2017 April PASO Magazine

LOCAL GOODS REPORT
HEY, SUNSHINE!
CENTRAL COAST GETS
ITS OWN CRAFT SODA
After our wet and frigid winter, it’s wonderful to
look at the park from behind the register at General
Store. Everywhere there’s green, the new play structure
so sweet and inviting in the distance, and the
trees starting to bloom. We felt it was the perfect time
to celebrate sunshine - specifically, Sunshine Sodas,
the Central Coast’s very own craft soda. Craft sodas
use classic flavors and more natural ingredients, and
we fell in love with the vintage appeal of Sunshine Sodas - the labels (so
cheerful!) and the flavors (delicious!) We asked Doug Martin, their creator,
to shine some light on what he loves about his drinks.
What's interesting to you about creating your own sodas?
Small batch products are a passion. The right flavors, the right amount
of sugar, the right amount of carbonation…Plus, we decided to make
more traditional flavors rather than something odd or experimental.
We’re really proud to not use any HFCS (high fructose corn syrup.)
General Store carries your Root Beer, Cream Soda
and Spezi. Which is the most unique?
All products are all-natural, no artificial flavors or colors and crafted with
cane sugar, but our Spezi is surely the most unique. Spezi is a flavor profile I
have known all my life having visited my family in Germany. I had never seen
a Spezi before in the US, and I think the unique flavor profile (orange cream
and cola blend) will surprise a lot of people.
GENERAL STORE
PASO ROBLES
The best choice for enjoying on a picnic
in the downtown park?
Nothing says Americana like an ice-cold root beer!
Thanks, Doug! We plan to make a root beer float
with - you guessed it – Negranti’s vanilla sheep’s
milk ice cream. It uses Cook’s vanilla, so that’s
about as all-around-local as you can get!
Speaking of vintage flavors, we just brought
in a classic to add to our cookbook collection.
The Joy of Cooking. This book is celebrating its
75th anniversary, and - though it’s the most dog-eared book on my kitchen
shelf - we had no idea that its first edition was self-published by Irma
Rombauer with her life savings. The New York Public Library chose it
as one of the 150 most important and influential books of the twentieth
century. It certainly influenced me...growing up, we were more of the
Hamburger Helper school of cuisine. Joy of Cooking literally taught me
how long to boil an egg, and the perfect recipe for sugar cookies.
We love it as a wedding gift, or for someone heading off to school. Come
in and visit our book tables (there’s more than one!) where we hand pick
an eclectic group of new and classic books. Current titles include The
Complete Worst Case Scenario Handbook, Gwyneth Paltrow’s newest It’s All
Easy, some beautiful children’s books, and a collection of the best Rolling
Stone Interviews. Plus, local titles from Brigit Binns and Kendra Aronson.
Happy Spring, Sunshine!
- Joeli and the team at General Store
48 PASO Magazine, April 2017