Three Stars

Jared’s ProPops: Cream Soda

History: Jared Toay was in the money management business. He was a suit and tie man. Now he earns his living making popsicles and craft sodas. Business may be a little more casual these days, but it’s still just as serious, because instead of dollar signs, Jared’s Pro Pops is about your health. Healthy soda? Seriously? Stay with me here. The Pro in “ProPops” stands for probiotic. Think of probiotics as good bacteria. “They actually help break down the sugars and break down the food so your body absorbs the nutrients,” says Toay. In other words, they help your digestion and immune system. Toay started his business making popsicles simply because his kids liked them. Through trial and error, he eventually got it down to a science, concocting traditional flavors like Strawberry and Watermelon to wild ones like Spicy Pineapple and Picklesicle. After wanting a little more variety, he ventured into soda. Everything in Jared’s ProPops Soda is organic. They’re made with water kefir, which is just a fancy way of saying probiotic water. Kefir can actually help reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. The whole point of Toay’s venture into this is giving people healthy, delicious alternatives to what’s already out there. He’s trying to make products that improve overall wellness, a novel concept in the world of soda.

Where to get: Jared’s ProPops is based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. You can order his popsicles directly from his site. As for soda, you can order that too, it just isn’t on the site yet. Contact Toay directly through his site, and he’ll hook you up.

Nose: Fresh vanilla bean; mild maple syrup; raisin; molasses. A lot going on for the senses to process here. Raisin and vanilla bean dominate, but quite varied on the nose for a soda.

Taste: Vanilla bean; molasses; raisin glaze; earthy, light sugar. This is not what you’ll be expecting with “cream soda” on the label. Because this is an all-organic product, remember that everything is going to taste more earthy and less sugary. Vanilla is very up front, but it’s more of a natural vanilla bean taste than vanilla syrup. This isn’t as sweet as a prototypical cream soda because the good bacteria in the soda’s kefir water actually eat sugar. The goal, after all, is to ingest probiotics and not unnecessary sugar. That said, there is a mild cane sugar taste to this that washes over the tongue after the vanilla. Once that fades, you’re left with notes of raisin and molasses, both of which are ingredients. Lots of flavors going on in this bottle.

Finish: Faint vanilla and cane sugar that transition into sweet raisins. Perhaps most interesting is the tartness that comes in right at the very end. This is due to the use of apple cider vinegar. It’s surprising, but nice and not overwhelming.

Rating: This is a hard one to rate because its taste won’t be for everyone. Some will be turned off by its less intense, earthier flavor profile, while organic purists may drink this down like water in the desert. We’re trying to look at this as somewhere in between those two groups. Jared’s ProPops Cream Soda has a complicated flavor profile, even for a craft soda. Typically vanilla-flavored beverages are overly sweet and dominated by that one flavor. The vanilla here tastes very natural and is complimented by prominent raisin and molasses flavors. Like most, we’re used to those flavors being more intense than they are here. We’ll be honest, it’s a little weird, and that’s why we think you should try it. Also, it’s full of good bacteria for your digestive and immune systems. It’s soda that’s good for you. It’s soda that’s healthy. And it’s not every day you get to say something like that.

Wyndridge Farm: Crafty Citrus Apple

History: It’s not often a horrific injury leads to a delicious new idea, but that’s exactly what happened to Steve Groff. From his beginnings as a small-town farm boy, Groff transitioned away from that life into the medical world, becoming an orthopedic surgeon. It was a profession he excelled in… until the accident. While riding his bicycle, Groff was struck by a vehicle, leaving him with a bad neck injury. Luckily, his injuries didn’t keep him from walking, but his passion for surgery, his eye-hand coordination; it never felt the same. Plan B? Back to the farm boy roots. Groff and his family renovated a 120 year-old farm in York County, Pennsylvania. Groff calls it “the Napa Valley of apples” with vibrant orchards. So spoiler here: Wyndridge Farm is known for their apple cider. They also brew beer. Those two things led to craft soda. As Groff says, the “soda was born out of having the equipment.” The company already placed an emphasis on the quality of ingredients they used in cider and beer, so it was only natural that craft soda came next. Wyndridge Farm makes a cream soda, but their signature craft soda is “Crafty Citrus Apple.” It contains fresh-squeezed apple juice with just a pinch of lemon. The farm hosts weddings and corporate events, but for our purposes, they’re barnyard brewers. “It’s a combination of great packaging and great liquid, says Groff.”

