SODA FOLK: Uncommon Flavour for Uncommon Folk @sodafolk

Soda Folk Launching New Range of Alcohol-Inspired Booze Free Sodas

Soda Folk (www.sodafolk.co.uk) is an award-winning drinks brand pioneering craft sodas in the UK. Founded in 2015 with their fiery Root Beer and lusciously sweet, Great Taste Award winning Cream Soda, Soda Folk is a firm favourite at Selfridges, Meat Liquor and Byron restaurants nationwide. This Summer 2017 sees the launch of five new naturally low calorie and low sugar sodas, black Cherry (initially exclusive to Byron nationwide), mandarin Orange and the G&T inspired Juniper, Prosecco-inspired chardonnay Grape and cider-inspired Breton Apple sodas (RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle).

Served in elegant glass bottles, expectant mothers, tee totallers, those avoiding alcohol to cut down on calories or look after their health or designated drivers will be glad to find some of their favourite boozy treats in soda form. Making an excellent standalone drink with lunch or dinner, for a quick afternoon boost or as a satisfying alternative to alcohol, these new quenching flavours make a terrific refresher for any occasion.

Soda Folk was founded by Colorado native, Ken Graham, who, when he moved to London from the states, found himself homesick for Coloradan Root Beer. The FSA crackdown on products with excessive additives led to the banning of American Root Beer imports which largely list Benzoic Acid; Ken decided it was high time he brought craft sodas to our shores, with nothing artificial added, just the best quality ingredients he could find and simple recipes that deliver on taste.

Inspiration for the new range came from Founder Ken’s wife Devon; when she was expecting their daughters Clover and Willa, Ken sought to find tasty alternatives to alcohol whilst they both went booze free for the pregnancies, ever the innovator in the kitchen, Ken got creative in mimicking their favourite alcoholic drinks in soda form. The black Cherry and mandarin Orange flavours were always in the works for Ken, but after stockists and customers alike requested these varieties, it was a no-brainer to extend the range even further!

Ken’s home state of Colorado is famous for its skilled craft-brewers; inspired by these breweries high in the Rocky Mountains, he created Soda Folk’s modern-classic recipes. Just as with craft beer, Soda Folk uses only the highest quality ingredients, to ensure a great-tasting refreshment every time.

Soda Folk Cream Soda is made simply with carbonated water, pure cane sugar and Madagascan vanilla extract packing a luxuriant flavour punch, ideal for pairing with food, supping alone or as a partner to a smooth dram of Bourbon. Soda Folk’s Root Beer Soda is also made with a base of carbonated water and pure cane sugar, but is taken spicy new heights with the uniquely pungent and piquant root, wintergreen (for the uninitiated, the flavour and aroma is not too distant a cousin from Dandelion & Burdock); rounded off with aged vanilla and pure maple syrup, the creamy drink is an ideal pairing to the classic American hamburger, a novel cocktail ingredient and is taken to a whole new level as part of a Root Beer Float.

Ken says of his inspiration behind the brand, “Since we launched Soda Folk two years ago, we’ve found our way into hundreds of stockists across the UK. We’re really proud that we’ve helped popularise American-style root beer and cream soda, but when it came time to create some new flavours, we knew we wanted to try something different. Could we make a range of sodas that had the same flavour impact, using all natural ingredients, but without the added sugar? It took over a year of tinkering in the Soda Folk kitchen, but we managed to cook up five new flavours that fit the bill. We think our new drinks will introduce Soda Folk to a much broader market, and we can’t wait to get them out into the world.”

Launched into Byron and a raft of restaurants, bars, cafes and independent shops nationwide, Soda Folk is currently lining up a host of national stockists and premium retailers.

The Soda Folk range comprises seven delicious flavours:

Soda Folk Orange Soda
- Carbonated water, fruit juice, natural flavours, citric acide
- 80 Calories per bottle
- RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle
Soda Folk Cherry Soda
- Carbonated water, fruit juice, natural flavours, malic acid
- 91 Calories per bottle
- RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle
Soda Folk Juniper Soda
- Carbonated water, pure cane sugar, citric acid, natural flavourings, quinine, antioxidant ascorbic acid
- 67 Calories per bottle
- RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle
Soda Folk Grape Soda
- Carbonated water, Chardonnay grape juice, natural flavourings, tartaric acid
- 80 Calories per bottle
- RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle
Soda Folk Apple Soda
- Carbonated water, French apple juice, malic acid
- 71 Calories per bottle
- RRP £2.49 per 330ml bottle
Soda Folk Cream Soda, carbonated water, pure cane sugar and Madagascan Vanilla Extract. Gold Star winner, Great Taste Awards 2015
- RRP £1.40, 330ml can
Soda Folk Root Beer, carbonated water, pure cane sugar, aged Vanilla Extract and Pure Maple Syrup.
- RRP £1.40, 330ml can

The Soda Folk

Each tasty soda in the Soda Folk range is devoted to someone in Ken’s life who has inspired him with their generous spirit and dedication to worthwhile causes – the folk depicted on each bottle of Soda Folk have their own story to tell and Ken donates a percentage of profits from each drink to these good deeds:

Brian Gravestock – Soda Folk Root Beer

The word ‘craft’ is defined as “an activity involving skill in making things by hand”. Colorado Springs bike mechanic Brian Gravestock has taken his craft and added a whole new spin: donating finished bikes to those in need across his local community. Brian has run Bike Clinic Too since ’09, to support the original Bike Clinic he founded in ’93 with friend Peter Sprunger-Froese. Bikes are donated, repaired by Brian and his team, then given to local homeless, offering them a freedom they would struggle to achieve alone. A bike isn’t just a method of getting from one place to another. It is that ‘wind in the hair’ freedom to move swiftly, to escape urban life, to just hit the saddle and ride. Such freedoms form the roots of a healthy mind, which is why Soda Folk chose Brian to grace their cans and bottles of craft Root Beer.

