A Minute With the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
When Alex Gomberg joined the family business, he committed to making sure the fourth generation of Gomberg Seltzer Works would not be its last. The Brooklyn-based seltzer manufacturer had suffered the loss of a lifestyle, as seltzer delivery (and in many homes, seltzer itself) faded into history books. Although their factory in Canarsie still supports a handful of octogenarian “seltzer men” and their delivery routes, Gomberg is establishing a new business model for a product so old-fashioned that the bottles used to contain it are up to a century old.
Re-branding his operation as the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys, Gomberg now delivers seltzer as a specialty drink for restaurants, bars and events throughout New York. One of his leading tactics for getting people excited is to serve them a perfect egg cream. That classic Brooklyn drink — made from milk, Fox’s U-bet chocolate syrup and “the best seltzer you can find” — has won Gomberg awards. Yet the real prize he’s looking for is the moment that customers realize that they’re tasting a piece of Brooklyn history.
James Boo is the director of the 1 Minute Meal: “U-bet the Farm” video.
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