No time for turkey? Craving gravy to go? Then give thanks for the hottest creation from a Seattle company: turkey-and-gravy-flavoured soda.
The Jones Soda Co. produced about 6,000 bottles of its Thanksgiving-themed drink, and then sold out of its supply in less than two hours online last week.
A limited number of Turkey & Gravy Sodas will be available in stores for the suggested retail price of 99 cents US a pop, but only in Seattle and Olympia, Wash. A few entrepreneurs are selling theirs on EBay; by Tuesday, the bidding was up to $63 US for a two-bottle set.
"It just kind of exploded,'' said a bewildered Michelle Whitehead, marketing assistant at the soda company. "To be honest, we really didn't think so many people would want it.''
When company founder and CEO Peter van Stolk suggested the new flavour, Whitehead thought he was kidding. Jones Soda, founded in 1996, produces quirky soda flavours ranging from old-fashioned cream and cherry to neon-bright blue bubblegum and green apple.
"I really believe sodas are fun. They're a treat,'' van Stolk said.
He plans to donate all the proceeds from sales of Turkey & Gravy Soda to the Toys for Tots charity and will personally match that donation.
So how does it taste?
Mary Turner, a radio DJ in Lansing, Mich., who is auctioning off a bottle of Turkey & Gravy soda for charity, has sampled the product and warns it's not for the faint of stomach:
"If you roasted a turkey and mashed potatoes, put it in a blender, left it out for three days and then poured it into a Jones bottle, you'd know exactly what this drink tastes like!''
For the record, even van Stolk can't stomach an entire bottle. Still, he said, "It's been a lot of fun.''
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