Mike Corsini Archives – Eat Drink RI

Yacht Club Bottling Works’s Hillary’s Liberal Limeade and Donald’s Populist Punch

Yacht Club Bottling Works, celebrating their 101st year in operation, added another twist to this year’s presidential election with their “Soda Pop Poll” duo of drinks – Hillary’s Liberal Limeade & Donald’s Populist Punch, along with the addition of Gary’s Sassy Sarsaparilla, Yacht Club is now ready to release the results of the poll, announcing which political pop New Englanders like best.

“The results are in and sales show that by a very close margin, New Englanders love the flavor of Donald’s Populist Punch best,” said John Sgambato, owner of Yacht Club Bottling Works. “Thank you to everyone who purchased the Soda Pop Poll sodas. I hope it was a fun way to make it through this election year. We really appreciate your support and look forward to creating more political pops in the future.”

There were 48,048 bottles of Yacht Club Soda sold in the Soda Pop Poll and the final “vote” count is:

Donald’s Populist Punch, 22224 votes, 46.3%
Hillary’s Liberal Limeade, 21360 votes, 44.5%
Gary’s Sassy Sarsaparilla, 4464 votes, 9.2%

The results were announced by Sgambato in live video on NBC 10 WJAR’s Facebook page at noon on Election Day, alongside Governor Gina Raimondo, Senator Jack Reed and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, encouraging people to get out and vote.

These were the first politically charged beverages released by the Official Soda and Water Company of Rhode Island. The Sgambato family hopes purchasers enjoyed having a friendly debate with friends while choosing their favorite of the two. Hillary’s Liberal Limeade has a raspberry lime flavor, while Donald’s Populist Punch is a traditional fruit punch that begins with a strawberry flavor and ends with notes of peach.

Famed cartoonist and Rhode Island resident, Frankie Galasso, designed the limited edition labels with caricatures of the 2016 presidential candidates, featuring Clinton and Trump front and center with their respective donkey and elephant mascots. Mike Corsini of Skepsis Multimedia is the graphic designer.

Every drink produced by Yacht Club Bottling Works begins with natural artesian water from a well drilled in 1923 through the bedrock 180 feet below the building. The water is natural mineral water and has exceptional characteristics for carbonation. Its temperature is 45 degrees, which allows carbonation without the use of cooling towers that can be bad for the environment. Also, the water naturally accepts 5.5 volumes of carbonation without alteration. This means no salt is added for carbonation.

All syrups are made onsite with only extra fine granular pure cane sugar mixed with natural artesian water – never high fructose corn syrup! When the syrup is fully mixed, the finest extracts and flavorings are added to make a truly unique drink. Yacht Club also has a large selection of sugar free options including diet soda and naturally flavored sparkling water. Yacht Club Soda has a clean, smooth flavor and is genuinely refreshing.

The “Soda Pop Poll” flavors are available until sold out, along with the always available complete line of Yacht Club sodas and seltzers at the company store (8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday & Tuesday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays), at select stores throughout Southeastern New England, and at farmers markets.

Yacht Club Bottling Works’s Hillary’s Liberal Limeade and Donald’s Populist Punch

Yacht Club Bottling Works, celebrating their 101st year in operation, is adding another twist to this year’s presidential election with the release of their “Soda Pop Poll” duo of drinks – Hillary’s Liberal Limeade & Donald’s Populist Punch. After the election, Yacht Club will release the results of the poll to see which political pop New Englanders like best.

“This election season has been so negative with incredibly polarizing candidates,” said John Sgambato, owner of Yacht Club Bottling Works. “We really wanted to have some fun with the election and let people have a little taste of the edgy candidates – both flavors have a slight bite to them.”

These are the first politically charged beverages released by the Official Soda and Water Company of Rhode Island. The Sgambato family hopes purchasers will enjoy having a friendly debate with friends while choosing their favorite of the two. Hillary’s Liberal Limeade has a raspberry lime flavor, while Donald’s Populist Punch is a traditional fruit punch that begins with a strawberry flavor and ends with notes of peach.

“I consider myself to be a bit of a soda freak and I love to support local businesses,” said artist Frankie Galasso. “It was fun to collaborate with John and create these wild caricatures with their animal companions. I think people will really enjoy the artwork.”

The sodas will be available through the election at the company store (8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday & Tuesday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 8 a.m. – 3p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays), at select stores throughout Southeastern New England, and at farmers markets.