Vimto
From Ukcider
Sometime in the early part of the 20th Century, Baxters Brewery of Sherborne, Dorset obtained a distribution licence for Vimto. Concentrate was shipped down from Manchester by rail, then diluted and bottled by the brewery. The bottles were distributed within their sales area, roughly 30-40 miles from Sherborne and Yeovil.
Somewhere, someone experimented with adding Vimto to rough cider. You have to remember that in those days a lot of ciders were cheap nasty acidic stuff, often given to agricultural workers as part of their wages. Vimto made it drinkable when added as a "top" of 1-2 inches in a pint. Quickly the habit spread, until it became very common. By the time I started drinking in the mid-1970's it was the standard South Somerset / North Dorset way of drinking cider for anyone under the age of 30. The first alcopop maybe?
Non-locals were often caught out by it. The local neswspaper "The Western Gazette" every week would carry court reports of matelots from RNAS Yeovilton being hauled up before the magistrates for drunk & disorderly, or violence, or worse after consuming to quickly several pints of what was always recorded in the press as "a peculiar local drink known as CV" Its not so popular now as the quality of real cider has improved so much, but if you go to a pub in South Somerset or North Dorset, look of for the crates of Vimto behind the bar, and people drinking what looks like pints of raspberry juice.
A step beyond this was a drink known as a "traffic light". This took special pouring to prevent mixing and consisted of a pint of cider, with a layer of Vimto floating on top. A shot glass holding a measure of Blue Bols was sunk in the bottom of the pint. Through the orange cider the Bols looked green, with orange cider above, and then the red Vimto top. Very popular with the local biker chicks. Never worked out if it was dutch courage for riding on the back of the bikes, or whether it was to "get them in the mood for later"... Whatever the reason it was a mind blowing mix JonS
