THE MOXIE MAN

"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;" (Matthew 26:27)

One guy I enjoy seeing at the New England Pastors' Prayer Summit is the Rev. Walden Chandler of St. George, Maine.  Walden looks a bit like Mister Clean.  He's both a pastor and a fire department chaplain.  A few years ago, Walden broke out the Moxie at the Prayer Summit and only the bravest of souls imbibed!  At the time, I hadn't had Moxie for quite awhile, although I'd had it on occasion.  I was one of the handful who drank the Moxie and enjoyed it!  That kind of started a tradition at the Prayer Summit and each year we look for Walden and Moxie!

Some time ago, I wrote a piece about the origin of carbonated soft drinks.  I got some good feedback about that piece.  I don't want to go into all of that detail again, but I will say that Moxie originated in the late 1800s as a "tonic" (as did Coca-Cola) and that's why older people in the Boston area still call carbonated beverages "tonic".  The original name of the Moxie company was the Moxie Nerve Food Company!  Moxie tastes SOMETHING like Dr. Pepper, but it tastes even more like a very strong and slightly bitter root beer.  It's got caffeine.  Today, Moxie and the much newer Diet Moxie are bottled and sold by Coca-Cola.  My understanding is that Moxie's strongest market is Maine, but that it's sold throughout New England and parts of Pennsylvania.  I've seen it at Stop & Shop supermarkets.

Walden wore his orange Moxie tee-shirt on the last day of the Prayer Summit.  He served Moxie in small paper cups for anyone who was "game" to try it.  For us hearty souls (like me) we got to drink it in twelve-once cans.  I had a total of three cans of Moxie this week.  I'm a Dr. Pepper drinker, which I think is actually stronger than Moxie-though less bitter, so I had no problem enjoying Moxie.  I may pick some up from time to time, and each time I drink it, I'll think of Walden, the Moxie man!

I dare ya, try some Moxie if you've "got any Moxie"!