okra. Issue 23 2023 Preview

UP & COMING SHACK

Chef Ian Boden's Passion Project in Staunton, VA

COUNTY SMOAK

Smoaky Bar-B-Que in Lynchburg, VA

RAMPING IT UP

The Arrival of Ramps in WV Calls for Celebration

THE LITTLE BAKERY Made From Scratch Goodness in Quaint Blue Ridge, GA

There’s a fine art to traveling in Mi i ippi.

In Mississippi, the arts are everywhere. Across our state, you’ll find cultural attractions celebrating the works and influence of Mississippi’s greatest painters, potters, folk artists, writers, and musical trailblazers – everything from art galleries to hands-on arts experiences. Start your travel journey today at VisitMississippi.org/Arts.

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art | Biloxi, Mississippi

#WanderMS

48: PASSION PROJECT

The Shack, Chef Ian Boden’s restaurant in Staunton, VA is a true work of passion.

56: WHERE THERE’S SMOAK

The Hess family’s extensive travels to experience different styles of barbecue led them to open County Smoak in VA.

STORIES

64: RAMPING IT UP

Ramp season in WV is greeted with foraging, cooking, and celebrating the wild leek.

72: GET YOUR GOAT

These Arkansas transplants created a new life and livelihood by raising goats and making cheese.

78: SWEETEST LITTLE BAKERY

At a quaint bakery in Blue Ridge, GA, Arial Joyner charms guests with her delicious treats and nostalgic flair.

Photograph by Henry Gonzalez

CHAPTERS

EDITORIAL

PG 8: STAFF

The people who keep us going.

PG 9: OUR CONTRIBUTORS

The people who make our stories come to life.

FRONT

TO DINE SOUTHERN

PG 28: THE ENTHUSIASTIC SOUTHERNER

Robert St. John recounts his meeting with a Golden opportunity.

PG 31: GATHERINGS

Flora Supper Club in Flora, MS.

PG 36: NOTEWORTHY

Try these unique takes on some local favorites.

PG 38: ON OUR PLATE

Try this twist on a classic PB & J by Chef Darren Smith of Rivertown Bistro in Conway, SC.

SOUTHERN COMFORTS

PG 12: SHINING BRIGHT

Danielle Parton shines on with her Shine Girl moonshine and distillery in TN.

PG 18: BY SOUTHERN HANDS

You’ll want these finds made by locals.

PG 22: WHAT WE’RE READING

Linda Skeens sweeps the competition and rises to blue ribbon champion with her recipes.

SOUTHERN SNAPSHOTS

PG 86: TOMATO LOVE

This NC farmer found his calling growing tomatoes.

PG 92: LAY OF THE LAND

Our readers submit photos of their special Southern places and people. Photo above submitted by Lydia MacDonald.

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED

PG 100: THE WILD UWHARRIES

Wild, untamed, almost mystical in nature; the Uwharrie Mountains are full of adventure in NC.

PG 106: WHERE WE WENT

Learning about gold mining in Montgomery County, NC.

COVER County Smoak Bar-B-Que Lynchburg, VA

Photograph by Scott Speakes

STAFF

Scott Speakes

Publisher

Genie Gaither Jones

Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Cashwell

Design Director

J. M. McSpadden Liesel J. Schmidt

Contributing Editors

Richard L. Jones

Copy Editor

Advertising Sales Specialists

Brittany Sanders brmcdonald45@gmail.com

Scott Speakes scott@okramagazine.com

CONNECT WITH US

facebook.com/okramagazine @okramag contact@okramagazine.com

Photograph by Esin Deniz

CONTRIBUTORS

STEPHEN IRONSIDE, owner of Iron Lotus Creative, is a photographer & videographer based in the Ozark Foothills of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Combining his passion for light with his love for great local food, he believes that great visual imagery is one of the best tools available to expose and find solutions for our problems with nutrition and food insecurity. Stephen is available for hire worldwide. ironlotuscreative.com

ERIC J WALLACE is a writer, avid lover of the outdoors, and devotee to the ongoing search for the Good Life. His work has appeared in many noteworthy publications, including Outside, Backpacker, Canoe & Kayak, WIRED, Atlas Obscura, Modern Farmer and more. He is presently a contributing editor for the internet’s greatest fount of culinary wonder, Gastro Obscura. drericjwallace@gmail.com

JOSEPH MCSPADDEN is a freelance writer and music enthusiast whose work has appeared online at theflamestillburns.com, and at mbird.com, a journal that examines faith in the real world. His love for roots music led to a gig at nodepression.com, where he reported on live music from The Birchmere, the famed music hall in Washington, DC. He is fascinated with the way words and music impact our lives and can be used as a vehicle for healing. Host of The Village Night Owl podcast, an interview show featuring musical artists. He lives in Virginia with his wife Suzanne.