Where to get: Crafty Citrus Apple and Crafty Cream Soda are both available mostly in the eastern seaboard to mid-Atlantic regions. The company is open to direct orders and are more than happy to work with people on getting their products where you’re located.

Nose: Apple juice; light V8 juice. Not sure where the V8 comes from. Odd.

Taste: Hey that’s apple juic…..zing! You’re greeted with a refreshing carbonated apple juice taste that’s like “‘sup?” and then peaces out in favor of a mild tartness. Really an interesting sensation that the mouth never quite adjusts to completely. The apple flavor is crisp and refreshing. The citrus aftertaste is comprised of lemon, lime and orange, but the lemon is what really does the majority of the flavor work. It actually plays off the apple in a way that contorts the sweet apple flavor into a sour one. So you actually get lemon-sour apple as the soda progresses. That tartness intensifies as you continue drinking, though the cane sugar also becomes more noticeable, just not as much as the citrus.

Finish: Sharp citrus that rises off the back of the tongue up to the roof of the mouth. While lemon is the most noticeable citrus element throughout the beverage, lime really stands out in the finish.

Rating: This is certainly original. The mouth does not expect a zing when drinking apple juice or cider, but Wyndridge Farm decided your traditional flavor profiles have no meaning here. The citrus kick combined with the natural acidity of the apples makes this drink like a hard cider at times. I’d consider this more of a sipping soda with the exception of hot summer days. Its refreshing aspect would be intensified during the hot and humid mid-year months. The apple flavor here is really well done. The soda actually contains fresh-pressed juices from the farm’s neighbors down the road. You can see why Wyndridge Farm has done so well with their ciders. The citrus punch on the backend is just a little too harsh for me to drink more than a couple in one outing. I think if this was paired with a sweeter bourbon or rum, you’d have something really dynamite for your cocktail book. Just a little something extra to cut down that acidity. Fans of more tart sodas are almost guaranteed to love this. If you’re looking for a nontraditional fruit soda, give this a shot. If your taste buds aren’t quite as adventurous, I’d stick to what you know. Groff went through a hell of a lot on his own, so why shouldn’t he make something totally different? When summer rolls around, you should be pulling this one out again.

Maine Root Mexicane Cola

History: Maine Root is a well-known craft soda brand. It’s nationally distributed, but despite its widespread availability, the company’s reputation is still darling. Sometimes the bigger a brand is, the harder the craft soda connoisseur will push back against it. Not so here. It still feels genuine. Maybe it’s because Maine Root is still a family business. Maybe it’s because they place a major emphasis on “organic” and “fair trade.” Or maybe people just love Maine. It is just kind of hanging out up there, all cutesy in the northeast. But it’s probably something you don’t see: the owners. Mark Seiler was working in a pizza place that sold a root beer he loved. Pepsi bought it out. Aw HELL NAH! That led to Maine Root and the creation of its root beer by brothers Mark and Matt Seiler. Today’s review, Mexicane Cola, is the company’s newest regular soda and came out about three years ago due to customer demand. What the owners will repeatedly emphasize to you is that Maine Root is the first and only company to use fair trade, organic cane sugar juice. They source it from Paraguay. This is in contrast to cane sugar. It’s also “incredibly expensive,” according to Matt Seiler. Let’s drink it in.

Where to get: Maine Root is a nationally distributed soda. You probably already knew about it. It can be found in well-known stores like Whole Foods and O’Naturals. And if you can’t find it in your city, order it online.

Nose: Not much of a scent on this, but sugar is what hits the nose most.

