A Detroit Staple, Is Vernors Still Made in Michigan?

First served to the public in 1866, Vernors ginger ale was concocted by Detroit pharmacist James Vernor.

Today, it's every Michiganders go-to cold and flu cure.

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Known as the oldest soda pop in America this staple of The Mitten was born in Detroit, but is it actually still made here in Michigan?

Actually, if it hadn't been for a happy accident we wouldn't even have Vernors in the first place! The Detroit Historical Society claims the story goes as follows,

Experimenting with a medicinal tonic of vanilla and spices, adding ginger to calm the stomach, he left the mixture in an oak barrel when he went to serve in the Civil War in 1862...when Vernor returned from the war, he opened the barrel and was surprised by its delicious contents. The beverage had a zesty, sweet, gingery flavor that was accentuated by the wood’s aging process.

It was all just a delicious Oops! Or should I say, Ope.

Although the super secret recipe of this uniquely zesty beverage has sold several times: first to American Consumer Products, then to United Brands, A&W Beverages, and then to Cadbury-Schweppes, today Vernors is owned and bottled by Keurig Dr. Pepper of Burlington, VT and Plano, TX.

Although the flagship Detroit bottling plant on Woodward Ave. was shut down in 1985 and later demolished, today the flagship bottling plant serving Michigan is located over in Holland, Michigan.

So is the "deliciously different" ginger ale still made in Michigan? Yes!