By Hilary Nangle on July 4, 2010
I was drawn in by an adult-version of a lemonade stand as I moseyed along Main Street in Brunswick the other day. Christopher Kinkade and his wife, Lori, were sampling their new Green Bee All-Natural Soda in front of Morning Glory natural foods market. One sip of their debut Lemon Sting flavor, and I was smitten. “It’s made from only four ingredients,” Lori said, then ticked them off: water, rosemary, lemon, and Maine wildflower honey.
“I’ve been a home brewer and soda maker for 20 years,” Christopher said, and this flavor was born of his research into beekeeping. “I realized how healthy bee products were, and I thought ‘why isn’t honey used more as a sweetener? You see a lot of organic sugar and evaporated cane juice, and that’s well and good, but why not honey?’”
Why not, indeed.
So he began playing around with Maine-grown honey as a sweetener. “It was a no-brainer. We’re the only local soda company using honey. I love the flavor of lemon and rosemary, and after a lot of experimentation, I said, ‘Aha! This is it.’”
I have to agree. It’s light and lovely, with the subtle sweetness of honey. I drank my sample, then requested more. Currently, it’s only sold at Morning Glory, but with time, it will be available in more stores. Seek it out. And look for a new “top secret” flavor to debut in late summer.