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Do you call it soda or pop? Either way, sip it in Sebring. My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree up learning there is a shop designated to soda pop in Sebring. For months I had the inaugural Sebring Soda Festival on my2018 calendar and even told visiting friends and family who planned last-minute Florida trips I could not meet with them because I had plans to see how high I could raise my blood sugar by sampling some of the 200 sodas available during the festival. TWO HUNDRED SODAS.
2021 Sebring Soda Festival
Good news for 2021, this year’s Sebring Soda Festival is April 2 – 3. Over 200 different craft sodas will be available during the two-day event. This year’s festival will look different than my 2018 experience but it should be a fizzy and fun time! Social distancing and face masks are encouraged and you’ll find hand sanitizing and hand washing stations throughout the festival. Only one group/family will be permitted at each soda tasting table at a time.
What to Expect When Visiting Sebring
I feel a special connection to Sebring. It’s where I adopted my four-legged son (Radcliff, he’s a dog.) Other than the Sebring International Raceway and home to some retired friends, I wasn’t quite sure what this Central Florida city has in the way of adventure. My visit was brief but my tongue and tummy enjoyed a bubbly adventure while visiting Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works. It’s an ice cream shop selling more than 300 flavors of soda pop and tea made with pure cane sugar, unless otherwise noted.
Florida’s Fizziest Festival, the Sebring Soda Festival!
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect other than drinking tons of soda. The April 7, 2018, Sebring Soda Festival was a gathering of various nonprofit and for-profit organizations around the city’s downtown circle and down the streets leading to the city center. The nonprofit organizations, or tasting booths, had a few sodas and you purchased a punch card, eight samples for $5. Not thinking eight samples was enough, I purchased two cards. By the end of the afternoon, I had two blank spaces and gave it to kid.
Samples were probably shot glass size and that was enough. I tasted so many different flavors, I can’t really remember all the goodness. There were flavors as strawberry-rhubarb, red apple, and butterscotch cream. Some soda brands were there dispensing their pop, such as Cheerwine Cherry Soda, Hank’s Gourmet Soda, Fountainhead Gourmet Craft Soda, and Sprecher Brewery. Most I liked, others, well, I won’t be sad if I never taste them again.
Sampling Honey from Penfield Honey Company Sebring Soda Festival, Sebring, Fla. April 7, 2018
I wanted to bring something home and it was overwhelming picking only four to bring home. I ended up with five different fun flavors and I'm pretty sure I'll be making a return trip to sample all 300 sodas and tea! The flavors I brought home:
- Cicero Beverage Company Candied Bacon Cream Soda
- Havana Mojito
- Cock 'n Bull Cherry Ginger Beer
- Swamp Pop Satsuma Fizz
- Sioux City Berry Berry
The front of Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works is the ice cream shop and the whole shop has a fun, vintage vibe. I suppose you could grab a scoop of ice cream (or two), plop it in a cup and add your favorite soda for a personalized float.
Have a free morning or afternoon? Consider a road trip to Sebring and go thirsty!
Nuts & Bolts About Sebring
Sebring is located about a 90-minute drive south of Orlando and about a two-hour drive northeast of my North Port home. I took Florida backroads to get there, by orange groves, alongside grazing cattle, and through small-town America which made the drive seem a whole lot quicker than it was.
Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works
201 Circle Park Dr.
Sebring, Fla. 33870
Tel: (863) 381-8022
SebringSoda.com
Sebring Soda Fest
April 2 & 3, 2021
Historic Downtown Sebring
SebringSodaFest.com
For additional information, contact the Sebring Chamber of Commerce at (863) 385-844.
Connect with the festival on social media: @SebringSodaFest and the hashtag: #SebringSodaFest
Ticket Options:
$20- 40 Craft Soda Tasting Punch Card Can be used Friday and/or Saturday
$10- 18 Craft Soda Tasting Punch Card Can be used Friday and/or Saturday
$5- 8 Craft Soda Tasting Punch Card Can be used Friday and /or Saturday
Here's my video from inside Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works.
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