A blend of beer and organic tea
One-of-a-kind brew offered at special event
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» A beverage company with local connections is gearing up for a hootin’ good time this Tuesday in the Spa City.
New York-based Owl’s Brew, co-founded by Skidmore College graduate Maria Littlefield, will be pouring its one-of-a-kind radlers during a special event from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday at Brentwood Hotel, located at 15 Gridley St. in Saratoga Springs.
The Owl’s Brew Radler is the first-ever mix of craft beer and organic tea, meant to be a refreshing beverage for any occasion.
Currently it comes in three flavors. The Blondie is a mix of organic English Breakfast tea, lemon, lime and wheat beer. Wicked Watermelon is organic white tea with watermelon and wheat beer. That’s My Jam features organic darjeeling tea, strawberry, hibiscus and amber ale.
While Owl’s Brew is expanding with these products up and down the East Coast, “Saratoga is near and dear to my heart,” said Littlefield, who started the company with co-founder
Jennie Ripps after graduating from Skidmore with a degree in business and psychology.
From the experience at her senior year internship at Fingerpaint, a Saratoga Springs marketing agency, Littlefield landed a post-college job at another agency in New York City, which is where she met Ripps.
Now a tea sommelier, Ripps was always sharing her homemade tea blends, and in time the two started making tea cocktails “totally for fun,” Littlefield said.
“We realized that tea and spirits were amazing together,” she continued, explaining how tea enhanced the flavor of a spirit or beer rather than covering it up like other mixers often do.
Soon after, “People became obsessed with them,” Littlefield said, and the pair started hosting “adult tea parties.”
Over a short period of time, Ripps and Littlefield found that their tea cocktails were in high demand. “We realized that there was a real opportunity in the market for a high-end premium mixer,” Littlefield said, especially one with a health-conscious appeal like tea.
With their marketing savvy, the duo launched Owls Brew mixers, a line of fresh brewed organic teas that are designed to pair with spirits, in 2013 and before long they were selling around the nation.
From there, the entrepreneurs decided to jump on the craft beer trend by trying to make some beer cocktails with their mixers, and they discovered that tea and beer were “absolutely delicious together,” Littlefield said, even though they weren’t really beer drinkers before. Light and refreshing, “It’s kind of what we were looking for in a beer,” she said.
Following showcasing the beer cocktails for while and getting great feedback, Owl’s Brew broke into the beer market by canning their radlers.
A few years ago, Owl’s Brew Radler became the first company to mix tea and beer - two of the oldest beverages in the world - together as a product.
Locals will get a chance to try these unique radlers on Tuesday at the Brentwood event, which will feature live music by Pat Decker, a fire pit, smores and, of course, samples.
Looking ahead, Owl’s Brew has a new radler set to debut this fall.
“Were really excited about building the category,” Littlefield said. “Our goal is just to spread the word and have everyone try it … We hope that in five years everyone knows what Owl’s Brew radler is.”
The current Owl’s Brew Radler lineup is available locally at Minogue’s Beverage Center, EBI, Market 32, Walmart and Brentwood Hotel’s lobby bar.
More information about Owl’s Brew and Owl’s Brew Radler is available online at www.theowlsbrew.com.