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Stewart's ginger beer
Posted by Sandy McMurray on June 15, 2008 4:50 PM
This is a big week at TasteBuddy HQ.
In addition to Father's Day, we're also celebrating my birthday (June 17) and my father-in-law's birthday (June 19).
Naturally, there's food involved.
Our party week began with a Father's Day visit to my parents in the mighty city of Fergus, Ontario. Lunch was a nice home barbecue, with many of the usual ingredients: burgers, hot dogs, sausages, chips and salad. We added a couple of sweet indulgences for Father's Day: fresh pies from Crawford's, and several flavours of Stewart's beverages.
I've written plenty about Crawford's recently, so I'll only add here that their butterscotch pie is just as nice the second time, and their strawberry-rhubarb pie is excellent.
Back to the sweet pop.
Stewart's Beverages makes delicious old fashioned soda pop. A cold Stewart's on a warm day is a real treat. This is great pop -- sweetened with real sugar and sold in glass bottles.
Stewart's drinks are not widely distributed in Ontario, but some retailers carry the most popular flavours: Orange 'n Cream, Original Root Beer, Cream Soda, Black Cherry, and Key Lime.
The best place I've found to buy Stewart's is -- believe it or not -- a roadside store called The Chicken Shop. This retail operation, connected to the Maple Lodge Farms outlet store, is a combination butcher shop, take-out restaurant and small grocery store.
Among the non-chicken grocery items on sale at The Chicken Shop, you'll find all the best-selling Stewart's flavours plus Grape Soda, Ginger Beer, and Diet Root Beer.
Now, a word about Stewarts ginger beer: WOW! The ginger kick is strong, but the finish is clean and light. It is, by far, the best ginger beer I've ever had. I hope I'll be able to find more somewhere closer to home.
I still haven't been able to track down some of the flavours listed on the Stewart's Beverages web site. I'll have to contact the company to see if Cherries 'n Cream, Birch Beer or Peach Soda are sold in Ontario.
For now, I'm content to have a new favourite Ginger Beer. Yum!
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