Moxie

I thought that Moxie would be a fitting place to begin this blog because it was one of the earliest mass produced soft drinks in America. This entry will be a two-parter since I will be discussing one of my favorite caps from my collection as well as reviewing my first taste of the drink itself, Moxie. 

Carbonated beverages owe their beginnings to old world cultures which considered bathing in or consuming the mineral waters in natural springs to be beneficial to health. The practice of bathing in mineral springs continues to this day. The earliest "soft drinks" are often considered to be sherbets developed in arabian cultures. The ingredients were grown by the doctors of the Ottoman Palace and were cold drinks made with rose hips, cherries, rose or licorice and various spices. Sherbet and the word syrup share this etymology. In the 13th century a drink call Dandelion and Burdock arose in Europe made from fermented dandelion and burdock plants, the drink was naturally carbonated. This concoction shares its origin with other drinks made from root extracts like root beer and sarsaparilla and usually contained a slight wintergreen flavor. 

In the 18th century the ability to create man-made bubbling water through the process of carbonation was discovered. This was soon called "soda water" and became a commodity due the belief in the health benefits in consuming spring waters. Before long the pharmacists selling soda water and all manner of tonics and elixirs combined the two, creating soft drinks. This is why soda fountains were common in early drug stores. 

In 1876, Dr. Augustine Thompson created Moxie in Lowell, MA as an elixir, the kind of "medicines" popular at the time and sold as panaceas for all types of illnesses. It wasn't until 1884 that the elixir came to be a carbonated soft drink. There is debate as to why the drink was labeled Moxie, however it is not due to the definition of the word. Rather, the term "Gee, that guy has a lot of moxie!" came from the drink itself. The drink was said to have such an unusual taste that not all people enjoyed it, so if someone were to have more than one of the drink they were said to have moxie. Thus the term entered the American vernacular and so someone with moxie has "nerve, determination, or force of character". 

The cap shown here is one of my favorites from my collection and has been with me since the very beginning, see my earlier post "The Start". In the early years of my cap collection I had no idea what flavor Moxie was. Eventually I learned the story about this "usual flavor" from someone and how the term entered regular usage from the name of the drink and I knew I had to taste the stuff. With the recent surge in popularity from fans of the drink it has seen a small resurgence and those not near a retailer suppling the drink in the New England market can order Moxie from a half dozen or so websites, including www.sodapopstop.com, where I procured a couple of bottles. 

Upon first sip of the Moxie… it has a licorice flavor to it, but finishes with more of a cherry cough syrup taste. It isn't overly carbonated. This is obviously a flavor derived from the Gentian Root Extract listed on the ingredients. Gentian extracts are harvested for use in flavoring bitters or the liqueur Suze. It almost tastes like an antique store. I'm a little curious if the flavor of modern cough syrups derives something from these extracts given the history of tonics. A google search reveals that the name of the herbs is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king though to have discovered that the herbs have tonic properties. I have to admit that after years of waiting to see what this tastes like, I am not very impressed. It isn't something I would consider sitting down to drink with a meal or even for refreshment. It seems like an antiquated novelty. Nevertheless, I am still fond of the Moxie caps in my collection and the very essence of the word. Moxie is one of those words that matches it's meaning so perfectly. Now, towards the end of this bottle it reminds me more of potpourri, so perhaps take a good whiff and if you are so inclined, try a bottle some day if only for the experience of soda history.