Pommac: The Soft Drink from the Continent

Years ago, Dr. Pepper marketed this pale colored, grape (?) juice flavored beverage. It obviously didn't sell well enough. Just wondering if it still exists somewhere. Funny, no one ever asked which continent.

[candersen]

I am delighted that folks still remember this short-lived Dr. Pepper Bottling Company product. One of the first "designer" soft drinks. It derived from the Swedish fruit beverage fermented in oak barrels for the Swedish Royal Court and the original is still sold in the U.S. today at some IKEAs. I fondly remember the Dr. Pepper version from the early 1960s in San Diego, California. Much sweeter, and bolder in flavor (no doubt due to the excessive sugar and (possibly) extra white grape juice) than its Swedish counterpart, which is less sweet and has more subtle and complex flavors. I discovered it at about the same time as San Pelligrino's "Chinotto." Neither really caught on, but I thought they were awesome. I must also mention that "Mother's Pride" cream soda, from the cheapest line of soft drinks marketed at that time, was and remains the best creme soda I have ever tasted. Go figure.

[Jameo65]

I certainly remember Pommac; I grew up in southwest Arkansas and depended upon radio stations from Shreveport and Dallas to provide top 40 music in the daytime. Dallas' KLIF was high on the list. I beleive that they began an ad campaign for Pommac in the spring of 1965. I wanted to try it out and a "senior skip day" that year found me in Big D. I brought back a case of Pommac and enjoyed it. ( I wasn't aware that Dallas was a test market; just thought it was something that the big city had that we didn't in my little town of pop. 8,399.) Long live the memories of KILF, Pommac and the class of '65!.

[L987]

we have pommac here, dont really like it but i remeber when i was younger they use to serve it to all the kids insted of champagne at partys..

[TE5LA]

I remember Pommac. It was actually pulled from distribution in the U.S. because some of it had fermented and kids were getting intoxicated.

[sueatmo]

I encountered Pommac in Tennessee in the early 1960s.

[dfdboatmkr]

I lived in Dallas in the 60's, and I remember the drink. I didn't particularly like it, but it was the cool thing to drink. I would like to know where and how to acquire some today to see if my grand children like it.

[Samalicious]

I was beginning to think that no one remembered Pommac but me too. I absolutely hated the taste of it but it looked so cool that I kept trying. Springfield, Missouri in the 60's.

I loved the stuff, but absolutely NO ONE I know remembers it but me! I was a waitress in high school in the summer of 1968. The Dr. Pepper distributor delivered it to the cafe where I worked. I ordered it by the case just for me. Now I look for the empty bottles at every antique store and flea market I can find.

We were in Sweden in the mid sixties with our kids, and it was their drink of choice. Couldn't find it in the US when we returned.

Pat G.

Good Lord! I meant the mid seventies!

It's a Swedish soft drink. Dr. Pepper had the US rights and marketed it in the early-mid Sixties. Apparently it is still made in parts of Europe, and in fact, some of the rights were just sold. Also note, I am apparently bored at work right now, otherwise I wouldn't be looking this stuff up.

Interestingly, this is from a "History of Sweden" site :

1991
At the International Fancy Food Show in New York, Pommac (Swedish non-alcoholic sparkling soft drink) is declared the best beverage in the show.

This is too strange -- a friend of mine who grew up in Texas was just asking me if I'd ever had this stuff (he said it was spelled Pomack, but the description is spot on, so it has to be the same stuff). He swore that Dallas was a test market for the then new soft drink, but I always just thought he'd taken too many drugs in his youth. now guess I stand corrected. He remembers liking the stuff and has always kept an eye out for it, so I'm fairly certain that he'd have found it if if were still available.

Your friend has cred. I was in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in the mid 60s when it was being marketed there. A cool child would be sipping a Pommac and eating Chipos, "the new corn chip that's round" (which I believe Frito-Lay drove out of biz). Don't know about other times and places, but it appears to be in Sweden.

I was in Houston in the mid 60s and Dallas at the end of the decade. I didn't know I missed Pommac until youse guys had to remind me.

Where are yuz now? Philly or Baltimore?

Queens

I have a bottle of Pommac. My father was a truck driver in the sixties and when he delivered to the Dr. Pepper plant in Dallas, he would pick up a case or two of the Pommac syrup. We would buy sparkling water and mix up our own. It was wonderful!