Taste: Cane sugar; soft kola nut; nutty; light cinnamon. Right away the kola nut is upfront. You’ll want to compare this to Mexican Coca Cola based on the name, but the two aren’t that similar in flavor. Coke is more bitter due to its use of high fructose corn syrup, while Mexicane Cola’s organic cane sugar juice gives it a sweeter, earthier taste. Maine Root keeps the spice in this a secret, but you can taste them swirling around after the kola nut wears off. Cinnamon is identifiable, but it’s very faint. The cane sugar flavor is constant throughout, which is the staple of a mexican cola. Definitely more a rustic flavor than most colas. The sugar permeates the mouth. It’s the soda’s defining trait, but at times it overpowers the spices.

Finish: Cane sugar juice that trails off into spices.

Rating: A new take on an old classic, Mexicane Cola is anchored by its use of fair trade cane sugar juice and secret spices. The cane sugar powers this soda from beginning to end. It’s a natural sweetness not found in many other sodas. The spices help mellow the intensity of the sugar’s flavor, but it still packs quite a punch. If you’re not a fan of sweeter sodas, then I’d keep looking for your dream cola. The use of kola nut in this soda plays nicely with the rest of the spices to help create a nuanced flavor profile. Unfortunately, the sugar limits the opportunity for more of those flavors to come through in the mouth. This is solid as is, but could really go to the next level without as much sweetness. Our suggestion? Try it on ice to help limit some of the sugar’s effect. If you see this in a coffee shop or grocery store, it’s worth a shot. It’s an adventurous take on a soda that’s often so dull, and the craft soda world needs more adventurers.

Brood Soda: Smoky

History: Jon Lehman was a lawyer. He ended up a craft soda brewer. No objections here. Perhaps it was his background in the law industry, something that had become mundane to him, that caused Lehman’s vision for soda to be something completely new. “There’s no reason new recipes can’t be created,” he says. Lehman wanted to venture away from the “classics” and “retro” feel that many companies strive for in their look and taste. In 2012, Brood Soda was born. It’s a bit darker in its marketing than your average craft soda bottle. That little gothic-looking fella is called “Rood Boy.” He’s the face of the brand. Originally, Lehman wanted to go even darker, but scaled back because this is soda and not death metal booze. Something else that makes Brood different? The flavors. They aren’t named after ingredients. “It’s supposed to be a very generalized product that doesn’t fit within parameters.” The soda flavors are all based on an urban feel. Odd, right? In fact, the only things that Brood really does in the traditional senses are source natural ingredients and make an impact in its local Durham, North Carolina community. Today, we’ve got Smoky, a soda judging by the ingredients, that looks to be something of a citrus cola. We’ll find out.

Where to get: Brood Soda has actually been sold out for six months, and the company is working on getting it back in stock. But if you wanna get your ‘lil paws on some of this out-of-the-box soda, it is still possible. Contact Brood directly through their site. They’re pretty chill.

Nose: Mulled sangria wine; faint orange; unique.

Taste: This is one of the most unique-tasting sodas I’ve ever had. This took at least 10 minutes just to decide on what to say and it’s probably still wrong. There’s definitely some citrus going on here. The bottle lists orange, lemon and black cherry. What comes through the most initially is lemon and a honey taste (though there’s no honey actually in this). It’s almost like a carbonated tea with more sweetness and citrus. It’s very relaxing, something you wouldn’t expect from a soda with caffeine. The more you drink this, the more you get the orange and kola nut flavors, though they mostly stay in the background. Eventually it becomes a meld of unfamiliar citrus flavor with light herbal notes. It’s almost like a carbonated sangria. The carbonation is good and the sugar levels don’t distract from the flavors – I just wish the flavors were a little more distinctive. It’s just very puzzling. A mouth mystery.

Finish: Muddled orange and lemon tinged with natural herbs and kola nut.

