Every year, just days before the summer solstice, Black American communities around the country gather to celebrate one of the most important moments in United States history: the day that the last 250,000 enslaved people of the Confederacy were officially set free.
On June 19, 1865, some 2,000 Union troops finally reached the westernmost Confederate state of Texas at Galveston Bay to spread the news—two years after the fact—that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared “all persons held as slaves” within the Confederacy “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
In the two hundred-some years that followed, Black families and friends gathered to honor that life-altering anniversary, known as Juneteenth, with traditions that harken back to the original 1865 celebration. The holiday was enshrined as an official federal holiday in 2021.
These observances are marked with plenty of food, colorful fashions and music intended to lure people to the dance floor. However, the signature of the holiday is its official beverage, Red Drink.
“There has to be some kind of communal drinking that’s happening,” says Nicole Taylor, the James Beard Award-nominated food writer and author of Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations.
“You may have your canned sodas, but typically, somebody has made something that’s being passed around,” Taylor shares. “And for many Black Americans, really Black people across the African diaspora, you see the Red Drink pop up.”
What Is Red Drink?
Red Drink, or Red Drank, can be a myriad of beverages. It can be made with hibiscus or red berries. Perhaps it’s a refreshing strawberry lemonade or a crisp and sweet red-colored soda. There might even be a delicious red fruit punch spiked with a bit of liquor.
Regardless of the ingredients, “Red Drink has always been a part of the Black diaspora tradition,” says Taylor. “Wherever the middle passage dropped us off, there’s evidence of the ritual of drinking a red drink.”
Historians claim that Red Drink’s famous color can be traced back to more than four centuries ago, when West Africans used ingredients like hibiscus flowers and cola nuts to create red teas that were served at ceremonies and special occasions. The red teas were also used for medicinal purposes.
