African American Culture- Red Drank
“Because the American mainland was not as hospitable to hibiscus, Miller says enslaved people in the Colonies adapted the drink again, replacing hibiscus with berries in the South and cherries in the Mid-Atlantic. According to Miller’s research, the earliest mention of red drink on the mainland dates to the 1870s South, where Black Americans colored lemonade red with strawberries, sumac or tartaric acid. “That was the drink for special occasions: going to the circus, emancipation celebrations,” Miller says. Powdered drinks like Kool-Aid, introduced in the 1920s, and red sodas like Big Red, invented in 1937, became popular substitutes for the homemade beverages.”
The obscure roots of a centuries-old beverage that’s now a Juneteenth fixture
