Strongwater Spirits and Botanicals has launched Colorado's first line of shrubs. Shrubs are sipping vinegars intended for use as a health tonic and ingredient in craft cocktails. The new shrub line adds to Strongwaters' line of botanical bitters and is the first company in Colorado to launch a line of sipping vinegars in an apple-cider vinegar base.
Strongwater, which was founded in 2015, already is distributed in Colorado, Oregon and Washington and is being used at a number of local bars and restaurants including The Kitchen, Z Cuisine, Gozo and more. According to Strongwater, the shrubs are used as a daily digestive tonic as well as in cocktails like classics like Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and Moscow Mules. They're also available at retail stores including Black Eye Coffee, Amendment XXI, Sugarpill and Artemisia & Rue. An 8.5-ounce shrub bottle retails for $25.
"We founded Strongwater after seeing the trend for small batch botanical cocktail mixers on the West Coast and wanted to put our own spin on it, in order to bring the trend to Denver and Colorado," explains Kelsey Riley a co-founder of Strongwater. Riley, an herbalist, founded Strongwater with Nick Andresen.
"Shrubs and bitters have a long history of accentuating instead of masking flavor: I watch mixologists using high-end booze and then add a ton of sugary mixers to drinks, which masks the essence of the spirit. Our products offer a clean and sugar-free botanical component instead, giving way to a refined flavor and a more natural craft cocktail," Riley says. Shrubs and bitters have roots as far back as the 1600s in England.
The new line of shrubs come in a number of flavors: ginger & pear, cherry & thyme, blueberry & mint, peach & rose, and persimmon & lavender.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Chris Meehan with tips and leads for future stories at chris@confluence-denver.com.
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