#80. 12 Years in the Making: From Seedlip to Seasn to Sylva to Shandy with Ben Branson

Send me a message 🤗This week, I’m bringing you none other than Mr Ben Branson! The man who turned the drinks world upside down with Seedlip joins me to share the story behind his newest venture, Sylva, with a quick stop off at his innovative bitters range, Seasn.Sylva is a revolutionary approach to non-alc dark spirits that extracts flavours from trees using sonic maturation. From his humble beginnings as a farming-family-kid-turned-entrepreneur with zero drinks industry experience, Ben opens up about the rollercoaster journey of creating category-defining products. I loved his refreshing honesty about the challenges ("I wanted to close the business every week") and his passionate stance on not mimicking alcoholic spirits. Between tales of forest foraging, his changed perspective on mocktails, and a sneak peek at his upcoming shandy project (coming to a BBQ near you this summer), this episode captures what makes Ben one of the most innovative minds in the low/no world today. But above all that, he was just so much fun to talk to – happy listening!WE CHAT ABOUT0:00 Ben Branson's story5:24 Childhood inspiration8:54 Anti-social behaviour10:56 The birth of Seedlip13:29 Small goals: Seedlip was initially a side project15:27 Genius or lunatic?17:40 Wavering self-belief: Being his own biggest critic20:47 How do you stay motivated?24:31 What is Sylva - how is it made?30:25 Limited release allocation31:50 Building a global local brand36:00 The creative process39:24 Making a sippable non-alc dark spirit without chilli44:07 Familiarity of flavour without replication of alcohol46:19 Dangerous expectations48:17 Mocktails have their place50:41 A brief history of bitters54:38 Seasn bitters58:57 Find Ben & all his brands1:00:01 The BBQ-Q1:03:46 Ben's new Shandy: DaystarSYLVA SEASN*SEEDLIP @SEEDLIP_BENIN/BENBRANSONWE ALSO TALK ABOUT:RAPSCALLIONSODA.COMDAYSTARBEST NEXT EPISODE#68 No.1 mistake made by new low/no drinkers ===🌱 Ready for real change? - https://www.lownodrinker.com/4weekreset===🗝️ Become a Vault member to get access to the moderation tools that actually help - https://mindfuldrinking.substack.com/s/the-vault===✏️ Come hang out with me on Substack - https://mindfuldrinking.substack.com/===❓ Take the Midlife Drinking Triggers Quiz - https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/68dd33385bb4a20015996a13===*Some links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn a commission that helps me keep the show going. Thank you.