Botanical tonic
Som Apple Drinking Vinegar
Pok Pok Som (Som / Andy Ricker, Portland OR) · drinking vinegar / shrub concentrate (apple)
Portland, Oregon, USA
A Granny Smith apple drinking vinegar that sits at the sour, grown-up edge of the botanical-tonic family, closer to a shrub than a soda. Mixed one part to roughly four parts soda water, it pours bright and bracingly tart, with the green-apple snap and a quiet honeyed roundness keeping the cane-sugar from tipping into candy. The acidity is the headline and the finish runs clean and dry rather than syrupy, which is exactly why it works as a soda alternative for people chasing flavor and fizz without the sugar load. Polarizing by nature: the vinegar backbone delights some palates and reads as too sour for others, so liking lands well below its technical quality.
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The maker
Pok Pok Som is a line of drinking vinegars created by chef Andy Ricker, who began serving the tart, fruit-based concentrates at his acclaimed Pok Pok Thai restaurants before bottling them for retail. The vinegars are handcrafted in Portland, Oregon, using seasonal fruit, organic cane sugar, and natural vinegars, then diluted with sparkling or still water to drink. The Apple variety is built on locally sourced Granny Smith apples for a dry, high-acid profile.