Sorel Liqueur, a modern twist on a Caribbean classic, announces its relaunch following an investment from the $50 million Uncle Nearest Venture Fund. The recently established Uncle Nearest fund is intended to help Black-owned companies achieve their goals in the competitive spirits market.
Based on a centuries-old elixir, the hibiscus-based liqueur is expertly hand crafted in small batches using Moroccan hibiscus, Brazilian clove, Indonesian cassia, Nigerian ginger, Indonesian nutmeg, pure cane sugar, and organic grain alcohol.
“Across the African diaspora, there’s an ancestral memory of ‘The Red Drink'” says Sorel creator, Jackie Summers. “As part of the Transatlantic slave trade, the knowledge of this drink and its medicinal properties traveled alongside enslaved Africans to the Americas. This infusion of capital will help us tell a story of perseverance that’s over 500 years old.”
Sorel Liqueur’s official relaunch will take place on June 24, a date that holds personal significance for Summers, who failed 623 times at creating a shelf-stable version of this centuries-old beverage. 624 represents the batch number that became the final recipe for what would become Sorel Liqueur.
“I’m not a food scientist. In 500 years, no one had ever made a version of sorrel drink that lasted more than two weeks. Hibiscus is notoriously difficult to work with. It’s got more acidity than most citrus fruits,” says Summers. “Most people try to compensate for the acidity by adding sugar until it’s cloying and syrupy. Sorel solves this by balancing hibiscus with other powerful botanicals: clove, ginger, nutmeg, and cassia. Each of them wants to dominate, but instead of competing, in Sorel they dance together.” SRP: $32.99.
SorelOfficial.com will launch as part of Reserve Bar‘s Spirited Exchange Initiative, a program committed to highlighting every minority owned brand that is part of the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund. Exactly 624 boxes of Sorel signed by Jackie Summers will be immediately available as part of a pre-sales on the site.
Summers is the founder of JackFromBrooklyn, Inc., the first known Black-owned distillery in America when it received its federal license in 2012. JackFromBrooklyn is producing the liqueur, and with support from the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund the brand will expand to markets outside of New York (both on- and off-premise) this summer including California, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Washington D.C.
Sorel Liqueur will be distributed through several notable distributors and will be available in and/or shipping to more than 40 states before the end of the year.