Specialty Soda Pop Stop

There is a small Mom & Pop type shop in a small town near us called "Mr. Clint's."  I think I've posted about it last year.  Mr. Clint's had a big plate glass window that was blown out in Hurricane Laura.  It is still boarded up with a big plywood patch over the broken window.  Despite Covid-19 and two hurricanes, Mr. Clint's is still open for business.

We have committed to supporting local businesses and buying "American."  Even if it costs a little more (sometimes it doesn't), the quality is better, and we want to support our friends and neighbors and buy locally.  Tricia went into Mr. Clint's the other day and bought some longneck specialty soft drinks.  Mr. Clint's has a variety of specialty sodas that he purchases from across the country.  Tricia bought a mix and match four pack.  This weekend we opened them up and tried them and shared them with each other to have a taste test to determine which we thought was the best.  Here are three of the four.  Laura came in from Baton Rouge and tried a Hank's Gourmet Vanilla Creme.

So the three left to right are Boylan Bottling Co.'s Birch Beer, Avery's Totally Gross Zombie Brain Juice Strawberry Orange, and Triple XXX Root Beer.  A little info on each and then... the winner!

Boylan Bottling Co. Birch Beer: First it is not beer.  It is similar to root beer.  Distinctively minty and sharp with strong notes of sweet birch and wintergreen oil.  It is made from herbal extracts and birch bark.  It was originally made from oak and pine sap.  The sap is extracted and then distilled to make birch oil.  Boylan is located in New York City.  (New York City?)

Avery's Zombie Brain Juice Strawberry Orange: "They are SODAsgusting!"  (Their marketing slogan - not mine.)  It looks weird and has a strange name, but was very tasty.  Avery's is located in Connecticut.

Triple XXX Root Beer: Let me first say I didn't want to research anything on the internet with Triple XXX in the title!  This root beer is a historic Texas Root Beer made at the Galveston Brewing Company in the early 1900's.  The brewery was closed in 1916 due to Prohibition. The brewery was converted to producing soft drinks under the Triple XXX name - root beer, ginger ale, lemon, orange, chocolate, cream soda, grape and apple juice.  In 2008 a couple from West Lafayette, Indiana purchased the name and recipe.  A pretty cool history, I must say.

Taste tests were done and secured voting (no mail in ballots allowed) was counted and recounted.  And the winner is...  Triple XXX Root Beer!  You wouldn't go wrong purchasing any of the three, however.  It was a fun taste test.  We'll have to visit Mr. Clint's and select another four to try!

Old Time Soda Shop

In a neighboring small town, an entrepreneur opened an old time soda shop named "Mr. Clint's."  It is on the old main street in town.  Tricia and Benjamin stepped in and brought me a soft drink in a bottle called Hank's Black Cherry Soda.  It was delicious!  I like old, nostalgic things.  I had to go check this place out.   When you walk in the door, it is like stepping back in time. 

The front of the shop has country themed gifts, signs, furniture and knick-knacks for sale.  There are swinging saloon doors you go through to get back to the soda shop.

There is a wide assortment of soft drinks in glass bottles to choose from red soda to really, really strange flavored beverages.  It was hard to make up my mind what to purchase.  They sell a soft drink you might remember that is called "Bubble Up."  Merle Haggard sang about Bubble Up in his country hit, "Rainbow Stew" back in the early 80's.

After you finally make your decision, you walk to an old phone booth, and instead of making a call, you can use a bottle opener to open your soft drink.  All the bottle caps fall into a box below.

After a lot of deliberation, we finally made our selections.  I opted for a Coconut Lime soda.  Benjamin had a Root Beer, and Tricia chose a Coconut Cream Soda.  They were all really good.

But we just scratched the surface when it comes to the different flavors that Mr. Clint's has.  Soft drinks aren't the only item in the soda shop.  You can find all sorts of vintage chewing gum and old fashioned candies.  He even sells chocolate-covered bacon!  Benjamin brought home a bag full of salt water taffy in various flavors.