craft

Pure Sodaworks: Apple Pie

History: You hear the crickets chirping as you gaze through the forest out into the sunset, the clouds looking like fluffy biscuits charred with intense purples and reds. The evening dew is beginning to collect on each blade of grass. You hear the buzzer on the oven and know warm apple pie is minutes away. Life is simple in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The soda jerks at Pure Sodaworks want to maintain that simplicity in each soda they produce. And that warm apple pie? They wanted you to be able to drink it. But if it weren’t for a series of events, Tennessee’s most notable craft soda brewers might never have come into existence. First, there was Everyday Eclectic, Matt and Tiffany Rogers’ artisan soap and candle shop that opened in 2007. It’s still going strong today. They sell all kinds of southern goodies there, like maple bacon candles. I know what you’re thinking, but my girlfriend is already clearing our closet out to buy all of them, so don’t even bother. Well, in 2011 Everyday Eclectic moved into Chattanooga’s small business incubator. Also in the same building? Lots of food companies. “Food always win,” Matt Rogers quips. Next, there was the day at the coffee shop. Dating back even before Everyday Eclectic, Rogers stopped into a local coffee shop and ordered a standard cup. While preparing his coffee, he overheard a customer order a lavender Italian soda. “That sounds amazing,” he recalled thinking. The idea stayed with Matt and Tiffany, and with the influence of all the food-centered small businesses around them, they started brainstorming ideas within that industry. “We wanted to figure out something new that was already in line with what we were doing” in terms of using all-natural ingredients, says Rogers. To put it simply, they really just stumbled into soda. Matt started researching how it was made back in the days when soda was served at pharmacies in order to make the medicine palatable using natural herbs and spices. The couple wanted to pull from that era, but modernize it for today’s audience.

Next, Matt and Tiffany started to experiment with flavors. After positive feedback from friends, they decided to make the leap into the soda business, and in 2011 Pure Sodaworks was born. Tiffany picked the name, Matt designed the branding. They started with serving fountain soda at their local market and due to high demand, realized bottles needed to happen next. That led to a successful Kickstarter that raised over $23,000 and from that point there was no going back. Today, Pure Sodaworks is a three-person operation still trying to meet that demand. Initially, over 40 different flavors were brewed and tested, and then narrowed to six. Without a doubt, the most American of the bunch is apple pie, the soda we review today. “We wanted to come up with a more clever name, but it tastes like apple pie,” Rogers adds. The ingredients are simple and real: carbonated water, cinnamon, vanilla and apple cider sourced from a local orchard in Cleveland, Tennessee. The soda took home second place in the people’s choice category at the 2015 Homer Soda Fest. It’s a nonconventional flavor with actual ingredients you can buy at the grocery store. And that’s what Pure Sodaworks prides itself on, making unique flavors that are rooted in trying to be delicious instead of relying on novelty or gimmicks.

Where to get: Pure Sodaworks sodas are sold primarily in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville, Tennessee. You can buy Apple Pie Soda online at Summit City Soda.

Nose: Apple juice; soft vanilla; light cinnamon. Smells like the best apple juice you could ask for with maybe a hint of creaminess to it.

Taste: Cinnamon; sugar; apple pie. Oh man, this is pretty spot on in terms of tasting like apple pie. The apple flavor is distinctive. There’s a creaminess to it that tastes identical to that traditional apple gooeyness found inside a pie. The first thing you’ll notice is the carbonation. It’s rapid and full of fine bubbles that taste like they’ve been individually coated in cinnamon sugar, yet there’s also a tartness to them. The bubbles quickly peel back to reveal a layer of apple pie flavoring with notes of mild apple juice, sweet cinnamon and slightly creamy vanilla. The sugar in Pure Sodaworks’ Apple Pie Soda is sweet, but the carbonation and cinnamon work in tandem to not let it get out of hand. Bottomline: if someone asks what this tastes like, you won’t have a problem saying apple pie.

Finish: Like eating a piece of apple pie. You get that flakey vanilla crust and cinnamon sugar-apple combination. Spot on.

Rating: Believe it or not, there are a lot of sodas out there that try to replicate the flavor of pies. Few do it with the sophisticated flavor profile Pure Sodaworks has brewed up in their Apple Pie Soda. This is a soda that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to be, does it with only a handful of real ingredients, and doesn’t hide what’s in the bottle. That’s admirable no matter what the quality of the liquid is inside. Luckily, for all soda drinkers, this is a jackpot. It’s tart, sweet, authentic, flavorful, and slightly creamy on every sip. It’s a whirlwind of flavor. The mild creaminess of the vanilla works perfectly with the apple juice to give off that classic gooey apple pie filling flavor. The cinnamon and sugar compliment each other and interact with the tartness of the apple and the soda’s carbonation to give a balanced mouth feel. It’s hard to critique this. If I had to amend anything, maybe cut back on the initial wave of tart bubbles and dial up the vanilla profile ever so slightly. You’d be hard-pressed to find a soda that imitates a pie flavor as well as this one. This is the soda you ask out on a second date and the one you bring home to the family. Soda connoisseurs of all ages should put it on their list. Welcome to the five-star club.

