I'd like to add craft soda to a startup restaurant menu. My goal is to make soda that's better than store bought

[Boyblue]

My question is, is this feasible? Where should I expect my sales price to be in comparison to traditional soda?
I realize that I will probably have to compromise on some of this but, better to me means:

• No preservatives
• Real ingredients
• Full-bodied flavor
• Natural Sweeteners
• Natural Flavors

If I have to compromise, where would the most savings come from, would it be the use of artificial flavoring?

 

[MaxStout]

What scale are we talking? Will this be a sideline drink item on the menu, or something bigger? What kind of demand will you be expecting? Will you be serving in bottles, or fountain? The options are many.

Bottling could be messy. Filling bottles and carbonating involves yeast, and a means of stopping fermentation before the yeast eat all the sugars.

Force-carbonation is probably best. Methods for doing this run the gamut. You could set up a kegging system with a CO2 tank and regulator, a keezer to keep the kegs chilled, taps, tap lines, etc. If you have multiple sodas that means multiple kegs, lines and taps. Big investment, though.

An easy and cheap way would be to fill 2L PET bottles and force carb using $10 carbonation caps. All you need is a CO2 tank and regulator and ball lock gas fitting to pressurize the bottles. Chill for a day or two, then serve. And you'll have a tank and regulator should you decide later to get into kegging.

For ingredients, you can buy extracts, or make yours from scratch. Lots of recipes on this site.

As for menu prices, the restaurants around here get $3-4 a bottle for commercial craft soda.

 

[Want2Brew]

Sorry I can’t help here but I will be watching this thread as this is an interest for me as well!

 

[fluketamer]

when you say better than store bought that will be very difficult at this point. in lets say 1990 when there was only coke pepsi 7 up etc, id say thats easy. they taste mostly artificial. with a lot of hfcs. mexican glass coca cola with cane sugar is a lttle better but not much.

now there are so many craft sodas in the store its hard to choose. most are sickeningly sweet but some are very good.
i just had a toscani diet cola that was actually worth the 3 dollar 9 ounce bottle.

so i thinkn you just want quality craft soda on the menu not better than store bought.

homebrewed sodas are good i have done them i think i like the fact that you can control the sweetness more than anything.

quality extracts , flavorings, fresh ingredients are key.
i think the problem would be the market. its still soda and will mostly appeal to kids. if you want to go that way as a gimmick / kids attraction (sounds like you dont) that might have a market.

its not like beer you cant down a few pints. i read on one of these threads someone said whats the point of all the calories if you arent going to get drunk / feel good . crude i know but a little true. especially in todays calorie conscious market.

i dont mean to be negative but i dont see it as profitable. the craft soda market is like a seventy qutratrajillion dollar market (dont quote me) at this point but i think thats prolly on the shelf not on tap .

i had pirate petes once on tap at the NJ pet expo. its very good craft soda. especially the flavor selection. cream birch root beer sasparilla ginger ale. all the real sodas. real good but still almost all the flavors are too sweet for me. but hes got a great gimmick. i think to sell at a brick and mortar restaurant it would have to be attached to a gimmick. i think as menu items it would be passed over.

there are prolly a lot of non alcoholic bars with craft "drinks" / virgin cocktails at this point. that may be another marketing point. those stupid bubble tea drink places are getting to me.

all my two cents
in any case good luck with your endeavour

 

[MaxStout]

Here's another angle: Why not keep the restaurant soda and homemade soda worlds separate? In other words, it might be much more practical and cost-effective to simply carry commercial, bottled craft sodas for the restaurant. Then you can go DIY at home and enjoy your homemade sodas.

I just think that the outlay of equipment and ingredients--not to mention the time required--may not translate into profits for something so niche. But there is no reason you cannot make good homemade sodas for your own use.

I'm not trying to shoot down your dream if your heart's set on incorporating homemade soda into a restaurant. Just know that it will be a challenge to pull off. Trying to roll a hobby, especially a niche hobby, into a commercial venture will be tricky.

 

[JAReeves]

My wife and I have thought about this as well for our business plan. Having carbonated water on tap and the syrups in pump bottles like the Toscano syrups at coffee houses would be our method. Make your syrup concentrate, figure out how much to pump into the glass, add water and serve. You'd want a cleaning protocol in place to make sure that things don't spoil/attract bugs, but it seems relatively simple if you have good recipes for the syrups.

