Just like almost everyone else this time of year, our thoughts here at Blenheim Ginger Ale turn to one thing. The BIG GAME. The Big Game is right around the corner, and you have the Buffalo wings, pizza, chips and dip ready to go. You also have a 6 pack of your favorite beverage getting icy cold in the fridge. Yep, 6 tall frosty bottles of Blenheim Ginger Ale just waiting to be poured out and turned into a cocktail, or served straight up over ice.

No ordinary glass is fit for your icy cold and fiery hot Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale. So what do you put your Old #3 into? We can’t think of too many things better than a customized Blenheim Ginger Ale glass. Since you’re already surfing the web reading this, we suggest you point your browser toward Etsy. Etsy is an online store that specializes in handmade crafts. There you will find the Bottlehood store that carries a line of uniquely handcrafted tumblers and vases. They have turned empty Blenheim Ginger Ale bottles into tumblers to hold your cocktail creations. These incredible artists from San Diego upcycle  non-returnable glass bottles to help save the environment, and create beautiful art at the same time.

Ok, now that the adults have their beverages in hand, how about the kids? Need something a little milder for the young ones? Once you have your new Blenheim Ginger Ale glass, fill it up about half way with your kid’s favorite Blenheim flavor and add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Then top your glass off with little more ginger ale for the tastiest ice cream float on the planet. It’s creamy, cool and spicy all at the same time. Kids will love a Blenheim Ginger Ale float to go with their pizza rolls.

This great idea came from one of our fans on our official Blenheim Facebook page. We also can be found on Twitter. Everyone at Blenheim Ginger Ale and the entire Schafer family wish you much joy and prosperity in the New Year.

Wow, Blenheim Ginger Ale Fans! That’s all we can say about the tremendous response we have been getting to last months online store opening. Thank you so much for all the messages and orders. We made the store available around 3:00am Eastern Time and by 6:00am we had our first order. A night owl from California grabbed up the first factory direct shipment of spicy Blenheim Ginger Ale bottles.

From then on, the orders for Old #3 Hot, #5 Not as Hot and #9 Diet have been coming in steady and strong. A test email newsletter went out to 10% of our email subscribers. About 60% of you opened and read our letter, over 3 times the national average. To read more about the online store, be sure to check out last month’s blog for the full story. And please realize we are a small boutique family run ginger ale company. We don’t crank out thousands of bottles every day, but rest assured you get the best quality ginger ale on the market. Besides, if you want it quick but bland you wouldn’t be looking for Blenheim Ginger Ale anyway right?

We always love to hear feedback from our fans and customers. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a quick hello, a new recipe idea or long love letter about your passion for Blenheim. We welcome them all. One of our biggest requests has been for more products featuring the Blenheim Ginger Ale name and logo. We have a few things in the works and hope to announce them very soon. Make sure you stay turned to the blog through our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter and join our Facebook page for all the latest developments on Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Well, it only took us 100 years to be able to do it, but we are ready to roll. Now you can enjoy spicy hot Blenheim Ginger Ale in your home anywhere you live. No more searching far and wide for the rare bottles of Blenheim Ginger Ale you crave, because now we can deliver it right to your doorstep. Whether it’s the ginger smashed Old #3 Hot, the powerful #5 Regular or our dynamite Diet #9, you can now have your fridge stocked full all the time.

Now you can have Oldtimey Blenheim Ginger Ale delivered in a completely New School way by placing your order with our online store. We are ready to begin taking orders immediately and start shipping them by the case right to your home. The price for each case of 4 6-packs of 12oz. glass bottles is only $24, and shipping varies by location. So that’s only $1 per bottle for the sweet, hot, fireball flavor of a bottle of Blenheim Ginger Ale. No more paying high prices from other websites or resellers. You can now get Blenheim direct and fresh from the factory to your fridge. The milkman used to deliver to your door, now Blenheim Ginger Ale has taken over that job!

Follow Blenheim Ginger Ale on Twitter, @goodoleblenheim, and connect with the official Facebook page for updates, info and news about Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale.

On hot days, we often think of cool and refreshing foods like ice cream, cold sodas and watermelon. But in many of the world’s hottest regions, the food itself is fiery like Good Ole’ Blenheim #3. Consider Indian curry, spicy Thai soup, or Jamaican jerk sauce. These places are where hot chile peppers grow, so they know about heat. They eat super spicy foods all summer long, as well as in the winter. Ever wonder why? Well now you know.

