Meet the Maker: Liber & Co

When three twenty-five-year-old guys walked into the service entrance of the Lawrence, Kansas, luxury hotel, The Oread, they were full of hope, if a little lost. Liber & Co co-founder Chris Harrison’s neighbor worked at The Oread, and had invited the trio to use its commercial kitchen to expand their stovetop-developed Spiced Tonic recipe to sell back to the bar as a craft cocktail mixer.

Chris, Robert Higginbotham, and brother Adam Higginbotham were greeted by a 30-gallon steam kettle that they had to ask for assistance to turn on. Once it was operational, they looked into the 30-gallon kettle and then back at their piece of paper with their stovetop recipe—a rich and complex spiced tonic made with real cinchona bark, a natural source of quinine. How would teaspoons and cups transform into cups and gallons? There was nothing to do but get out the calculator and start doing some math.

Prior to this pivotal preparation, Chris was living in Lawrence, working in a genetics lab, Adam was living in Austin and shipping tastes back and forth with Chris, and Robert was working as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. The three had been kicking around an entrepreneurial idea based on the dearth of exceptional bar syrups that could help home bartender create cocktails equivalent to those found in the best bars in the world. They liked the name Liber, meaning “the free one,” the Roman god of fine drinks and good times.

So when the opportunity arose, the three met in Lawrence, Robert using his frequent flyer miles and taking what then was a nauseating risk—putting $1,500 of bottles and labels on his credit card.

Robert reflected on that rough transition in The Oread’s kitchen, transforming small batches to a large one, “Hours later it was time for dinner service and we were still in the way. They were trying to go on about their business. We were washing dishes to try to keep everybody happy so we could finish. Finally, we had 19 gallons of tonic syrup. We brought it out to Chris’s truck in 5 gallon buckets and it was sloshing everywhere. Eventually, we got back to Chris’s apartment, feeling totally defeated by the process. Of course we had to have a drink! It was 11 at night and we were exhausted and we still had hundreds of bottles to fill by hand, one at a time. Somehow, we got it done.”

Robert took some bottles back to DC in his luggage. After he made a gin and tonic for a friend who managed a grocery store near Robert’s DC residence, the friend was so impressed that he ordered a case for the store. “He wrote a check to me personally because we had no bank account at the time. That was five years ago and he’s still a customer. Amazingly, we were profitable on our first case. We went right back in with our earnings and spent on more inventory.”

With Robert an entrepreneurial spirit, Adam an avid cook, and Chris an avid cocktail enthusiast, the three formed an ideal partnership in Liber & Co, which thrives on the trio’s mutual love of food and beverage. The experiences they were constantly trying to create at home for family BBQs, dinners with friends, and impromptu cocktail parties were something they wanted to share with the world, providing mixers that were the same quality as those being made behind bars.

“What was out there before was high fructose. Artificial. Nuclear,” said Robert. “While there were all kinds of high-end spirits, liqueurs, and bitters, there were still no cocktail syrups with high-quality, thoughtfully sourced raw ingredients, made from real fruits and vegetables. We wanted to fill that void because we understood that the discerning cocktail drinker’s day in the sun had arrived. We’d witnessed the wine boom and the micro-beer boom, and knew that cocktails’ turn was next.”

Chris moved back from Kansas. Together, Adam and Chris experimented and created and marketed. And soon, their big break came. “We had pitched to HEB grocery stores because they really support local business. We thought it hadn’t worked out but then we heard from them again. They wanted the Spiced Tonic we made in Lawrence. And they wanted our Texas Grapefruit Shrub. At the time those were the only two we had and they were kind of ‘out there’ in terms of flavor and they wanted both. To put a single case of each product in each of their stores had Adam and Chris in the kitchen for 18 hours. And HEB had 90 stores! It was overwhelming, but we knew that if they were dedicated to our product, we had that support, and that we’d find a way to make it work. We did. By 2014 we were all three back in Austin, moved in to a dedicated 3,000 sq ft space, and we’ve grown from there.”

Today, all three men are full-time employees of Liber & Co., and their stovetop batches have transformed to 220 gallon tanks. Next year, they have plans to move into a 10,000 sq ft space, and their semi-automated production line will be upgraded to fully-automatic. In 2015, they produced 50,000 bottles, every one of which was capped by hand. This year, they are on pace for 70,000, some bottles being made especially for bars buying at larger liquid volumes. In other words, life at Liber is pretty sweet.

