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Richmond Seltzer Co. co-founder Iain Gordon at work on a new batch
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Gordon and Richmond Seltzer Co. co-founder Vanessa Gleiser
Iain Gordon and Vanessa Gleiser, both 24, first met at D.J. Montague Elementary School in Williamsburg, unexpectedly reconnecting 14 years later on a dating website. Today, the couple are working to debut Richmond Seltzer Co., the city’s first dedicated spiked seltzer company they aim to debut by August 2021.
“We've known each other since the fifth grade,” says Gleiser, a VCU graduate. “We grew up in the same hometown, but we went to different colleges. We kind of just reconnected."
Working in the beer industry for the past year and previously interning for Virginia Cider, Gleiser not only gained marketing knowledge, but also the inspiration to launch her own business.
While Richmond is a boozy city, home to almost 40 breweries, multiple cideries and distilleries, and a meadery, the young team saw a gap in the industry — there was no one focused on spiked seltzer, a beverage that over recent years has taken the alcohol industry by storm.
“There is a lack of craft seltzer not only in Richmond, but in several other areas,” Gleiser says. “We also both love seltzer, and all of our friends love seltzer as well, so it was something we wanted to bring to Richmond."
Last summer, Belle Isle Moonshine released a lineup of bubbly Belle Isle Canned Cocktails, most recently adding a Honey Habanero flavor to the mix, but there are no companies focused on hard seltzers specifically.
Gleiser and Gordon are currently searching for a retail space to sell their products. Under Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority law, they must possess a liquor license and retail establishment to sell the canned drinks.
“We are still deciding on where we’d like to be located, but our thoughts are in the downtown area close to the river, in the Fan or near Scott's Addition,” Gleiser says.
A civil engineering graduate from the University of Virginia, Gordon came on board to help Gleiser with the brewing side of the operation, his counterpart focusing on the marketing aspect of the company.
Although the business is in the early phases, Gleiser says they're excited to develop new flavors and continue growing the company. “We just started brewing seltzer in our kitchen, and we're experimenting with flavors right now,” she says.
So far, Gordon, a water resources engineer at Timmons Group, has crafted two seltzer flavors, a blackberry sour and a watermelon-passion fruit with mango variety.
“The blackberry and watermelon we're pretty excited about,” Gordon says. “You don't see too much of that out there. From any kind of crafting we've had that has those flavorings, they tend to be pretty strong.”
