Hi, everyone!
We’ve got a guest writer today — everyone welcome Melissa McEwen, former Food and Drink editor at Chicagoist (RIP). She’s also a moderator of /r/ChicagoFood on Reddit, a software engineer, and most importantly, an old friend of mine.
The last time I saw Melissa, I bugged her to write something for the newsletter, and she told me she had just the thing in mind. She said she’d recently discovered a product she was particularly enamored with, and go figure — it just so happens to be produced in the Chicagoland area.
While I don’t usually cover packaged goods on the newsletter, these things are still fair game. That’s because just like any of the meals I’ve written about in the past, you can also go and buy this kind of stuff to experience on your own. Chicago’s full of cool people doing cool shit, and today’s spotlight is just an example of what makes this city an incredible place.
Normally today’s edition of the newsletter would fall under the paid schedule, but since this is Melissa’s first guest appearance, I’m making it free to read. That doesn’t mean I don’t compensate her for her time — so please don’t forget to upgrade your subscription today.
There are more guests coming to the newsletter in the future (don’t worry, it’ll still be mostly me!), but this model only works if I can support them too. Every other edition of the newsletter’s behind the paywall, like next week’s, so don’t forget to sign up now to keep this thing running.
And without further ado, we’re cracking a can open today with Melissa. But this is no ordinary beverage we’re trying.
Ads.
Sometimes I like them, sometimes I hate them, sometimes I'm alarmed by how well-targeted they are. Like earlier, in March, when I saw an ad on Instagram for a salted lemonade made by a company called Five Corners Beverage Co. It advertised not just salty, lemony goodness, but also the addition of spices and specifically, black salt. The drink sounded intriguing, and the ad had done an excellent job targeting me.
I was delighted to find out that Five Corners is a Chicago company, and I wouldn't even have to order it online. I made an excuse to run errands near a store that carried it, Buzz Market, in Lincoln Park. The employees who worked there immediately recognized what I was looking for and recommended serving it over ice.
They knew how to serve it because the creators of Five Corners, husband-and-wife team Benno Nelson and Shelby King, have been personally introducing their drink to retailers by walking into stores, talking to owners, and making their pitches the old-fashioned way.
"We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many indie retailers are open to carrying it," Nelson told me. “A lot of people we've talked to already know salted lemonade and immediately get it.”
While salted lemonade isn't as popular as sweet lemonade, it's a familiar drink in in many places that are better at dealing with hot weather than we are. And frankly, with climate change, we'll probably need all the help we can get.
Some of these salted drinks include Vietnamese chanh muối (made with salted pickled lemons) and nimbu pani (also known as shikanji) in India. The origins of nimbu pani go as far back as the 10th century, when one of the fathers of early modern medicine, Ibn Sina, wrote about it in his Canon of Medicine. Even today, consuming it is recognized as an effective way to rehydrate and as a remedy for "gastro-intestinal, hepatic to urinary tract and cardiovascular to nervous disorders."
This is good because I have every disease. And it's one reason that I've cut back on alcohol, which is a growing trend for elder millennials such as myself.
One of the drinks I’ve missed most is a good margarita.
I love that combination of sweet, sour, and salty. I've tried dozens of non-alcoholic margarita options, but none quite hit that sweet spot. Until I tried Five Corner's Salted Lemonade.
Nelson and King quit drinking about six years ago, but they missed the complex flavors and depth of alcoholic drinks. They started investigating interesting-sounding drinks from around the world, and tried to recreate them in their home kitchen.
"There were some that he liked that I didn't," King said, thinking about the dozen or so drinks they tried, "Benno [Nelson] was a negroni fan so he likes bitter flavors. We tried some drinks like espresso and tonic with lemon that weren't really my taste. I like things that are more balanced."
What they ended up with was a drink they both liked that's very similar to the nimbu pani. When I poured myself a cold glass of Five Corners Salted Lemonade, one of the first things I noticed was the heady aroma of cumin. The bubbles carry the flavor into your nostrils as you sip it. It's salty, tart, and spicy, with a little sweetness, but the dominant flavor is savory. It's a welcome change from many other non-alcoholic drinks I've tried, which tend to be on the sweet side.
