Newfoundland Crush

While in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the Christmas holiday, I was introduced to the “Newfoundland Store” - a quaint corner store specializing in delicatessen from Canada’s most north-eastern province.  The specialties available included varioius pickled fishes, and most surprisingly two Crush flavours I never knew existed.

Pineapple Crush and Birch Beer Crush are hailed, arguably, as the two most quintessential beverages (non-alcoholic) of Newfoundland.  In part due to the fact that only the province of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Fort McMurray in Alberta are the only two markets that currently have distribution.  I am not terribly excited about tropical sodas but the “herbal extract” varieties like root beer, spruce beer and birch beer are my favourite - so this find was right up my alley.

I am still researching how these two drinks came to be indigenous to these locations but it is refreshing to know that some things are still immune to globalization. If you are a pop drink junkie and are not from the Maritime, many Sobey’s grocers in Ontario now offer Pinnaple and Birch Beer Crush.

-stephanie