Yacht Club introduces 'Sour Grapes' soda based on comic strip from cartoonist Tim Jones

In an unlikely collaboration, a popular comic strip from local cartoonist (and What's Up Newp contributor) Tim Jones is now a tasty beverage from a local business. Perhaps not so unlikely, when you hear the details.

If you haven't read it here on What's Up Newp, where Jones' strip runs weekly, Sour Grapes centers around the adventures of Aesop, "a miserable flying dog," who regularly meditates on challenges he encounters in his daily life. The strip is quite popular, running in 47 papers across the country and reaching hundreds of thousands of readers.

This fall, a well-known RI-based beverage company joined in on the fun when it introduced Sour Grapes soda. North Providence-based Yacht Club Soda, known for clever branding and delicious, refreshing pop, collaborated with Jones to develop the sour grape-flavored beverage.

Jones, who recently appeared on a panel with fellow cartoonists from the National Cartoonists Society at Rhode Island Comic Con, explained how it all came together. "A little over a year ago, I was at Comic-Con in Connecticut where I met Bill Morrison, the second hand of The Simpsons," said Jones. Morrison, who worked closely with Simpson's creator Matt Groening, suggested Jones work on licensing Sour Grapes. "'Aesop is a strong character, and you should do some licensing,' he told me."

"Fast forward to April 2024, it just struck me – sour grapes sounds like a flavor," he continued. "I approached Yacht Club Soda because they are a Rhode Island institution – they've been around for 108 years. I got in touch with John Sgambato, the owner, pitched the idea, and he loved it."

"We rolled out a few weeks ago," said Jones. "It's doing really well; people love the novel idea and the sour grape flavor. It's bright green, which matches the logo of the comic strip. It's got Aesop on the front, a fainted comic strip layout, and a QR code so you can read the strip while you are drinking the soda. It's a fun novelty."

And it tastes great, a sweet treat, described as mildly sour, "but not too much sour where your cheeks start to tighten up," said Jones. "Sour flavors are really popular right now."

Jones worked on the flavor profile with Sgambato who often goes through many samples before deciding on which flavor works best. It's part art and part science for Sgambato who grew up in the industry and handles "flavor development" for the brand. "I created the flavor profile pretty quickly. It was an easy one; sometimes they can take a couple of weeks, sometimes, they can take a year. You never know what's going to happen when you start playing around," said Sgambato.

"My best asset is probably flavor development, flavor profiles," he added. "I hear what people want, and that gives me a basis on where to start. Then I'll get the ingredients that I need and start adjusting PH's and sweetness to get the right flavor that everyone is looking for."

The soda is based on a green grape, not a concord grape, which is more traditional in grape sodas. "It doesn't taste like your typical grape soda," said Sganbato. "We added a bit of lemon oil to bring out the sourness. It's a trick that I found that I do for my kids. I spray a little lemon juice on some grapes and put them in the freezer. It makes like grape candies, and it's delicious."

A second batch of sour grapes is in production. You can find Yacht Club at bars, restaurants, and specialty stores around the region. You can also order 12 packs online here.

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