The couple named their company Five Corners for the five foundational tastes: umami, salty, sour, bitter, and sweet. And all these flavors are present in the drink, to some degree. The initial sip might seem surprising to some, but kind of like the kombucha meme, I think the more you sip it, the more you end up liking it. They know it's a flavor combination that might not appeal to everyone. If you don't like cumin, you probably won't like it at all. Nelson and King say they don't expect everyone to enjoy it, but are happy to find that plenty of people do love it.
Two people who aren't fans are their older two kids. That makes sense, since it's designed to appeal to adult tastes. But mysteriously, their youngest kid, who is three years old, likes it. The couple gave a presentation on entrepreneurship to their child's second-grade class and let the kids sample the drink. "More kids liked it than I expected," Shelby says, and "One said it tastes like lemonade and tacos."
I agree with that particular kid’s sense of taste, because Five Corners’ Salted Lemonade has become my go-to for when I'd normally want a margarita. It pairs perfectly with tacos, or chips and salsa. Nelson told me the drink’s complexity can slow your want to take it down, rendering it more sippable, but I found myself craving it and went through my four-pack quickly. Don’t mistake Five Corners Salted Lemonade for a canned non-alcoholic cocktail, however.
Nelson told me that the intention wasn’t to try and imitate alcohol. "There are plenty of options for that, and sometimes they just end up making you yearn for the real thing," he said. The two simply wanted a drink that stood on its own.
One person they had to convince was the formulator who helped them bring their recipe from a home kitchen to a commercial product.
"The initial formulas they came up with were way too sweet, they were used to formulating sodas," King told me. Eventually after a few iterations they were able to come up with a formula that captured their original recipe, and was also ready to be canned.
Unfortunately, canning a beverage isn't something you can just do at home. Nelson and King come from tech, and while Nelson worked at a company that dealt with beverage ordering, the journey from idea-to-shelf required a lot of research. Most companies that can beverages want massive orders, which is daunting for a small bootstrapped company that’s just setting out, like Five Corners.
"We were lucky to find a lot of people in our networks willing to help us get connected with the right people," King said. This helped them find a packager in Wisconsin willing to go with smaller orders.
The drink is starting to find a following, because their latest production order is double their initial order run. When Nelson spoke to me, he mentioned he’d been at the factory a few days prior, where he says he observes the process until it's time to taste the product and monitor quality control.
The original cans were digitally printed, but the canning machines at the packer accidentally crushed the batch, so they now use stick on labels, designed by Pono Design in Chicago.
The design is minimalist and feels both retro and adult, signaling that people standing around drinking the product clearly aren’t drinking soda. And speaking of standing, many people standing around at music and theater venues in Chicago are now enjoying Five Corners Salted Lemonade too. Before Nelson was in tech, he was in theater, and still maintains strong connections with that world. The lemonade is on the menu at venues like Old Town School of Folk Music and Theater Wit. "People go to these places to celebrate, and want something special," he said.
"I think Chicago is a really good food market. It's an interesting food city, and people are always looking for new things," King adds.
They thought restaurants might be a bigger market for the drink, but breaking into those is harder than stores. The complicated three-tier distribution system for drinks (even non-alcoholic) still dominates restaurants and it's hard for a self-distributed product to break in.
But I hope it finds its way to restaurants, because I think it would make an awesome cocktail, alcoholic or not. It's also great on its own. I've been enjoying a Five Corners Salted Lemonade topped with some non-alcoholic Free Spirits tequila, while enjoying some vegan House Party queso (sigh, lactose intolerance, but I promise it's actually really good).
Nelson and King told me they have other flavors in the works but aren't ready to reveal them just yet. If you want to stay updated, I recommend following them on Instagram where they often post about new retailers that carry their product.
And if you’re interested in trying Five Corners’ Salted Lemonade for yourself, you can find a list of retailers that sells it via Five Corners’ website. Stores sell it both by the can or in 4-packs (for around $3 to $4 per can, depending on the shop), and you can also purchase the Salted Lemonade directly from Five Corners in a 12-pack format for $40.
Hi, it’s Dennis again! Before I say anything, no, this piece wasn’t sponsored. Melissa genuinely loves this stuff, which is why she wanted to tell you guys about it. If there’s any other cool products that are made around Chicago that you like, feel free to chat about them in the comments section.
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Okay, that’s it for today — so go seek this stuff out if you’re looking for something new to drink that isn’t a soda or an N/A cocktail. Have a great week, everyone. Love you guys.
What the heck. I just picked up a 4pk of this yesterday and now you publish this.
Can’t wait to try this!