HENRY GONZALEZ is an advertising photographer who has lived and worked out of Atlanta, Georgia, and the Southeast for over 20 years. Photography started as a hobby and became a career. After graduating from photography school, he moved to Atlanta and has been in demand ever since. He specializes in all types of photography: food, fashion, interiors and editorial. He’s always up for a challenge. henrygonzalezphotography.com

SUSAN MARQUEZ is a lifelong learner who finds joy in the unexpected discoveries often found on the path less traveled. She began writing professionally in 2001 and 2,800 articles later, she is still telling the stories of the South. With one foot in suburban Mississippi and the other in New Orleans, she can pack a suitcase in record time. “Writing gives me an excuse to ask questions, and to learn more than what can be seen on the surface.”

TYLER DARDEN is a food and lifestyle photographer and cinematographer based in Richmond, Virginia. After spending the first part of his career as a magazine art director, he followed the siren call to pursue photography full time in 2010. In his free time, he experiments with large format and ultra large format film photography, documentary and filmmaking. His photos have been published in Virginia Living Magazine, Wall Street Journal, LIDL Grocery Stores, Garden & Gun, Self, Men’s Health, and Colonial Williamsburg. tylerdarden.com

LAURA DRUMMOND is a writer who loves sharing stories about the American South–its people and places, food and drink, history and culture. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her family. bylauradrummond.com

MARIANNE LEEK is a retired high school educator who continues to teach part-time at Tri-County Community College. She lives with her husband in western North Carolina, where she spends much of her free time enjoying the outdoors. Her work can also be found in The Bitter Southerner.

Artistic expression meets culinary perfection. From museums, music, and theater to a big food scene with plenty of local chef-driven restaurants and casual sidewalk cafes, it’s no wonder we were named one of the Best Trips of the Year by Explore Georgia.

Photograph by Ashley and Zac Brown, Shining Light Photography

Photograph by Ashley and Zac Brown, Shining Light

Photography

SHINE GIRL ‘SHINE

NOT ONE TO TRADE ON HER FAMILY CONNECTIONS, DANIELLE PARTON MAKES HER MARK HER OWN WAY

Written by Jimmy Proffitt / Photography Courtesy of Shine Girl

The first time I met her she was raising a toast at her best friend’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Well, it was part toast and part warning for the husband-tobe, as it came across sweet, threatening, and funny all at the same time. At the end of that evening she asked if I could give her a ride to her car, which was still parked back at the church. I’m not sure why she asked me, since we’d just met, and I’m not sure why I agreed, knowing she had the ability to cast a curse while casting a spell. It seems the spell has lasted on me for more than 25 years.

The her, well that’s Danielle Parton. Yep, she’s a Parton. I’ll go ahead and address the obvious question. Yes, she wears high heels, puts on a perfect face, and can hold her own in a room full of men. Oh, and she’s Dolly’s niece. All those high heels, face stuff, and holding their own, well it’s a family condition. She comes by it honest. I called my parents that night, “You won’t believe who I gave a ride to!”

My mom grew up Dolly-Parton-poor. If you’re not familiar with that kind of poor, well consider yourself privileged. It’s a poor that poor people give a hand-up to. The kind of poor that inspires a song about a coat made from scraps, whose patches are sewn so beautifully, and whose lyrics are woven even more beautifully, that the garments of Kings and Queens don’t compare to the wearer, but still inspire a poor bully to remind you of how much better off they are than you. But the thing about being that poor is, you make the most of everything you have and the best of your situation. Happiness comes from contentment, so no matter how poor you are, you can still be happy.

Anyway, I wanted to go ahead and get that out of the way. I don’t see Danielle as Dolly’s niece anymore, and when I see a picture of Dolly in her 30’s, I just see Danielle. The resemblance is striking. I’ve told Danielle that she and I are the same person in some alternate reality. My mom was born a Barton. Both of our high school colors were purple and white. She calls Dolly, Aunt Granny and I called my Great Aunt Gladys, Aunt Grandmaw, just because I couldn’t remember her name once and she looked like grandmaw. My grandaddy was a preacher man, so was one of her great-grandaddies. She’s related to lots of Ogle’s and my nextdoor neighbors growing up were The Fogle’s. And today I’ve got manboobs, and man she’s got boobs! That’s another family condition. One day I was playing around Dollywood and a woman stopped me and asked if I was related to Dolly, ‘cause I also had lots of naturally blonde hair. I didn’t wanna disappoint her, so I said, “A little bit.” I told Danielle about it and after that she started calling me Bruther and I call her Seestur.

