Reckon was founded by beverage industry veterans led by Carl Setzer, with co-founder Ryan Chaif.
Setzer spent 16 years in China, where he co-founded Great Leap Brewing, before returning to the US to build what came next.
Together with Christopher Nüter and Deniz Bilge, Setzer and Chaif created Joy Filled Beverages to make tart craft soda — not too sweet, built on a malt base, brightened with natural flavors.
Their first expression, Reckon, is a tart craft soda in Cherry and Apricot. Flavors are natural flavors only. Color comes from black carrot (Cherry) and beta-carotene (Apricot). No fruit in the can — just a crisp malt body, tart finish, and about 1/3 the sugar of a typical cola.
Why Apricot?
Have you ever had a fruit-flavored beverage and wondered “what is this supposed to taste like?” Grape sodas often taste like purple. Peach drinks can taste like perfume and confusion. A lot of the category has been shaped by assumptions and market testing instead of a clear flavor point of view.
Before Reckon, two of our founders created Pointless Ginger Ale. The approach was simple: make a beverage that actually tastes like ginger. Somewhere along the way, a lot of flavored sodas lost the plot.
Apricot is uncommon enough that it never got turned into a cartoon version of itself. Reckon Apricot is sun-ripe apricot flavor — bright, clean, and not too sweet. Reckon Cherry is deep tart cherry flavor with the same crisp finish.
Read the longer version of the apricot argument here.
Joy Filled Beverages is based in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Reckon is made in the USA.
It's Gonna Be OK.
— The Reckon team · Joy Filled Beverages · Cleveland Heights, OH · sales@drinkreckon.com · @drinkreckon