Cheerwine!!!

02-13-07

If you are from North Carolina then you already know that Cheerwine is one of the best drinks ever created!! If aren't from this great state and don't have a clue what Cheerwine is then I pity you. My brother and I are avid Cheerwine drinkers. Unfortunately for him, he lives in a state that doesn't sell Cheerwine so he often has to smuggle it in from North and/or South Carolina. I, on the other hand live in the Carolinas and always have Cheerwine within my reach. To live without Cheerwine would just be miserable in my opinion. A little history about this most tasty drink:The formula for Cheerwine was created in 1917 in the basement of L.D. Peeler's wholesale grocery store in Salisbury, North Carolina!!! However, it all really started in 1913 when Peeler and some other investors had bought stock in a Kentucky company that made a then popular mint flavored cola. In 1917 they bought out the local company and renamed it Carolina Beverage Corporation. A "flavor salesman from St. Louis" sold Peeler on a unique cherry flavor to blend with other flavorings that would later become the taste of Cheerwine. (Back then, soft drinks were often named for their appearance, hence the names root beer and ginger ale. Therefore, it made sense to name a burgundy-red, bubbly, cherry concoction -- Cheerwine).
L. D. Peeler died in 1931, and Cheerwine fell under the watchful eye of his son, Clifford Peeler. He served as the President of Cheerwine until 1992 and then served as the Chairman until his death in 2000 at the age of 96.