Fred ‘The Preacher’ Lewis – Soda Folk Cream Soda

They call him The Preacher. Colorado resident Fred Lewis spent his early years in the US Air Force, becoming its boxing champ and one of a small handful to have knocked down the great Muhammad Ali. Although ultimately losing his fight with Ali by a single point, Fred never stopped being a heavy hitter. Moving to Colorado Springs in ’69, he established a boxing club called 3D. Those D’s stood for desire, discipline and dedication, three qualities that spread into Fred’s other calling; fighting the Lord’s fight. Ordained as a minister in ’75, this Preacher was never content to let the crowds flock to the church, instead taking his message on the road, (helping the elderly and those in need with shopping and transport) in the form of selected scriptures painted across the side of his pickup truck. Whether you’re a lover of the Lord or not, you’ve got to respect the man who takes every fight head-on. That’s why Soda Folk chose hard-hitting Fred ‘The Preacher’ Lewis to grace their smooth Cream Soda cans and bottles.

Debs Tilly – Soda Folk Juniper Soda

Part of Soda Folk’s ethos is to inject a little colour and creativity into this little old world of ours. Which brings us nicely to Debs Tiley. Debs has been craftily painting up the public benches that sit alongside her local canal. Under cover of darkness, Debs took her artistic flair and put it out there, without any desire for fanfare and the local residents just loved it! Not content with beautifying benches, Debs has found other ways to spread a little love around the community, setting up tables and chairs outside her house and providing tea and biscuits for passers by who want to take a load off. She buys bunches of flowers and delivers them to whatever home takes her fancy, just for the sheer decency of it. Her local community has been so warmed by her selfless efforts that they’ve insisted on making donations to Debs’ charity of choice. Having spent so much time just trying to make people smile, Debs decided that UK mental health charity Mind was the perfect fit. To support her vision of a building a more colourful world, Soda Folk chose Debs to grace their colourful bottles of craft Juniper Soda.

Jack Harrison – Soda Folk Apple Soda

Introducing new methods to long established traditions is always tough. Introducing a new form of football (or should that be soccer!) to the sunny shores of England is no small task! Working in the poorest parts of London, Street League coach Jack Harrison is clearly no stranger to a bit of hard work. On top of introducing a new style of football to locals, he’s also had to find funds for a new pitch at the Calthorpe Project, to the sum of nearly £70,000! Hitting up local and national charity funds, consultancy firms and other willing contributors, his dream of providing decent facilities for deprived communities has truly been the apple of his eye. So when eyeing up folk to fit Soda Folk’s Apple Soda bottles, they could look no further than Futsal maestro, Jack Harrison!

Carrlean Chang – Soda Folk Grape Soda

While the gang at Soda Folk are certainly busy folk, they’re nowhere near as busy as Carrlean Chang. A long-time nurse, a mother of five, a writer and occasional voice of the voiceless, Carrlean has even played a major role in changing British law. Amazingly, she even finds time to work with charity group Heeling Soles, gathering pairs of unwanted shoes and distributing them worldwide to those in need. Carrlean, we salute you!

Richard Reynolds – Soda Folk Orange Soda

In our modern world, our gardens have come to represent a boundary between our home and the rest of the world. Guerilla Gardener, Richard Reynolds sees things a little differently. “My garden is in the middle of the road”, he tells us…and nope, he’s not joking. Having moved into a flat in London’s densely populated Elephant and Castle district back in ’04, owning his own garden seemed a pipe dream. While many of us would have begrudgingly filled our tables and windowsills with potted plants, Richard decided to look beyond the walls of his domicile, filling roundabouts, playgrounds, traffic islands and other municipal spaces with flowers and shrubs, on a campaign of cultivation that he continues to this day! That’s 12 years of planting, pruning, watering and weeding, with the sole goal of injecting a little colour into the lives of fellow garden-deprived city folk. What a guy! When looking for a face to place on Soda Folk’s bottles of craft Orange Soda, they could think of no sunnier an outlook than that of Richard Reynolds.

Tracy Ducharme, The Llama Charmer – Soda Folk Cherry Soda

Coloradans will remember the lone llama of Pikes Peak. The poor little Peruvian spent a month lost in the Rockies back in ’09, surprising riders and bothering train drivers, as well as gathering a fair amount of media attention. Thin and frostbitten as it was, the little guy toughed it out and was eventually rescued by Black Forest llama owner, Tracy Ducharme. To succeed where Cog Railway workers and Pikes Peak Highway rangers had failed, Tracy took two of her own llamas – Dancer and Shasta – into the wild to see if the promise of a little company would coax out the kid camelid. Her plan worked and the lost llama soon trotted over to make friends, allowing Tracy and friend Mike Shealy to fit a rope and harness, then lead it into their waiting trailer. Tracy, for services to llama-kind, Soda Folk dedicate their craft Cherry Soda to you.

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