Route 66: Orange Soda

History: Route 66 is arguably the most iconic stretch of road in the history of America. Officially replaced in totality by the current interstate system in 1985, its legacy lives on in many forms, from song to soda. “I know nothing about running a soda business, but I’m running it,” Alan Bruggeman says comically over the phone. Bruggeman, a lawyer, is the current owner of Route 66 Soda, based out of Wilmington, Illinois. Bruggeman purchased the business with a group of investors in 2006 from his friend Larry. The brand originated in 1996 after Larry consulted with Bruggeman’s mutual friend Scott Cameron. Cameron was an agent for several older blues musicians who remembered the nostalgia of glass-bottled soda working on the road along Route 66. Long story short, the two sought to recapture both the old-time feel of soda from the 20’s and 30’s while honoring the historic landmark highway. Cameron passed away in February of 2015, so Bruggeman took over the operation.

You’ll notice several famous Route 66 landmarks scattered across the bottles, including Dead Man’s Curve, Chain of Rocks Bridge, and the Wigwam Village Motel. The soda’s popularity is certainly on the rise. According to Bruggeman, Route 66 Soda is looking to double its production this year in addition to expanding its market reach. The company is currently in negotiations with a large national chain whose name was kept secret from us of over 300 stores. There’s even international interest. Bruggeman notes Route 66 soda is distributed in both Canada and Cyprus, with South Korea interested. The power of American culture, ladies and gentlemen. For the real sugar purists, fear not, Route 66 switched their recipes to pure cane sugar in 2011. Their etched glass bottles stand out amongst the crowded craft soda market place. Route 66 actually won the 2010 Clear Choice Award by the Glass Bottle Institute. Yes, that’s a real thing. The company produces five flavors: Route 66 Route Beer, Cream Soda, Black Cherry, Lime and Orange in order of popularity. I always got picked last in kickball in elementary school, so we went with their orange soda. Bruggeman adds, “The flavors are old fashioned like they used to be. I haven’t had anyone taste our sodas and say they didn’t like it.” Take that for what it’s worth7. We valued the opinion enough to give it a shot.

Where to get: Route 66 Sodas are distributed sporadically throughout the country with a majority of availability in the midwest. I know that does nothing for you, so order it online in your underwear at Summit City Soda or Soda Emporium.

Nose: Orange Lifesavers; bold candy orange.

Taste: Orange Lifesavers; tangerine; mild orange. This has a very distinctive flavor, but that flavor is more tangerine than orange. This is a bold soda. It has a distinctive rich, sweet tangerine flavors with subtle notes of orange hard candies. Not tart at all. The carbonation is very light and small. The sugar is distinct and coats the edges of the tongue as the tangerine citrus flows down the middle. Definitely not what you’ll probably be expecting. Not a traditional orange soda.

Finish: Mild acidic tangerine notes. Not much a difference from the soda’s body.

Rating: For a line of soda’s named after a highway in the middle of good ole America, Route 66’s Orange Soda tastes slightly exotic. In our opinion, it’s flavor is distinctively tangerine rather than orange. There are some subtle candy orange flavors that float about, but the richness and sweetness of the tangerine really come through in the flavor profile. Tangerines are generally bolder and sweeter in flavor than orange, which are sweet, yet tart. This soda possesses no tartness. To some, that will be an immediate draw. Others like an orange soda that bites back. You won’t find that here. This is surprisingly nontraditional. There’s certainly some familiar orange soda flavor in here, but if you’re familiar with the taste of a tangerine, you’ll understand this review much better. If this was called tangerine soda, it’d be four stars. If you’re up for an orange soda that’s off the beaten path, this is worth a try. We’re certainly intrigued by this offering from Route 66. It’s a brand that seems to be worth investigating. We’ll report back when we know more.

