Serious Eats might be trying to start some trouble. While shopping at Russ & Daughters, recently, they seemed shocked to find out that Niki Russ Federman just isn’t into Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda.

I love Cel-Ray (I even miss the now-discontinued and less sweet Diet version), so I wasn’t happy to hear that Niki is not alone in her dislike.  A quick and unscientific survey here today found no one who is even neutral on the topic. Everyone had strong opinions, and it seems that my love might be outnumbered by people who aren’t interested in soda that is slightly savory and sort of salad-flavored.

Although Cel-Ray dates back to a Lower East Side origin in  1870 or so, it is getting a lot of attention lately, for a soda.  Visit Nextbook to read Molly Young’s recent take on the taste. Her reporting has an odd and funny urgency that makes me wonder what prompted the piece. Are people really worried about the state of celery-flavored soda?  Young even confirms with the bottling plant that “there are no plans to stop manufacturing Cel-Ray any time soon.”

- Jen Snow