Skidmore Alum Brews Teas and Booze

Left to right: Maria Littlefield and Jennie Ripps. Photos provided.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Skidmore alum has taken a new twist on spirits and brought it to the national stage. Maria Littlefield, partner and president of Owl’s Brew graduated from Skidmore College in 2009 and by 2013 she and partner Jennie Ripps had already launched their own mixer called Owl’s Brew with the motto “drink wise.” Littlefield has even made it on to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.

Littlefield and Ripps began this venture simply by brewing teas and spirits and hosting “adult tea parties” for co-workers. Soon enough the two were being asked to partner with different liquor brands and serve at events like the Sundance Film Festival and New York Fashion week, “which sounds super glamorous except we were fresh brewing tea in buckets for a thousand people,” Littlefield said jokingly.

“Skidmore and Saratoga are obviously near and dear to my heart. I spent a lot of time here, and my friends and I still come up every summer,” Littlefield said. Littlefield is from Connecticut and nowresidesinNewYorkCity.Her grandmother is also a Skidmore alum, “So my whole family really loves Saratoga,”she added.

During her senior year in the Spa City, Littlefield interned at Fingerpaint and even worked on sponsorships for the Polo field.

“Because I lived here I feel like all of the places are really special to me. I have to go to Putnam (Market) every time I come,” Littlefield said.

Owl’s Brew Radler, a beer mixed with tea and botanicals, launched in 2015. Littlefield said since spirit distribution is much more local, the strategy for the Radler was to focus on places both Ripps and Littlefield had a connection with, calling Saratoga a “hoot spot.” Every Thursday, Owl’s Brew is served at trivia night at the Saratoga Winery, and on Sept. 20 at a back-to-school Dress and Sip at Violet’s of Saratoga. Owl’s Brew was also a vendor at the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival that took place on Sept. 8, attended Taste of Saratoga and held a few events with the Brentwood Hotel.

The wise owl gave way to the concept of Owl’s Brew mixer and the Owl’s Brew Radler, “having flavor that gives you function,” Littlefield calls it.

“That’s giving your body back something. Everyone wants to feel good about drinking,” she added.

Ingredients in both Owl’s Brew products are clean and real, brewing the teas themselves in what Littlefield can only describe as huge tea bags.

“We realized there was this whole world of mixing botanicals with spirits made these delicious really unique cocktails that instead of almost covering up a spirit, which a lot of us try to do,it almost enhances the flavor of a spirit but smooths it out,” Littlefield said.