Do well!

 

[Tom R]

My wife and I have thought about this as well for our business plan. Having carbonated water on tap and the syrups in pump bottles like the Toscano syrups at coffee houses would be our method. Make your syrup concentrate, figure out how much to pump into the glass, add water and serve. You'd want a cleaning protocol in place to make sure that things don't spoil/attract bugs, but it seems relatively simple if you have good recipes for the syrups.

Do well!

Is this what the soda fountains used to do?
Add various syrups to carbonated water on an order-by-order basis?
I've never been to a genuine soda fountain, but I could see something like this appealing to customers, and it doesn't look too onerous to get going.

 

[Bobby_M]

Is this what the soda fountains used to do?
Add various syrups to carbonated water on an order-by-order basis?
I've never been to a genuine soda fountain, but I could see something like this appealing to customers, and it doesn't look too onerous to get going.

It's also how modern commercial soda systems work. There's no reason you couldn't concoct batches of craft syrup to run concurrently on your soda machine unless you have an arrangement with a soft drink distributor where they install the system on a subsidy for brand exclusivity.

 

[Tom R]

Nope, no soda machine for me.

I want to pull on the tap handle while I entertain the customers with witty banter, wearing the white uniform with the bow tie and the hat.

The chicks dig it.

 

[fluketamer]

Is this what the soda fountains used to do?
Add various syrups to carbonated water on an order-by-order basis?
I've never been to a genuine soda fountain, but I could see something like this appealing to customers, and it doesn't look too onerous to get going.

tom the idea of never having a drink at a soda shop is so alien to me. like a typical new yorker i have never been to the west coast. lol do they not still have soda shops there . or did they never have them there?

growing up every diner , deli, luncheonette and even a lot of optimo cigar stores had several of these behind the counter not just the fading soda and candy shops:

even the carvel near me in the 70's had root beer, cream and orange syrup and a seltzer machine to make the floats.
the diners around me and the one jewish deli left () all still make fountain drinks.
the first fountain soda i had was a lime ricky from edelmans deli on kings highway which is long gone. my dad never got us egg creams cause he thought they were made with raw egg ( they are not) . but if you have never had a fountain drink from a soda jerk its worth a road trip.

although you can make all these drinks at home with a soda stream and some good ol fox's ubet. (also dad's idea. he was so cheap. anything to save money. - god i miss him).

before hinsch's on 86th street closed i was able to take my son there for his first lime ricky. his eyes lit up when he took the first sip. and he was hooked. we still stop in anytime we see a traditional soda shop.

in the 80's there was an automated coca cola mahine at the rest stop on the palisdaes parkway that dispensed cane sugar coca cola syrup into a cup then filled it with sletzer in front of you that was the closest to a fountain soda coke you could get. we stopped everytime we went up state.

the coke factory in atlanta also made cane sugar soda in the 70's and that was a fun trip also.

a retro soda shop just opened not too far from me. the hipsters love it. lol maybe there is a market for soda jerk revival idea.

 

[JAReeves]

As a 50-something who has only lived in Los Angeles/SoCal, I have never had a soda fountain experience. I wish I had known to look for one when I used to travel to NY on business.

 

[MaxStout]

You could do some searching online to find a place with an authentic soda fountain. I know they are out there, just not sure how common anymore. Kind of a retro thing.

My parents used to talk about going to drugstores which had a soda fountain and a counter to sit at. They would get a lime phosphate. Back in the '30s.

 

[Tom R]

tom the idea of never having a drink at a soda shop is so alien to me. like a typical new yorker i have never been to the west coast. lol do they not still have soda shops there . or did they never have them there?

Oh, I'm sure they existed. Maybe still do?
Apparently I've lived a sheltered life...

 

[bugdry]

Having your own craft soda on tap at the restaurant is a great idea. We have it at ours. Pour it from a tap, customers love it. I cook up the syrup and add it and water to the keg, then force cab it. We cater to a lot of college students and families where we are. We have a clientele of 90/10 adults to kids. Currently I only have one flavour on tap, but i am building a kegerator that will have 3-4 taps on it. Our one soda we have on tap outsells all of our pepsi products(in cans) combined. We sell it for $3/glass.