johnnie ryan soda

Since starting this blog a few months ago, I've been searching constantly to find new and unusual sodas. (The beers don't seem to be as difficult to find. All I need is to take another trip to BRAVO Supermarket, where the selection is outrageous. And my mom (hi mom!) just told me that the next time I visit her, we are going on a "beer run" to various markets in her area. So I'm not so worried about that.)

But, again, the soda situation has become increasingly difficult in my general area (around home/around work). So it was a great surprise to me when Murray's Cheese, which has an outpost near my office, started carrying new sodas. One of them is Johnnie Ryan Soda -- a beverage I had never heard of! Hailing from Niagra, NY, Ryan has 6 flavors: Cola, Cherry, Cream Soda, Ginger Ale, Root Beer, and Orange.  No diet, no frills. Just good, old fashioned flavors.

I haven't been able to taste-test them all yet, but I did manage to try the Cream Soda and the Cola. This cream soda is decidedly clear, unlike the red cream sodas that I kept coming across in Kansas City. The Cola is good, but nothing memorable. The cream soda I would go back to again.

I think the caps are great. Individual to the beverage they are capping, different colors, and with a lovely star/hat/wand design that is a little bit retro, and a little bit "I'm into magic." Nice. I like that they don't use black lettering on the color background, and there is a simplicity to the caps that are really quite lovely. According to their website, their "retro" design is courtesy of a tattoo artist. Go figure! Check out their fun facts.

I'll definitely go back to Murray's to get the full line. As soon as I need some more cheese, which, as Michael will attest to, is never a problem for me. Murray's, when is your next beer & cheese pairing? I want in!

stewart's

If you had to choose the most ubiquitous bottled cream soda/root beer in NYC, Stewart's would definitely be at the top of the list. Found in almost all delis and many lunch joints across the boroughs, Stewart's is New York's craft soda of choice. Depending on which neighborhood you live in, you might also find Stewart's Key Lime or Orange 'n Cream or even Birch, Peach, or Grape, but I most often find the straight-up root beer, cream soda, and diet varieties.

I know there are many more varieties of bottle cap than my meager collection, but here we go:

Stewart's keeps it simple: I actually like the newer crowns better since they leave off the ingredients and let the logo really shine. It will never be in the HOF (sorry Stewart's!) but it's just the kind of root beer you'd want to snag at a moment's notice, which is another reason why I love living in NYC!

sprecher root beer & cream soda

Well, how about that! I thought Sprecher made only root beer. How wrong I was. I first had Sprecher's tasty root beer in Chicago at Second City.  We took in a hilarious improv show over the holidays and what was on the menu? Sprecher Root Beer in a bottle. The waitress kindly gave me the bottle cap, and the root beer was so creamy and flavorful, we ordered another one.

Just this past weekend I had some meetings in Brooklyn. Perusing the soda/beer selection over lunch, I came upon Sprecher's cream soda. My excitement, however, quickly turned to disappointment after the first swallow. You see, Sprecher puts honey in their cream soda, and I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to cream soda. I want it vanilla all around. They also make their bottles 16 oz., which made it difficult to finish with my lunch.

However, the caps of both are fantastic.  Brightly colored, striking design and twist off. While doing some research for this blog post, I found that Sprecher also makes a Cherry Cola** and a Puma Kola. I want them! I will scour the city, but if anyone has leads, let me know! Or if you have extra caps and you want to donate them to the cause I will GLADLY accept them.
** It turns out I DO have a Cherry Cola cap and didn't even realize it! But I would still love to try the actual soda.