By Vania Raebel | October 4, 2019
The Land of Moxie
If you visit Maine, there is no way to avoid their famous soda, Moxie. Basically, it is a carbonated beverage flavored with gentian root extract. While it tastes really sweet, it also has a bit of a bitter aftertaste. The creator of Moxie, Dr. Augustin Thompson, was born in Union, Maine. And while his soda was declared the state’s official soft drink on May 10, 2005, it was actually first produced in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The drink was originally patented as “Moxie Nerve Food,” a medicine that was supposed to cure nervousness, insomnia, paralysis, and “softening of the brain.” According to Dr. Thompson, he named the product after a friend – Lieutenant Moxie – who claimed to have discovered the rare plant that was the primary ingredient of the “healing potion.” He then changed its recipe, adding soda water to the mix, turning it into the refreshing beverage that Mainiacs now know and love.
