Georgia

Flavor of Georgia grand prize winning drink relies on Georgia peaches

Published

1 year ago

April 30, 2024

Flavor of Georgia grand prize winning drink relies on Georgia peaches

New Creation Soda Works, which produces a variety craft sodas, created a peach drink last year that won the grand prize in the annual Flavor of Georgia food contest earlier this month at the University of Georgia.

But a breakfast meal would be key happenstance that would propel this Oconee County soda company into producing the drink it has labelled “Peches.”

Paul Kooistra, the CEO and founder of New Creation, recalled recently that he and his father were having breakfast at Mama’s Boy, when his dad ordered French toast with a peach puree that the menu noted was made from Georgia peaches.

Kooistra was curious. His company produces a variety of unique craft sodas of flavors ranging from strawberry-habanero to split-banana cream.

“We’ve always wanted to do a peach soda, but we wanted to use Georgia peaches,” he said. “The problem was we couldn’t find anybody that could get us enough peaches in a cost-effective way that could last throughout the year. We didn’t want it to be a seasonal product,” he explained.

So he inquired at Mama’s Boy about the source for their peaches. They came from Pearson Farm in Fort Valley.

Kooistra said he contacted the farm and they offered him 9,000 pounds from a crop down from previous years due to a killing frost last March that took a toll on the state’s peach crop.

“I said, ‘Ok, we’ll take it.”

“This year they will have their best crop ever, so they are committing about 25,000 pounds of peaches to us,” he said.

Once the new peach soda was formulated, it was given the name “Peches.”

“People have told us for years to sign up for the Flavor of Georgia,” Kooistra said of the annual contest. “We never did.”

But now seemed the time.

“This is the perfect flavor to enter. We make it in Georgia. We use Georgia agriculture,” he said.

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Kooistra and head brewer Alex Harding began mixing and testing the ingredients for Peches.

They already use fruit in some sodas “so we went by the same method and just had to get the balance of peaches right,” he said.

In early April, Flavor of Georgia, sponsored by the University of Georgia’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, announced its winners in several categories ranging in numerous food projects from jellies to pickled food and barbecue sauces. Peches was awarded the grand prize.

The production company, although located on a Bishop rural route, is barely a stone’s throw from the Watkinsville city limits along Old Bishop Road. The business is open for the public to visit.

Kooistra, born in Florida, grew up in his early years in Clinton, Miss., and later in St. Louis, as his father was a minister, who served and taught in seminaries in those two states. Later his father served as president for Mission to the Word of the Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Kooistra moved to Georgia in 2005 to be closer to family.

New Creation sells its sodas in more than 700 locations. One of the sodas is an old-time drink but with a unique flavor — root beer.

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“I grew up enjoying root beer because my grandfather made it for my mom when she was a kid,” he said. “I wanted a root beer that was creamy with a lot of vanilla and not a lot of Wintergreen or Star Anise.”

“A lot of root beers use Star Anise, which has a black licorice flavor. I can’t stand that,” he said. “Wintergreen is OK, but I don’t want too much of it. We make it really smooth and creamy with vanilla flavor instead of the other two. Even people that typically don’t like root beer have enjoyed our root beer for that reason.”

In addition, New Creation cooks its sugar for the blend.

“Instead of just pure cane sugar, we caramelize it and it makes it rich in flavor and a lot different than regular sugar,” Kooistra said.

And there is one more little touch to their style of Georgia root beer.

“We add a little bit of pecan flavor to give it a touch of the South,” the former Mississippian said.

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Georgia

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

Published

3 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

The SEC has announced the future Georgia football conference opponents for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.

Georgia will face Florida, South Carolina and Auburn every season. The SEC announced on Friday that the annual opponents will be revisited every four seasons.

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule

2026: Florida (Atlanta), at South Carolina, Auburn, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt
2027: Florida (Tampa), South Carolina, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at Texas, at Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
2028: Florida (Jacksonville), at South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Vanderbilt
2029: Florida (Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Auburn, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M, at LSU, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee

“it’s hard. I mean, it’s brutal. And everybody’s the same,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night. “I mean, we all gotta play each other. It’s really tough, highly ranked teams, physical teams. It’s just going to continue to be a grind. I mean, looking forward with the nines coming, it’s going to be scary because you just don’t have enough. Nobody has enough depth.”

Dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in December, according to the conference. The schedules will be flipped in 2028 and 2029 from the home-road splits in 2026 and 2027.

In its scheduling outline, the SEC made it clear it wants competitively balanced schedules, which will be determined using the entire schedule and not just the annual opponents. Tennessee reportedly will face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in each of the next four years. The latter two are not exactly football powerhouses.

According to the SEC, the highest opponent average winning percentage for any school in the 2026-29 schedules is 55.67% while the lowest is 46.65%, a difference of only 9.02%. From 2020 through 2023 — when the league still used the divisional format — the highest winning percentage was 61.32% and the lowest was 39.76%.

In addition to nine conference games, the SEC stipulates that schools face one Power Four in its nonconference scheduling.

Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech satisfies that requirement. Georgia has future nonconference games against Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State on its schedule for the time being.

As it stands, Georgia has 13 games scheduled for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs have nonconfernce games against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Georgia Tech.

“We’re working through that right now, and a lot of that’s going to be determined as we learn when and where our schedule is going to be in the next few weeks,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “But that’s something we’re attacking right now to see what our options are going to be in 2026. So we’re going to take it one year at a time right now. The first focus is going to be on 2026 and then 2027 and moving on. So still a lot of work to be done, and I work closely with Coach Smart and Mark Robinson and the league to kind of figure out what is that going to mean for our schedule moving forward.”

Georgia takes on Alabama this week, with the game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Georgia

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

The grounds for his arrest are still unknown, even to his attorneys.

Screenshot of Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, in his documentary series on Free TV.

(photo credit: COURTESY OF FREE TV VIA MAARIV)

ByYOAV ETIEL, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 01:43

Updated: SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 02:03

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Georgia

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

We’re back for another week of college football action and the slate is loaded, including three games between ranked opponents.

Here’s how to watch in Week 3. Scroll down for live scores, highlights and more.

Here are the best games this Saturday:

Clemson at Georgia Tech (+3), Noon ET, ESPN: The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game. It’s a sign that expectations for Clemson have been way off. With Haynes King back, the Yellow Jackets will want to keep it on the ground.

Georgia at Tennessee (+4), 3:30 p.m., ABC: Has Georgia’s offense been good enough ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Saturday is the day to air it out as Tennessee will be without its top two corners again.

South Florida at Miami (-17.5), 4:30 p.m., The CW: The Bulls are the surprise team so far this season. Can they pull off a third straight upset, or will the ‘Canes handle business?

Florida at LSU (-7), 7:30 p.m., ABC: This game was going to be the day’s marquee matchup before Florida’s loss to USF. A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier is on the hot seat.

Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5), 7:30 p.m., NBC: Aggies QB Marcel Reed has thrown for seven TDs so far and A&M’s offense has racked up 953 total yards. The Irish will surely try to get the ball to their star running backs after a subpar opener.

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