The reason for this comes from a thing called “gustatory facial sweating”. Those are some pretty big words, but we have an expert to explain it to us. Luke LaBorde, a professor of food science at Penn State University explains that this happens when we eat a spicy food, or drink a fiery Blenheim Ginger Ale. The spicy heat of the food causes a person’s face to sweat. The sweat is then evaporated from the skin, which has a cooling effect.

There are other more involved explanations involving digestion, blood flow and such which are way above our pay grade. But take our word for it, some very smart doctors and food scientists have it all worked out. We like to concentrate on the flavor part of the equation. That’s why we take the time to brew Blenheim Ginger Ale in small batches from our secret recipe that has been perfected over the course of our 100+ years.

Until next time, take it easy out there, keep plenty of ice cold Blenheim Ginger Ale around, and drink the heat to beat the heat. As always you can check the Blenheim Store Locator to find it near you. You can always find it in stock at the shops on the South of the Border Tourist Complex grounds, and be sure to check out their new Reptile Lagoon attraction.

Our Official Facebook page and Twitter feed will keep you up to date on the latest info and news about Good Ole’ Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Memorial Day cookouts are a great American tradition. Burgers, dogs, chips and punch make for a fun backyard gathering for the entire family. One of America’s most famous Southern Cooks, Paula Deen has a delicious recipe for Lime Sherbet Punch with ginger ale. We think it would “punch” up the flavor by using Blenheim #5 Not as Hot for the ginger ale. If you love Paula as much as we do, be sure to show your support by purchasing one of her collections of Southern classic recipes to enjoy in your home the way we do.

Ingredients

• 2 quarts lime sherbet
• 6 bottles Blenheim #5 Not as Hot Ginger Ale
• 1 (46-ounce) can pineapple juice
• Lemon slices
• Lime slices
• Maraschino cherries

Directions

In a punch bowl, add 2 quarts of lime sherbet. Then add the Blenheim Ginger Ale and pineapple juice. Decorate with the lemon and lime slices, and then top with the cherries.

For a complete list of where you can get your Blenheim Ginger Ale fix, be sure to visit our Store Locator page. You can follow us on Twitter, @goodoleblenheim is our name. You can become a fan of our Official Page on Facebook, or sign up to follow our blog by RSS or email. Coming soon, we will be adding online ordering to our site so you can get the fix for your Blenheim Ginger Ale addiction shipped directly to your home!

The recent global cooling in Blenheim, South Carolina has our minds turning to a way to stay warm and enjoy a hot, spicy Blenheim Ginger Ale. A sip of Blenheim Old #3 is usually enough to fire up your sinuses, but these extra chilly winter nights have been causing us to think about adding a little flourish to our Good Ole Blenheim.

Vodka is one of the most popular liquors in the world. It is especially popular in the frigid climates of Russia and other northern European countries.  Vodka is made by fermenting such items as grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses. Traditionally the finest Russian vodkas have been made with potatoes, but today most vodka is made from grain or wheat. Vodka shares a certain history with Blenheim Ginger Ale in that both were originally produced and utilized as medicines. Vodka is an excellent antiseptic, and promotes increased blood flow through the blood vessels. A few sips of vodka will instantly heat up the esophagus on the way down, and soon after your belly gets its own pleasantly warm glow the same way ginger-blasted Blenheim Old #3 makes you feel after a big gulp.

A great cocktail that contains vodka and Blenheim Ginger Ale is a Moscow Mule. The Moscow Mule was invented in 1941 by John G. Martin of Heublein Brothers, a spirit and food distributor, and Jack Morgan who owned the Cock ‘n Bull Tavern on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California. They created the Moscow Mule by mixing ginger beer with Smirnoff Vodka in order to increase the market for both ginger beer and Smirnoff vodka. Their drink is credited with causing a boom in vodka sales during the 1950’s, which had been dominated by gin as the American’s choice for white liquor. A Moscow Mule was traditionally served in a copper mug, although it’s rarely done today.

