About a month ago I was working in Maine, so I thought it'd be appropriate to do a post about some Maine edibles and drinkables. This week I'll do some of the latter, and I'll probably return to the former some time in the future. The official state soft drink of Maine is Moxie, which I covered back in my December 5th, 2013 post. Today I'll be discussing and rating five flavors of Capt'n Eli's sodas, which are a brand made by the Shipyard Brewing Company, out of Portland.
Shipyard Brewing, as the name suggests, is primarily a producer of beer. Founded in 1994, it's currently the fourth largest microbrewery in New England, after the Boston Beer Company, Harpoon, and Magic Hat. Its beers are available in 40 states. Shipyard's owners are Fred Forsley and Alan Pugsley. Pugsley is the master brewer, while Forsley seems to the driving force behind the soft drink line. Shipyard also owns Sea Dog Brewing and Casco Bay Brewing, and produces beer under contract for Gritty McDuffies's Brewing Co. Some of the brewery's more exotic offerings include Fireberry, Maui Mango, a Coffee Porter, Melon, and Monkey Fist IPA (which, somewhat disappointingly, is not flavored with actual monkey parts). As far as I can recall, I've only sampled two of Shipyard's beers--their Pumpkinhead and their discontinued Gingerbreadhead. (The Pumpkinhead I found to be an average, kind of bland and inoffensive, but drinkable pumpkin beer, while the Gingerbreadhead was an odd flavor, but kind of good.)
The Capt'n Eli's brand in a way dates back to the 1920's, when one of Forsley's ancestors made a home made root beer. It's been made and sold since 1996. Apart from the five I'll talk about below there's three other flavors--root beer, cola, and strawberry pop. The makers are proud to note that they use cane and brown sugar for sweetening, and not high fructose corn syrup. They're also free of caffeine and gluten. (They're presumably vegan, too, but I didn't see this listed.) The official website has one unusual feature, in their store section. Aside from the usual branded glassware they sell a comic book line. These are about the undersea adventures of Capt'n Eli, and also a character called Sea Ghost.
1) Capt'n Eli's black cherry pop flavor. Came in a 12 ounce (355 ml.) glass bottle, as did all the other flavors. Pinkish-red color, caused by beet and grape juice additives. Solid overall--not awesome, is a tad thin. So just okay.
2) Capt'n Eli's blueberry pop flavor. Similar color, since it's a purplish red hue. Again is alright, but doesn't have a particularly strong flavor. Maybe a bit weaker overall than the black cherry kind.
3) Capt'n Eli's orange pop flavor. Yellow color. Hate to be a broken record, but it was about the same as the previous--average, but not a very strong, distinctive taste. Solid but nothing more.
4) Capt'n Eli's cream flavor. Champagne hue. Has a sweet, almost bubble-gum like taste. Better than the first three, but still just good.
5) Capt'n Eli's ginger beer. Best of the bunch. Very good, but not excellent, though. If it had a slightly more intense ginger bite it would be great.
So as you can see I wasn't exactly blown away by Capt'n Eli's sodas, and I tried most of them. I think I'd only buy the ginger beer kind again.
As I often do, I thought I'd flesh out this post by adding a few fun facts about where they came from, in this case the state of Maine. It's the most easternmost state, as well as the only one whose name is only one syllable. It's also the only state to share a border with only one other state. (Clearly Alaska and Hawaii don't border any other U.S. states, and all the other lower 48 contiguous states border at least 2 others.) Almost 90% of the nation's lobster is harvested off the coast of Maine. It also boasts some museums with unusual themes, such as ones about sardine history, telephones, cryptozoology, and umbrella covers.
Probably just about everyone knows that horror author Stephen King is from Maine, but there are some other famous Mainers. The first women's Olympic Marathon winner was Joan Benoit (later Joan Benoit Samuelson). Business magnate/boardgame manufacturer Milton Bradley (1836-1911) was also born in Maine. In the world of acting this state boasts Anna Kendrick, probably best known for roles in the "Twilight" series (2008-2011), the "Pitch Perfect" series (2012-2017), "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010), and her Oscar nominated performance in "Up in the Air" (2009). Famous writer E.B. White (1899-1985) wasn't born in Maine, but he did live and die there. He's famous for his contributions to the "New Yorker" magazine and for writing the children's classic "Stuart Little" (1946) and "Charlotte's Web" (1952).
Another famous Mainer was Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), who was the Superintendent of Army Nurses during the Civil War, and a mental health advocate. Turning to politics, we have Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891), who was a Congressman, Senator, Governor, Ambassador (to Spain), and the Vice President during Abraham Lincoln's first term. Melville Fuller (1933-1910) was the 8th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, from 1888-1910. And finally there's Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), who was the first woman to serve in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and was also one of the few to stand up to Joseph McCarthy's cruel insanity during the Red Scare in the 1950's.
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