Sundrop

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Sundrop

Type	Citrus soda
Manufacturer	Cadbury-Schweppes
Distributor	Local bottlers and distributors
Country of Origin	Gastonia, North Carolina
Introduced
Variants	Diet Sundrop Caffeine Free Sundrop Caffeine Free Diet Sundrop Cherry Lemon Sundrop
Related products	Mountain Dew Mello Yello Surge Vault 7 Up Sunkist Squirt

Sundrop is a citrus-flavored soda produced by Cadbury-Schweppes. Like other citrus sodas, it has a yellowish-green color imparted by lots of Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. It has a sharper taste than Pepsi's Mountain Dew or Coca-Cola's Mello Yello, and is known for its high caffeine (63mg per 12oz can) and sugar content. Orange juice is an ingredient to the drink, and remaining pulp matter from the orange juice provide some of the soft drink's unique taste and appearance. In the 50's and 60's Sundrop was often referred to as "Sundrop Golden Cola" or "Golden Girl Cola". It was and still is made in Gastonia, North Carolina.

While extraordinarily popular in the Carolinas, the Jackson Purchase area of western Kentucky and the Tennessee Valley (sales of the drink have been known to beat cola sales 5:1^{[citation needed]} in some areas), and also in the Rolla, Missouri, area, SunDrop remains relatively unknown in most of the United States. It has, however, been found sold very occasionally as far north as Front Royal, Virginia. This leads to its devoted followers to pay upwards of $18 [1] for shipment of a six-pack outside of the region.

There are four varieties of the drink available for sale: Sun Drop (green can), Diet Sun Drop (white can, 69mg caffeine), Caffeine Free Sun Drop (Gold Can), Cherry Lemon Sun Drop (red can) , and Caffeine Free Diet Sun Drop (color unknown) In the 1980s and early 1990s, the drink was promoted in the South by NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt.

Sundrop is also bottled and distributed by Twig's Beverages in the Shawano county region in WI and by the Hebbeler Bottling Company in New Haven, MO.