You don’t need an at-home soda machine to appreciate the all-natural syrups created by Belfast Soda Co. Seltzer from the grocery store works just as well with these bright syrups, which can also be used as cocktail mixers or dessert toppings.

The syrups are made in Belfast (like the name says) by Chip Wick, who uses no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup. Pour 2 ounces of syrup over ice, add 10 ounces of seltzer and voila – you’ve got a soda you can feel good about.

I found the cherry lime refreshing and addictive but perhaps more suited to summers on the deck than chilly autumn evenings. For an October refresher, I experimented a bit, mixing the ginger syrup with seltzer and a little aged rum – which Wick later told me just happens to be his personal favorite concoction. (Great minds …)

Eight different flavors beg for more experimentation: In addition to the cherry-lime and ginger, there’s wild blueberry, sarsaparilla, lime, lemon, lime quinine and lavender.

The Belfast Soda Co. is so new, its syrups are sold at only three retail locations in the midcoast – The Good Table in Belfast, Megunticook Market in Camden, and the State of Maine Cheese Co. in Rockport. But they are available online at belfastsodacompany.com, $6 for a 12-ounce bottle.

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