Golden Cockerel Inn Old English Ginger Beer – “__________”
I know an old lady who, when you visit her home, proudly serves already-opened cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale. If that’s not an endorsement I don’t know what is, but I still really dislike that flavorless stuff. I wonder if Canada Dry was ever good? Isn’t it possible that in the first half of the 20th century it still tasted like real ginger ale? Maybe it’s Cadbury-Schweppes’ fault? Probably.
I just discovered that Cadbury Beverages/Canada Dry produces a comparatively more authentic ginger drink, called Golden Cockerel Inn Old English Ginger Beer. Much more ginger bite, and with actual “natural flavours” ! Don’t get me wrong – it’s not great – lots of glucose-fructose to be had, but even in its compromised state it is still superior to the now-parent product, Canada Dry.
However, this is what one might call a “ghost-town soda”: a former regional beverage bought-up by a larger producer and/or competitor, but still propped up and produced on an extremely limited basis. For what reason? I don’t know! As far as I can tell, this drink has no fans – past or present. How obscure is this Golden Cockerel now? Weirdly so. Try finding pics on the internet. I called Cadbury-Schweppes, and THREE ‘customer relations representatives’ claimed they had never heard of it. I called the local bottler and asked over and over again “WHERE IS THE GOLDEN COCKEREL INN?”. They have no idea where it is. They did mention that they produce Golden Cockerel only in the summer. Apparently it is only distributed to small, out-of-the-way corner markets. That’s where I found mine! Strange…
^ Here you can find on old, pre-Canada Dry can of Golden Cockerel in a police line up. It’s the only pic I could find.
canada dry has never really been meant to be had as a beverage on it’s own (like tonic, you wouldn’t drink a can of that). as far as i can remember my parents and grandparents always mixed it with other stuff.
history
ok, well i’ve done some more googling, maybe people actually do drink it on it’s own. but not in my family.
As I understand the history of mixed drinks, their popularity surged during prohibition, when the mixer was intended to mask the flavor of the rubbing alcohol people were downing. Mixers have simply stayed on, even though alcohol quality and availability has improved. This seems unfortunate to me.
Personally, I would never think of drowning my nice (expensive!) grain spirits in corn syrup. But I don’t remember the prohibition era very well, either.
There’s also – I found – a perceived difference between ginger ale vs. ginger beer.
There’s no historical justification for this perception – it’s simply semantics – but nowadays ginger ale is supposed to be an inoffensive little drink/mixer flavored with ginger, while ginger beer is supposed to be stronger. That sounds really arbitrary, but that’s what they say.
They do offer Canada Dry “straight” on every flight in and out of the country.
You never noticed that?
no, i have never noticed that! i’m usually too busy trying to get clamato with a lemon wedge (did you know you can’t get clamato in france? neither did i, until recently).
there is a historical justification for the perceived difference of ginger ale vs ginger beer. pre-WWI ginger beer was fermented and not a carbonated beverage.
Then the current distinction leads to automatic confusion, because ale under any other circumstances is, in effect, strong beer.
To me, ginger ale should be stronger than ginger beer, if these namesakes followed logically. In the same way that I would expect “spruce ale” (if such a heavenly thing existed) to be a very powerful cleaning solution.
Does Clamato have anchovies?
no! why would it have anchovies in it?
Maybe that’s V8…?
Or maybe I’m mixing up my anchovies and clams.
I cant say I read the entire entry but I did notice you mentioned golden cockerel which is interesting cause i’ve been able to get it for years any time of the year at any corner store in my neighbourhood in toronto. while it is definitely better than canada dry as a ginger ale, it is certainly no ginger beer… i mean compared to Grace, which is the spiciest by far, or even the PC jamaican gingerbeer (which IS hard to find, or maybe they dont make it anymore), or even the sweeter but still spicy ‘pirate-theme’ stuff in the little green bottles, golden cock is not that spicy. but it is def refreshing. plus i always used to think the dad’s “beers’ on the show ‘fraisier’ were actually cans of golden cockerel, since it kinda does look like a beer can of sorts eh?
i’d amend my answer to say that that black pepsi can on that picture of the can lineup was really cool looking. never seen THAT, before. but then again, pepsi is disgusting.
I imagine can collectors, when given the option, just dump it out.
There are some intensely spicy ginger ales out there – but, unfortunately, more difficult to come by. Especially true in Canada.
Blenheim’s Ginger Ale is the hottest.
Bundaberg’s is the best-tasting overall.
They are both hotter than Grace brand, and somewhere in the digital abyss, I have entries for both of them…
Merci, bevnet.
that shit is all over t-dot/toronto.
you can order it at cafe 668.
and if you ever go to toronto i recommend you go there.
i could always find it at my corner store.
and i have memories of that can disbursed throughout my childhood – bizarre.
maybe its a quebec… and… internet… conspiracy ???
I don’t know if you are aware of this, but the server that hosts the internet is located in Trois Rivieres, Quebec. This might explain the coincidence…
Don’t you think it’s a little odd that something that you can find all over T.O. has almost ZERO representation on the web? Even Pepsi Blue has two dozen fan clubs trying to bring it back.
Look – even the people at Cadbury (THE PRODUCERS OF THE DRINK) never heard of it. My guess is that it is soooo unremarkable that it almost literally goes without saying.
What’s at cafe 668?
Who is this?
yesterday when i read this, i thought to myself “i’m sure i’ve seen that before but it could just be my imagination.”
lo and behold, my small, hole-in-the-wall, cookies-expired-in-1996 corner store has it. so now that i know i’m not imagining it, i am fairly sure that a good number of non-couche tard deps carry it(at least in dorval).
I would guess that this drink is more widely available in the West Island. I have no good reason to guess that, except for that ginger ale/beer seems just a little too Anglo to catch on east of, say, Parc Lafontaine.
All the same, I’ve been inside every out-of-the-way dep in the Plateau, and I’ve only seen it once so far. I don’t plan to buy it again, though.
Golden Cockerel ginger beer is available in almost every supermarket in quebec city i work for pepsi-cola and we distribute it. it is always sold for about 5,99$ compared to pepsi, 7up, ginger ale, etc, that can be sold 2,99 in good specials. the only format is in 12 cans. it is excellent on a hangover.
Well. ^ There you have it.