New Creation Soda Works

The trough where the turkeys used to do their business still lines the side wall.

Two old, blue Ford pickups (one solid, sky blue and the other, navy and white) are parked on either side.

If you couldn’t tell, New Creation is out in the country – about 20 minutes outside Athens in Bishop, GA.

Paul Kooistra and his wife Carla are the owners.

Paul brews and Carla does things like pick hundreds of pounds of strawberries for their strawberry habanero soda called Nada (the habaneros are from their garden).

New Creation has four flavors – Root 42 Old Time Root Beer, Nada Strawberry Habanero, Krümkake Butter Pecan Cream Soda and Hopscotch Dry-Hopped Ginger Ale.

All four are great, but we’d recommend Nada - the habaneros give it an unusual kick you won’t find in other sodas.

Paul also makes a Nadarita strawberry habanero margarita mix.

All the sodas are “as natural as the government will allow,” as stated on the label. And you can taste it. Paul also puts a ton of thought into the recipes… it took him two years to finalize Root 42.

One final thing… Paul says don’t drink New Creation sodas on ice. Give them the respect they deserve.

You can find New Creation’s sodas online and in stores and restaurants around Athens (including some in our guide). Breweries are actually New Creation’s biggest customer… turns out sometimes folks visiting the breweries want something good to drink other than beer.