Brooklyn’s Jack Summers, 55, has launched his alcohol brand Sorel, based on his homemade sorrel—a hibiscus flower-flavored drink native to the Caribbean. His version of a classic has become so popular that it has received dozens of awards and is ready to go global.
“The interesting thing about red drink is that there were no recipes for centuries because the people who kept the tradition alive weren’t allowed to read or write,” said Summers about sorrel’s cultural history. “If you didn’t have a grandparent or parent teach you how to make this thing from hibiscus flowers, then you didn’t know how to make it.”
Summers said it is a marvel that enslaved Africans and their descendants on the islands were able to hold onto their traditions, despite brutal colonization.
Summers credits his family’s roots in Barbados for the taste of Sorel. His grandparents emigrated from the island to Harlem in the 1920s. His grandfather was a chef. By the time Summers was born, his parents had moved to Brooklyn.
“As a child, from the time I was 4 or 5 years old, my parents would go every year to the Labor Day parade. It was amazing,” said Summers. He remembers delighting in traditional Caribbean cuisines and red drink during the festive weekend. As he got older, he started making a version of his own in his kitchen, well before he thought of brewing, manufacturing, and selling it.
He studied art and illustrating then spent about 25 years in corporate finance, publishing, and marketing before launching his business. A health scare was the catalyst for him to make that move: In 2010, Summers’s physician discovered a spinal tumor the size of a golf ball that should have been a death sentence.
“And I lived, but the experience will adjust your perspective,” said Summers. “I had an opportunity to think about what was really important to me in life and how I wanted to spend the rest of my days.”
Despite not having a food background, Summers decided to create a shelf-stable version of his home recipe for sorrel and pursue his dreams in 2012. He opened a micro-distillery in Red Hook, Brooklyn, soon afterward. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production of Sorel moved to New Jersey.
Summers said so far this year, they’ve made about 10,000 cases, delivered to 35 different states, and featured the drink at the I am CaribBeing Inaugural Best of Little Caribbean ceremony in Flatbush.
He hopes to grow the Sorel brand with other cultural drinks he can make shelf-stable in the future. “I’ve got the next four or five lined up. I just can’t tell you about them,” joked Summers.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.