Southside Soda
South Texas Roots
When Southside Craft Soda Co-Founder, Andrew Anguiano, came up with the idea to start a soda company it was rooted in the history of his family's legacy in the area. You see for nearly 300 years, his ancestors cultivated the land around the World Heritage Site, Mission San Jose, creating unique flavors that sustained them. Growing their own ingredients and living off the adjacent San Antonio River, the fusion of Mexican and Texan (Mex-Tex) cuisine was born.
Of course, South Texas food could only be paired with refreshing beverages cooling them off during the constant heat of the region. Aguas frescas, raspas, tea, lemonade, punch and various blended cocktails (margaritas and such) got them through the work day and brought them together for family meals at night. You could say, they were their own beverage company.
Local Flavors, Honey Infused Soda is Born
In 2017, what started out as a good idea, turned into a great idea, when Andrew ran into co-founder Gregg Spickler. Gregg a professional brewer and apiculturist (beekeeper) had known Andrew since their days working at a local beer brewery. Little did they know that the experience there - Andrew doing marketing and Gregg doing brewing - would lead to the creation of Honey Infused South Texas Craft Soda. Gregg's exceptional culinary skills (a CIA-New York guy) and his ability to blend together flavors into delicious beverages has become the fuel for Southside Craft Soda.
The first flavor "Honey Cola" was developed soon after. Their craft soda was sampled at a holiday family party held at Andrew's and the reviews were "it's nice". Knowing that "nice", wasn't going to cut it, Gregg went back into the "Hive" altered the ingredients and a new Honey Cream soda was produced. Nice went to Great! Quickly after that a citrus cola known as "TexaCola", a Dr. Birchroot, now Señor Birchroot (to play off our South Texas roots) and a naturally fermented and carbonated sodas, Tepache (Pineapple) and Ginger Sparkler were added.
Southside's First Tap
Fellow Southsider and long-time friend of Andrew, Rob Rodriguez, joined the team as a partner and Believer Number . Rob's expertise in building businesses, has grounded Southside Craft Soda's operations and is leading to exciting opportunities. In June 2018, Southside opened its first tap on the Southside of San Antonio in the Embassy Suites Brooks at their bar - Nineteen17.
Building on the tradition of area and sourcing local ingredients, Southside is paying homage to the culinary combinations of the past while creating recognizable flavors and introducing one-of-a-kind drinks familiar with the locals. The company is currently developing it's soda shop and flavor lab at 2904 Mission Road. Stay connected to learn more about endeavors.
Southside Craft Soda creates authentic beverages inspired by the flavors of South Texas.