The Savory Pantry proudly stocks Liber & Co.’s Spiced Tonic, Fiery Ginger, Tropical Passion Fruit, Classic Gum, and Almond Orgeat Syrups, as well as their Texas Grapefruit Shrub.

What is it like to live in Austin? Robert says it’s a blast: “We’re all from College Station. The city is booming, young, with a great music and art scene. It takes well to a brand like ours that is small, entrepreneurial, and created from scratch. People respect and support that and it shows in our dedicated consumer base who loyally attend our events.

It’s great to sell nationwide, but so cool to have people loving what you make right in your back yard. Our goal is to equip people with what they need to personally make what they need to replicate the best bars in the world. We provide lots of great recipes, but we like the idea that people will use our products to come up with their own expressions of themselves. We hope we empower our customers to follow their own intuitions and use their creativity to come up with something entirely new.”  

Meet the Maker: Pink House Alchemy’s Emily Lawson

Emily Lawson of Pink House Alchemy

When I caught up with Pink House Alchemy’s co-owner Emily Lawson by phone, she was headed to her Fayetteville, AR, gym to sweat out a cold. To this entrepreneur, even a fever is a project that can be conquered.

Pink House Alchemy is named for the 115-year-old pink house in Fayetteville where Emily lived when Pink House Alchemy was launched. “It also shortens to ‘PH’ which is a hook for me as a food scientist.” Behind the thoughtful crafting of syrups, shrubs, and bitters is a long love affair with food that started with Emily’s first job in a bakery. “I’m a chef by training,” Emily shared. She attended culinary school in Telluride, CO, and “cooked [her] way through [her] 20s,” seeking out culinary experiences and exploring life in storied cities like New Orleans, Eureka Springs, and Telluride.  

“I really meandered in my 20s and learned a lot. I finally decided I’d better get a four-year degree under my belt, so I went to the University of Arkansas where my majors were dietetics and biology. I became enthralled with food science. I loved bartending, so there was sort of a natural segue into cocktails. Also, if you’re going to launch a business, it’s smart to spot a trend and follow it.”

Emily's display at a Pink House Alchemy tasting in The Savory Pantry, Hot Springs.

We can all witness a brimming interest in specialty cocktails and freshly inspired combinations, but what factors are driving that movement? Why cocktails now? “People are paying more attention to what they’re putting in their bodies in general. The days of pounding Diet Cokes and Whiskeys is going by. People are no longer accepting additives and chemicals because they know those things aren’t good for them. There’s also a desire to learn about what we eat and drink, and to consider its composition . . . even to experiment and see if we can take an active role and even do better. Take the fresh juice movement, for example. There’s now recognition that not only is it not necessary to buy OJ in a bottle to make a screwdriver, but that the purchased product has a dominant role in the ultimate outcome of the drink. What does it mean for the taste of that drink if we juice it ourselves? What does it mean if we use better ingredients?”

A Pink House Alchemy Margarita crafted with Pink Pineapple Rosemary Shrub

Emily sees the success of Pink House as partially coming from the unique flavor combinations it brings to bars and kitchens, like the Strawberry Black Pepper Shrub and Pineapple Rosemary Shrub that are in The Savory Pantry. “There is a reason why there are food partnerships and cheese pairings; certain flavors are natural mates like orange juice with breakfast, wine with cheese, Coke with a cheeseburger. They just make sense and taste right together.”

And Pink House Alchemy is a natural mate for The Natural State. PH was able to expand its production dramatically thanks to the Arkansas Food Innovation program at the University of Arkansas, which uses a fee-based system to provide access to facilities for nascent food production businesses in the state that would otherwise struggle to comply with federal and state regulations. “We are not 100% organic,” says Emily, but we pride ourselves on ethically sourcing, working as hard as we can to source our ingredients as close to home as possible. All our berries, for example, are from Arkansas—blueberries, strawberries, elderberries. Our Caramel Black Apple Syrup is made from Arkansas black apples.”

Before she hopped on the elliptical, Emily shared what she’d tell anyone looking to get experimental with PH products. "For a solid basic bar, you’ll want a good selection of bitters and syrups; you’ll need bitters for everything you do. A good tonic. A solid grenadine. A Sodastream is a great investment to carbonate cocktails and sodas. Beyond the bar, our Lavender Syrup and our Cardamom Syrup can do everything—think breads, muffins, oatmeal, icing, ice cream.  “Every four months we come out with something seasonal—right now it’s the Caramel Black Apple Syrup. For what’s going to ultimately end up on menus down the line, follow the trend of what producers are doing because we’re looking at everything and considering it all.” And after just one conversation, it’s clear that Pink House Alchemy is.  

