What goes well with a cigar? A crisp, Abbina Craft Sipping Soda. Something Charlie Albanetti knew when he set out to create a cigar pairing soda.

CP – I read that you’re a foodie at heart and even got into perfumery when an illness kept you from enjoying food for a while. How did those experiences – both culinary and fragrance – lead you to create Abbina Craft Sipping Soda?

Charlie – To me, the cigar experience is all about flavor and scent. Flavor is, in fact, scent, but through the back of our noses. You’ll notice when sampling Abbina that each one has a scent that is somewhat distinct from the flavor that you’ll detect when sipping. I wanted each flavor of Abbina to offer a fascinating sensory experience, so I chose ingredients that will hit the front of your nose differently from the back. 

One approach I had for the development of the flavors was to think of the flavors that I find in cigars that are comparable to flavors in food – then think about food combinations that go well with those flavors. So, for example, Vinnie, is based on jerk seasoning – it goes perfectly with a cigar that has meaty and salty flavors.

CP – As a fellow cigar smoker, I usually pair my sticks with coffee, whiskey, or just water. What made you feel there was a need for a soda specifically crafted to pair with premium cigars? In other words, what gap in the cigar experience were you trying to fill with Abbina? 

Charlie – I have always enjoyed soda with my cigars. I like the cold, I like the carbonation, and I like a little sweetness. Each of those qualities provides a nice contrast to the sensory experience of cigars. But, mainstream sodas, and even many craft sodas, are either boring (light flavor and relying on a ton of sweetener) or just iterations of the same old ideas. I had no interest in making yet another craft root beer – the world has enough of them. 

I was also quite familiar with the exploding universe of non-alcoholic beverages. While many are great drinks, they usually didn’t strike me as being particularly conducive to pairing with cigars. I wanted flavors like woods, leather, herbs, and some heat. I wasn’t thinking inside the constraints of the “functional” beverage that is trying to use only natural ingredients that may or may not offer health or mood benefits. 

So for the cigar smoker who doesn’t or doesn’t want to drink alcohol, Abbina can be an inclusive and respectful option with flavor profiles otherwise unavailable.

CP – Your brand name Abbina is Italian for “to pair,” which is perfect for a cigar pairing soda. How did you choose that name, and what does it represent about your philosophy? And I have to ask about your logo – is that a tobacco flower we see?

Charlie – I’m Italian in heritage, so when I was seeking out a name, I looked for words related to the product, found their Italian translations, and ultimately landed on Abbina – which I think sounds nice! 

Pairing is a really exciting concept. It’s a way to pull new experiences out of something you have already experienced. It doesn’t negate the value of either item you’re pairing together, but it can enhance an already great experience you’ve had. It’s about discovery, and you can only discover with experimentation.

Yes, the logo is a stylized tobacco flower! Tobacco flowers are often unknown to cigar smokers, because they’re clipped to encourage leaf growth. However, they are beautiful in appearance and scent. As a perfumery enthusiast, I love floral scents, so I wanted to honor this often forgotten part of the plant.

CP – For those wondering, how are your craft sipping sodas different from cracking open a can of regular cola? You’ve compared Abbina to enjoying a fine scotch or bourbon with a cigar – why is slow sipping and complexity so important here, and how do you achieve that in a soda?

Charlie – So, it’s probably important to note here that I’m limited in my description of what Abbina is by language. Sure, Abbina is “soda” because it is a sweet, carbonated beverage. But it’s so much more than soda. 

The flavors are very bold and strong – similar to how the flavors of whiskey, wine, and coffee can be strong.

But there’s also complexity. The ingredients and flavor profiles in each Abbina flavor are designed with layers. So you’ll find certain aspects hit your palate hard at first, but quickly dissipate. Other aspects won’t be so strong at first, but you’ll find them lingering and building over time. In Candlewood, the cherry/amaretto is strong at first, but it’s the oakmoss that hold on for a while, allowing for the smoke to mingle and create new flavors you wouldn’t detect in the smoke alone.

CP – I heard you started developing Abbina on a makeshift lab on your dining room table in Albany. What were those early DIY soda experiments like, and how did you go from playing mad scientist at home to working with a professional flavorist lab to bottle the final product?

