This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Based in Alma, Lac-Saint-Jean, the Kwe Cocktails company wants to introduce Quebecers (and the whole world) to the flavors and richness of the boreal forest.
Behind the Kwe Cocktails company are two 30-something Jeannois entrepreneurs, Jessica Côté and Eve-Marie Gravel, united by their interest in mixology and boreal spices. They started the project in an artisanal way in 2017. Five years later, their range includes a dozen products, mainly alcohol-free syrups and tonics, which are distributed in nearly 300 points of sale in Quebec and Canada.
The two childhood friends began experimenting casually. “We couldn’t find cocktail recipes that highlighted boreal flavors. So we started creating our own recipes on a kitchen counter, having fun! recalls Jessica.
Biologist Fabien Girard notably guided them in their quest for the unsuspected resources of the boreal forest, a rich ecosystem that crosses Quebec from east to west beyond the 48e parallel.
“When we started five years ago, people didn’t know what nordicity tasted like. There was nothing like it on the market. Many expected everything to taste like fir gum. But the boreal forest is so much more complex than that, says Jessica. Fabien made us discover such different cases! Thanks to what we find in the forest, we can pick up aromas of lemon or lemongrass, and the sprouts of the fir tree taste like cotton candy… We can go for precise and delicate tastes. »
A matter of roots
Word Kwe, which is used as a greeting in several indigenous languages, naturally became the name of the company. “I am of Aboriginal origin and, having previously worked at the Traditional Huron Site in Wendake, I had already begun to taste and work with forest products. I thought there was something interesting there that tasted of us. Kwe Cocktails is a good representation of who we are, Eve-Marie and I: crossbreeding, the desire to bring the forest into consumers’ glasses and to promote boreal spices through mixology. »
Cocktail lovers who want to broaden their horizons can, for example, concoct a forest gin and tonic using their tonic composed of Labrador tea, peppers from the dunes, cedar and seaberry, or even a boreal mojito thanks to their wild mint syrup.
Success is there and the company is also trying its hand at ready-to-drink, still alcohol-free, with a tonic soda with boreal accents that includes dune pepper, balsam bayberry, juniper and black spruce. A sumacade, a kind of sparkling lemonade made from an infusion of sumac and wild mint, also came out of the company’s new factory, inaugurated in 2019 in Alma.
“Non-alcoholic ready-to-drinks allow us to moderate our consumption and give the option of adding alcohol if we want. But if there is already alcohol, it is impossible to remove it. I like to give consumers the option,” says Jessica Côté about Kwe Cocktails’ choice to focus on non-alcoholic products.
Pick from the right place
To be able to offer a panoply of flavors, Kwe Cocktails relies on a network of professional pickers, mainly in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
“Everyone must make sure to respect the criteria that we have established as part of our supply policy: respect the stages of picking the product, choose the right time to pick it, make sure to respect the capacity for renewal resources”, illustrates Jessica, who is also at the helm of a family blueberry farm with her brothers.
“We are always at the mercy of nature. For example, sometimes there will not be any sweet gale when the time is right. So we’re going to stock up on the North Shore, but on different dates. »
Kwe Cocktails’ regional roots have also served the company well, which makes nearly 50% of its sales in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. A bet that was not won in advance for a product after all nestled. “It may be easier to launch a niche product in large centres, where the population is denser. But the people of the region were very responsive when we launched our first products and got on board straight away,” says Jessica.
These first successes give great ideas to the two entrepreneurs, who dream of seeing their products distributed across Canada and even beyond our borders. “My dream would be to introduce the unique flavors of La Boréalie through the world of mixology. We want to democratize the aromas of the boreal forest. For this, we want our products to be better known and, eventually, distributed in the grocery store network, so that everyone can crack a can of soda if they want to taste the forest! »