 Look for Erin’s upcoming Taste.Savor.Share Blog post related to Pink House Alchemy’s Sarsaparilla bitters. 

From the Maker's Mouth: Waxing Kara

As the week comes to a close and we venture out to forage for raw honey and figs, we wanted to share an interview with Kara Brook, the creator of Waxing Kara Honey and honey based body products.  Waxing Kara is one of our newest lines in The Savory Pantry and we are so honored to get a peek behind the scenes of a brand that we so admire.  Turns out, Kara is as lovely as her products and packaging!

Who is Kara?  I am an artist and I paint with beeswax. More specifically, I paint with encaustic an ancient painting technique that combines beeswax, tree resin and pigment. The idea of a sustainable art play appealed to me, so I started beekeeping for the wax.

How did you get into working with honey and developing honey based products?  I got more honey than wax from my beekeeping endeavors, and began bottling and sharing with friends and family. When I started commissioning exceptional artisans across the country to make small batch body products with my honey, wax and lavender from our farm, I knew that things were about to get very interesting, and they did. I call our premium line of food and body products “Bee Inspired Goods”.

What is it about what you do that you love the most?  I enjoy designing and developing beautiful products that I love to use and share with others.  It’s exciting when I share products with friends, family and customers and they hold it in their hands, take a deep breath and acknowledge the beauty and utility all at once. 

How are your products different than other scrubs, lotions and soaps?  Everything that we sell is small batch, handmade and as organic as we can afford to make it. We don’t use any harsh chemicals, false fragrance or sodium laurel/eth sulfate, all paraben free.

What is your most memorable meal? I was very close with an executive chef from Rehobeth Beach Delaware, then later he moved Washington DC. and lived only about 30 minutes from my home. One evening he told me to invite a few friends over and offered up “lobster three ways” for dinner. He actually prepared this for us right before our eyes, so it was sort of a cooking class in my home. It was very casual and extremely elegant all at the same time. He did this a few more times, once with salmon and another time with steak. Each time I learned more about food in a direction that I had never seen it go in my kitchen! Sadly, he passed away a few years back. I miss him very much.

What is your favorite food or food trend? I am currently eating very healthfully. I just got back from a week away to Deer Lake Lodge where I did an 8 day fast. In getting back to my day-to-day life I am doing all I can to be prepared with whole fresh foods in our home, staying away from gluten, processed foods and sugar. Farm-to-Table and RAW food currently interest me the most. I go out of my way to find and support restaurants that support farmers, and make healthy food. I do it for the health benefits of eating local food and I do it to support local artisans, regardless of where I am visiting.

What's next for Waxing Kara?  I am going to keep on coming up with good ideas to support the bees and at-risk youth. 

From The Maker's Mouth: Elki Gourmet

A longtime staple of The Savory Pantry, Elki Gourmet occupies alot of real estate on our store shelves!  We caught up with Giovanna Norde to get a peek behind the scenes of one of our favorite brands.

Elki is a family owned business, and that familial culture seems to reverberate throughout the company!  Your customer service and support is extraordinary.  How do you manage to maintain that personal touch in the very competitive world of specialty foods? Thank you so much, customer service is very important to all of us at Elki.  We are known industry wide for our hands on customer service, something that is a continual priority for us.  We know that we are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year because of our wonderful customers!  We are honored that they continually look to ELKI for their specialty food needs, we never take that lightly.

What has been your biggest challenge in bringing your products to market? Our biggest challenge is fine tuning our new products so that they have the perfect balance of texture, color and layering of flavors.  It always takes a little longer to get new products to market, we won’t introduce anything until it is absolutely perfect! 

What is it about what you do that you love the most? I love the specialty food industry, I get to work with the most wonderful customers, yourself at the top of that list!  No two days are the same and the excitement when introducing new products to the market is the best!!

What is your favorite Elki product and your most creative way of using it? Oh boy, that’s a tough one, I have several “favorites”.  Our new Caramelized Sweet Onion & Balsamic Crostini Spread is wonderful.  We sourced the onions from Belgium for that perfect taste and consistency, it made all the difference in the world.  I use it as a base on a flatbread and then top it with thinly sliced fresh pears and goat cheese.  I pop it in the oven and baked it until the cheese is softened.  It is amazing!  I’ve made some fantastic pasta dishes by using a combination of ELKI products.  I’ve used the bruschetta’s with the tapenades mixed with hot pasta and topped with fresh herbs and cheeses, thinned our whipped mustards with olive oil to make salad dressings.  The combinations are truly endless, I have so much fun experimenting!

