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It’s fizzy and fermented, but it’s not kombucha. It’s slightly sweet but it’s not soda. It’s brewed with grain, but it’s nonalcoholic and definitely not beer. So what is it?
When someone takes a sip of an Apisol beverage for the first time, “pretty much everybody is telling me, they’ve never had anything like that,” founder Ariana Wei said.
Apisol is a sparkling, honey-based drink. The name comes from “apes,” which is Latin for bees, and hydrosol, which refers to the aromatic water made from distilling flowers and herbs. It’s brewed from grains and Bay Area honey, with no artificial flavors or preservatives, and it’s currently available in several flavors, both canned and on tap.
Wei, a resident of the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, developed the unique beverage through experimentation (she declined to share details on the proprietary fermentation method).
“I did take inspiration from a lot of things … a little bit about beer, a little bit from kombucha, and also soda, obviously, and then kvass. So it’s kind of a fusion of all the fizzy drinks out there,” she said. “And I wanted to make something that’s not too sweet. Or, I call it just sweet enough.”
Current canned Apisol flavors include the honey-forward original, lavender and cascara (made from coffee cherry, the fruit of the coffee plant).
To source her honey, Wei tried many varieties from local suppliers and ultimately settled on a company from the Napa Valley, which she said has the complex taste profile and sustainable practices she wanted, as well as the ability to provide enough honey consistently.
For the lavender, she uses high-quality culinary buds, avoiding any cloying “grandma soap” scent or flavor, she said with a laugh.
“Not using the syrup, using the real flower, really makes a difference,” she said.
The cascara flavor is the newest canned option. She described the flavor as “a little sour tart, fruity. To me, it tastes kind of like tamarind,” with “an earthy undertone.” It doesn’t taste much like coffee, she said, but it is lightly caffeinated, providing a mild energy boost.
Around the holidays, she offered a special cranberry flavor, which she will likely do again this year. And at pop-ups, she also sells on-tap batches, including a velvety butter cream-topped option that’s made with brown sugar, butter, cream and milk, inspired by the concept of butterbeer in the “Harry Potter” series. The rich and creamy flavor has become a fan favorite.
Apisol beverages have “all the benefits of the real honey. You have natural antioxidants and prebiotics,” Wei said. The canned varieties are pasteurized, but the on-tap drinks also have probiotics, she added.
The origins of Apisol are rooted in Wei’s longtime love of honey products.
“I eat a lot of honey. I just love it,” she said. She grew up in China, moved to the U.S. to attend college and had been working as a scientist, using her skills and curiosity to make food and beverages for fun on weekends.
“I cook a lot. I cook good food, according to my husband and my friends. But I don’t actually have a background in cooking or the food industry,” she said, recalling her time mixing up honey-based brews in pitchers from IKEA and creating Apisol by happy accident.
She estimates going through close to 200 variations before she was satisfied with Apisol’s recipe. Feeling burned out from her career in biotech, her husband and friends encouraged her to follow her passion and try bringing Apisol to market. The brand’s one-year anniversary will be in July.
Apisol is currently brewed and canned at a commercial kitchen in Belmont. Because she’s a one-person operation in a limited space, Wei said she can currently produce a few hundred cans a week at the most.
Canned Apisol can be ordered directly online (in single-flavor packs or variety four- or six-packs, $24-$32.50), but you can also find and sample it at a variety of spots around the Bay Area, including the San Mateo farmers market (at College of San Mateo) on Saturdays, the Redwood City farmers market every other Saturday, the Belmont farmers market on Sundays, and in stock at retailers Fireside Books & More in Redwood City and Food Folk in San Francisco. Wei also brings Apisol to many fairs and pop-up events, including, coming up in May, Santa Clara’s Night Market and San Carlos Hometown Days.
Her goal for continuing Apisol’s expansion is “definitely to get more people to try this,” as well as having it available and accessible in more locations. Customers who come across her at pop-ups want to find the drinks more consistently, she said. She’d love to be in grocery stores all over the Bay Area.
She’d also like to lower Apisol’s price, currently at $6.50 for a single can.
“That’s definitely a premium price. We do want to bring down the price when we can, so that’s also a near-future goal,” she said.
Wei said she’s constantly experimenting with new flavors and welcomes ideas.
“There’s a long list. The next couple in mind would be a berry flavor and a floral one. I’m trying to do a new flavor every season,” she said.
And for those wanting to give Apisol a try, Wei hopes they’ll find her at a market or pop-up soon.
“If I’m in the area, just come over and meet me,” she said.
More information is available at drinkapisol.com. Instagram: @drinkapisol.
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