Danielle doesn’t take advantage of Dolly’s celebrity. I remember a time when she tried to get away from it, but that’s hard to do. Looking like she does, she’d only fool a blind man, and only then if she didn’t speak. She needed to know that opportunities were available to her because of the hard work she put in, not because of who she was. She’s found balance in that now. She is a Parton, and she embraces that, but she’s also a Noland. Around the hollers of East Tennessee, the Noland’s have played an important role, too.

At some point we ended up working side-by-side. That’s when I really got to see her wit, determination, and drive. She’s tough as nails, yes, the acrylic ones, when she needs to be, and tender and sweet as a ripe peach, even when she doesn’t wanna be. Incredibly smart, generous, and quick-witted, she even

Danielle Parton

Opposite: Shine Girl’s Botanical Spritz is made using Shine Girl Rosè, Shine Girl Lavender Moonshine, strawberries, lime, and honey. It’s the perfect drink to cool off on a hot Southern summer night.

cracks herself up most of the time, and it’s often seasoned with just the right amount of sarcasm, making it that much more enjoyable. Spend any time around a Parton and you’ll see they can find the funny in anything, and they’re way smarter than they let on.

Parton graduated from Belmont University in Nashville, TN with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. She was the first female on the Parton side to graduate from college. Afterwards she worked in Dolly’s office and spent a short amount of time waiting tables while she got all her ducks in a row, or rather got her frequent flyers lined up down the aisle. She became an airline flight attendant, and it wasn’t long before she was traveling the world. Just a few weeks before 911, her foot was broken by a drink trolly running over it during a flight, so she was back home recuperating that day. Otherwise, she would have been passing through the World Trade Center that morning on her way to catch the flight she was schedule to work. After that, telling the pilot that they were prepared for take-off wasn’t enough for her. She’s more of a I’ll-be-in-charge-of-my-own-destination kinda’ gal. So, what did she do? She joined the Air National Guard and became a pilot. First flying for 118th Airlift Wing in Nashville, then the 123rd Airlift Wing in Louisville, KY, and then back to TN in the 164th Airlift Wing in Memphis. Over a decade ago she became an Aircraft Commander and has operated C-130 and C-5 aircraft around the world and in combat. While not on duty with the Guard, she was back with a commercial carrier, one of the largest in the world, flying an Airbus A320. When I get the chance to hug her neck, I don’t know if I should still call her Seestur or salute her. She’s pretty informal at home though, so it’s a hug full of respect and love.

Proving she’s her own kind of Parton, she’s acquired a few honors of her own from peers and her country, receiving the Combat Action Medal, the Air Medal, is on the Commodore’s List of Flying Excellence for Undergraduate Pilot Training, and is a Distinguished Graduate of C-5 Initial Qualification.

A few years ago, I stopped to drop off some food at her house and she said “Now, you can’t tell anyone.” I agreed as she handed me a shot glass, opened a cabinet door, and poured us each something out of a mason jar. “What is it I can’t tell anyone?” “That I am making liquor, Bruther” to which we both toasted “Liquor, hell, I barely know ‘er!” as we thew it back. I didn’t tell a soul. I never do when someone asks me not to. I’ve even kept a secret my great-grandmother told me over 50 years ago. That one’s going to the grave with me, and we’ll have a good laugh over it someday.

Now don’t worry, I’m not breaking my word to her by telling you now. She’s gone legit and is making it fulltime. She was legit then; I just didn’t know she was doing it. She’s pretty good at keeping a secret too. Danielle opened Shine Girl Distillery in Sevierville, TN, and has just celebrated a full year open for business.

So, how does a graduate with a business degree, that became an airline flight attendant, that became a pilot, and is a decorated veteran serving our

country, end up making moonshine you ask? Well, it’s in her blood – both for it and against it. The earliest settlers to the area were of Scots Irish decent, of which Danielle is too, and they brought their love of making spirits with them. Her great-grandfather, Wiley Noland, made hooch in his cabin Just down the holler a piece, Lee Parton was known to make a little too, but just to help support his small family of 14; him, Avie Lee, and their 12 youngin’s. Danielle’s mother is a Noland, and her daddy is Bobby Parton, youngin’ number 5, just after Dolly. The Noland’s and the Parton’s were neighbors and friends before they were kin to one another.

There was another Noland that didn’t look too kindly on moonshiners and what they were doing back in the woods. Ray Noland was the Sheriff of Sevier County throughout three decades; in the 40s, 50s, and the 60s. He felt moonshine was destroying local families and was most known for his efforts to end illegal moonshining in the county. Throughout areas like Pittman Center, English Mountain, Jones Cove, New Center, and Cosby, of which Wiley Noland lived in the center of. It was pretty well known that liquor was being made in the dark of night, and sometimes in the middle of the day if they were back in a holler far enough. Ray was the brother of Wiley, which also meant he knew the Parton’s well.