Rating: Smoky by Brood Soda is one of the most peculiar sodas you can put in your mouth. It isn’t overly harsh or pleasant, but more of an experience. Even as someone who’s tried hundreds and hundreds of sodas, I struggle to accurately place the flavors here. Certainly you get lemon and orange, but they aren’t presented in a way you’ve ever had lemon or orange in a soda. Instead of bold, crisp citrus, it’s more of a fermented flavor like in sangria. There’s also an herbal flavor profile going on that when fused with the citrus produces a tea-like flavor. At times this tastes like carbonated tea. Don’t be misled by the ingredients. Though this has Kola nut in it, it definitely isn’t a cola. In fact, there’s nothing traditional about this, which is why you should give it a go. I probably wouldn’t call this “Smoky.” I think “Mood” or even “Calm” would be more approriate, even in spite of the fact that it has natural caffeine in it. It just puts you in a perplexed, tranquil state as your mouth tries to decode the mystery. If you figure out the flavors, you find the treasure. Nicolas Cage, we have a movie idea for you.

 

Homer Soda Co. Maple Root Beer

History: Warning: nostalgic and heart-warming story incoming. Homer, Illinois is a town of about 1,000 people. It’s a small, farm town. Life is simple there. In the early 2000’s, an antique shop popped up in the city’s Historic Main Street Building and made vintage sodas available. The public reception was so strong, the soda selection began expanding. And expanding. And expanding. Until they had over 500 sodas. If you do the math, the amount of people in Homer, Illinois only outweigh the number of unique sodas in the city by a ratio of 2:1. It’s small. Eventually, the owner was forced to close the shop due to personal health reasons. Kate Boyer didn’t want to see it go and stepped in to run it. Eventually, she bought it. Boyer’s love of local community eventually led her to gear her company’s business model towards wholesaling, so other small communities could get these cool, vintage sodas too. Today, Home Soda Company is one of the most recognizable retro soda distributors in the nation. Every year the company puts on the Homer Soda Festival where people can try up to 100 craft sodas from across the nation. The event attracts upwards of 10,000 people and de-cuples (10x) the city’s actual population. Picture a bunch of soda geeks drinking shot glasses of craft deliciousness and eating BBQ as bluegrass music blasts their ears until they forget how much sugar they’ve ingested. ‘Merica. It wasn’t until January of 2015 that Homer Soda decided they wanted to actually make their own soda. Inspired by a 400-tree maple grove about three miles from their town in Homer Lake, Boyer and her co-workers settled on Maple Root Beer. A portion of the proceeds from every bottle goes back to an interactive program at Homer Lake designed to educate children about maple syrup. The kids also get to run around and tap the trees for their pancake-topping magic. The company’s maple root beer uses a natural maple syrup extract and is GMO-free. A fun aside: the original founder of the antique shop is now the mayor of Homer, IL. The more you know…

Where to get: The best way for you to find Homer Soda Company’s Maple Root Beer, among a boat load of other sodas, is to go online to their Web site where you can purchase it directly. It should also be available within a couple months on Amazon.

 

Nose: Sugary root beer; syrupy maple that fades into light butterscotch

Taste: Initially very sweet. Classic root beer bite that fades within seconds, giving way to sweet maple. Homer uses an all-natural maple extract in this baby and the flavor holds for several seconds before a sweet, caramel butterscotch flavor takes over and really coats the palate. If you swirl it around in your mouth, the root beer flavor lingers longer. Not much in the way of carbonation. This isn’t one of those foamy root beers you see in commercials. I’d say if this had more bubbles, the classic root beer notes would shine more as carbonation typically enhances flavors with a bite.

Finish: Butterscotch that morphs back into classic root beer. The more you drink, the more the root beer flavor eventually comes through, but butterscotch really seems to dominate the overall flavor profile and finish.

Rating: If you enjoy sweeter root beers, this is probably up your alley. If you’re into more of an earthy, sarsaparilla sort of thing, this will probably overwhelm you. A little too syrupy for me without enough of a crisp, bite. More butterscotch than maple in my opinion. Kids and root beer enthusiasts are likely to be more receptive to its flavors. Here’s the deal: I would have a one-night stand with this and then call it back four months later when I wanted to feel young again. Tip: Mix this with a mid-tier bourbon and pour over ice cream for a sweet, spicy treat.

