The egg creams (soda water mixed with chocolate or vanilla syrup and milk) and cherry-lime rickeys (lime juice and maraschino cherries mixed with lemon-lime soda) are not to be missed here.

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Sierra Mist, a new caffeine-free lemon-lime soda that competes with Coca-Cola's Sprite and Cadbury Schweppes' 7up, doesn't exactly make soda into a nutritional beverage, but it blunts one long-standing criticism of Mountain Dew and cola drinks: that they use caffeine as a hook.

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For brunch, avoid the knishes, redolent of the refrigerator, and stick with eggs, smoked fish, and a homemade celery soda or a freshly mashed cherry-lime rickey.

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The list has something for everyone, with experimental favourites like the Smokey Robinson -- a savoury-sweet mixture of blanco tequila, smoked salt, honey and scotch with fresh celery and lime juice --and perfected classics like the whiskey ginger, made with house-made ginger soda for a fresh take on an old faithful.

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