I grew up drinking Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda and it is a wonderful blend of celery and carbonate that's not overpowering. It's refreshing and crisp. This is a soda that I love and it goes well with Pastrami sandwiches. Thanks Dr. Brown for creating such a great blend for the taste buds!
Posted by adam cartagena (2194) on 4/14/2008 11:08:29 PM
CEL-RAY is the ultimate refreshment !! especially at Passover
Your reviewers need to educate their taste buds and do a little homework. For over 40 years of my life I have delighted at the unique flavor and spice of dr browns celray. I must have it at every jewish holiday. and anytime a pastrami sandwich is present.
I AM APPALLED!!! at your review NOT the wonderful soda. Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda is incredible. It's half the calories of a regular soda and it's low in sodium. Please don't judge this soda by it's label...and if you don't like it alone, then try adding some vodka. It's perfect for a cool and refreshing adult drink on a hot summer afternoon.
Cel-Ray is great stuff. A great, classic product with a devoted following. How sad it is that the American taste buds have becomne so dumbed down that great beverages, food products, and other classics of the past have fallen by the wayside entirely or are hanging on by a thread due to a public that has become suspicious of anything with any real flavor or character. The best description of our American culture is unfortunately the fact that America has no culture.
I suppose that none of the reviewers of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Tonic grew up in New York City during the heyday of the Kosher Delis before cholesterol was invented, otherwise, at least one of them would have been well familiar with this classic. Maybe Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray is like gefilte fish: If you haven't grown up with it, it is totally off the wall. But for me a pastrami sandwich without Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Tonic is incomplete.
This review comes with a story. My friend and I were in Walmart and trying to find some drinks for the summer to stash in his fridge. I was grabbing a 6-pack of Dr. Brown's Black Cherry(which is incredible by the way), when I stumbled upon a beverage which was called "Cel-Ray". I showed my friend and we preceded to laugh for about 5 minutes straight at the thought of a celery soda with the name "Cel-Ray". Needless to say, we bought it and decided to try it to see if it could possibly be better than it sounded. It was not. I almost threw up it was so bad and so did my friend. Now my friend and I offer the soda to unsuspecting guests who don't know what it is and watch with silent laughter as they drink it and proceed to spit it out. Please do not buy unless you are wanting to play a joke on someone.
I have enjoyed celery tonic since I first encountered it when I moved to NYC in the late 1980s. I am very curious about the history of the product. Can anyone tell me when it was invented and when it was at the height of it's popularity? Thanks in advance.
Great soda, weird and all but after psyching myself up to taste it, I liked it. It's a mild soda and is certainly a great substitute to harsher mainstream sodas like Coca-Cola, etc... I bought a supply for my dorm room and I know where to get more. Oh and the people on my floor hate it, but that just means more for me. I'm drinking one right now...
all i know is that this hits a spot. it was a spot i didn't know i had until i tried it since i always try strange drinks. it's like salt & vinegar chips--somewhat offensive and definitely stronger than expected but then somehow coming around to quite tasty in the end.
I grew up drinking Dr.Brown's CEL-RAY. I do agree that it is an aquired taste, but I love it while eating a hot pastrami on rye, With a half dill pickle on the side.
I didn't know quite what to think when I bought this stuff, but after my first can, I'm glad that I bought it. It really doesn't have THAT strong of a celery flavor, although the flavor IS there. To put the flavor simply, it kind of reminds me of ginger ale, except that it's made with celery. Not bad stuff, once you get past that whole "celery" thing.
I don't know where you guys are from, but Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray has had a devoted following for generations, which is why it survives and thrives in every New York style delicatessen across the country. It may be an acquired taste, but so is chopped liver....
You don't have to be Jewish to love Cel-Ray. I buy the diet by the case, much improved since they went to Nutrasweet several years ago. It is truly a "unique" taste. It does NOT taste like celery. I agree with the person who said the closest thing was a mild ginger ale.
I am addicted to this wonderful flavour!. I am a Jew from Brooklyn and remember going to the local Jewish Deli and buying 2 franks mustard & saurkraut,a potato knish and Dr.Browns (then) Cel-Ray. It took some getting used to the diet, but, I got there and boy am I glad I did! It also is a conversation starter! When I purchase it at my local supermarket I always find someone who is transported back to a very comforting time in our youth.....
As a NY Jew, I grew up going to delicatessens. The best meal still to me is a cup of matzoh ball soup, a hot pastrami sandwich and a Diet Cel-Ray. This light, refreshing soda is not much different that a ginger ale yet tastes so unique. It is not always easy to find but it is always a treat when I do.
