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Coca-Cola is Coke. Coke is It. Always Coca-Cola. If one is a real Coke fan, as I have been since early childhood, all of these slogans are true, and no other cola will suffice. If I can't get a real Coke, I'll order something else. But having been given some serious medical advice on why cutting my caffeine consumption might help a problem I'd been having and finding, to my dismay, that it was true, I have been drinking much less Coke.

My main fallback has been ginger ale. Besides being caffeine-free, its advantage over Coke is that I enjoy it over a much broader range of temperatures than Coke (ice-cold Coke is nectar; room-temperature Coke is dreck; lukewarm ginger ale is palatable). There is also more than one brand I find acceptable. The drawbacks are that many restaurants do not stock it (or worse, try to fake it) and that retailers rarely put it on sale. I have, off and on, been sampling store and off-brand ginger ales and not found any that I liked at all. Canfield's, for example, had an odd metallic taste.

I can taste differences in the national brands. Canada Dry is my favorite, but Schweppes, with more ginger bite, and Seagram's, somewhat sweeter, are both fine, too, and I tend to buy whichever is cheapest. But, as other pop drinkers have no doubt noticed, the price of soft drinks has been creeping up. So if anyone can recommend a low-cost ginger ale that comes close to any of the big three, I'd love to hear about it.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

I like the Whole Foods house brand (365 brand) better than any of the mainstream HFCS options but not as much as some of the more expensive cane sugar brands. I believe it is about $2.50 per six pack. You can typically also buy single cans for $0.75 or so from a refrigerated cooler if you want to test drive it before buying a six pack.

Early in my work-life in the early-1970s I was the quality control inspector/technician at the Canfield's soft drink company canning plant on the SE side of Chicago. Canfield's locally bottled/canned Vernors Ginger Ale for the Chicago market (and may still). Vernor's was always a family favorite in my household and working at the Canfield plant and having an unlimited opportunity to drink the beverage made me an even bigger addict to the soft drink. I haven't had Vernors in recent years but I'm suspecting the formula used to produce it varies from what Canfield bottles under it's own label - and that the Vernors has a superior taste to lovers of ginger ale. I cannot offer current pricing information, though.

The same plant produced, also, Kayo chocolate milk drink, and Green River. What a job!

Vernor's was a favorite in our family too. Intensely carbonated, as I recall, so don't hold the can too near your nose when you pop it open or you won't be able to breathe for a while!

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

But Vernor's is way different from Canada Dry.

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Leek
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Absolutely. And as an ex-Detroiter who remembers the cask-aged original, I'm not at all interested in the dumbed-down current version.

I should have mentioned, the price I'm looking for is $6 or less per case of 24 cans.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Funny (i.e. coincidental), I just grabbed a bottle of Schweppes to keep at work. Generally, I'm a Canada Dry man. I noticed that their ingredients list malic as opposed to the more common citric acid. Whether that's a factor or not I can't say, but I can say that I found their version just deeply lacking in flavor of almost any variety.

What I like best (and I'm sure this doesn't get to your exact need) is a shot of homemade ginger syrup in plain seltzer water. Mrs. B. makes the syrup, so I can't provide the recipe from memory, but I know it's simple and easy to do. We usually have a small jar of it in the fridge. Gingery, spicy, very potent. And you can really limit both your sugar and caffeine intake with no flavor loss.

P.S. on the ginger theme (as opposed to the soda theme): just tried Haagen Das' ginger ice cream, which I had never seen before. A bit too sweet for me, but damned decent. Real ginger flavor for sure. Part of their "5" line.

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"Strange how potent cheap music is."

cases of 365 brand ginger ale are on sale for $7.99 at the Kingsbury store

I am a gingerale nut and I find that Canada Dry Gingerale -Diet is not sweet and plenty of fizz. Jewel seems to have it on sale-4-5 12 packs for 11-12 bucks. Whever Coke goes on sale the other brands seem to follow. I find that the pop goes on sale near each holiday. I drink it at any temp but prefer it mixed with bourbon! The best gingerale-IMHO-is Sprechters- spicey but pricey.

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What disease did cured ham actually have?

i'd go with canada dry in a pinch. i really like sprecher's ginger ale. it reminds me of fresh ginger tea, just cold and bubbly. tastes good in my opinion.

Unfortunately, it's the best we can get now.

Don't forget to check out America's Market, they'll be able to tell you what's good. For our own taste-testing notes, check out the threads SodaTotaller by yours truly and Pop/Soda tasting notes.

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Late-Nite Eats Database

I'll say that my suggestions aren't very useful since I think every ginger ale/beer I've reviewed has cost considerably more than even Schweppe's or Canada Dry, let alone the house brand/off-brand stuff the OP is looking for.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I love premium soda pop. My budget doesn't.

So far, I've yet to find anything cheaper than the big three that tasted good at all. And now we seem to be getting "cases" of 20 cans instead of 24 -- at the same price.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

1. I think the Faygo Ginger Ale is pretty good, at least the equal of Canada Dry. It is the cheapest pop there is---I can find it in little stores all over, a big 24oz for 79 cents, a 2 liter for a buck.

2. There used to be a midwest brand called Cotton Club, which I think had some relation to Canfield's at some point. Their "less sweet" Ginger Ale, in the green can, was fantastic.

3. Lately I have been buying these Sprite Green 12oz glass bottles for $1. Just 70 calories, and it tastes *just like* Ginger Ale to me.

I tried Meijer's house brand ginger ale. I'd call it drinkable -- but it's kind of trying to be Vernors and not succeeding. Not what I'm looking for.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

I gave Meijer's house brand ginger ale another try and liked it a lot better. I don't know whether they changed the formula or what, but this time it tasted a lot closer to Schweppes.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Safeway has rebranded its house soda pop, now called Refreshe. Along with the tonic water, which I like a lot, and an adequate seltzer, they have introduced some new flavors, including a ginger ale. I'd call it more like sparkling ginger water -- the flavor is delicate -- but it's cheap, right now less than $2 a 12-pack, and drinkable.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008