Dig in With Graver: Add Pizazz to Your Favorite Pop, Warm Up With a Christmas Cocktail and Imbibe ‘90s Vibes
‘Tis the season to sip.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEEL CITY SODA JERKS
I drank a Jingle Bell Rock from Steel City Soda Jerks on Nov. 7 and I’m pretty sure the sugar rush will keep me dancin’ and prancin’ through the holiday season.
My 24-ounce beverage, a mix of ginger ale, cranberry, pomegranate and sweet cream, was a seasonal offering available during the I Made It! Market at The Shoppes at Northway in Ross.
The event, part of a series of roving ‘Burgh bazaars, featured more than 120 vendors. Hundreds of shoppers turned out for hand-crafted gifts, small-batch foodstuffs and dirty sodas, which are your favorite pop brands splashed with flavored syrups and cream.
Karyn Pope, lead jerk and operations manager for I Made It! Market, found out about the Midwestern trend on TikTok.
One sip turned into an obsession that bubbled up into a true yinzer business.
Pope, a fourth-generation steelworker, enlisted the help of Carrie Nardini, founder and director of I Made It! Market and Neighborhood Flea, as well as her best friend Heather Sloss and Sloss’ son Landon Gulasky.
They held their first dirty soda pop-up on Mother’s Day 2025 at the Neighborhood Flea at SouthSide Works, selling concoctions such as The Franco Float (root beer, vanilla, toasted marshmallow, cold foam), The Nebby Nectar (ginger ale, peach, sweet cream) and The Monongahela Monster (Coke, cherry, sweet cream).
The friendly jerks pour at private events and do between 25 and 30 pop-ups a year, where The Clemente (Dr Pepper, vanilla, lime, sweet cream) knocks it out of the park as the No. 1 seller. Look for a liquid version of strawberry Jell-O pretzel salad in the summer, the Carmel Apple (Sprite, green apple, carmel) in the fall and to-go cups you can mix up at home.
Follow the fizz on social media.
Pope, who grew up raiding her grandparents’ basement pop fridge, is happy to sling suds that make people happy without booze.
“The non-alcoholic movement has been a very big part of our success,” she says, adding that sugar-free dirty sodas are available.
Perhaps Steel City Soda Jerks can join the Pittsburgh-led push to Save TaB Soda, a Coca-Cola Company diet drink discontinued in 2000.
Last year, they partnered with a local coffee shop on a pumpkin syrup and would love to collaborate with local beverage makers.
Of course, I had to (ahem) pop this question: Is a brick-and-mortar soda fountain in their future?
“It’s currently not in the cards for us,” Pope says, “because all of us still have full-time jobs.”
Sorry to burst your bubble.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Meet (and drink) Tom and Jerry at The Eastman
For Buffalo native and local bar owner Michael Schmidt, it’s not Christmas without Tom and Jerry — the boozy beverage, not the cartoon cat and mouse.
Similar to spiked eggnog, the yuletide cocktail includes dark rum and brandy and hot water poured over a spoonful of thick batter made from eggs, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and a pinch of salt. It packs a punch, so it’s served in a squat, six-ounce mug.
I recommend imbibing this winter warmer by a crackling fireplace inside a snowy cabin in the middle of the woods — or at The Eastman.
Last spring, Schmidt and his wife, Jess Frandsen, opened the North Side establishment that specializes in New Mexican fare from Taqueria Acosta and Rust Belt comfort food such as pizza logs and Beef on Weck sandwiches.
In addition to being a festive destination, the bar doubles as a refuge for Buffalo Bills fans in this Steelers-obsessed town. If you prefer horror films over football, head to Perryopolis, about 30 miles outside of Pittsburgh, to visit Buffalo Bill’s House from “The Silence of the Lambs.”
The Eastman will debut the Nickel City’s signature holiday sipper at Deutschtown’s Light Up Night celebration on Nov. 28, which is also the nationwide Small Business Saturday.
Sarah Bailey, president of East Allegheny Community Council, an organization that works to revitalize the Deutschtown National Historic District, says entering the neighborhood is like receiving a big hug.
There are currently 17 North Side businesses signed up to participate in Light Up Night, each offering their own unique activities. At Sweet Time General Store & Gathering Place, a former post office, children can write letters to Santa Claus, while Bistro To Go will host a cookie-decorating event. EYV restaurant will pour hot chocolate and Park House will feature a seasonal menu and crafts. Allegheny City Brewing will sponsor an ornament-making party and will serve as the last stop on a tree-lighting tour that kicks off on The Eastman’s deck.
Members of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh will be on hand to sing carols and Santa will stop by.
Perhaps he’ll have a Tom and Jerry with his cookies instead of milk.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Pop (culture) machines
The Steel City’s vintage “Star Wars” vending machine recently went far, far away.
In August, the pop-dispensing landmark — which has stood outside of a Mount Washington fire station since the 1999 release of “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” — was swapped with a painted replica and carted off to California as part of a social media stunt.
After a brief stay in a repair shop, it’s back (and fully stocked with Pepsi products) at the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Station 27 on Virginia Avenue.
I’m a horror nerd, not a sci-fi fan, so I didn’t pay much attention to this saga as it was unfolding. My heart will always burn for the ‘90s-era Fruitiopa machine in front of the Brookline Firehouse. Nostalgia is so refreshing!
