Sometimes you just need to sit down and sip something cool. TABLE recommends these 8 options to quench your thirst.
Bantha Tea Bar: Lemon Saber
5002 Penn Avenue
Not only will you find some of the best organic tea and locally sourced eats at this cozy East End shop, but you’ll also find innovative drinks that energize and delight the senses. For example, and hear me out: Bantha’s Lemon Saber. Made of a combination of lemonade and cold-brew coffee or espresso, the citrus of the lemonade blends with the bitterness of the coffee for a balanced, refreshing cold drink.
Apteka: Black Pepper Soda
4606 Penn Avenue
A delectable blend of black pepper syrup, lemon juice, and sparkling water, APTEKA crafts their selection of unique sodas in-house. Other options include poppyseed, spruce, and rosehip.
Natrona Bottling Company: Red Ribbon Mint Ginger Ale
Natrona Heights
Vito Gerasole of Natrona Bottling Company calls this local soda a classic. “Fresh, smooth, and extremely refreshing, Mint Ginger Ale is kind of a Pittsburgh thing,” he says, proclaiming it delicious on its own as well as an excellent mint julep ingredient.
Coven Brewing: Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Tea
4901 Butler Street
Made in-house, Coven Brewing’s sparkling tea is crafted with butterfly pea tea and lime, grapefruit, and ginger.
Barmy Soda: Root Beer
Various Locations (including Kelly’s Bar & Lounge, Progression Bistro Food Truck, and Row House Cinema)
Local pop company Barmy Soda uses organic sugar and all-natural ingredients in their small-batch drinks. Try a classic like root beer, or get adventurous with their lemon or lime seltzers.
Spork: Say Aloe To My Lil’ Friend
5430 Penn Avenue
Spork mixes their house-made kombucha with aloe water, ras el hanout syrup, and lemon, for a cold drink that refreshes and awakens the mind and senses.
Butterjoint: Shrub and Soda
208 N. Craig Street
To create Butterjoint’s Shrub and Soda, Bar Manager Amanda Schaffner soaks various fruits in sugar for a few days before blending the juice with house-made barrel-aged vinegar and champagne or apple cider vinegar.
Alta Via: Fever-Tree 46
Fox Chapel Road, Fox Chapel
Can you ever have too much ginger? Well, maybe, but Alta Via’s Fever-Tree, a combination of ginger beer and ginger ale, is a balanced spicy explosion.
Story by Jordan Snowden / Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce
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