Vernors Black Cherry is coming back almost exclusively to Michigan

A limited edition of a popular pop flavor is returning.

Vernors Black Cherry lovers, get ready and mark your calendars for July 24.  Keurig Dr Pepper, owners of the beloved Detroit original, is releasing the black cherry flavor again this summer.

Beth Hensen, market development manager for Keurig Dr Pepper in Holland, Michigan, confirmed that the Vernors Black Cherry Soda (yes, soda is on the label) will make the rounds again for a limited time,

The new flavor of the iconic Vernors brand made its debut last August. Like last summer, Vernors Black Cherry will be nearly exclusively at Michigan stores. It will also be available in the Toledo area.

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Vernors Black Cherry is sold in 12-pack cans and 2-liter and 20-ounce bottles, and only in the regular version; there is no diet or zero-sugar version. The black cherry flavor was the first variation of the iconic Vernors ginger soda in more than 50 years.

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Like last year, Vernors Black Cherry will be available for a limited time through October.

Vernors fans love it

There's a Facebook page called Vernors Club. Earlier this month, a post read:

"Hey, Vernor’s lovers! It’s coming back! BLACK CHERRY VERNORS will return to stores in Michigan and the Toledo area the end of July 2023 - or early August 2023. ... This is another market test. ..."

Nearly 200 comments followed the post and more than 400 shares. Many of those commenting wrote that they were happy that the flavor is coming back.  Some even said they still had some cans stashed away from last summer's Vernors Black Cherry release.

Last year, when the news of the new black cherry flavor came out, the Vernor's Club Facebook posted about it. Vernors fans were excited about it then. The post had, at one time, had nearly 2,000 comments more than 18,000 shares.

According to its Facebook page, the Vernors Club is a group of Vernors advertising collectors.

Why you should give it a try

Part of the appeal of Black Cherry Ginger Soda is it has the same characteristics as original Vernors, notably the carbonated bubbles and fizziness.

I gave it a try last summer and liked it.

Although I typically don't drink a lot of sugary drinks, when I tasted Vernors Black Cherry, it wasn't sickeningly sweet.

The pop delivered what I expected: a cherry flavor with all that fizzy goodness, with a hint of a ginger finish. You can think of the finish similar to how the heat from some chili peppers has a front or first bite while others hit you later. I just wanted more of it.

Vernors history

Most Detroiters know Vernors. The iconic brand has been around for more than 150 years. It’s the ginger ale pop (Detroiters or Michiganders, in fact, don’t call it soda) created by James Vernor, a young pharmacist employed with the Higby & Sterns drugstore on Woodward in Detroit, in 1866.

Vernors is well known for its fizz — carbonation so powerful you'd swear all those bubbles sneak up your nose, making you twitch, wince and shake your head. Once you take a sip, those bubbles hit your nose before the sweet, gingery drink hits your lips.

As the story goes, James Vernor was experimenting with a ginger-flavored syrup formula to be used in soft drinks. But Vernor was called off to fight in the Civil War in 1862.

Before Vernor left, he stored his experiment in an oak cask. Four years later, when he returned from the war (after being captured twice), he opened the cask and found that the syrup had mellowed in flavor. And in 1866, the syrup used to create Vernors Ginger Ale was born — making it the oldest continually produced pop in the U.S.

Vernor declared the formula "Deliciously Different," which ultimately became the pop's marketing slogan. Vernor, according to the Detroit Historical Society, ran a soda fountain next to the pharmacy and for several years it was the only place you could get the refresher. As the drink became more popular, Vernor began selling to other soda fountains.

"For the first 30 years, you could only get Vernors at a soda fountain, and you had to have a soda jerk make it for you," Wunderlich told the Free Press in 2016. "It wasn’t bottled until 1896."

Up until 1985, according to the Detroit Almanac, Vernors was made and bottled in Detroit at a riverfront plant. After 1951, the brand was produced at a "green-and-yellow, glass-fronted plant on Woodward near Wayne State. The building was famous for its sign: Hundreds of flickering lights showed Vernors being poured into a glass by a gnome."

By 1966, the family-owned company was sold to a group of investors. The brand is now owned by Keurig Dr Pepper.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Vernors Black Cherry soda returning to Michigan stores July 24