An Artisanal Soda Trade Grows in Brooklyn
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: March 9, 2011

Two new soda companies have sprung up in Brooklyn, NY that aim to do something different when it comes to providing consumers with sweet, delicious beverages. Both have very unique takes on soda. 1) Fresh Ginger Ginger Ale by Bruce Cost: Well, the name does not roll off your tongue easily, that's for sure. Bruce Cost is, however, one of the world's leading experts on ginger. He wrote the book on it, literally. In an interview with Food Network, Cost said that he made 50,000-60,000 cases of ginger ale in his first year. The finished product looks unlike anything you've ever seen before (see the image below). It contains chunks of ginger at the bottom, which Cost says is one of the main selling points. He imports the ginger directly from China and currently offers three flavors (with a fourth in the works)— Original Ginger, Jasmine Green Tea, and Pomegranate with Hibiscus. Impressively, his product is available throughout much of the country already.



2) Brooklyn Soda Works: An artist and a medicinal chemist decide to have a house party. They want to make their own ginger beer to show off for their friends. And thus, a passion is born. Caroline Mak and Antonio Ramos have developed a second career as soda makers in Brooklyn. They use fresh ingredients, which adds to the uniqueness of their sodas, but also means those sodas have to be consumed within two weeks. They started selling at a local market, but are now slowly expanding into restaurants. Their success comes at a time when much of Brooklyn has embraced locally produced, artisanal products. Current flavors include: Concord grape and fennel seed, apple and ginger, raspberry and green peppercorn, among others. Some of their bottles are featured below:



Photos by Serious Eats/ Crock Pots and Rooftops