Hey friends, Jer here.
Vernors is intrinsic to Detroit's culinary DNA. Considering it was invented by a pharmacist, it's not surprising that so many parents here told us to fix any stomach issue by drinking some of the gingery stuff.
Heck, I recently saw a Kevin Hart skit where he said his friend fixed his broken knee... by drinking ginger ale.
To be sure, what counted as a "pharmacist" in 1866 is a bit different than today.
This year marks 160 years of the brand, making it America’s oldest continuous ginger ale. To celebrate, there's a massive street party happening in Eastern Market this Sunday, June 14, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
They're shutting down Riopelle Street between Marrow, Detroit City Distillery, and Eastern Market Brewing Co.
I recently caught up with Keith Wunderlich to talk about it on our Daily Detroit podcast. [Apple Podcasts] [Spotify]
If you don't know Keith, he’s the founder of the Vernors Club, author of the definitive book on the history, and has a legendary basement museum packed with vintage memorabilia. And yes, I got to nerd out with all the historic signage.
For him, this milestone is all about tapping into our collective local memory.
"Everyone from the Detroit area has a Vernors story to tell," Keith told me. "It's a part of our culture. Everybody's mother gave them Vernors if they were feeling sick. And we knew it was officially summer when our moms gave us Vernors with vanilla ice cream in it."
That brings us to the food and drink lineup for Sunday, which looks incredible.
For the first time since the 1980s, real Vernors Ice Cream is officially back for the event. You'll be able to grab proper Boston Coolers, Vernors floats, and special cream ales.
Detroit City Distillery just dropped their cocktail menu for the afternoon, and they are leaning hard into their house spirits for some limited-time adult versions of the classics.
They're serving up a Boozy Boston Cooler made with their Butcher’s Cut Bourbon, Vernors, and vanilla ice cream.
If bourbon isn't your thing, they're doing a 313 Mule using Gilded Age Vodka, lime, bitters, and a vanilla honey syrup, plus a gin-based drink called Woody’s Wink with Railroad Gin, ginger, lemon, and mint.
They've even figured out a way to make a Vernors Old Fashioned by creating a custom Vernors reduction syrup to mix with their bourbon. That'll be the first one on my list to try.
If you're planning to eat down there, Marrow in the Market is going all out with a dedicated Vernors brunch menu. They're doing a Vernors Pretzel Smash Burger and a Vernors Chicken & Waffles dish made with Vernors-brined fried chicken and a blackberry Vernors-maple gochujang glaze.
For the history nerds, Keith will set up interactive history stations along Riopelle. You can scan QR codes to watch vintage commercials and see archived footage from the brand's 85th anniversary decades ago.
Keith told me that digging up that specific archival footage was a huge highlight of putting this together.
We actually found a film from the 85th anniversary in 1951, where they had a massive parade down Woodward Avenue with over 100,000 people. Seeing how much the city stopped just to celebrate Vernors back then is exactly the kind of energy we wanted to bring to Riopelle this weekend.
You'll get to meet the Vernors Gnome, check out vintage advertising, and meet James Vernor V — the actual descendant of the pharmacist who started the whole thing back in 1866. They'll also have live music and games running along the block.
It all builds up to a street-wide toast to 160 years of fizz at 3:30 p.m.
"The Vernor's 160th Anniversary celebration gives us all a chance to relive a little bit of our childhood and, hopefully, show the next generation that some of the simple things in life are the best."
The event is free to attend.
Hopefully, I’ll see you on Riopelle this Sunday. I don't have a gnome hat to wear... yet.
ICYMI, you can check out the whole conversation I had with Keith here.
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Until next time — remember that you are somebody, and I'll see you around Detroit.
-Jer
