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"B" is for Blenheim Ginger Ale

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"B" is for Blenheim Ginger Ale. Blenheim ginger ale originated in the Marlboro County town of Blenheim. In the 1890s Dr. C.R. May began adding Jamaican ginger to mineral water gathered from a local artesian spring and prescribing the concoction as a digestive aid. He later joined forces with A.J. Matheson to bottle the nonalcoholic beverage. Though the company developed different flavor combinations over the years—the spicy, ginger-flavored soft drink known as Old Number Three has remained the primary product. In 1993, Alan Shafer purchased the company and built a modern bottling plant alongside Pedro’s Pleasure Palace at South of the Border. Despite a marketing push in the late 1990s, the spicy ale is not widely distributed outside the Carolinas. However, Blenheim ginger ale has developed a cult following among food and wine aficionados.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.