A vintage bottle of Moxie. Photo: Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Coca-Cola agreed to buy Londonderry, N.H.-based soft drink maker Moxie from bottling partner Coca-Cola of Northern New England for an undisclosed amount. Deal talks came out of Coke's broader efforts to separate itself from its bottling operations.
Why it matters: Because while most of you have probably never heard of Moxie, it's liquid religion in parts of New England (particularly in Maine, where it's the official state drink).
- The bottom line: "Like its new corporate owner, Moxie was initially marketed as a cure-all. Beginning in 1885, it was cooked up by a Lowell, Mass. doctor: Augustine Thompson, a Maine native. But it never really caught on outside of New England, according to Moxie’s official history. Thompson said the name came from a Lt. Moxie, who discovered gentian root in South America, although the company has since admitted the lieutenant was part of marketing fiction created to promote the drink." — Patrick Whittle, AP