Six Barrel
When I was in Auckland, I had a bottle of sarsaparilla made by a Six Barrel Soda Co. It was edging delicious. To add to its deliciousness, was that the label read how they're a small company that makes small controlled batches & limited flavor runs & that they're based out of Wellington & people should come by. The desire to do this was further cemented the following day when I had their iced coffee soda.
So in my first day wanderings, I sought them out. & in the most beautiful manner (& perhaps so very true to #realanismojgani), turning down this alleyway called Eva Street, with a strip club called Dreamgirls across from it & a whimsical yellow painted pattern pointing the world to their front step, there they were, known to the outside world only by a neon sign arrowing towards a blank but open door, that reads SODA.
At the top of Six Barrel's skinny staircase was a low ceilinged room with two of its three walls being windowed, looking down on the Wellington street corner, with a counter & stools on them. The other side was a countertop with one customer sitting at it with her laptop & crates of bottles behind the counter, joined by brewing equipment & a sweet smiled rosy cheeked young lady., who greeted me as I entered. She told me about the setup & passed me a menu, that had a soda fountain setup which included egg creams, handmixed sodas, & a tasting board.
I got a flight which included their current limited edition blueberry/fennel, lime w/mint, & the celery tonic. All were so good, though I think my favorite was surprisingly the celery. It was just so unique. Tastes, yes, of celery, but also of cayenne, but was also sweet, but also refreshing, was just so unique. I couldn't help but think of the book Half Magic, where Mark always is curious of the celery tonic at the soda fountain, but always bails & gets a sundae instead. I hope he got it someday, cuz it’s delicious.
I sat there for about forty minutes, sipping between the three little glasses & watching the people below silently walk under the overcast sky & thought how strange & odd & normal the world is. How there's a number of drinks on this menu to try, how I will prolly be back a lot this week. How am I able to transport home a bottle of their coffee soda syrup via the airplane. How maybe, I should just stay here in Wellington :)
