Dalston’s started in the most vibrant and eclectic of East London homes. The iconic Passing Clouds nightclub in Dalston – a hub of spoken word, reggae, gypsy swing and everything in between – was the birthplace of, well, Dalston’s. It was there that founder Duncan O’Brien started mashing and blending the first bottles of Dalston’s Cola by hand in a tiny kitchen to sell at the venue as its alternative to mainstream soft drinks. But his journey to the drinks industry goes back even further – in the bar car of an Orient Express train riding around the west coast of Scotland.
Making the shift from food preparation to drink-making was an interesting progression for Duncan: “The interesting thing for me was working by hand with ingredients as a chef and taking this hands-on approach into the drinks world, which is dominated by big machines. It was very different to the pots, pans and cocktail shakers I was used to.”
It turned out that satisfying Londoners’ thirst for lip-smackingly great soft drinks was hugely in demand. We outgrew our first brew-yard, waved goodbye and moved to a larger space in 2016. The business started accelerating yet we still kept true to our roots. Within the soda-making process and the integrity of the liquids we use, all of our recipes are developed in-house by Duncan for people to enjoy.
The company has come a long way since those first days hand-making cola to sell at Passing Clouds and is now stocked in stores, restaurants and pubs in the UK and even further afield. Recently, Dalston’s launched a range of award-winning seltzers that we liked to think knocked the socks off other flavoured sparkling waters, providing a hit instead of a hint of flavour without piling on the calories.
Yet still all our care and attention goes into sourcing the best ingredients we can find. By blending our drinks with real fruit, there’s no need to add a boat load of refined sugar. There’s nothing fake in our cans, no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavourings, no nasties.
As well as an increased focus around environmental issues, the past year has seen sugar consumption sitting high onthe list of society’s concerns. A recipe man at heart, Duncan, has been specialising in reducing sugar from our liquids while maintaining the flavours’ complexity.
In the drinks industry we believe you’re only as good as your suppliers. That’s why we continue to build long-term and direct relationships with all of our suppliers and source ingredients locally whenever possible.
Further leaning into our founding values for real fruit and no junk, we’ll be championing our award-winning seltzers, made with real squeezed fruit and no added sugar. We’re super excited for this next chapter, offering a range of great-tasting sparkling drinks, all at a permissible sub 50 calories per can level.
Now you can have your fizz and drink it!
