Seltzer Home Delivery?

[dfunghi]

There used to be this older MExican gentleman that would deliver seltzer to a friends house in the La Brea area. He even had the old heavy glass bottles. He did say hew was having many of the bottles "go missing" and he was going to switch to plastic. I have lost contact with him and my friend now lives away from here. Anyone know of this guy or ANY home delivery of real seltzer in Los Angeles / Santa Monica?

David

If someone knows and can put me in touch with that older fellow with the original heavy glass bottles there is a free bag of mushrooms in it for you.

[rjwong]

Pardon my ignorance, David.

First, what's the difference between seltzer and carbonated water?

Second, what places carry seltzer, let alone have home delivery?

And as for the free bag of mushrooms, can you have them officially approved by the health inspector??

[dfunghi]

Seltzer is carbonated water. Home delivery was the norm from about the end of WW II to about a few years ago. In NYC it is even older. The seltzer bottles were mostly made in eastern Europe and were very heavy. They became a collectable and now sell on ebay and elsewhere for up to several hundreds of dollars. This is one reason why they became so hard to find and was the big problem the fellow I met was having. People were stealing the bottles. There is a company in the bay area that does it in plastic bottles so I was hoping to find same here. Seltzer over carbonated water because it has no sodium and few minerals. It is refreshing and not heavy like say a Gerolsteiner is. You can buy home soda makers and use CO2 cartridges but they do not get as "fizzy" as the stuff made under higher pressure. I am going to call Canters tomorrow to see if they know any old seltzer delivery guys.

[Joe Blowe]

David,

Interesting to hear about the home soda makers. I've been looking hard at the Soda Club models, but I don't like buying into proprietary systems.

I've also considered rolling my own, but I don't have the time to take on yet another hobby!

In the meantime, I've been loading up on 6-packs (12 oz. cans) of Vons/Safeway Seltzer. On sale, it runs $1 per 6-pack, or 46 cents per liter. Their seltzer (also my drink of choice vs. club soda) is actually pretty good, and the small servings means less wastage due to "flats."

I don't know what your guy charged you for seltzer plus delivery, but I'd be curious to see how it compares to Vons' home delivery charge...

[dfunghi]

Well the sad truth is there is no longer any local seltzer companies left in So Cal according to a reliable source. Julian Diamond retired very recently and he was the last. They lost their warehouse location and decided to retire. How sad! So now I will have to use soda king isa soda makers at home and settle for a less fizzy product. I did find a source for imported hungarian NATURAL CO2 so at least that is good. Oh well if anyone hears of any type of old time seltzer in LA please post it.

David (thirsty and sad)

[cdh]

It's interesting that people have such varied reactions to the word "seltzer". I'd always thought it was a word in common usage that meant fizzy water, but here on eG I've run into several people who are flummoxed by the word, as if it means nothing to them and needs detailed explanation.

Is this another of those regional things like "pop", "soda" and "coke" ? Why is it that fizzy water and its byproducts are so prone to linguistic splits?

Having lived in Philly, New York and Austin TX, seltzer worked in all of them... but they've all got some longstanding German immigrant communities... so is seltzer a German word that Americans not in germanic areas never run into?

[Joe Blowe]

You got it, seltzer is a German word.

As to why it's not known universally, I personally think it's because only a certain type of person drinks the stuff. I'm the only one in my family that drinks it, none of my friends drink it, I sometimes have to go to several grocery stores to find it, etc.

Now, if you attach a trade name to it, like Perrier or sum'thin, then people say, "Oh, fizzy water..."

[cstuart]

Is this the guy you spoke with?

I also saw a posting that A-1 Seltzer & Beverage Co. had gone out of business, so maybe it's too late. Other than that I would check with some upscale bars and lounges to see if they still use the old style seltzer, as I know that the Orbit Room in San Francisco does. I'll ask them where they get it next time I'm in there.

[ludja]

This won't help you in LA, but my family in CT always had seltzer refilled in the old glass bottles at local place in New Britain, CT. The place is called "Avery's" and they also make old fashioned soda like cream soda, birch beer and ginger ale with cane syrup. My mom found 12 large old fashioned seltzer bottles at a flea market awhile back and we used them, bringing them into Avery's and picking up a fresh 12 pack. It was great to have nice, fullly carbonated club soda/seltzer at will.

Here is their website: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/travel/searc...searchcriteria=

Since places like this are becoming few and far between, maybe you would have some luck if you contacted Avery's and asked for any LA recommendations they might know of.

"Always ask for Avery's" (their old and present slogan since 1904.)

Edited August 23, 2006 by ludja (log)

[dfunghi]

cst, No Julian was not the guy. He was the A-1 seltzer guy and they did close. There is some talk of reopening by others but as of yet no. As to the SF seltzer that is Seltzer sisters they are all over the bay area. She gave me a few leads to follow down here but so far no one has replied to my calls.

[goldie]

I know I'm on the wrong coast for you, but we get our seltzer from our milk man (yup- glass botttles for both, fresh butter and eggs, the whole nine yards). If you have milkmen who deliver in your area, you might see if they have any leads for you.

Here's hoping you find it (as I raise my nice cold glass full of seltzer)!