Cracking a can of soda or a bottle of tonic water may be an easy path to quenching your thirst, but mass-produced sodas do nothing in terms of elevating your cocktail game. We talked last June about building a better gin and tonic with hand-crafted tonic syrup. Now, let’s talk about soda. Everyone loves a little fizz in their drink, but unless you’re willing to invest in a carbonation rig, a la Jeffrey Morgenthaler, carbonated drinks are best left to the pros. And don’t even think about hacking your Sodastream—watch a few of these YouTube videos found under “sodastream fail” to see why.
Enter Soda Jerk, the Seattle-based craft soda producer available at neighborhood farmers markets and Pike Place Market year-round, by the glass or refilled into growlers. Owner Cory Clark, who had a cosmetics business in Texas and studied clothing design and fashion merchandising, originally wanted to open a soda fountain and ice cream shop. The market for ice cream shops in the Pacific Northwest a few years ago was booming to the point of over-saturation, so Clark pivoted and focused on craft sodas instead.
Clark makes his sodas a little differently. “Most sodas are essentially a flavored syrup that carbonated water is added to,” Clark says. “I discovered that I really like the flavors more before they are cooked into a syrup. They are bright, fresh and vibrant. When you cook them down and preserve them, you lose some of that. I found I had to add a lot more citric acid to replenish those flavors. So I worked with the Department of Agriculture and the state, so I could produce the sodas and put them straight into kegs.”
Although he does not make syrups for his sodas, but Clark uses the raw juice from fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs he selects for each flavor combination. Some sodas don’t even require any sugar, since fruits like apple have a lot of natural sweetness.
Soda Jerk produces around 36 flavors throughout the year, which they rotate as produce becomes available. In spring, they’ll start offering rhubarb-ginger, then move onto strawberry-rhubarb as strawberries come into season, and move onto strawberry-pink peppercorn-balsamic, and so on. Their most popular flavor is lemon lavender, which is available year-round. One of the most requested flavors is lime-cilantro-jalapeño, which is also Clark’s favorite. It’s also a favorite of Warren Etheredge, host of the Seattle TV and web series The High Bar, who created a cocktail using the soda, appropriately called the Farmers Marketrita.
Farmers Marketrita, by Warren Etheredge
1 ounce Sparkle Donkey Silver Tequila
2 ounces Soda Jerk Lime Cilantro Jalapeno Soda
1/4 ounce Cointreau
2 lime wedges
1 lime slice
3 jalapeno slices
Dash of lime fresco salt
Muddle lime wedges and 2 jalapeño slices. Add ice, tequila and Cointreau and shake. Rim glass with lime fresco salt and pour in strained shaker contents. Add lime-cilantro-jalapeño soda and stir. Garnish with one lime slice and one jalapeño slice.
