The local news section of a Calgary Herald newspaper from 1883 began with a one-word paragraph: B次元官网网址淐ronk.B次元官网网址�

Interspersed between articles were similarly terse and mysterious phrases: B次元官网网址淐ronk is good.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏uy Cronk.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址滳ronk is the drink.B次元官网网址�

A Calgary brewery, inspired by the enigmatic ads, has resurrected Cronk. Cold Garden Beverage Co. began selling stubby bottles of the fizzy, herbal-tasting beverage in its tap room Wednesday morning and ran out that night. More should be available online soon.

B次元官网网址淚 think, overall, itB次元官网网址檚 a success,B次元官网网址� said Trevor Cox, brewer at Cold Garden.

B次元官网网址淚 think it really tastes nice when itB次元官网网址檚 cold and carbonated.B次元官网网址�

Paul Fairie, a community health researcher at the University of Calgary, makes an occasional pastime of perusing old digitized newspapers and he often posts on Twitter the oddities he comes across.

B次元官网网址淥h God. IB次元官网网址檝e got to learn more about this,B次元官网网址� Fairie recalled thinking when he encountered the Cronk ads in June.

Cronk went viral. People posted photos of antique bottles that once contained the drink. Someone unearthed a recipe that calls for sassafras, sarsaparilla, hops, chamomile, cinnamon, ginger, green tea and molasses.

The owners of Cold Garden decided to have a go at brewing Cronk.

B次元官网网址淭he fact that it hadnB次元官网网址檛 been produced in over 100 years made us kind of interested to see what it would taste like. We couldnB次元官网网址檛 really find anywhere where anyone had said they had tasted it,B次元官网网址� Cox said.

B次元官网网址淭he only way to find out was to brew it ourselves.B次元官网网址�

Getting all the ingredients was tough during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Silk Road Spice Merchant, a shop near the brewery, helped procure what was needed.

The only diversion from the original recipe was leaving out sassafras. ThatB次元官网网址檚 because it contains a substance believed to cause cancer and Health Canada has banned it from being used in food.

The brewery used mint, burdock root and other ingredients to mimic the flavour profile of sassafras.

The first attempt at Cronk was a foul-tasting flop.

The problem was the type of molasses.

B次元官网网址淭he black strap molasses was just way too thick and you could not get any of the other flavours. It was just basically molasses fermented,B次元官网网址� said Cox.

B次元官网网址淪o we used a different type of molasses and the second batch turned out to be exactly what we think it should have tasted like.B次元官网网址�

Cox said the concoction has the taste of an herbal liqueur, like Jaegermeister, thatB次元官网网址檚 been diluted to four per cent alcohol content and carbonated.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 meant to be a light beverage.B次元官网网址�

Cold Garden brewed up 1,800, 375-millilitre bottles. There was a lineup soon after the brewery opened on Wednesday.

Proceeds are going to the Alex Community Health Centre and to Heritage Calgary.

Some bottles were set aside for Fairie, who was expecting Cronk to taste like B次元官网网址渕aybe a nice-sipping cough syrup.B次元官网网址�

Fairie said Cronk provided a surprising and welcome break from the COVID-19 doldrums.

B次元官网网址淚 couldnB次元官网网址檛 have searched for a more bizarre kind of way to spend a month-and-a-half or two months of the pandemic B次元官网网址� just finding some weird thing thatB次元官网网址檚 a little bit harmless and a little bit fun to get yourself involved in.B次元官网网址�

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

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