Gray Brewing Co. Orange Cream

Another Midwestern soda, today I have a bottle of Orange Cream from the folks at Gray Brewing Co. in Janesville, Wisconsin. Established back in 1856, Joshua Gray began by brewing beer using family recipes, but ceased brewing beer in the 1890's. They were originally known as Gray's Bottling Works, then Chas. C. Gray Beverage, later Gray's Beverage Company, before settling on Gray Brewing Co. The decision to move away from the beer business and get into soda's no doubt gave them an early advantage when prohibition came about and many beer brewers switched to sodas to stay afloat. Gray Brewing Co. is still in the hands of the same family, being run by the fifth generation of Joshua Gray's descendants, with the sixth generation already working there ready to take the hand off. Somewhere along the way they continued producing beer as well since there are several varieties from them currently available. They are supposedly the oldest family owned bottling company left in the U.S. That's quite a neat story. Sodas currently produced by the Grays include root beer, black cherry, strawberry, cream soda, and orange cream. I may have to take a detour through Janesville on my next trip north to hunt down the rest of their sodas to try.

This bottle has a great creamsicle aroma to it, quite strong. I like the taste right away. I find it has a soft orange flavor with a wonderful creaminess to it. No doubt the can sugar rounds out that flavor rather than making it sharp since I've mentioned in many previous posts that I find naturally sweetened sodas to have a softer, rounder sweetness than those with corn syrups. I think it's well balanced as the cream flavor does not hide the orange but compliments it well. The cream flavor is the forward dominant flavor but the orange gives it the robust creamsicle taste you want from an orange cream soda. This would make a lovely desert soda on a hot summer night on the porch.