Strictly Fizzness: Maypop Sparkling Water

It was April 2019, and Matt Herrick -- ensconced in his basement man-cave -- sat musing upon the fact that he just about had it all: a steady job, an upscale home, a lovely wife… and yet another wicked hangover. Matt was drinking on the job again. But, in his defense, that was the job. A naturally gifted people person, Matt had represented BountyBev since 2015, consistently topping their sales charts as he brewed up relationships all over town in a burgeoning Nashville thirsty for craft beer.  

“I was,” Matt now admits, “a professional drinker… But it only sounds good until you’re in it.”   

Matt has a point. Monday through Friday -- week in, week out -- he would sit at bars with accounts, sampling the city’s most succulent suds. (And, unlike sommeliers who sip, swirl, and spit, beer drinkers actually swallow -- it’s a cultural thing.)

 And It was taking a toll on his health. Matt wanted out. He wanted to start his own venture, but not in a way that would compete with BountyBev.  “I’m a Cancer,” Matt explains. “We’re loyal like that.”  

But how to utilize his extensive contacts in the Nashville food and beverage industry without leaving a bad taste in anyone’s mouth? Hence the epiphany in his basement that April. It came in the form of a can Matt held to deal with his hangover’s dehydration issues: sparkling water flavored with fruit juice.  

“Hmmm….” 

“Honey,” he asked his wife, Clara, “what if I started my own business here in town, and sold sparkling water flavored with fruit juice? Producing a non-alcoholic drink locally that comes out of kegs is always sought after as a premium. Nobody in the country is doing sparkling water on tap.” Somewhat to Matt’s surprise, she thought it was a good idea. 

So, with the greenlight from Clara, Matt got to work, investing in soda kegs and reverse osmosis machines and experimenting with formulas down in his basement.  

He uses only real fruit juice and no artificial anything. “I knew I only wanted 100% fruit juice, fully pasteurized,” he says. “It was also important for me to dial in percentages, coming up with recipes I could replicate easily.” 

As if coming up with the formulas wasn’t challenging enough, Matt also had to come up with a catchy company name. It took the whole summer of 2019 for Matt’s mind to mint the marvelous moniker ‘Maypop.’  

The simple name ‘Maypop’ fits perfectly with Matt’s simple four introductory flavors: tangerine, lime, grapefruit-orange, and lemon, all of them healthy, all of them light, all of them tasty. 16 ounces of refreshing Maypop tangerine, for example, contains 7% juice and has just 15 calories, only 3 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of sugar, all naturally coming from the juice itself. The lemon and lime don’t have any sugar or carbs at all. Also healthy is the way that Maypop, now available on tap at an ever-growing number of Nashville bars, allows patrons to pace themselves between alcoholic beverages or even to take some Maypop home. Craft Brewed, for example, will fill 32-ounce “crowlers” of Maypop to go. You can also find Matt and Clara at The Richland Park Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. Bring back your glass growler and a gallon will set you back only $5. We’ll drink to that.

Maypop Sparkling Water
Maypopwater.com
Instagram @maypopwater