Fire cider is an herbal concoction that steeps for weeks and emerges tangy and hot. It is a pungent brew made from apple cider vinegar, onions, garlic and horseradish, sometimes with citrus and hot peppers thrown in. Proponents claim it has beneficial properties.

Lately fire cider has become known for another property: its ability to electrify the typically serene herbalist community. The contentious tonic is the subject of a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts that, when it goes to trial this month, will pit timeworn traditions against cold, hard capitalism. The question to be answered in court: Who has the right to sell fire cider — and still call it “fire cider”?

The conflict began in 2012, when a Massachusetts company called Shire City Herbals trademarked the name of its signature drink, which comes in three flavors and is now carried in all 50 states. Dana St. Pierre , 40, who founded the company with his wife and brother-in-law, said he learned the basics of making fire cider from his German grandmother, a medical skeptic who often relied on home remedies.

Mr. St. Pierre said that he tinkered with her recipe for decades, adding habanero peppers and lemons for kick, steeping the brew for four weeks at a time, until it tasted just right. According to his version of events, he came up with the name “fire cider” and around 2010, began s elling it at local craft fairs and farmers markets. Soon after, on the advice of a customer, he trademarked the brand name to protect his small family business from being copied by larger companies.