Bandit Beverages: IronPort

History: The Coelacanth is one of the most unique animals you’ll ever come across. Thought to have been extinct for 66 million years, it reappeared in 1938 to the surprise of the world. To this day, most people still don’t even know it exists, yet it’s an important example of the many mysteries within our world. What if I told you in the world of craft soda, there’s something out there that’s basically the equivalent of the Coelacanth? What if I told you there’s a soda out there that barely clung to life throughout the late 20th century, but is being reintroduced? What if I told you its creators knew literally nothing about soda in 2013 when they had the idea to bring it back? All of this is true. It’s called IronPort, and it’s the entire reason the Northern Utah-based Bandit Beverages exists. The company’s manager, Cameron Green, explains, “We wanted to find a way for those who haven’t tried this ‘cult’ soda a chance to, and give a chance to those people from the 50’s 60’s etc. a chance to have a soda they probably haven’t seen since they were kids or teens.” IronPort is rumored to still be a favorite in the Mountain West region of America, especially Utah and Idaho, according to Green. Unless you’re from around there, you’ve likely never heard of it.

Listen, the soda might as well be called ???. There’s a lot of mystery behind it. I’ve heard it called root beer combined with cream soda. I’ve heard it called root beer with Caribbean spices. You won’t find much information online. Is it still popular anywhere? Is it mixture of two sodas? Is it a flavor? Is it a style? Will it cure that thing I caught in a South American club last month? We asked some of these questions to Bandit Beverages, the only producer of bottled IronPort we can find. And even they won’t budge. “Can’t answer that without saying too much,” Green says with a coy smile. (I only assume this because he attached a 🙂 at the end, the kind of smiley face that girls text dudes to let them know something good is happening that night. You know what I’m talking about.) The most we could get out of them is that they’re trying to keep it “as close to the original” as possible and that “IronPort is the flavor, just the same as grape is a flavor, etc.” The one snag that may raise eyebrows to craft soda lovers is that Bandit Beverages makes their IronPort with high fructose corn syrup as opposed to cane sugar. “Since we were a young company we were trying to keep costs down, we were basically being cheap, which was a big mistake,” Green adds. Bandit Beverages acknowledged to us that they are currently in the process of switching all four of their sodas to pure cane sugar. We couldn’t resist the mystery. This should be an experience.

Where to get: Bandit Beverages sells IronPort directly via the company’s website. As of now, you won’t find it anywhere else, so you might as well snatch it up.

Nose: Bubblegum; spices; something akin to the smell of an orange freeze.

Taste: Bubblegum; orange; nutmeg; vanilla; creaminess. On first taste, this is a bit puzzling. IronPort certainly tastes like its own category. It’s sweeter and creamier than most sodas. If you drink a lot of higher-end soda, you’ll notice it’s a bit syrupy. This is because of the high fructose corn syrup used instead of cane sugar. The most prominent flavors that come through after a few sips include bubblegum and orange. This tastes more like a bubblegum cream soda infused with orange than a spiced root beer. That said, this doesn’t taste like an orange cream soda. It tastes like creamy bubblegum infused with floral orange and vanilla. Not the traditional orange soda flavor profile, but much softer. There’s definitely a nice creaminess to this and there are some additional flavorings in here that impart an orange flavor, perhaps spices. Some of those could include allspice, nutmeg, and/or cloves. As you can tell, this is hard to place. One of our team members said they even tasted some rose hips in there. There’s also definitely vanilla. That likely explains the creaminess. Bottom line: Smooth, sweet bubblegum cream with notes of soft orange, vanilla, and maybe some spices.

Finish: Creamy, yet slightly bitter orange.

Rating: Even after an entire bottle, IronPort remains mostly a mystery to us. Closer to a cream soda than root beer; this is in its own category. It’s not a variation. It’s a flavor in itself. There’s a creamy bubblegum body with notes of aromatic orange, yet I wouldn’t label this as being even close to an orange cream soda. There’s some sort of spice influence. Perhaps some nutmeg. Definitely vanilla. Maybe even some cinnamon. These are impossible to place in absolute terms, but something is causing that orange flavor. IronPort is very smooth with a nice creaminess. One area it lacks in is mouth feel. Bandit Beverages elected to use high fructose corn syrup and it leaves a syrupy taste at times. The company has said themselves they plan on switching to cane sugar in the near future. Once that move is made, I think IronPort’s flavor will greatly improve. Cane sugar provides a crisp sweetness as opposed to the thickness you taste with corn syrup. Like a majority of women, I may never understand IronPort. But its elusiveness, its mysterious standing in the world of craft soda, is something that should appeal to any soda connoisseur. Bandit Beverages, while a young company, has made a veteran move to resurrect an old favorite of which many haven’t heard. It’s nostalgic, yet abstract; classic, yet foreign; familiar, yet so peculiar. This is one you’ll want to put a check mark next to on your soda resume.