to "Detroit's Drink". Lawerence L. Rouch is an increadible writer who brings to life the colorful and amazing history of more than just a soft drink, but of the city of Detroit itself. From "The Original Ginger Ale's" post civil war beginings to its current position in the highly competive soft drink market of today, the Vernor story truly is one of a kind.

This is a super book, intelligent and attractive as well. As a child, I loved Vernor's Ginger Ale, and I enjoyed reading this book tremendously! The history of the company is well written and interesting, and the numerous illustrations are varied and delightful. I especially appreciated the chronology and bibliography that balance the cool graphics with authoritative research. Well done!!

This is a nice 136 page book on the history of Vernor's, a soda company from Michigan that has made ginger soda pop since 1866. I like "Vernor's", and drink it all the time. The advertising campaign is a neat slice of Americana. I really enjoyed the vintage art and photos. Just in case you do not know what the heck Vernor's is... It is a terrific ginger soda pop. Vernor's is a regional soda, and there are many areas of the country you can't find it in. 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. If you look at the can it is actually called ginger soda instead of ale and is different than typical ginger ale in taste. Vernor's 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. Vernor's 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 has quite a history, and there another book at Amazon about the soda, "Vernor's Ginger Ale (Images of America: Michigan)" ISBN-10: 0738551856.

TRUE STORY ABOUT ME AND VERNORS..

Growing up my parents always gave me Vernors. My dad also would make Boston Coolers for hot summer nights as a snack... OMG did we look forward to those surprise nights! Many times we would beg for them. Most times he would say no because there ust wasnt money for them and/or it was already getting late & we had to get up early for church. However since it was (and is!) my dads favorite pop/soda it was in the fridge anyways. As a child I wondered how can a desert be medicine when it always cured my stomache aches??! *now I love those memories even more because I'm vegan and shop for groceries at a different grocery store and I buy ginger candies to suck on and they never fail to relieve my stomach aches faster than any OTC medicine (I've tested this theory so many times I'll never buy tums etc again. you can easily take a tin of them w/you in the car.

********* BUT ******* That's not what I was going to say lol-- I lived in Berlin and than in Edinburgh for quite a while and had a crazy craving for Vernors.it got to be soo bad tharAll I wanted was Vernors and also fruty pebbles haha ANYWAYS of the 300 people at the Castle Rock place I lived at which was located at the bottom of Edinburgh Casles steps there were only a couple Americans. My friend went to his cousins wedding in the States and guess what he brought back? Root Beer and ginger ale.. eeepppp! and I was a tota SCOOGE! to part with a capful was to me like giving the bottle away I looked like the most selfish person alive. It had been a year since I tasted eithor of those! YUMMMM..(and after about a few months suddenly I was in my bunk and out of no where began to laugh so hard I woke everyone up... try explaining to people from 8 all different countries that you are laughing because BOTH of the drinks yoou got frm the states are the ones you put ice cream in for stomach aches! BAhahaa they were so clueless as if Americans were totally off their rockers and also annoyed but I still laugh at that when at the grocery store i see my beloved vernors and Rootbeer :)

THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE FOR EVERYONE IS MICHIGAN.... AND THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ALL GRANDPARENTS, AUNTS, UNCLES... AND PARENTS