Sodas

[the_wanlorn]

So, after doing extensive polling, I confirmed two things.

1) Moxie is obscenely regional.

13 people polled
5 people had heard of it.

1 from New England and 2 from New York who had actually seen it.
1 from Pennsylvania who knew of it only after googling because of someone's domain name
1 from Colorado who'd heard of it but gave no details

8 people had not heard of it, and they covered the US south, California, Ohio, England, Maryland, Chicago, and Colorado.

2) Birch beer is somewhat less regional, but proper birch beer is obscenely regional.

6 people polled
2 in New England had proper birch beer from different companies
Not including them, the people who had some sort of birch beer were: 2 Pennsylvania (1 said brown OR clear, so I guess they sort of count in the previous count, too), 1 New York
Never heard of it: 1 South California

And, okay, so the second poll sort of sucked. But you know what? My conclusion that New England >>>>>>>>>>>>> the rest of the world is valid.

If only moxie didn't taste like battery acid. :(

(For the record, proper birch beer is clear, and does not taste like sarsaparilla like brown/red birch beer does.)

Comments

[tl--dr.livejournal.com]

lololol i should have known that was you lololol

HEY PS WHAT IS DR. HORRIBLE? I'M OUT OF THE LOOP SINCE I WAS AVOIDING THE MEME TILL I SAW TDK. i know it's jossian and people think it...ends badly or something...MUCH LIKE Y: THE LAST MAN SURELY WON'T

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

I had a thought this morning! That one of the reasons why New England is superior to the rest of the world (or, at the very least, the rest of the us) is that we've managed to make at least one soda that you can't get outside New England (for the sake of this, I'm considering by-the-campgrounds-in-NY-where-New-Englanders-go-for-vacation part of New England).

And, in fact, every time someone brings up a counter example to me, I in fact get to be like "Oh hay, you mean like the [_____] that is in every grocery store ever here?" and link links to proof.

Like chocolate fudge soda. OH YEAH, NEW ENGLAND HAS THAT BITCHES. DON'T THINK ONLY NY GETS THAT SHIT.

[tl--dr.livejournal.com]

Ok so you're going to take me out to get chocolate fudge soda some day soon y/y?

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

lololol next time you come over we'll go to Stop N Shop and get a bottle.

[tl--dr.livejournal.com]

*_________________________________________________________* so romantic *___________________________* *_* *_* it's a date *_*

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

DO YOU LIKE HOW I CASUALLY REFERENCED A CHAIN STORE SO YOU COULD SEE HOW POPULAR IT IS HERE??

[tl--dr.livejournal.com]

YES I WAS ALREADY LAUGHING REALLY HARD BUT WAY TO RUIN THE JOKE BY EXPLAINING IT SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH. YOU MOOD-KILLER.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

>:( I WAS AFRAID I WAS TOO SUBTLE FOR YOU. >:(

AND NOW I'M NOT GONNA EXPLAIN HOW I JUST CALLED YOU DUMB.

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

THE DRINK FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE THEMSELVES!

[dynapink.livejournal.com]

I live in Texas, and I've heard of Moxie. However, this is only because of Food Network. Birch beer, on the other hand, is a complete mystery.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Birch beer is in the same category as sarsaparilla and root beer, but slightly different. It's seriously the best soda in the entire world. I would totally mail you some if I could.

[livii.livejournal.com]

I'd never seen birch beer until we went to the "Newfoundland Store" in Halifax with my Newfie friend, and she bought some. It was the same packaging as like the Orange Crush, but "Birch Beer" flavoured. I wasn't brave enough to try it.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Oh man, but proper birch beer is delicious!! IT'S LIKE AN EXPLOSION OF YUM!

[jamimegan.livejournal.com]

I've totally had Moxie. It was among the bottles I filled with colored water and put on my windowsill for decoration in high school. I don't think I've seen it since, but I bought it somewhere in WA.

I think my ex from NH talked about birch beer, but I've never had/seen it. Is it like root beer? It sounds good to me!

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Apparently, back in the day, moxie had a spurt of popularity outside New England. And then that died down. And moxie's popularity in NE died down (since, you know, BATTERY ACID), which is evidenced by there being only ONE column of moxie on a shelf, instead of it taking up the entire shelf.

You know how you group sodas? Like, orange and grape and the like are in one group and they sort of taste similar but not really?

Well birch beer is like that. It's in the root beer family, but it doesn't taste like rootbeer.

[gajenx.livejournal.com]

I heard of birch beer, even before I dated Bree. I never got the chance to taste it since it was not for sale and the person showed me the empty bottle. I also know of Moxie and will forever remember the time Bree bought some and had me taste it. She was all like it's really good and shite. Then I took a sip and was kind enough to not spit it out. She took a sip and was like ummmmmmmmmm well it was good when I was a youngen in Maine, but now not so much. Though her words were more her style and not mine there.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Did you know that in 2005 they made it the official state drink of Maine?

MAINE PEOPLE ARE INSANE.

[gajenx.livejournal.com]

I'm not certain if I should be confused by that official state drink declaration or revolted?

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

Well, it makes sense because the guy who invented moxie - even though he was living in Massachusetts at the time - was a Mainer.

BUT STILL. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

[gajenx.livejournal.com]

So revolted then is the right feeling?

[gaslightgallows]

I have had both Moxie AND proper birch beer, both at my father-in-law's house on the Cape. Which only goes to further your theory of 'New England >>>>>>>>>>>>> the rest of the world,' and which is why Brian and I will be moving to a nice little self-sustaining farm in the Berkshires as soon as we can possibly afford to.

And I actually prefer Moxie to birch beer.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

:( Were your tastebuds dropped on their heads as a child????

[gajenx.livejournal.com]

I know you do not know me, but I so have to agree there with the_wanlorn.

[emiweebee.livejournal.com]

YAH I was reading this like WHY are you pimping Moxie?????? And then I see you agree, it is vile.

I bought it once in Maine. I almost threw up.