Charlie – When the idea of making a soda to pair with cigars came to me, I only intended to just play around and make something for myself. I had a large library of aroma compounds used in perfumery, along with some basic chemistry equipment. When I looked into how flavors are made professionally, I found that many of those aroma compounds are food safe and are also used in flavors. I also read up a lot on the history of soda – soda fountains and their origins as pharmacies. This led me to start making extractions of different roots, barks, and woods. I also got a juicer and started mixing in some of that. 

For a while prior to this, I was looking for an idea to allow me to start my own business. So I had that bug, but was just waiting for the concept. After a couple months of experimenting, I came quite close to creating Candlewood as it is today. I realized that this could be something other people might want also, so I decided to dive in and make it a reality.

CP – Creating a soda to complement cigars sounds equal parts art and science. Were there any flavors that gave you a really hard time or any moments during development when you thought, “This might be crazy”? Any interesting mishaps or breakthroughs in nailing these formulas?

Charlie – At least once a day, I still think “this might be crazy!” But that’s a big part of the fun of this project – creating something that didn’t exist before and putting everything you have into it.

I think creating these flavors is mostly art. The science – at least in my role – is this: come up with a few methods for developing the flavor concepts and repeat those methods over and over until you find something that tastes really good. I mentioned earlier that one method is thinking about food flavors in cigars and matching them to other complimentary food flavors. Here’s another: I’d wear a particular fragrance and smoke a cigar. If the scent of the smoke mixed with the scent of the fragrance I was wearing in a good way, I’d try something comparable to the scent in a soda format and see what happened.

When I was crafting Tower 44, I started with saffron. I loved to make a particular non-alcoholic cocktail by making a simple syrup with steeped saffron and orange blossom water. So I was convinced that the citrus element in Tower 44 should be orange blossom, petitgrain, or neroli (each of these being names for the essential oils of different parts of the orange tree). But it didn’t work. The orange flavor never came through and the floral and vegetal qualities came across as bitter and muddy. My flavorist suggested we try grapefruit, which I never would have considered, and – tada – it was perfect.

CP – One of your four launch flavors is Candlewood. I read that it started from your love of cherry candy. How did you tie together those sweet and earthy elements, and what type of cigars do you think pair best with Candlewood’s flavor?

Charlie – I’m pretty sure that the connection between the cherry and the concept of beets came from a color association. I did, indeed, want to achieve a candy cherry flavor. At home, that meant starting with almond extract and building from there, with things like a touch of cinnamon and some bitter orange oil. When I started thinking about complimenting cigar flavors, I had the idea of earthiness, and the vision of red cherries in my mind led me right to beets. Beets, however, are somewhat simplistic in flavor. So we added oakmoss, mainly a perfumery ingredient, to give earth but with a lot more complexity.

I made Candlewood with an Alec Bradley Magic Toast in mind. Honduran wrapper that gives both bold and bright flavors, and a bit of Nicaraguan tobacco inside to add some body and strength. Candlewood is a stronger flavor, so the cigar needs to stand up to it. But a cigar that has any notes of citrus, tangy woods, or white pepper will pair great. Sweeter maduros are perfect.

CP – Tower 44 really intrigues me because it’s described as having a leather-like taste achieved with saffron and patchouli. A leather-flavored soda is a first! How did you develop this blend’s unique “luxurious soft suede” character, and what does Tower 44 bring out in a cigar when you pair them up?

Charlie – Yes, I’m not sure anyone has ever said “I really wish my drink tasted like leather.” But I did. And in perfumery, saffron always struck me like a very fine suede, like walking into a Wilson Leather or Coach store. Certain dark patchoulis give a completely different leather vibe – rough, dirty, scratchy. 

Patchouli isn’t used very much in food products – again, mainly a perfumery ingredient. But it lends itself so well to cigar smoke. It’s often found in the flavoring for flavored cigars. So for this project, it makes a lot of sense. In Tower 44, it’s very light at first, but like the oakmoss is Candlewood, it will build and linger on your palate over time, providing that perfect environment for flavor creation when combined with smoke.

In a cigar that has a leathery profile already, you’ll find that Tower 44 helps to desensitize your palate to those flavors. This helps you to find more subtle flavors in the cigar, like creamy, vanillic, and fruity nuances.

