Life at Smorgusburg is good. We’ve been slinging Brooklyn Soda Works there for a few months now and the crowds are digging it. But again, what’s not to love about the great flavors coming out of the taps? Taps - that’s right, have tap, will travel to a gravel lot on the Williamsburg water front and sell artisanal soda every weekend at a food festival called Smorgasburg.
Some of our fav sodas as of late: classic Apple-Ginger, Root Beer, Rhubarb Thai Basil and Raspberry Shiso. Not to be a dick to the other flavors, but you don’t go through life without establishing a few preferences. A few observations:
The apple-ginger is a crowd pleaser, delicious, simple and great for a hangover. The market does start at 10 am. Not everyone is an adventurous food soul, and that’s okay, we won’t judge. This is the flavor we point them to - Apple Ginger is the gateway soda.
Okay, riddle me this - why do men of a certain age LOVE Root Beer? Sure, they’re attracted to the BkSW booth because they see taps (and my super-cute market-mate Marry Hannah) and think they’re getting a beer. Crest-fallen attitudes quickly escalate when it’s made clear Root Beer is available. These Root Beer ‘aficionados’ - call friends over to sample, generously insist on buying for everyone, tell stories of climbing birch trees as a boys to gnaw on the bark, because it tasted like our heroic soda. Root Beer has a distinct fan base.
So, am I allowed to say this? David Byrne loves our Rhubarb Thai Basil. Our flavors rotate week to week, and I had to disappoint the pop legend one Saturday morning after he ordered it by name. He settled for a glass of Grapefruit Honey Jalapeno. It’s hard being David Byrne, sometimes.
Some of our flavors have foam issues. Real issues. We’ve arm-chair-chemist concluded all berry based sodas are foam prone. The Raspberry Shiso soda last week was no different. It had a lovely pink hue, with a pearlescent green on the top. Never mind it took a solid four and a half minutes to get one decent 12 ounce poor, EVERYBODY wanted the pink foam. Little girls loved it, women were intrigued by the exotic shiso herb and once again, men thought they were getting a beer. We all had a good time. Our customers deserve credit for their patience, they all understood that if waiting a few extra minutes for local, artisanal soda was the problem, it still was a really good day.
You can contact Nikki via twitter @nikkibrovold. Make sure to tell her about any additional David Byrne sightings.
