Bar offers alcohol-free menu and ‘build your own drink’ option
Hyacinth Nembhardt, 40, opened a new bar in November called Concoctions, where she offers “a build your own” drink experience. Customers can order a nonalcoholic drink either in frozen, cold or hot and then “they can choose whether or not to spike it,” Nembhardt said.
The bar opened Nov. 20 about a halfblock south of West Capitol Drive on West Fond du Lac Avenue. There are 15 mixed drinks on the menu.
Drinks are served with alcohol on the side in a 50-ml bottle, which allows the customer to order drinks to go. The customer then stirs the alcohol into their drink.
Customers have the option to stick with the alcohol-free version.
“It’s really giving the customer a totally customizable experience,” Nembhardt said.
The menu includes unique flavor combinations inspired by Nembhardt’s Jamaican background. For example, Rum Punch features pineapple, mango and fresh fruit and is made with a special Jamaican syrup.
The Treasure Beach is a customer favorite, Nembhardt said. It’s made with mango puree, swirls of strawberry and topped with gummy candies that she says even kids like.
Nembhardt opened Concoctions in 2007 as a liquor store after a career in finance and radio. She still hosts on-air part-time on Jammin 98.3 WJMR and Energy 106.9 WNRG with the stage name “Syn.” The store featured a small bar where customers could get mixed drinks to go. Although the initial business closed in 2009, Nembhardt believes she had hit on a popular concept.
After the liquor store closed, Nembhardt started setting up a table at festivals like Jazz in the Park, which Concoctions participated in for nine years.
“That’s where we really developed our brand,” Nembhardt said.
Nembhardt purchased a food truck in 2017 and began serving alcohol-free versions of the drinks on Tuesdays in Schlitz Park. She also takes the truck to festivals and events.
Concoctions opened in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, because as she put it “the ball was already rolling.” Construction inside the space was scheduled before March and although the pandemic was in full swing in November she wanted to open. She said the business has been meeting its goals.
Nembhardt wants to expand her business and open a second location downtown, where she’d like to start offering bar snacks and hookah.
She also hope she can be an inspiration for other Black women in Milwaukee. She has hired five women to work in the bar, doing everything from mixing drinks to working as shift manager.
“I’m really committed to inspiring other young women to be entrepreneurs, and a lot of the girls that work for us are aspiring entrepreneurs,” Nembhardt said.
Concoctions is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Visit concoctionsmke.com for more information.