Ginger Ale - History

History

Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles. This was the Golden ginger ale, dark coloured, generally sweet to taste, with a strong ginger spice flavour. It is the older style and there is little or no difference between this and non-alcoholic versions of ginger beer. Golden ginger ale, like ginger beer, is mainly consumed as a carbonated type drink and not a soda in its own right.

Dry ginger ale is recognized as a Canadian creation by John McLaughlin, a chemist and pharmacist. Having established a soda water bottling plant in Toronto in 1890, McLaughlin began developing flavour extracts to add to the water in 1904. That year, he introduced "Pale Dry Ginger Ale," the bubbly libation that would be patented in 1907 as "Canada Dry Ginger Ale." An instant success, Canada Dry products were accepted by appointment to the Royal Household of the governor general. The dry-style also became popular in the United States during the Prohibition era, when it was used as a mixer for alcoholic beverages. Dry ginger ale quickly surpassed golden ginger ale in popularity, and today, golden ginger ale is an uncommon, and usually regional, drink. By contrast, dry ginger ale is produced on a vast scale internationally.

Dry ginger ale, as a mixer for alcoholic beverages, is a staple on supermarket shelves, in bars, and on airlines. Ginger ale is less commonly sold through vending machines or soda fountains alongside other carbonated soft drinks, but is still popular in some countries such as Canada.