Edible Picks: Wisco Pop!

Wisco Pop! is out to prove that soda can be so much more than just water, high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring. Born out of Austin Ashley’s hobby of making artisanal beverages, he wanted to create something delicious, healthy and alcohol free.

Expecting their second child in 2012, he made many specialty drinks for his wife, Hallie, and shared them with friends. The feedback was incredibly positive, and his first orders came rolling in. Many years after starting in their kitchen, Wisco Pop! now produces between 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of soda per week, so the Ashleys brought on Zac Mathes and Neal Olson to assist with their expanding operation.

Flavors like Grapefruit, Ginger, Cherry, and Strawberry are currently available and all are made using real, organic ingredients. For instance, hidden in each gallon of their Strawberry Soda is an entire pound of strawberries! When using real ingredients, flavors expand far beyond the average soda, with a complex symphony of fruit that pleases the palette. Wisco Pop! saw the benefits of going organic beyond just the crispness of flavors. “We believe that agriculture should have some parameters around how the earth is treated, and organic standards are the best thing out there to validate the treatment of soils and the earth,” says Ashley.

Although they may be serious about the quality of their sodas, the Wisco Pop! crew are truly young at heart. As Ashley puts it, “We have a motto around here: ‘If it ain’t a hell yeah, it’s a hell no.’ And having fun is a hell yeah! So we are unabashedly our quirky selves and love to laugh and make others laugh.” From naming some of their equipment after Top Gun characters to making their own creative online commercials, it’s easy to tell just how much fun they’re having, even while making batches of Wisco Pop! around the clock.

Should you find their sodas too sweet for your tastebuds, Ashley launched a second line of drinks under the label: “Sparkle.” Instead of a sugary syrup, Sparkle bottles are purely unsweetened sparkling water with organic ingredients to give a nice hint of flavor. A house favorite is the Ginger Sparkle, “We all drink one a day around here. Unsweetened ginger juice and lime, there’s nothing else like it. So refreshing.”

The next venture for Wisco Pop! is adding cans to their lineup. “We wanted to do a limited run of cans for key events like music festivals, where glass is not allowed. Taste is important, so before we jumped in, we wanted to test out our product to make sure it’s up to our standards. It is still delicious in a can, and we are moving forward.” So you can expect to start seeing Wisco Pop! soda in cans on the shelves of your favorite stores.

Whether it be for a cookout, a day at the beach or just watching football, you’ll find nothing is quite as refreshing as a nice cold Wisco Pop! soda! 

WISCO POP!
www.wiscopopsoda.com