Burly spirit

Strong but soft: Four years ago, the founder of Burly Beverages, Gabe Aiello, gave up sodas, cigarettes and fast food on the same day. He struggled to ditch sodas the most because of how habitual it had become.

“Every time I went to the gas station or convenience store, I’d walk out with a Pepsi or an RC Cola,” he said. “And by the time I got to my car, it’d be gone. And that would be about two or three times a day.”

After a year of subbing seltzer water for the three vices, Aiello started craving whiskey gingers. But he didn’t care for the “phosphoric acid, food dye and high fructose corn syrup” found in modern soft drinks. So he started making his own. And on May 16, he will open the first storefront of Burly Beverages (2014 Del Paso Boulevard) to the public, with his “super-smooth” ginger beer syrup as the flagship.

Aiello takes inspiration from the pharmacy soda fountains found at the turn of the 20th century. Before “Coca-Cola got a hold of everything and turned it into liquid candy,” he said, sodas would be recommended by doctors to ease upset stomachs and headaches, among other mild maladies.

In addition to providing all the ginger beer for the Golden 1 Center, his syrups have been tapped by craft cocktail bartenders—particularly his vinegar-based shrub syrups, which can be made into a tangy, invigorating soda or used to “wash out” the taste of hard alcohol to accentuate the more nuanced flavors in mixed drinks.

At his shop, he sells a recipe that took him two years to perfect: root beer. It can be made into floats with Devil May Care Ice Cream & Frozen Treats or Conscious Creamery’s gelato. The shop will have growler service, a broad selection of old-timey and international sodas, and a tasting room where potential clients can sample his products as well as discuss customized mixes.

Out of the alley: A new Old Soul Co. cafe (555 Capitol Mall) will open on May 15. It’ll be open seven days a week, serve beer and wine, and offer a spacious patio with views of the pretty but often sleepy strip that recently has been hosting thousands of protesters.

Home on the Grange: Chef Jason Azevedo has left Hock Farm Craft & Provisions (1415 L Street) for the more upscale Citizen Hotel’s Grange Restaurant & Bar (926 J Street).