Home Madison Limited-edition cacao mixer to benefit Black Oxygen podcast in February

Limited-edition cacao mixer to benefit Black Oxygen podcast in February

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A central Wisconsin craft beverage maker will put out a limited edition product for Black History Month, and the proceeds will support Madison365’s Black Oxygen podcast.

Siren Shrub Company is a Wisconsin-based, woman-owned company that makes shrubs – vinegar-based mixers that add sweetness and fruit flavors to almost any beverage, such as cocktails or sparkling waters, with just an ounce added to whatever you’re drinking.

The company will produce only 150 bottles of a new cacao nib shrub, which will be available beginning February 1, the first day of Black History Month. The cacao will be ethically sourced from Colombia by Wauwatosa-based Tabal Chocolate, according to the product announcement.

All proceeds will be used to sponsor the popular podcast Black Oxygen, hosted by Angela Russell and featuring long-form interviews with Black people from across Wisconsin. New episodes come out every Monday.

“We love that (Russell) is amplifying Black voices in Wisconsin, and we love that Angela loves Wisconsin and rural Wisconsin in particular,” said Siren Shrub cofounder Mindy McCord. “That is where we’re based and we see a very large need for a voice like hers and a place to amplify other voices.”

Angela Russell.

Russell met Siren Shrub cofounder Layne Cozzolino a few years ago, long before launching Black Oxygen, at a midwinter fire making workshop near Stevens Point, where Siren Shrub is based. A friendship grew, and Cozzolino attended the live Black Oxygen panel held in Stevens Point last year. She then decided she wanted to leverage her business to support the show.

The cacao nib shrub is available online and in many retail locations around the midwest, and will retail for $22 for a 16 ounce bottle. 

“I’m really, really excited about it and appreciative of their partnership,” Russell said.