sodas worth sharing

a rt i c l e b y M o l ly F e l l i n S p e n c e

60 Eastern Home & Travel

 The folks at Avery’s Beverages in New Britain know a thing
or two about attracting kids to drink their sodas, and
their parents to buy them.

1
Give the drinks crazy, gross-sounding names. (Swamp
Juice, Toxic Slime, Dog Drool, Bug Barf…)

2
Add bright, fun colors, but keep the ingredients natural
(real cane sugar and naturally pure well water).

3
Top them off with a bottle cap announcing them as
“totally gross soda,” and add this tagline to the front:
“It’s SODAsgusting.”

Boom. Sold. Appealing to the 10-year-old in all of us,

the Central Connecticut soda makers came up with the
totally gross soda line inspired by kids’ concoctions cre-
ated during its make-your-own soda program. Participants
P H OTO G RA P H Y: S p e n c e photog r a ph i c s

take a tour of Avery’s factory, then mix their own flavors

in the mixing room, and take home three bottles of their
handmade soda as well as an official sodamaker’s apron.

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 Avery’s electric blue-hued Toxic Slime flavor was Speaking of old-fashioned flavor, the testers
the clear, hands down winner of Eastern Home & also highly enjoyed the classic draft-style root beer
Travel’s decidedly non-scientific, but super fun kids’ from Foxon Park Beverages in East Haven, Conn.
all-natural soda taste test. A selection of sparkling The company, founded in 1922 by an Italian im-
sodas manufactured on the East Coast were offered, migrant, uses the same recipes today to brew up
one by one, to a panel of five kids, boys and a girl unique flavors such as Iron Brew (a drink famous in
ages 4 through 12, with discerning tastes. Scotland), Gassosa (a lemon-flavored Italian soda),
The other sodas barely stood a chance against as well as birch beer and the kid-favorite root beer.
the blue-raspberry-orange flavored Toxic Slime. The The company prides itself on its natural ingredients,
testers practically jumped out of their seats, ex- such as real cane sugar. And the kids and their moms
claiming about the color, and laughing about the agreed that the flavor was authentic.
label. After one sip, unanimous thumbs-up sprung Hailing from Pennsylvania, the Reading Draft
up from all. Soda company made the kids’ next-favorite flavor,
The moms were pleasantly surprised about grape smoothie. This is one of the newer flavors of-
Avery’s as well. Despite its questionable appearance fered by the soda company that has “hand-drafted”
and suspect name, Toxic Slime comes from one of its birch beer, sarsaparilla, vanilla cream and root
the oldest soda bottling companies in New England, beer since 1921. Pure cane sugar, paired with other
and is made inside an old, red barn. Avery’s sodas are natural ingredients, and Reading Draft’s slow car-
handcrafted in small batches, using methods and bonation process are the secrets to the company’s
recipes handed down through several generations. great-tasting success. Though the kids may not ap-
The company believes in glass bottle packaging to preciate the intricate process involved in getting
preserve its old-fashioned flavor. the grape smoothie’s smooth flavor, the moms were

62 Eastern Home & Travel

 So da Res o ur c e s
Sioux City Prickly Pear
White Rock Products Corp., Whitestone, NY
www.siouxcitybeverages.com

Spindrift
Spindrift Soda LLC, Charlestown, Mass.
spindriftsoda.com

Reading Draft, grape smoothie

Reading Draft Birch Beer, Inc., Reading, Pa.

Steaz sparkling green tea, blood orange

The Healthy Beverage Company, Doylestown, Pa.
steaz.com

Moxie
Cornucopia Beverages, Bedford, N.H.
drinkmoxie.com

Avery’s Toxic Slime

Avery’s Beverages, New Britain, Conn.
averysoda.com

interested to find out that while most larger soda ingredients and is proud of its organic and fair trade Cheerwine
manufacturers flash carbonate their beverages, certifications. Salisbury, North Carolina
Reading Draft takes its time. Carbon dioxide is intro- Another relative newcomer to the soda scene, www.cheerwine.com
duced to the product under low pressure, producing Spindrift, did not impress as readily. The company’s
Dominion Black Cherry Soda
very small bubbles, which stay in the liquid longer, lemonade flavor was almost too natural tasting,
Old Dominion Brewing Co., Dover, Del.
making it taste better. with the kids declaring it “sour” and “yucky smell- olddominion.com
Cheerwine had a fun name on its side, and ing.” Moms detected mango and pineapple flavors
that, paired with its cherry flavor resulted in posi- and agreed it wasn’t your average soda. But that, Foxon Park Draft Style Root Beer
tive reviews from the kids. Created in 1917 in Salis- perhaps, is the point of the new soda company, Foxon Park Beverages, East Haven, Conn.
bury, N.C., by a general store owner, it has become located in Charlestown, Mass. Billing itself as “a www.foxonpark.com
known as the “nectar of North Carolina.” Today, the fresh take on soda,” Spindrift is trying to reintro-
Boylan’s Orange
creator’s grandson runs the Cheerwine company, duce soda to the masses, whose tastebuds are Boylan Bottling Co., Teterboro, NJ
and generations of North Carolinians seek out the clouded by unnatural ingredients and high fructose boylanbottling.com
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sparkling beverage. corn syrup. The side of the Spindrift bottle literally
The only canned beverage in our tasting, Steaz attempts to speak to its drinker: “I’m sorry – we’ve
sparkling green tea, produced in Doylestown, Pa., gotten off track. Let’s start again. I’m a soda. I’m
was also the only calorie-free option. Made with ste- made of sparkling water and crushed fruit. Simple,
via extract and all-natural flavors, the Steaz blood light, refreshing. Give me a second chance, please?”
orange flavor was loved by moms and kids alike. Unfortunately, the kids weren’t willing, one giv-
Though the company has only been around for a ing this nail-in-the-coffin review: “It tastes like a
little more than a decade, its popularity is grow- healthy soda.”
ing. Steaz focuses on sourcing socially responsible

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