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At Northern Soda Company’s taproom there are so many soda choices that it might seem like there’s not enough time to try them all.
Peaches ‘n’ Cream or 1950s Lime? These are among 32 canned flavors and seven flavors on tap, not to mention slushies and ice cream floats. You won’t find any spirits, beer or wine in this taproom.
And that’s fine by Minneapolis resident Stephanie Neilitz. She’s sitting at the bar, knitting and about to dig into her soda flight. She said she brings her knitting or a book to accompany her.
“I am not into the bar scene,” she said. “So it’s nice to get out of the house and do something that doesn’t revolve around alcohol.”
Over at a booth by the front windows, Tiffany Cobb sits with her family. They are sharing a pineapple lemonade raspberry ice cream float.
“We love the atmosphere,” she said. “The kids love being here and having the games and everything. The soda is amazing. And so we like trying all the different flavors. And then usually we’ll pick a float.”
The New Brighton family have hung out at the taproom multiple times. She likes the free space where children can roam, she said.
“The kids are just kind of running around and being free,” said Cobb. “And you know, it lets them burn off some steam and in a safe environment. And we just have fun together. There’s games that we can play and it’s just a nice place to spend time together as a family.”
That’s the kind of reaction Davod Zarghami likes to hear. He’s the co-CEO and chief sales manager of Northern Soda. The company aims, through its tap room, to build community — Minnesota style.
The business promotes locally made products in their retail corner, including their own Minnesota-made soda. The taproom hosts events such as cookie baking classes, DIY art and local author readings.
The tap room has a bookshelf filled with 40-plus board games and puzzles and for the adventurous, there’s also cornhole.
Starting out Northern Soda on a small scale was the way to go, says co-founder, Davod Zarghami. He and Jesse Hopkins met as middle school teachers at Heritage E-STEM Magnet School in West St. Paul.
Zarghami says Hopkins had previously owned a soda company but sold it before he started teaching, shortly after they met.
“We were chatting about his soda company and throwing around the idea of ‘hey, well, we should just start another’ kind of joking around during passing time when we probably should have been providing active supervision to children,” he said.
The two used their own savings to start the company around June 2018, just before summer break. They started making soda soon afterward and turned to craft brewery taprooms to convince them to carry a local non-alcoholic option.
They left their teaching jobs in the fall after they started the company.
The business partners leased a smaller warehouse in Arden Hills and grew Northern Soda from there. Right before COVID-19 hit, they had opened a tap room.
“We were just starting to get our legs underneath us in the taproom,” he said. “And building that retail side of the business, all of a sudden, that was closed.”
When the pandemic worsened, the duo turned to grocery stores to sell their soda, Zarghami said.
Root beer is the company’s bestseller. Cream soda and black cherry round out the top three. The Sunday Purple is popular during football seasons and Pontoon Punch is a favorite during the summer.
Customers are also able to choose their favorites during a March Madness-like tournament over the next few weeks.
During the taproom’s recent Selection Saturday, Zarghami revealed the tournament bracket, showing first seed Almond Cream will be up against a 16th seed underdog.
“All the expert analysis, everything that we’ve been able to tabulate, shows jalapeno orange may take some bruises along the way on this one,” he said.
Customers can fill out the Sweet 16 bracket of new soda flavors on the Northern Soda website or in person at the taproom. The more popular flavors move on to the next round, the Carbonate 8. The champion flavor that prevails is selected to be the next seasonal soda.
