Miami Food Blog

According to Mike Barba, a boss in the family-owned County Soda Systems, most of the time when you go to a bar, club, or restaurant and order a Coke, Pepsi, or any name brand soda, what you're actually getting is an offbrand knockoff that tastes just like what you're looking for but costs the business owner significantly less.

Mike says: "We do exactly what Coke does, manufacture our own Classic Fountain brand in every flavor they do. We have a chemical company that specializes in the extracts. We go through and pick the closest taste to what we're looking for. You can't tell the difference, that's how close it is. Our soda chef has been with us 25 years, that's how long we've been in South Florida. We have about 20 employees working in our manufacturing plant, as service techs, delivery drivers, and a full kitchen staff making recipes for sodas, juices, teas, bar mix, all that, in every flavor. We do a lot of big bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the tri-county area and the state of Florida. We deal with over 2,000 places.

It's a specialty business. We make a good product and give a good service. Don't fuck your customers, and you'll stay in business forever. We sell 5 gallons of syrup for $38, that's good for 30 gallons of product. With the way the economy is, business owners are looking to cut costs. We're able to battle the majors cause we do our own manufacturing."

Jacob Katel

It's a family business.

Next time a restaurant charges you $3 for a name brand soda, take into account the possibility that they very well may be lying to you about its origins.
For more info call 1-866-512-SODA(7632)