Kast Iron Soda Works Offers a Universe of Pop Possibilities

Lesley Kline saw a need in her hometown of Salem — one that became even clearer as she watched a crowd disperse one night from a performance at the Salem Community Theater downtown, get in their cars and drive away.

“I wanted a place downtown where people could hang out,”  Kline says. “There was no place to sit and chill.”

She wanted a spot where teens could congregate, so not a bar. And she wanted a place with a coffee shop vibe, but open evenings. When her husband Wil told her, “You have to sell something,” she hit on the idea of pop, and Kast Iron Soda Works was born. 

The cafe, which opened in 2021 a couple doors down from Columbiana County’s Salem Community Theater, offers a space for people to gather, chat and play board games — there are shelves full of them to use — and the menu of soft drinks stretches the limits of imagination.

The more than 550 bottles behind the bar demonstrate the variety of the store’s inventory, from pops with famous faces on their labels to American regional classics like Nehi, Moxie and Cheerwine to really off-the-wall offerings like mustard-flavored soda.

“That’s not the worst one we have,” Kline says. “The same company makes ranch dressing pop.”

A candy counter offers retro fare like Necco Wafers and Beemans gum, and the soda fountain serves drinks ranging from milkshakes (Kast Iron Soda Works makes its own ice cream) to flavored colas to phosphates (proto sodas made with flavored syrup, soda water and acid phosphate). 

Nostalgia may be the aim, but Kast Iron Soda Works uses modern technology to do it. The soda fountain quadruple-filters city water, then mineralizes it, enabling the shop to offer either sparkling or slightly alkaline mineral water as the base for its drinks.

Kast Iron Soda Works’ home-brewed root beer is now available in bottles to go, and Kline has also branched into mocktail-inspired drinks, tapping into tipplers who enjoy cocktails but don’t want the alcohol.

“People tell us we’ve ruined pop for them,” Kline says. “They can’t just go to the gas station or McDonald’s anymore.”

420 E. State St., Salem 44460, 234/320-4013, kastironsoda.com

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