Go to any home in the region, and it is a staple beverage served alongside meals, mixed with cocktails, and incorporated into dozens of delicious recipes. It is part of the identity of entire generations of people who have grown up in or around the Northern Neck. And now, a grassroots movement is on the cusp of bringing the area’s best-kept secret into the mainstream spotlight. If you have ever tasted it, you know that Northern Neck Ginger Ale not only deserves the accolades, but also its time in the sun — but if you have not had the pleasure of sampling the amazing brew, now is definitely the time to discover the most amazingly smooth yet bold flavor that will leave you wondering, “Where has this been all my life?” The answer to that question lies in the history of the tasty drink, which began over 90 years ago in the beautiful hamlet of Montross, where a banker latched onto a national trend and created a potable masterpiece.
In the early 1900s, a group of businessmen in Westmoreland County got together with the intention of founding a bank, but needed just the right man to captain their endeavor. They found the Carver family, who hailed from West Virginia, and the patriarch’s son, Arthur Carver, who quickly came to the town of Montross and answered the group’s call. Along with the select businessmen, the Carvers helped found The Bank of Montross in 1908, and as the bank grew, so did local economic growth. But banking would not be what would eventually serve as the family’s legacy — that would come later, alongside a national craze and with the help of a secret, homemade recipe.
It may come as a surprise to some, but nearly all sodas currently on the market owe their success to ginger ale, considered to be the granddaddy of all soft drinks. There are quite a few who claim to have invented the brew, including the Irish in the 1850s, and a specialty drink purveyor from New York, Robert Robinson, who assured that he invented “Ginger Soda” in the 1840s. The “Pale Dry” version that remains popular to this day is credited to Canadian John McLaughlin, while American Doctor Thomas Cantrell is known to have introduced the less common “Golden” version of ginger ale. No matter the hotly contested originator, the bubbly beverage took off like wildfire, spreading across the country and
becoming the most consumed soft drink beverage in the United States. For nearly a century, ginger ale held the number one spot of carbonated drinks and was the only soda most folks had ever tasted.
During the 1920s, many bottled ginger ales were no better than sugar water, or lemonade with capsicum or pepper powder, something that was a great disappointment to those craving the true ginger sodas they remembered from the old days. It was during that time of great popularity — but variable quality — that Arthur Carver decided to take a leap of faith, and develop a drink that not only tasted of real ginger, but also had a quality that would eventually make all other brews truly fade in comparison to his Pale Dry Ginger Ale.
In 1926, capitalizing on the growing American soda market, Carver opened a franchise of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Montross. Starting with ultra-clear water from an over 640-foot-deep artesian well on the bottling factory land that is rumored to be supplied by water trickling down from the Blue Ridge Mountains, Carver combined fresh local ginger root with cane sugar and perfected a secret recipe. Once developed, he decided to take a chance and begin marketing the new ginger ale locally. Quickly thereafter, the popularity grew and Northern Neck Ginger Ale, and its artisanal version of Carver’s Special Ale, became the only ginger soda acknowledged in most localities. The local popularity was so fierce, and the following so devoted, that the brew became a symbol and trademark of the region.
The traditional and vibrant recipe remained true to its roots through industry changes in the three decades following the 1950s, when artisanal ginger ales died out and large brands became weaker in taste. During the same time, different sodas gained in popularity as new flavors other than ginger ale became national favorites. Although some of the later years of Northern Neck Ginger Ale found turbulent times, most notably after the Carvers sold the franchise and many locals claimed the taste had changed, the brand somehow found its way back to its purer roots and the love for the drink born in Montross endured.
The Northern Neck Coca-Cola bottling plant building, no longer in operation, still stands in Montross as a reminder of where the Northern Neck Ginger Ale was founded. Photo by Dianne Saison.
To this day, specialty publications across the country have rated Northern Neck Ginger Ale and Carver’s Original as possibly the best-tasting ginger ale, not only in the country, but in the world. In addition, the advent of bloggers and traveling food critics has breathed life into the drink, extolling its unique and developed ginger flavor that “doesn’t burn, but goes down remarkably smooth.”
So why hasn’t the drink, that so many in Virginia know to be absolutely delicious, taken off in popularity? Perhaps the isolation of the region can be called into point, or the lack of promotion in a flooded market. The massive numbers of devotees to Northern Neck Ginger Ale who have come to equate the flavor with down-home, good country living where true flavors do not come from a mass production line, but from a local recipe that has endured for nearly a century, certainly question why it has not caught on outside of its home.
Recently, however, the call to recognize the region, its history and cultural importance has become a driving point to the revitalization of the beautiful area. One of those advocates and protectors of the land, who has been extolling the virtues of Northern Neck Ginger Ale for years, has started a grassroots movement that is quickly gaining impressive momentum, not only to recognize the significance of Northern Neck Ginger Ale to the region, but to the Commonwealth as well.
This past summer, Chip Jones began spearheading the effort and “call to arms” for state legislators to introduce legislation that would designate Northern Neck Ginger Ale as the “Official Soft Drink of the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Jones, a Montross native, is already well known for his amazing efforts in land conservancy, both through the Northern Neck Land Conservancy, which named him as a 2018 Conservation Champion, and at historic Stratford Hall, where he is a farm manager. Jones also translated his dedication to the Northern Neck through his assistance in the creation and design of the Northern Neck Specialty license plate. For Jones, his love of the region is in his blood, and his fight to get Northern Neck Ginger Ale recognized for its cultural significance and great taste is just another way to promote the home he loves.
According to Jones, since the small brew is now owned by a large conglomerate, he feared it would fade, and he wanted to find a way to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds when they thought of the Northern Neck. “For those that grew up here, it evokes the pride of the area and a taste everyone enjoys,” Jones said. “Northern Neck Ginger Ale is a part of our heritage.”
Fellow residents agree, with people from across the region adding anecdotes on social media pages that they have long used Northern Neck Ginger Ale in their recipes, and that when family and friends come to visit, it is often the most requested item on their shopping lists. Some contributors from across the country added that they have made special trips to the Northern Neck just to stock up on Northern Neck Ginger Ale in bulk so that they can enjoy it wherever they roam.
Jones said that the superior taste of the ginger ale deserves its unique following and hopes that the petition started this past summer, which now has an impressive number of signatures and has been picked up by major news outlets, will gain footing in the General Assembly or be noticed by the Governor of Virginia and State Senate. “I wouldn’t drink any other ginger ale,” is a common comment that seems to be voiced by a majority of those who have tasted it, adding that it is a delight to the taste buds and has no peer.
For all those who are as dedicated and passionate about Northern Neck Ginger Ale as Jones is, he invites them to visit his newly founded website VAgingerale.com to sign the petition, or visit the Facebook page Virginia’s Ginger Ale and join others in expressing their appreciation of the drink that so many find to be a true “Taste of Home.”
Northern Neck Ginger Ale, a Virginia tradition since 1926, is a product of The Coca-Cola Company.
17 SOUTH’S FARMERITA
• Cup of ice
• One shot of Cazadores tequila
• Splash of vodka
• Fill to 3/4 cup with Simple Limeade
• Top with Northern Neck Ginger Ale
• Garnish with lime