A Thanksgiving meal like you've never had
November 16, 2005
BY JANET RAUSA FULLER Staff Reporter
If the thought of washing down next week's turkey dinner with a swig of turkey-flavored soda sounds too gross to be true, think again.
A Seattle soda company is offering liquid variations on the entire Thanksgiving meal -- two five-pack soda kits with flavors such as turkey, herb stuffing, pecan pie and, everyone's least favorite side dish, brussels sprouts.
Jones Soda Co. is touting the vibrantly hued sodas as calorie-free, kosher meal replacement beverages that taste exactly like what their labels imply. But they don't promise that the Splenda-based drinks actually taste good.
Jones Soda officials don't promise these beverages are tasty, just that they will taste like the foods after which they are named. The kits costs $10.99 to $12.99. (RICH HEIN/SUN-TIMES)
'It's horrible'
"We decided brussels sprouts were a really bad idea because it tastes a whole lot like brussels sprouts, but we went ahead with it anyway," said project manager Aaron Reed.
"It's horrible," Jones president Peter van Stolk said.
Van Stolk, 42, dreamed up the Thanksgiving-in-a-bottle concept on a road trip in 2003. A turkey-flavored soda, he reasoned, would set them apart from competitors.
The company produced a limited run that year of turkey and gravy soda. It sold out so quickly online that their Web site crashed, Reed said. Last year, they created a meal of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry and fruitcake sodas, and sold out again.
The turkey soda again anchors this year's two packs, one of which has a Northwest theme with a smoked salmon pate soda. In each kit is a plastic spork and moist towelette.
"I'm really proud we own the market on meat-flavored beverages," van Stolk said.
For a good cause
The sodas are sold at Target and some Speedway and Cost Plus stores in the Chicago area, with proceeds going to charity.
The kits retail between $10.99 and $12.99, but fans are apparently willing to shell out much more.
Last year, van Stolk said he got a call from a Meijer store in Michigan about a customer who paid $500 for one.
On eBay, one seller in River Forest had bids up to $51 for the limited-edition packs by Tuesday afternoon.
Jones, which is known for its cream soda, is experimenting with other holidays. For Halloween this year, they produced candy corn and caramel apple sodas.
But they're not quite done with Thanksgiving, said Reed, who began brainstorming with staff back in March on holiday flavors. His favorite -- dinner roll soda -- didn't make the cut this year.
"That's why there's always next year," he said.
Turkey experts take a gander: 'It tastes fowl'
BY JANET RAUSA FULLER Staff Reporter
So does turkey and gravy soda really taste like turkey and gravy, only without the lumps? We asked three veterans at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line in Naperville -- director Mary Clingman, supervisor Dorothy Jones and 13-year operator Renee Ferguson.
The women, who have degrees in home economics or dietetics, did a blind sampling of each of the five flavors in one holiday pack. They sniffed, swirled and sipped. There was no audible retching, but there were grimaces and wrinkled noses.
"This would be a fun activity if your turkey isn't getting done on time," quipped Jones, who correctly guessed three of the five flavors.
Cranberry was the hands-down favorite. The least palatable? Brussels sprouts with prosciutto.
Here are some of their comments:
WILD HERB STUFFING
Clingman: Mashed potatoes! Celery!
Ferguson: Oh my goodness, I think it's brine.
CRANBERRY
Ferguson: Cherry pie. Or cranberries. It's actually really good. With ice, this would be great -- and vodka.
Jones: Mild flavor. Good bouquet.
TURKEY AND GRAVY
Clingman: Oh, that's gravy.
Jones: It tastes fowl. ... That's F-0-W-L.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PROSCIUTTO
Ferguson: Smells butterscotchy, doesn't it?
Clingman: It is buttery. Can I put this down?
PUMPKIN PIE
Jones: It's more a dessert versus a squash.
Clingman: Candied sweet potatoes . . . pecan pie . . . apple crunch . . .
