Siren Shrub Co. brings sophistication to beverages

It started with two best friends and a kitchen. Mindy McCord and Layne Cozzolino first met in 2010 while working at Emy J’s, a coffee shop/cafe in Stevens Point. By 2015, the best friends had fully embraced the local food movement. “We were really into making jams and jellies,” McCord recalls. The duo made these in their kitchens to sell at their local farmers markets in the Stevens Point area. While selling at the markets, they were making friends with and as a byproduct building a network of local agricultural producers. When Cozzolino became pregnant with her first child in 2016, the pair turned their attention to non-alcoholic beverages that weren’t loaded down with the chemicals in modern sodas. McCord explained this morphed into a discovery of shrubs. According to McCord, they came across an article about shrubs in the New York Times and as self-described foodies who were into food preservation techniques it was an instant connection. While sharing the same name as the woody plants used in landscaping around people’s homes, the shrubs that Cozzolino and McCord work with are a mixture of apple cider vinegar, produce such as fruits or herbs and cane sugar. Shrubs have a long history dating back many centuries. The name comes from the Arabic word sharāb, which means “to drink.” They also show up in recipe books from past eras as drinking vinegars. Before refrigeration became a household luxury, vinegar was used to preserve fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh through the winter. The British navy used shrubs in the 18th century to combat scurvy and there are stories of smugglers who would sink barrels of the beverages at sea for later retrieval. Since the vinegar promotes salivation, shrubs are particularly hydrating and thirstquenching while also lending themselves to a wide range of applications and flavorings. Shrub usage fell off as home refrigeration became more common and soft drinks began to flood the market. With the resurgence of craft cocktails and mocktails, shrubs have been making a comeback and gaining in popularity as both a beverage and recipe enhancer. In 2018, McCord and Cozzolino decided to make the leap to bottle and sell their shrub creations and Siren Shrub Co. was born. McCord describes Siren Shrubs as having a tart profile as a result of the vinegar with an umami note in the taste. She compared it to some of the flavors of Kombucha or that you might find in pickling with the tartness. She explained that the shrub is a non-alcoholic concentrated syrup. Traditionally, a shrub would be mixed with either still or carbonated water for a refreshing beverage. Shrubs also complement cocktail recipes adding aromatics, fruit flavors and bitters. McCord also uses Siren Shrubs in cooking. The company’s website at sirenshrubs.com has large and growing collection of recipes that feature various flavors of the shrubs. McCord notes that shrubs are versatile and can lend their flavors not only to beverages, but also can be used in dressings, salads, dips and vinaigrettes. McCord takes a hands-on approach when it comes to the recipes. All of the recipes on their website were created in McCord’s own kitchen. Which is also where they work on new shrub recipes developing new flavors to add to their line up. Siren Shrub contain just three ingredients — organic apple cider vinegar, produce from one of their local farm partners, and organic cane sugar. These farm partners include: Seaquist Orchards of Sister Bay where they produce Montmorency Tart cherries; Whitefeather Organics of Custer which produces the basil and lemongrass used by Siren Shrub Co.; Tapped Maple Syrup of Stevens Point produced from sap collected each season from the Solin family’s heritage sugarbush, near Neva.; The Glass Orchard of Eau Claire which was established in 2017 by owners, Jon Chapman and Dawn Passineau, and is the source of the honey crisp apples used by Siren Shrubs Co.; Park Ridge Organics of Fond Du Lac provides Siren Shrub Co. with jalapeños; Lonely Oak Farm of Milladore provides rhubarb for Siren Shrub Co. McCord said they are proud to partner with Wisconsin farms for their ingredients. McCord noted that one of the challenges for Siren Shrub is that with their commitment to using produce sourced from Wisconsin providers, they are faced with limitations on the types of flavor profiles that are possible as well as having limited growing seasons. This has pushed them to be creative, for example, citrus trees do not grow in Wisconsin so in order to get those types of flavors they have to use things like lemongrass. In addition to their bottled products, Siren Shrub Co. also offers ready to drink canned sparkling shrubs in a variety of flavors. SIREN SHRUB CO She said that a cool part of these farmer relationships is that it allows reinvestment and keeps money circulating in the state. By sourcing ingredients locally, Siren Shrub Co. supports the local economy and fosters strong, sustainable partnerships with local farmers. According to McCord, the two most popular flavors of shrubs are their basil and their tart cherry options, although she noted that their jalapeño lime and honey crisp are also popular. She explained that they do a number of limited releases with short production runs. These have included things like blueberry mint and cocoa mint. McCord described the basil shrub as being one of their “show stoppers.” She noted there is some initial hesitation because people typically don’t think about drinking basil, however with its aromatics and subtle spiciness the herb brings a lot of flavor to the shrub and into whatever it is pair with. McCord said they do the recipe tests in their home kitchen. She explained that they try numerous combinations before bringing a new or limited run flavor to market. “There are a lot of batches that have not seen the light of day,” McCord said. One of the priorities when making a new shrub is that the flavor of the ingredient should be front and center. She said is it important for people to be able to identify what the flavor is, rather than it being masked by the sugar and vinegar. She said shrub development can occur in different ways with some just seeming like they would make good combinations, while others, such as the basil being more serendipitous in their creation. McCord explained that a farmer friend had an abundance of basil and had approached them about offloading some of his basil and putting it to good use and they tried it and it was a hit. She said there have been some flavors that they have tried, but have not been successful in incorporating into a shrub. She said cranberry has proven to be a challenge since the flavors meld into the vinegar. “With only three ingredients they have to be very simple and very clean,” she said, Once they have a recipe ready for production, they contract with a commercial producer in Suamico who makes the syrups for them and a canner in Clintonville who put them in bottles. “They are fabulous partners,” McCord said. When Siren Shrub Co. started in 2018, they focused on getting their e-commerce up and running with a website where people could place orders for delivery. Their timing in entering the market was good as the nonalcoholic beverage industry was undergoing a resurgence as consumers began to seek more complex beverages. The ecommerce, and short supply chain network with area farms, was a boost through the pandemic and helped the company grow. At the same time, the company began expanding to be in speciality, liquor stores and gift shops in Wisconsin and now across the country with Siren Shrub Co. products available in 19 states including Alaska and Hawaii. “We are in over 500 retailers,” McCord said. Last summer, Siren Shrub Co. broke into traditional grocery store markets with a partnership that saw Siren Shrub products on shelves in more than 90 Roundy's locations across Wisconsin, including Pick’n Save and Metro Market stores. As they approach seven years in business, McCord said it is an ongoing task to educate people about shrubs and to bring them to the consumers. She noted that every year the women-owned company has faced new hurdles. She explained that every time you scale your business their are growing pains, McCord noted they benefitted from being in Stevens Point with access to the UW-Stevens Point campus and the resources it brings including help with getting a business underway. She praised the University of Wisconsin for the assistance they are able to give to start-up local businesses. Looking to the future, McCord is hoping the trend of growth continues. Beyond that, McCord is excited that through it all she has been able to continue to work with co-founder Cozzolino. “I still get to work with my best friend,” she said.