In Ireland, Tanora (tangerine flavoured beverage) is popular specifically in the south of the country in County Cork. I believe it is available elsewhere and it was advertised nationally for a while but it remains most popular down south.
Also in Ireland, red lemonade , is a popular soft drink and mixer for whiskey etc.
The most popular brand would be TK red lemonade. It’s so popular it even has some local urban legends attached to it. One claims that red lemonade is only available in Ireland because it contains a carcinogenic additive banned elsewhere.
Cidona would be another one, an apple flavoured fizzy drink.
In Scotland, Irn Bru ( a kinda root beery/cream soday drink) is ubiquitous.
I know that, in parts of Canada, spruce beer’s somewhat popular. I think it tastes like sweetened, liquified pine needles. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to find a place to buy it for my mom…
Who the hell drinks MOXIE? i’m told it has a small (but loyal following). To me, the stuff tastes awful-sorta like a mix of turpentine and dishwasher soap.
While Dr Pepper is available all over the US and presumably elsewhere, it is particularly popular in Texas. I’m told this is partly because some of the Dr Pepper regional bottlers in Texas refused to swap cane sugar for high-fructose corn syrup when that became the norm in the 70s/80s, partly because Dr Pepper World Headquarters is in Plano, partly because it was invented in Waco (where there’s a museum for it), and partly just because Texas likes to think it’s all different and independent and stuff. The office building I used to work in had five soda vending machines, distributed among seven floors, and Diet Dr Pepper ran out first in every one. The machine-filling guy commented on it once to me; he was new to Texas and couldn’t believe how much of that stuff we went through compared to where he’d used to live.
In a barely-related and extra-trivial anecdote, years ago, mr emilyforce used to refuse to wear pleated pants. He just didn’t like the look, but he justified it on the basis that that “I don’t want to look like that ‘I’m a Pepper’ fool dancing all over the damn place,” referring to the Dr Pepper commercial of our childhood. With no Youtube at the time, I only discovered the irony of this accidentally: sick with the flu, I was watching “that 70s Show,” which the station was running with period commercials. Turns out Mr Pepper wore unpleated khakis. Ha! Guess who now owns pleated pants?
Yoo-hoo seems to be an East Coast thing. I could find it anywhere in NY and NJ, but it’s pretty hard to find out here in CA.
I grew up drinking a lot of Malta Goya and Coconut soda (Coco Rico) since my family is from Puerto Rico, but I don’t know how popular they are on the island or elsewhere. I can usually find Malta at one of the Hispanic food markets here, and Coco Rico at one of the Asian markets.
Irn Bru is available in Canada, too, though as an import, but it’s found at many supermarkets large enough to carry a selection of imports. I’ve tried it too (along with the British Dandelion & Burdock which is often found alongside it). Irn Bru tastes almost like an orangy creme soda to me. D&B was … different. Kind of Root Beery, but not really.
Is there any place that Wink is popular? I actually like that drink, but I never see anyone else drinking it.
Blenheim ginger ale is only available in South Carolina as far as I know. I have never seen it anyplace else. It’s very good, and the hot ginger ale is something else. It used to be you could only get cheerwine in North Carolina, you can find it other places sometimes now.
50/50 and other Canfield’s offerings seem mostly available in Chicagoland and surrounding areas. I’ve never understood the name b/c IIRC, the can shows lemon, lime, and grapefruit. Shouldn’t it be 33/33/33?
For those who never have had it, you really should. If you like Squirt, 50/50 is nectar of the gods.
When I looked at the web site I saw that it is sold outside of SC. Still predominantly SC though. I never thought of it as “mild” but then we would get the hot stuff. It’s been years since I had any.
The World of Coca Cola in Atlanta (it’s fun!) has a Taste It! room (go to Virtual Tour, scroll right) where you can sample sodas from around the world. One they have there is called Beverley, which I believe is from South America. I’ve often wondered if people actually drink that, or if it’s even a real drink, because it’s utterly unpalatable. It tastes just like perfume. Anyone ever had it out in the wild?