What is your mostmemorable meal? Being in the specialty food industry we get to travel to some of the best cities and dine at the greatest restaurants, as a result I have been fortunate to have several memorable meals.  I love getting fresh sushi as that is something I don’t make at home.

What is your favorite food or food trend? I personally love the shelf stable “open and eat” trend that we are seeing more and more of.   I love that I can get high quality products in a jar ready to use for a quick meal or an appetizer with absolutely no prep work involved.  By the time I  go to the store and buy all the products to make one of our bruschetta’s or pesto I would spend a lot of money and then have to go home and spend more time making it.

What is your biggest (food) guilty pleasure? Being a total “foodie” I have several!  I love the savory flavor profiles, flatbread pizzas are one of my favorites.  I’ve been using our new Crostini Spreads and adding different artisan cheese’s and our grilled vegetables as toppings, delish!  Any of our pestos, bruschettas, tapenades, grilled vegetables and crostini spreads can be used with flatbreads and pasta, experimenting is half the fun!

What's next for Elki? We have several exciting things “in the hopper” so to speak!!!  We will continue on our path of creating the finest products with high quality ingredients for our loyal customers!

From the Maker's Mouth: Green Mountain Mustard

After talking to Michael the man in charge at the Green Mountain Mustard company, I knew our customers would love his “different” mustard (his words).  This is not your regular grocery store mustard, the mustard is unique and made in small batches.  The magic of the the mustards happens after combining mustard seeds and mustard powder.   The ingredients that come next is what makes these mustards stand out, such as sriracha, maple syrup, and garlic & oregano. I mean who would have thought of putting all the spices, seeds and salt that come on an Everything Bagel in a jar of Mustard?!? It is quite amazing! Green Mountain Mustard is located in Vermont and run by a family of three, Michael, Ed & Jeanne Adams.  They started out selling at farmers markets and when they kept selling out, they decide it was time to expand - Thank goodness they did - because we are truly lucky to carry it.  Try every flavor or just pick one, you won’t be disappointed.  Read below to get to know Michael and his company a bit more…

What makes your Green Mountain Mustards different from others? Our mustards are different for a couple of reasons: The first is texture. Our mustards are thick, rich, and creamy. We wanted to make something that was a lot more spreadable than something that comes out of a squeeze bottle. The second reason is flavors. We really try to push the envelope of condiment creation when it comes to our new flavors.

Who comes up with the recipes and flavors?  It's a combination of customers, myself, and my Dad, Ed. We always write down customer suggestions and give it at least one go. If we think we've got something, then we test it like crazy with anyone who wants to give it a try.

What’s your biggest challenge working in a small family business?  My biggest challenge is remembering that the two people I work with are also my parents. I rely on them for a lot - and it's often for sweat equity. It's important for me to constantly remind them how much they are helping me build my little mustard company.

What's your favorite food or food trend?  Man, this is tough. I'm not going to pick a favorite food because the list would be a mile long. For a food trend, I appreciate how there are many companies emerging with clean products. There's no reason for half the garbage to be in food today - clean, simple ingredients is a trend I'm happy to support.

How do you most often use your product?  What was the most unexpected way of using your product? I use it in my omelet every morning. And grilled cheese. Oh, man - it's SO good on grilled cheese. And I make a lot of salad dressing and potatoes, too. As for strange uses, we have a lot of customers who dip microwave popcorn in our mustard. I've never tried it, but my customers swear by it!

What's next for your business?  We're looking to grow into New England more and start moving our way down the East Coast the next few years. It's an exciting time because we're finding our place in the market, making it known, and having a lot of fun doing it.

What’s the one key thing you would tell a person who wants to start a small business in the food industry?  I'd tell them two things: 1. Get your numbers right from the beginning. and 2. It takes longer to build a successful business than you think.

What is your most memorable meal?  When I tried sea urchin and squid ink at Anchor & Hope in San Francisco. While, it wasn't my favorite meal of all time, it was a time I tried something new. And I'll forever remember trying sea urchin and squid ink - both tasty, by the way.

What is your (food) guilty pleasure?  Trail Mix. I know - it's weird. But there's nothing like going to a bulk bin in the grocery store and getting some trail mix.