Here is our Moscow Mule Recipe using Blenheim Ginger Ale instead of ginger beer:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 oz Smirnoff vodka
• 3 oz. Blenheim Ginger Ale
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup-(equal parts water and sugar melted together)
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• 1 sprig mint
• 1 lime wedge

In a cocktail glass, pour vodka over crushed ice. Add sugar syrup and lime juice. Top with your favorite Blenheim Ginger Ale and stir. Garnish with mint sprig and lime wedge.

Of course, as with any alcoholic beverage, vodka should only be consumed in very moderate amounts. Always drink responsibly and savor the flavor; we want everyone around to enjoy Blenheim Ginger Ale for a very long time to come! (It’s O.K. to drink as much Blenheim Ginger Ale as you want)

Follow Blenheim Ginger Ale on Twitter with the tag @goodoleblenheim, and check our Official Facebook page for updates on ordering, availability and retail locations that carry Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Our biggest fan is undoubtedly Blenny from Blenheim Shrine. He has developed an entire website devoted to Blenheim Ginger that has been around much longer than our own site. For many years he has carried the torch for the fire of Blenheim on the web with a comprehensive history, blog and list of suppliers. He also has a Facebook fan page devoted to Blenheim. Another small site that has been around for a decade, Brent Aliverti has a page on his Antimatter Containment Field site with the original flyer copy that used to come with every order of Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Sydney Vaughn is big Blenheim Ginger Ale junkie as well. His email said “I’ve been drinking Blenheim since living in eastern NC in the 70s and it is truly incomparable.” He was kind enough to send us a drink recipe he calls the “Jim and Ginger.” His cocktail consists of half a tumbler of ice, a generous jigger of Jim Beam whiskey, a squeeze of orange wedge, and then he fills the rest of the glass with Blenheim Ginger Ale. Sure sounds like a great mix of refreshing fruit juice sparked up by Blenheim’s ginger heatwave.

We have received generous notes of support from such far flung places as Japan and Saudi Arabia, and emails from around the corner here in South Carolina and North Carolina. Watch this space for more of your letters, recipes and thank-you notes in the future.  As always if you have a favorite drink, food or memory of Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale feel free to drop us a line because we truly appreciate our fans.

You can follow us on Facebook; it’s our official page and we’ll have updates on all the new developments on Blenheim Ginger Ale as they happen. You can also follow us on Twitter for news, notes and other bits about what’s going on with Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Bog punch is a popular non-alcoholic party drink, suitable for kids and adults alike. It’s a refreshing, zippy blend of fruits, juices and ginger ale. We think substituting Blenheim Old #3 instead of your usual boring ginger ale will brighten up the taste even more!

INGREDIENTS

• 8 oz. Cranberry Juice
• 8 oz. Pineapple (Chunks in juice)
• 8 oz. Sugar
• 4 oz. Lemon Juice
• 1 pint Apple Juice
• 1 pint fresh Cranberries
• 1 pint Water
• 1 bottle Blenheim Ginger Ale- #5 for a bit of extra kick, #3 to really punch it up

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring the cranberries, the sugar and the water to the boil, then let simmer until the cranberries are soft and the sugar has dissolved. Strain and let the juice cool. Then mix the juice with the remaining ingredients and chill. Serve in punch cups and garnish with lemon slices.

This bog punch would be a right at home beside another type of bog, a Low Country chicken bog. There is a festival dedicated to the chicken bog in Loris, SC every October. Many people outside of the Grand Stand and Horry County have never had the pleasure of eating this spicy blend of smoked sausage, chicken and rice. This dish, as well as Blenheim Ginger Ale, is unique to South Carolina. Celebrated Southern chef Paula Deen’s recipe shows how this easy one-pot stew can be tasty time-saver for a busy cook.

So this weekend, try out some new recipes for the family. Put a chicken bog on the stove; then brew up batch of bog punch to enjoy while your meal cooks. And don’t forget the Blenheim Ginger Ale to give your bog punch and your dinner a South Carolina kick of ginger goodness.

My first encounter with ginger’s healing properties came over 15 years ago. I worked at a Chinese restaurant in college, and anytime I felt a bit under the weather, nauseous or hung-over Mrs. Wang would come to my rescue with her special ginger soup. It was a mix of sugar, water, broth and plenty of ginger slices boiled together for a bit. She explained to me that ginger had been used for thousands of years in Chinese herbal medicine as a treatment for stomach ailments. The earliest written record of use in Chinese medicine came more than 2000 years ago. The Chinese certainly had it figured out a while ago. That warm, spicy soup would always bring me back to life and have me feeling right in no time.

