Bates College student and Sun Journal summer intern Lena LaPierre tries Moxie carnitas Friday during the Moxie Festival Recipe Contest at Lisbon High School. The Josh Ward invention won the crowd favorite award during the contest. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

LISBON — If they had told me that while on the job I would get to chow down on delicious heaps of Moxie mango meatballs, cream puffs and even the southern classic chicken and waffles, I would’ve taken my Sun Journal internship offer faster.

I would also have asked, “What is Moxie?”

Born in Chicago and raised in Mississippi, I knew nothing about Maine’s “distinctively different” soda until a little over a month ago.

On my first day at the Sun Journal, I was told that I’d be covering Moxie Festival and was given a rundown on its controversial namesake.

A 1-year-old Lena LaPierre foraging for gentian plants in Bulgaria. Submitted photo

My editor warned me of the soda’s nasty reputation.

“It’s an acquired taste,” he stated diplomatically. “It has a medicinal, bitter flavor.”

Intrigued, I asked around for more information on Lisbon’s favorite drink. Almost everyone I knew seemed to hate the concoction.

“At first, it tastes like Coke that’s gone bad. Then, it becomes increasingly bitter like the world’s worst cough syrup,” explained a classmate at Bates College who hailed from New England. “The worst part is that it burns.”

The closest anyone got to complimenting Frank Anicetti’s beloved beverage was by calling it “spunky.”

Needless to say, I wasn’t tearing down the doors of Lewiston’s and Auburn’s convenience stores for a taste of the dreaded Moxie. So great was my fear of those painfully bright neon orange cans, that I didn’t try the soda until the festival’s iconic recipe contest.

“Do you want Moxie with that?” Lisa Ward, a Moxie Recipe Contest organizer, asked me generously.

I mumbled a shaky “sure” and thought to myself: “well, this will surely leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

My reaction was far from what I imagined. It tasted a lot like root beer but not so sickeningly sweet. The more I drank Lisbon’s favorite soda, in fact, the more it grew on me. Although this puts me in the minority of my friend group, I am fond of Moxie. It’s not my drink of choice, but if offered an ice-cold Moxie, I won’t turn it down.

When I called my parents to tell them about my experience trying Moxie, they offered an interesting hypothesis for my reaction to this controversial soda. The gentian plant, whose root gives Moxie its signature bitter aftertaste, has always been a part of my heritage and identity.

With a Moxie in one hand and Moxie Mango Meatballs in the other, Bates College student and Sun Journal summer intern Lena LaPierre talks with Lisa Ward on Friday during the Moxie Festival Recipe Contest at Lisbon High School. Ward is the organizer of the recipe contest. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

I’m a Bulgarian-American and the Balkan country, which borders Greece and Turkey, has always held a special place in my heart. I’ve visited my family there almost every year since I was a baby. My favorite place in the mountainous nation is the small village of Lyutibrod. My “Baba,” the Bulgarian word for grandmother, grew up there before moving to the capital city.

It is also home to thousands of gentian plants. Roaming around the village with my childhood friends, I remember picking up the bright yellow flowers and gathering them into a bouquet to give to her. Little did I know that, across the ocean, thousands in Lisbon were also using this bitter weed to forge cherished, lifelong memories with the ones they love.