Plaidophile

Almost every grocery store I've been in has ginger ale in the soda aisle. They may also include it in with the water products as well, because plenty of people buying seltzer are buying it to mix drinks, the same reason many people buy ginger ale. It's why they often put a small rack of Hershey's syrup by the ice cream or tortillas both by the bread and in the ethnic food aisles.

I was actually researching ginger ale the other day, in an attempt to find a recipe for a real "ginger beer"

Turns out, "ginger beer" is not really supposed to be a beer of any sort. In past, ale yeasts were used to bottle carbonate, resulting in a very small alcohol content.

Ginger Ale is really a soda pop. kwsNI is right, it tends to be located by the seltzer for purposes of mixing. It also tends to be in the soda isle as well, at least around here.



Gedvondur

Recipe: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm

I've made it, though I used too much ginger. I prefer mine fairly mellow.

Also at least around here, ginger ale never seems to be in the soda aisle, and it's always priced like seltzer. That means that right now it's $2.40 for a 2-liter bottle (egads!) while soda is $1.80, but when seltzer goes on sale (which is like every other week) it's like $1.25/bottle so whatever.

And why the hell IS seltzer so goddamn expensive, anyway? It has less in it than soda. Why doesn't it cost less?

I need to just invest in a seltzer siphon or something. Last time I priced them they cost more per CO2 cartridge than just buying seltzer but now seltzer is mad expensive ($1.20/liter) while the CO2 cartridges are cheap ($.70/liter).

Yay, just ordererd a 1L siphon and 10 CO2 cartridges.

I used to be a MAD CRAZY seltzer drinker, like 6 20oz bottles a day. I could get them for a 1.99 a six pack. A two liter bottle was $0.80 cents.

Now mind you, the 20oz were labeled "sparkling water". Which is really the same thing.

Seltzer=carbonated water

Tonic=carbonated water with quinine

Club soda = carbonated water with a small amount of salt. That's why its better for mixed drinks, the small amount of salt makes flavors pop.

There are also carbonated spring waters, such as Perrier which are generally light carbonation from a naturally carbonated source. Gerolstiener is one such as well.

I never did invest in a siphon, the seltzer was always cheaper. I don't know why its so expensive by you. It shouldn't be.



Gedvondur

Yeah, in NYC seltzer was cheaper than plain water, even. But here in Seattle it seems that seltzer is held as a "gourmet" drink, judging by how the grocery stores price it anyway. It's often on sale but usually when I need it it's insanely expensive, for both Talking Rain and Canada Dry. (It's not like I'm looking at, say, San Pellegrino or whatever. Just your ordinary carbonated water.)

FWIW, tonic also has a bit of sugar in it, in addition to the quinine.

Also, I was aware of the difference between seltzer and club soda. It's nice that someone else does too! (I've had LONG conversations with others who insisted they were one and the same thing.)

it's a soda.

I say it's definitely not soda.... it's pop!
Not the same thing as seltzer, though... no idea what they're thinking.
-bill

But even in PA, there is the war of words. Central PA==Pop. Eastern PA==Soda. And I don't like to anger the natives here, scary shit man.



HeuristicsInc:

I say it's definitely not soda.... it's pop!
Not the same thing as seltzer, though... no idea what they're thinking.
-bill

And of course seltzer is "soda water" which makes it confusing with "club soda" as well as "soda pop."

Generically speaking and attempting to avoid any local colloquialisms, seltzer is carbonated water, and ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink. Presumably a soft drink is a flavored, sweetened beverage (hence how Kool-Aid is considered a soft drink as well, even though it's non-carbonated).

So anyway this question, stated in as neutral terms as I can muster, is: why, in Seattle, is ginger ale sold along with carbonated water, when it is a soft drink, while the rest of the soft drinks are all the way across the store?

Actually, phrased in that context, I should also point out that Kool-Aid is also sold in the water section.

Also I recall noticing this exact same disconnect in Las Cruces and NYC as well (ginger ale with the seltzer and the water, other carbonated soft drinks in an entirely different section).

It MIGHT depend on the store, but in Las Cruces I shopped primarily at Albertson's, in NYC I shopped at "Food Dimension" (a local chain), and in Seattle I shop primarily at Ballard Market (part of Town and Country) though occasionally I shop at Fred Meyer, and I used to shop at QFC (which has the same parent company as Fred Meyer). I'm pretty sure QFC has the same weird ginger ale disconnect. Fred Meyer just puts all beverages in one place so it's not really an issue.

devtrash4000:

But even in PA, there is the war of words. Central PA==Pop. Eastern PA==Soda. And I don't like to anger the natives here, scary shit man.

heh, yeah, i'm from buffalo and that was big in college, buffalo "pop" vs. long island "soda" -- by the end of freshman year we were all sick of it.

fluffy, makes no sense that they put it there.
-bill

Because it's a mixer, and compared to the price of the alcohol involved, that's nothing.

Also, ginger beer is much mightier than ginger ale. You know, in case you were wondering.

Ginger beer is far too mighty for me.

Also, I got the soda siphon yesterday. Effervescence really brings out the sucky flavor in Seattle city water. I need to get more filter cartridges for my Brita pitcher, I think.

forumbot:

Permanent link to Ginger ale: soda or not?

Excerpt: I understand why seltzer and club soda are normally sold in the water section of the store (rather than the soda section), but why is ginger ale sold with (and priced like) seltzer and club soda? I've never understood that....

I'm wondering about that also. Ginger Ale is good and I love drinking it but they are sold like soda so a lot of people think it is truly a soda. Nevertheless with its sugar content, it's not that really nice for you dental health. You'll get a lot of cavities if you constantly drink it.