Many Moms and Grandmothers in the South have known for generations about ginger and ginger ale’s ability to calm an upset stomach. Now modern research has shown Dr. Mom had the right prescription all along. Studies have shown ginger to be an effective way to prevent seasickness and motion sickness. The popular “Mythbusters” TV show on the Discovery Channel did an episode about home remedies, and confirmed that a ginger pill would cure seasickness without the drowsy side-effects of drugs. A different study found that ginger would solve the terrible “morning sickness” that many pregnant women experience. There have even been some studies that suggest ginger may ease the symptoms of chronic arthritis.

You must admit Mom sure knew what she was talking about when she handed you a Blenheim Ginger Ale. She recognized its blazing ginger heat and zesty taste would relieve the grumbling and rumbling in your belly, and tickle your taste buds at the same time. So always keep plenty of Good Ole Blenheim Ginger Ale on hand during this cold nasty winter season to warm you up, ward off those evil colds, and keep your tummy happy.

First, let’s begin with the origins of the Dark ‘n’ Stormy. It’s a popular mixed drink in many of the former British Colonies and Caribbean Islands, and it’s traditionally been a mixture of ginger beer and dark rum. The smoky and sweet molasses notes of the dark rum make an excellent combination with spicy heat of the ginger beer. It’s so well-liked in Bermuda, it’s been dubbed the “National Drink” and its recipe has even been trademarked by rum producer and bottler Gosling’s Brothers Limited. Whether that’s even possible with a drink recipe is debatable, but it’s a suitable place to begin our quest for a Dark ‘n’ Stormy recipe.  Gosling’s formula calls for 2 oz of Goslings Black Seal Rum in a glass of ice, then enough Goslings Ginger Beer to fill the glass, and a slice of lemon or lime to top it off as a garnish. There are myriad versions with different flavored rums and other ginger drinks, but that’s the official trademarked recipe and it sure sounds good to us after a hot day in the South Carolina sun.

The overwhelming popularity of Blenheim Ginger Ale among the hip and trendy mixologists in America has lead to some new versions of the Dark ‘n’ Stormy made with Blenheim Old #3 Hot, that’s the one with the red cap, in place of the ginger beer. The good folks over at 10 Cane Rum, who produce very high quality premium golden rum, have come up with a version that they call the Light ‘n’ Stormy. Here is their recipe:

• 1½ oz 10 Cane Rum
• 1½ oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice (Approx. 1 Lime)
• 6-8 oz Blenheim’s Pink Cap Ginger Ale (Blenheim Old #3)
• Garnish: Lime Wedge
• Fill a highball glass 3/4 with ice. Combine all ingredients and stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Blenheim Ginger Ale isn’t just South Carolina’s favorite soft drink; its popularity extends all the way to the Left Coast where the exceedingly knowledgeable wine editor Jon Bonne of the San Francisco Chronicle came up with a fancy, but yummy sounding, cocktail using Blenheim Old #3. It is another variation on the Dark ‘n’ Stormy that he has renamed the Last of Our Sea Sorrow, which is a quote from a Shakespeare play. We’ll have to take his word on that one because we don’t know much Shakespeare, but we sure do recognize the makings of a fine cocktail when we read it:

• 2 ounces Ron Pampero Aniversario or other dark, aged rum
• 1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
• 1/4 ounce lime juice
• 4 oz Blenheim Ginger Ale (hot, preferably)
• 1 slice lime for garnish (optional)

Mix rum, Canton and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds. Either strain over fresh ice cubes into a highball glass and top with ginger ale, or strain into a small goblet and add chilled ginger ale. Garnish with lime.

We hope these fine cocktails and highballs made with Old Timey Blenheim Ginger Ale will enhance your fanatical love and devotion to our products. We would love to hear your favorite uses of Good Ole Blenheim around your kitchen or bar to include in upcoming posts. Thanks so much for all the emails we have received so far and we are working very hard to update our supplier list, develop an ecommerce system, and get Blenheim Ginger Ale into the hands of everyone who craves our fine South Carolina soft drink.