Always remember to drink plenty of fluids during the summer. It’s so freakin’ hot and humid here in Chicago that I’ve already consumed six bottles each of Point Root Beer and Strongbow Cider, a pitcher of limeade, several iced coffees, a homemade chocolate milkshake and who knows what else just over a few days. Who wants to cook and eat when it’s so gross outside? I know I don’t. Speaking of beverages, has anyone heard of the soft drink Moxie?
In Union, Maine you’ll find the Moxie Museum, which also just happens to be the birthplace of the drink’s creator, Dr. Augustin Thompson. Created in 1876, Moxie was one of the first mass-produced U.S. soft drinks and is still so popular in Maine that it’s the official state drink. Not as sweet as today’s sodas, the taste is described as bitter like “drinking a Fig Newton, or a gummi bear in milk, or root beer motor oil”. Sounds delish! The museum has a collection of over 50 related Moxie items, including a 30 foot tall wooden bottle that was once used as a soda pop stand and a 1930s Moxie Horsemobile. Every summer, the “all things Moxie” Festival is held in the town of Lisbon Falls. The President who didn’t talk loved to drink Moxie. Even though his laissez faire policies probably caused the Great Depression, that’s good enough for me. I mean, how can you hate a man who says, “I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President, and I think I will go along with them.”
