Flavorful syrups for the perfect night in
“We are in it for the long haul, not the U-Haul!” jokes Alyssa Isenhour. She and Courtney Daniel, her partner of six years, own Mane Stay Market. This coffee and cocktail syrup business prioritizes using local, whole ingredients, developing unique flavor profiles, and making nonalcoholic beverages a main event instead of an afterthought.
Their backgrounds have helped them turn a passion project into a business. Alyssa is a sales manager overseeing national accounts and has a background in private label product development. And Courtney has worked in hyper-local marketing within the grocery industry.
The women started Mane Stay Market to help people have premium beverages at home—without all the chemicals and at a fraction of the cost of retail. “We help everyone from busy working moms, hyper-caffeinated college students, and overworked Memphians romanticize their day, even if it is just what is in their cup,” says Alyssa.
Here’s some of their story.
Edible Memphis: Let’s start at the beginning. What was the spark for Mane Stay Market?
Alyssa Isenhour: We were trying to fill a gap while having fun in the kitchen. I have dysautonomia and rheumatoid arthritis, so going out to bars and having a fun drink with the girls isn’t always something I can participate in. Courtney is an avid home chef and problem solver, who one day just decided to start making drink syrups for us to enjoy at the house. One day we sat down and realized how much money we were making for other people and thought, “Why aren’t we doing this for ourselves?”
Tell us about developing your syrups.
Courtney Daniel: Simple syrups are really that: simple. Just boil equal parts sugar and water. The difference between those and rich syrups is an enhanced recipe with added benefits like a smoother texture, bold flavor, and it is shelf stable. The key differences between the syrups we sell versus what can be made in your home kitchen is the meticulous Brix score testing and—most importantly—flavor! It can’t just be a simple strawberry or caramel syrup. Those barely even register on the fun-drink scale. The flavors need to be more complex, more interesting, more unusual while still being delicious.
What are some favorite flavors?
Courtney: At the core, our syrups are a blend of those familiar staples everyone knows and loves, just with our own twist. Balsamic Belle is a perfect example. Made with strawberries and balsamic vinegar, Balsamic Belle challenges the traditional applications of balsamic vinegar. Turns out, the acid from the balsamic vinegar works really well to round out a drink and add the complexity we felt most home mocktails recipes were lacking. It’s not just juice or sugar. It’s a well-rounded base that delivers on sweetness, bitterness, and tartness to create a platform for the rest of the drink to be built. Add a squeeze of lime juice and top off with a ginger ale or some Comeback Coffee sparkling water and you have yourself a delicious, refreshing drink for the summer.
Alyssa: We also strive to recreate familiar moments. Growing up in the South, I am sure we all remember the taste of fresh honeysuckle. As kids, the honeysuckle bush was always home base in tag and the quintessential taste of summer. Honeyed Haze strives to recreate that moment with each pour, and was a sentimental launch for us this spring.
How does Mane Stay Market fit into the local food scene?
Alyssa: Between our aquifer and businesses like Comeback Coffee and their sparkling Memphis water, to the numerous award-winning coffee shops throughout the city, we wanted to start a business not to compete with these places, but rather to compliment all of their amazing work. We want to extend the feeling people get at their favorite spot into the home. So when you can’t go out because of a flare-up, or the kids have too many after-school commitments, we want Memphians to have their sweet little escape.
Courtney: We are constantly going to farmers markets for seasonal produce. If something is out of season, then we are going to local specialty shops. It’s still a bit of a work in progress, but we have some amazing vendors and shops we love visiting, such as Comeback Coffee, Maggie’s Pharm, Jones Orchard, and AOVS Urban Farm that help us get the best products for our syrups. This spring and summer, we’ll even have a booth at the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market.
Any fun surprises come out of your kitchen exploits?
Courtney: It didn’t seem right to have this perfectly fine leftover fruit pulp and just toss it. There had to be something else we could do with it. It’s not a far jump to realize those pulpy leftovers make excellent fruit leather! For any of the herbs used, we dry and pulverize them with some sea salt. It is perfect to rim your drinking glass with or sprinkle over whatever it is you’re cooking to get a cohesive flavor profile. It’s all about taking either flavors you wouldn’t normally find together, or maybe pieces of food that a lot of people think of as “trash” and giving them a second life, or sometimes even a third life!
Alyssa: That’s what Mane Stay Market is all about. We want to bring people a little joy in their cups or on their plates or bowls, all while supporting the local community and making the unusual a little more familiar to everyone.
Stacey Greenberg is the editor in chief of Edible Memphis. You can follow her at @nancy_jew.
Erin Siao is a freelance illustrator specializing in portraits and local vignettes of place and taste. She works with local and national publications, brands, and individuals to capture stories in her unique style. She has a passion to understand neighborhood faces working to strengthen communities for the better. @erinsiaowork