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Rob Metz of New Britain shakes water off of bottles of fruit punch soda at Avery Soda in New Britain. The company has existed for more than 100 years. (Tanner Curtis, tcurtis@courant.com / July 14, 2011) |
If you like a crisp white with chicken or fish, a hearty full-bodied red with beef, or perhaps something fruitier with dessert, Rob Metz has some suggestions, and none includes alcohol.
That's because Metz is the owner, flavor developer and occasional bottle washer at Avery Beverages, one of the state's oldest soda producers.
You could also call him a soda sommelier.
"Maybe a lime ricky, a black cherry and an orange cream," muses Metz, who bought the business 13 years ago. "Our lime ricky is made with less sugar, so it's dry and tart. The black cherry can stand up to a burger. And our orange cream tastes like a Creamsicle, so it's a great way to finish off a meal."
The company, which opened in 1904 in New Britain, still makes its products the old-fashioned way. No aluminum cans.
So does Hosmer Mountain Soda in Willimantic, which opened in 1912, and Foxon Park in East Haven, which opened in 1922.
Sodas at these vintage companies are handcrafted in small batches using methods and recipes from generations ago and sold in glass bottles packed into wooden crates. For most, the biggest concession to modern times is the addition of diet varieties.
"Our equipment is state-of-the-art 1950s," says Metz.
Avery's product line includes 40 flavors — many of which, like sarsaparilla, have been around since the company opened for business in 1904. And while they may be selling soda (about 15,000 cases each year), what they're really bottling is nostalgia.
Top sellers are two of the oldest flavors — red cream soda and white birch beer. Avery sodas are sold at the bottling facility (a red barn on Corbin Avenue) and in little mom-and-pop stores. There's no supermarket presence.
Marketing, on the other hand, is more new millennium. Avery has a Facebook page with more than 3,000 followers.
At "Make Your Own Soda" parties, kids create their own carbonated concoctions. A line of "Totally Gross Sodas" — Toxic Slime, Bug Barf, Monster Mucus and several other equally "sodagusting" offerings appeals to the 6- to 20-year-old demographic.
Limited-run flavors, such as So Long Osama (blood orange) and Barack O'Berry, reflect current events.
Carbonated drinks are a multi-billion-dollar industry in the U.S., but things are tough in the independent fizz biz. Supermarket shelf space is dominated by Coke and PepsiCo lines of bottled water, vitamin drinks, juices, teas and carbonated beverages.
Metz says the locavore trend and the public's taste for boutique foods has helped keep small-label sales from going flat.
Willimantic's Hosmer is marking its 100th anniversary this summer. (The company actually started in 1912, but Bill Potvin, who owns the business with his brothers, isn't waiting.)
"When you're in a business like ours, you don't put off celebrations," he says. "We hope we'll be here next year, but you never know."
The slogan for the festivities echoes Potvin's cautious outlook: "Founded the year the Titanic went down, but we're still afloat."
Hosmer features about 36 varieties and sells about 75,000 cases each year. Flavors include orange, root beer, golden ginger ale (darker, sweeter and spicier than the company's pale dry ginger ale) and sarsaparilla, which Potvin describes as an "adult" soft drink.
That's because Metz is the owner, flavor developer and occasional bottle washer at Avery Beverages, one of the state's oldest soda producers.
"Maybe a lime ricky, a black cherry and an orange cream," muses Metz, who bought the business 13 years ago. "Our lime ricky is made with less sugar, so it's dry and tart. The black cherry can stand up to a burger. And our orange cream tastes like a Creamsicle, so it's a great way to finish off a meal."
The company, which opened in 1904 in New Britain, still makes its products the old-fashioned way. No aluminum cans.
So does Hosmer Mountain Soda in Willimantic, which opened in 1912, and Foxon Park in East Haven, which opened in 1922.
Sodas at these vintage companies are handcrafted in small batches using methods and recipes from generations ago and sold in glass bottles packed into wooden crates. For most, the biggest concession to modern times is the addition of diet varieties.
"Our equipment is state-of-the-art 1950s," says Metz.
Avery's product line includes 40 flavors — many of which, like sarsaparilla, have been around since the company opened for business in 1904. And while they may be selling soda (about 15,000 cases each year), what they're really bottling is nostalgia.
Top sellers are two of the oldest flavors — red cream soda and white birch beer. Avery sodas are sold at the bottling facility (a red barn on Corbin Avenue) and in little mom-and-pop stores. There's no supermarket presence.
Marketing, on the other hand, is more new millennium. Avery has a Facebook page with more than 3,000 followers.
At "Make Your Own Soda" parties, kids create their own carbonated concoctions. A line of "Totally Gross Sodas" — Toxic Slime, Bug Barf, Monster Mucus and several other equally "sodagusting" offerings appeals to the 6- to 20-year-old demographic.
Limited-run flavors, such as So Long Osama (blood orange) and Barack O'Berry, reflect current events.
Carbonated drinks are a multi-billion-dollar industry in the U.S., but things are tough in the independent fizz biz. Supermarket shelf space is dominated by Coke and PepsiCo lines of bottled water, vitamin drinks, juices, teas and carbonated beverages.
Metz says the locavore trend and the public's taste for boutique foods has helped keep small-label sales from going flat.
Willimantic's Hosmer is marking its 100th anniversary this summer. (The company actually started in 1912, but Bill Potvin, who owns the business with his brothers, isn't waiting.)
"When you're in a business like ours, you don't put off celebrations," he says. "We hope we'll be here next year, but you never know."
The slogan for the festivities echoes Potvin's cautious outlook: "Founded the year the Titanic went down, but we're still afloat."
Hosmer features about 36 varieties and sells about 75,000 cases each year. Flavors include orange, root beer, golden ginger ale (darker, sweeter and spicier than the company's pale dry ginger ale) and sarsaparilla, which Potvin describes as an "adult" soft drink.
