Grown-Up Soda (GUS)

[TBoner]

the ginger ale is very good

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I second this.

I sampled GUS on a trip to Chicago a few months ago, and fell in love with the Ginger Ale. Much drier than others without being extremely spicy (not that I don't love a spicy ginger ale).

I'm a big fan of rye whiskey and ginger ale as a summer libation, and drier g.a.'s tend to work better for that. Highly recommended.

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Where did you find GUS in Chicago? I live there and I want to find me some!!!

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LindsayAnn,

Sorry for the very slow response. I found GUS at Lush, a high-end wine and spirits shop near Little Italy. Terrific store, great service. I'm sure it's available elsewhere in the city at gourmet markets or high-end shops, too.

As to price, I get 4-packs for (I think) $5.99 here in Dallas. Pricey, but not out of line with other high-end sodas. For instance, Central Market here in town just got Dry Soda, and they are priced within a dollar of GUS, depending on flavor.

By the way, I like Dry Lemongrass very well, and the Kumquat is okay, but neither is as good as the GUS ginger ale.

[little ms foodie]

I haven't seen GUS but am a big fan of DRY soda and also like Izzy Soda's- I'll have to look at Met Market as I shop their regularly (BTW hummingbirdkiss I don't find them snooty at all- the one on top and the bottom of Queen Anne are the one's I frequent. I don't find them even close in price to whole paycheck!)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I haven't seen GUS but am a big fan of DRY soda and also like Izzy Soda's- I'll have to look at Met Market as I shop their regularly (BTW hummingbirdkiss I don't find them snooty at all- the one on top and the bottom of Queen Anne are the one's I frequent. I don't find them even close in price to whole paycheck!)

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I have never shopped at the Met Markets in Seattle so I humble to your opinion on that for sure!

honestly I am not a fan of Whole Foods either ...

maybe I am a "reverse" snob

Edited August 7, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[feedmec00kies]

I decided to try the dry meyer lemon variety since it sounded tasty and I like my sour drinks. IMO, though, I actually greatly prefer San Pellegrino Limonata to it. GUS was just not strong enough in the lemony flavor department, and it wasn't as sour as I would have liked (especially compared to the S. Pellegrino). Also, I think S. Pellegrino has some lemon pulp, and I'm a sucker for pulp (I barely can drink store-bought OJ without it). Plus, when I'm drinking soda, it's usually because I really want carbonation at the moment, and I felt that GUS was somewhat lacking in that department.

That being said, the San Pellegrino isn't much easier to find than GUS as far as I can tell, and is less likely to be available as a single refrigerated bottle/can that you can drink right away. It's probably available in the same kinds of stores though. I know Fairway in Plainview has it, so it's most certainly in the NYC Fairways, and I'm pretty sure I've seen 6-packs of it at the Whole Foods in Chelsea. I also could find 6-packs of bottles at the Wegmans I used to go to when I was at school in Rochester; I actually was reintroduced to it (I had it when I was younger) because it was sold at the European cheese shop at the Rochester Public Market. (The shop was run by an Italian family, which is probably why they carried it. They also carried their own olive oil which was quite tasty).

And, to answer the original question so my post doesn't look like a complete and total hijack: Yes, I think it's worth it to spend more money on good soda, but that's because 1. I don't (and never did) drink that much soda and 2. I'm very picky about things with sugar (I have a low tolerance for sugary things; sometimes they make me nauseous).