If you're looking for something to sip along with your barbecue, tacos or just about anything, the TexaCola from San Antonio's Southside Craft Soda is pure Texas. Inspired by the owners' South Texas roots, the soda is crafted with regional, familiar ingredients like South Texas citrus, Mexican pure cane sugar, and Texas honey. It's zesty, fizzy and not at all too sweet. It's delicious and tastes like home.
Co-founders Andrew M. Anguiano, CEO, and Gregg Spickler, chief soda maker and brewmaster, previously worked together at Alamo Beer Company, and Anguiano worked in product development at Adams Extract.
Southside was born as a way to showcase Tex-Mex flavors, and Anguiano says that sodas really let those flavors shine through. "They're approachable and really tell the story of regionalism," he says. "We're used to squeezing citrus on street tacos or in soup, and imagine if we just squeezed that in for you. ... South Texas is the birthplace of Tex-Mex flavors. We wanted to create a product that would become an ambassador for South Texas."
Anguiano sources orange, lemon and lime juice from Earth Born Market in McAllen, and the honey comes from Youngblood Honey in Pearsall, Texas (in addition to Spickler's own bees at Winding Road Provisions in Cibolo.) They also source Mexican pure cane sugar from a local supplier. "It's a unique Tex-Mex soda that really tells our story," Anguiano says.
Because of the overwhelming response to TexaCola, Anguiano is currently researching ways to scale up their supply of juice, possibly by sourcing directly from orchards. Southside also has two other sodas in the works: Beeville Honey Vanilla with cinnamon and cloves, which is a perfect fall seasonal, and a Limoncito, with lemon-lime flavors reminiscent of a fruteria and aguas frescas.
TexaCola is available in D-FW exclusively at Central Market. It's on special right now for $4.99 (regularly $5.87) for a four-pack. Taste it this weekend along with other Texas-made products at CM's Big Tastes of Texas in-store tasting event, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 24 at the Preston Royal and Midway stores, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 25 at the Lovers Lane store, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 25 at the Fort Worth store, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 26 at the Southlake store. centralmarket.com. Read more about Southside Craft Sodas at southsidecraftsoda.com.