 

Matt’s Homemade Sodas: Black + White

History: Matt Haley was a wonderful man. He was also a troubled youth, in and out of prison, battling drugs and alcohol. Once Matt figured his life out, dude went full angel and became a serious philanthropist, building schools and orphanages in India and also giving back to his local Delaware community. He also started a film company, a coffee plantation, partnered with an Italian winery and ran a restaurant consulting company. Talk about a 180. I have trouble putting my pants on in the morning. But first he started his signature restaurant, Blue Coast, in what would become a mini empire of restaurants in the Delaware coastal area. You know what people like to do in restaurants? Drink. You know what Matt and his business partner both couldn’t do because they were recovering alcoholics? Drink. Lightbulb: craft soda! So they started concocting flavor ideas. They wanted a cool, complex beverage reminiscent of a craft beer, minus alcohol. The process started  with making syrups at his restaurant’s bars and serving cocktail-style sodas there. In late 2013, the next logical step was bottling. As Matt Patton (different Matt), General Manager of Fish On said, they wanted “a good experience for the guest who didn’t drink beer or wine, and that meant having a bottle at the table a server could open for you.” Today’s those bottles hold cuisine-influenced flavors like Blood Orange + Sage and Matt’s original signature, Black + White soda. Matt and his partners pride themselves on using the freshest spices, herbs, vegetables and unrefined sugars in their sodas, while also not using any preservatives. Matt Haley passed away in a motorcycle accident in India while there on a humanitarian mission. Today, his companies live on, including Matt’s Homemade Sodas.

Where to get: Currently, Matt’s Homemade Sodas are sold locally in the eight restaurants (including Blue Coast and Fish On) found along the Delaware coast. The company is working to get their sodas distributed to a wider market. In the meantime, if you’d like to get a hold of the stuff yourself, you can place an order directly with Matt Patton.

Nose: Herby; sweet balsamic vinegar; warm Italian bread loaf.

Taste: Sweet balsamic ginger ale. This is definitely an artisanal soda of the highest degree. Definitely a sipper. The main three ingredients in this soda after water and sugar are white balsamic vinegar, bay leaves and black peppercorn. Being a soda void of any preservatives, that allows the flavors to have more authenticity. The balsamic really sings here. It smacks you in the face on first taste. You may not be ready for it, but dammit it’s here, so answer the door, man. White balsamic vinegar is typically sweeter than its black relative, but not as quick or athletic. Hence, the white balsamic sits on the bench and gets put in soda, while the traditional balsamic makes the owners big bucks on the dinner plate. (You don’t get it? It’s is a sports joke; shh, don’t worry about it.) The white balsamic is accompanied by an herby ginger flavor. It isn’t spicy like ginger beer, more like ginger ale. Still, the ginger taste doesn’t cut the strength of the white balsamic quite enough. The balsamic flavor, while sweet and drinkable, is still potent. The bay leaf in this really stands out the more you drink it and begins to integrate more with the balsamic, ginger flavors. This is where the drink really shines. The pepper is there, but it’s so subtle that you probably wouldn’t notice it if you didn’t look at the ingredients label.

Finish: Lingering sweet balsamic, candied bay leaves and the faintest possible hint of pepper. The lingering aftertaste after finishing the entire soda has a vinegar funk to it. Have some gum on hand.

Rating: You gotta hand it to Matt’s Homemade Soda – they went for it, here. This is definitely something the craft soda adventurer should try because, honestly, who makes soda with balsamic vinegar and bay leaves? Sign us up. If you have an aversion to balsamic vinegar or had a weird experience with salad as a child, you probably wanna skip this one. This is a beverage meant to be savored while relaxing or having a nice meal. The balsamic is a little strong and will overwhelm some people, but the bay leaf helps mellow that out. It’s an extremely unique, chef-driven approach to craft soda. Don’t be surprised to see more adventurous ideas like Black + White pop up in the near future.