Commerce Township Brewery Announces Line of Small Batch Cocktail Mixers

Kickstand Brewing Company has launched a line of all-natural cocktails mixers that come in five flavors.
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Cleo & Co. Mixers. // Photograph courtesy of Kickstand Brewing Co.

Kickstand Brewing Company in Commerce Township boasts a menu that features a wide variety of hand-crafted Michigan beer, wine, and spirits — and now, they’ve ventured into at-home cocktails with a new line of cocktail mixers.

The mixers, which have been dubbed Cleo & Co, got their name from Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe, who was one of the best-known bootleggers during the prohibition era and estimated to be worth more than $1 million by the time she retired.

“We wanted to create classic and unique mixers with a Michigan focus, that also ties back to an important time in our industry’s history,” Scott Emerick, a co-owner of Kickstand Brewing Company, said in a press release. “Gertrude ‘Cleo’ Lythgoe gave us a lot of inspiration, she wasn’t afraid to take risks or to do things her way and above all else she valued a quality product.”

The all-natural, house-crafted, small batch, and locally sourced line comes in five distinct flavors that have a tie to Lythgoe’s life. Those flavors are:

  • Rendezvous: a martini mixer that blends pineapple and pomegranate with lemon, blueberry juices, and cane sugar. It was named after the stops Cleo made while sailing her boat to Rum Row off New York.
  • Sinister: Inspired by Cleo’s attitude when others stuck their nose in her business, Sinister features lemon, lime, and orange juice with blue agave, making it great for margaritas and sours.
  • Tuller: After retirement in 1925, Cleo made her way to Detroit and lived at Hotel Tuller in Grand Circus Park for 25 years. With dark cherry juice, bitters, and cane sugar, this mixer is well-suited for an old fashioned.
  • Zazzled: This mule mixer with ginger and lime juice, and cane sugar, was inspired by Cleo’s serious need for quality control and her love of libations.
  • Appleseed: During prohibition, cider was a lowkey way for people to get in a few drinks. This apple and cinnamon mixer with lime juice and cane sugar pays homage to that time.

Each one of the mixers is $19 and is available online or at Kickstand Brewery, 3050 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township.

For more information, visit Kickstand Brewery Company online at kickstandbrewingco.com.