Brooklyn Eagle: Brooklyn bubbles over for SeltzerFest and Egg Cream competition
March 19, 2025
By Mandie-Beth Chau
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum hosted the first ever SeltzerFest at Industry City’s Five Two A event space on Sunday, March 16, the same weekend as National Egg Cream day. The event included the National Egg Cream Invitational, a competition where soda jerks from across the country gather to compete for the golden siphon — an award signifying the best egg cream.
“We were overwhelmed by today’s turnout and the level of creativity brought to the event by all of the contestants, as well as the dozens of exhibitors throughout the room,” said Barry Joseph, founding director of the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum. “People travelled from far and wide to experience today’s effervescent activities and they filled the room with so much joy.”
The Brooklyn Seltzer Museum at 474 Hemlock St. in Cypress Hills is dedicated to preserving the history, science and cultural significance of seltzer. Co-curated by Alex Gomberg and Joseph, the museum developed SeltzerFest to offer seltzer enthusiasts, brands and businesses an opportunity to showcase the best in the borough. The museum is located within the oldest seltzer factory in the city.
“The Brooklyn Seltzer Museum is housed within my family’s fourth- generation seltzer works, where we’ve been keeping this craft alive for over 100 years,” said Gomberg, museum co-founder and president of Brooklyn Seltzer Boys. “This festival is a chance to share that legacy and our passion for seltzer with the entire community.”
With activities including panels, musical performances, crafts, food pairings and more, the SeltzerFest sold out the venue with over 600 tickets and marked a successful first endeavor.
National Egg Cream Invitational
Chef Ari Miller, award-winning filmmaker Benny Safdie, candy scientist Ginny Landt, Kelly Fox of the U-bet family and 2024 champion Eric Berley judged the egg cream competition. Safdie, of “Uncut Gems,” “Good Time” and “The Curse” fame, orders seltzer directly from the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys.
“When they asked me to do this, I was like, of course, because I wanted to see how everyone else does it. I was shocked at how different it can be,” Safdie said after tasting the wide variety of egg creams that participated in the competition. “My favorite place [for an egg cream] is if you’re at just a normal diner and they have an egg cream — it’s not meant to be a place for an egg cream, but it’s on the menu.”
Safdie has developed amateur soda jerk skills from making egg creams for his two children using Brooklyn seltzer. “I just love it! It’s the perfect mixture of sweetness, and it’s also very nostalgic,” said Safdie.
The variety of egg creams meant that the judges had to consider several factors: presentation, performance, artisanal taste and classic taste. Some of the egg creams featured unexpected flavor profiles or serving styles, while others followed a more traditional recipe and technique.
After tasting an egg cream served with a black-and-white cookie, Safdie offered a hot take to the audience: the rainbow cookie should be New York’s signature sweet treat.
“I love a black-and-white, but if you have a good rainbow cookie, it’s the one,” said Safdie. “A rainbow cookie should be supreme.”
Competitors included Hank’s Delicatessen, Egghead’s, Lexington Candy Shop, Brooklyn Farmacy, S&P Lunch and Egger’s Ice Cream Parlor. The winner of the second annual National Egg Cream Invitational, awarded with the coveted golden siphon, was Brooklyn Farmacy at 513 Henry St. The runners up were Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse from the Lower East Side for best performance; S&P Lunch from Midtown for best presentation; Hank Schwartz’s Deli and Appetizing from New Jersey for best tasting in the artisanal category; and Lofty Pursuits from Florida for best tasting in the classic category.
“Events like this are important because it keeps soda fountains around,” said Gregory Cohen of Lofty Pursuits, who also works to preserve the history of soda fountains.
“People are interested in tasting something they’ve never tasted before, and that’s one of the most beautiful things,” Cohen continued. “One of the frustrating things of owning a soda fountain is people coming in saying ‘I want a scoop of cookies and cream’ or ‘a hot fudge sundae,’ not realizing they could have a kiss of the devil with dark chocolate, jalapenos and cayenne pepper in it.”
Most attendees at SeltzerFest were longtime fans of soda shop classics like the egg cream, but for anyone who hadn’t tried an egg cream, there were stations for people to sample egg creams or learn about the history of the delicacy. With panels on the history of seltzer and booths featuring historical information and ephemera, visitors had the opportunity to learn about the importance of classic soda shop recipes, attire and more.
The event was especially rewarding for the soda jerks who participated in the invitational, where they got to put their recipes, soda shops and egg cream skills on display. For soda jerks like Cohen, the job is a passion project. “The best part is you don’t typically get upset customers. They come in sad wanting to be happy, or happy wanting to celebrate and be happier. It’s not a bad life, being a soda jerk,” Cohen said.
Carbonated community
Attendees were given a rating sheet where they marked off their favorite seltzers at tasting stations around the event hall, including well-known brands like La Croix and Topo Chico as well as up-and-coming indie brands like Le Seltzer.
“The best seltzer flavor I tried was an amaro seltzer from a Canadian brand called Le Seltzer,” said Paige Hagy, an attendee.
Vintage won SeltzerFest All-Around Champion, and the People’s Fizz Award went to Le Seltzer. Runners up included Spindrift for best tasting, Kirkland for most unique flavors and Topo Chico for sharpest bite.
“I started this small sparkling water company four years ago with my brother. We’re in about 500 stores in Canada and just started selling in America,” Noah Bick, co-founder of Le Seltzer, said. “We became friendly with the people from the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum about a year ago, and they invited us down.”
The first-ever SeltzerFest was a “sparkling success” according to the event organizers. “Seltzer has been a part of Brooklyn’s culture for over a century, and this festival is our way of celebrating its rich history while embracing its exciting future,” said Joseph.
The museum organizers hope to continue the SeltzerFest tradition. In the meantime, Brooklyn Seltzer Museum hosts events and tours in Cypress Hills, available on its website .