CP – The Vinnie soda sounds like a wild ride – you’ve got jerk spice inspiration with a strong allspice kick, molasses, a touch of smoke, and even a bit of heat in the back of the throat. It’s almost like a BBQ in a bottle. What was your vision with Vinnie’s flavor profile, and how do those spicy and sweet notes interact with a cigar? Any surprising pairings you’ve discovered with this one?

Charlie – Vinnie is eccentric. It was maybe the hardest of the four to make because it truly is unlike any beverage you’ve ever had before. To be honest, it took me a while to wrap my brain around what my heart was trying to make. Slowly, it’s become the Abbina flavor that I crave the most. 

It’s a relatively simple concept: take a meaty tasting cigar and make a soda based on flavors that go well with meat. Jerk seasoning is where I landed. But, jerk is incredibly complex, and so is Vinnie. The flavors are very carefully balanced. This was the most time consuming and difficult flavor to finish.

While I made Vinnie to be paired with bold, meaty, and savory cigars, I’ve found that I also like it with cigars that I find to be too mild in flavor. It’s great mixed into a cocktail with scotch, tequila, or even mezcal. And it is the perfect complement to barbeque and other sweet/savory foods.

CP – The lineup wouldn’t be complete without Royale, your coffee-and-chocolate-inspired soda. You’ve said you enjoy Royale at certain times of day (like with a morning smoke or as a nightcap), and you even suggest it makes a mean ice cream float. What makes Royale special in your collection, and which cigars do you personally love to pair with its rich, dessert-like flavors?

Charlie – Coffee and chocolate are maybe the most obvious flavors to pair with cigars out of the Abbina collection. But that doesn’t mean it’s actually easy to execute. Getting a good coffee flavor is very challenging. We use a natural coffee extract, made from a dark roasted Colombian bean, which gives it a flavor profile of freshly ground coffee. The natural coffee extract also interacts with the carbonation to make a smooth, more foamy texture.

Royale is quite versatile for pairing – there are few cigars that won’t work with it. One of my favorites, though, is the Plasencia Reserva Original. It has a creamy smoke with some dry woods, and the vanilla and nuts in Royale make it a perfect experience.

CP – Pairing a cigar with a soda is new territory for a lot of us. Do you have any tips or general guidelines for someone trying Abbina sodas with their cigars for the first time? I know everyone’s palate is different and you encourage folks to experiment, but are there any “starting point” pairings or techniques (sip vs. puff order, etc.) you’d suggest to get the best experience?

Charlie – I always suggest smelling the soda first, then sipping it and breathing out through your nose to find all the flavors. Just like with cigars, you need to retrohale – push the flavored air in your mouth out through your nose, because it’s your nose that detects flavor, not your mouth. 

When you do that process, certain ingredients in the soda will build up and interact with the smoke as you enjoy your cigar. So, I don’t personally find that sipping and puffing timing is all that important. It’s more about creating the opportunity for the two to mingle throughout your smoking session.

I also recommend that you try Abbina with a cigar that you’ve had many times before and know well. This will give you the best chance of seeing how Abbina can build on an experience you already love and keep things interesting. 

CP – Out of curiosity, what’s your go-to pairing? Is there a particular Abbina flavor and specific cigar that you find yourself reaching for repeatedly when you want to treat yourself?

Charlie – This is always a tough question for me. I like to say that my favorite cigar is one I haven’t had yet, because I love to try everything and am continually fascinated by the innovation and discovery that’s happening in cigars. That being said, one combo that I can’t get enough of is the Warped Companion with Vinnie. 

CP – Finally, what’s next for you and Abbina Craft Sipping Soda? Can we expect new soda blends in the future or other exciting projects on the horizon? It’s a unique idea – do you see it expanding into cigar pairing events, cocktail collaborations, or any other directions as the brand grows?

Charlie – While I have been selling Abbina for a bit over a year now, it still feels like it’s brand new! I’m new to the cigar industry, the beverage industry, and sales. So this has been a fun whirlwind of a ride that is very much only just beginning. I do have the concepts for future flavors of soda. And Abbina, as a brand centered around the idea of pairing, has infinite potential for expansion. 

That being said, right now I’m having a blast introducing Abbina to the world, sharing this entirely new flavor experience. There’s definitely more to come.