Ray was known to treat everyone the same, so he often arrested and busted up the stills of many relatives and friends. However, his brother and Lee never were stopped. Perhaps their operations were too small to mess with, and what would it do the family. It wasn’t a great source of income for either of them. There’s a family story that one day Ray, as Sheriff, did come into his brother’s house looking for moonshine. Edith, Wiley’s wife, however had placed the jars they had, in the pantry behind her canned goods. In Danielle’s words, “No respectin’ mountain man would ever touch a woman’s canned food. You don’t mess up a woman’s kitchen!” There it was hidden in plain sight. “Well played, Great-grandma Edith” Danielle said. That reminded me of a story I’d heard growing up from my neighbor, Mary. Her daddy was a moonshiner in Virginia and owned practically one whole side of a mountain. He and her brothers had stills placed in several spots on the mountain. When the Revenuer was spotted, they signaled each other with a gunshot, but nowhere near where a still was. That was to throw him off the trail and to let the others know he was around. The lawman reached the house and went inside. There he found Mary’s stepmother sitting in the kitchen nursing a newborn baby. They looked around and didn’t find a thing, and of course they would’ve never asked her to move, especially with a baby attached. When they left, she stood up to reveal the gallons of moonshine she had covered up with her dress, underneath what

Above Left: Shine Girl’s flavors are smart, delicious and playful. It’s made for women but appeals to men as well. Above Right: Parton joined the Air National Guard over a decade ago becoming an Aircraft Commander. Below left: Danielle holding a family history photographic reminder of where she came from and a reminder of brewing things legallly. Below right: Sheriff Ray Noland with a 500-gallon still seized in 1955.

ALMOND “OH JOY” BROWNIES

Original recipe by Jimmy Proffitt, The Appalachian Tale

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups white granulated sugar

1 cup plain flour

1 ½ tsps baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup regular cocoa

DIRECTIONS

¼ Tbl dark cocoa

¼ cup Shine Girl Coconut Moonshine

1 stick butter, melted

2 large eggs

¼ cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, regular cocoa, and dark cocoa. Stir in moonshine, melted butter and eggs. Mix well and spread into pan. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool and then cut into thirds for 9 brownies or fourths for 16 brownies.

RED VELVET NEW FASHIONED

Recipe courtesy of Shine Girl

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces of Shine Girl Red Velvet Moonshine

1/2 ounce of simple syrup

3-4 drops of orange bitters

Orange peel

DIRECTIONS

Place 1-2 large ice cubes in a rocks glass. Pour the Shine Girl Red Velvet Moonshine over the ice, then add the syrup and bitters. Stir until well chilled. Express an orange peel over the glass and garnish with it.

Opposite Above: With over a decade in service, Parton has operated C-130 and C-5 aircraft around the world and in combat. Today she still flies, but now it’s commercial cargo planes. Opposite Below: Parton tending to business in her distillery. In the beginning, Parton had her Uncle Dale Noland on this whisky making journey. Together they learned the craft before she opened Shine Girl.

Photograph by Ashley and Zac Brown, Shining Light Photography

Photograph by Jimmy Proffitt

they thought was just couple of old apple crates she was using for a chair. Wiley and his wife also raised bees and sold honey, which their kids still do today at the same site. And he was a part-time deputy for Ray, helping him haul stills down to the courthouse lawn and bust them up. What’s that old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Danielle’s Papaw Lee was a sharecropper and later farmed his own land. His moonshining days didn’t last long though, ‘cause Mamaw Avie Lee wasn’t very fond of it. Dolly’s been known to tell the story that when he’d sampled too much “he’d come up the road a singin’ at the top a his lungs” and her mama would holler “Run and git the slop bucket, ch’r daddy’s been a drankin’ again.” I think if Sheriff Noland had a chance to sit down with Danielle today, he’d be just as charmed with her as he was when she was a youngin’.

SO NOW YOU KNOW how Parton got into distilling, but maybe the bigger question is why, so I asked her “Why start makin’ moonshine when you’re already doing so much? Where’d the idea come from?” She said she was driving down the interstate from Nashville to Charlotte to simulator training and saw a billboard for a new distillery. She’d heard that a guy she went to school with had opened one and thought, that’s such a good idea. I’m so glad they did that. Then said to herself “Man, somebody should make our family’s recipe.” So, knowing that Papaw Lee made some and Great-grandaddy Wiley made a little more, as soon as she got home that afternoon, she started researching how to get a trademark. It’s a valuable lesson she’s learned from who she was raised around, that your intellectual property is the most important thing. “You have nothing if you can’t control the name of it.” Claim and protect your property! With that she secured a few marks to lay claim to the Parton name in the spirit’s world, which didn’t come without some challenges. She worked through those, taking up her time and money, and in the end, she said “I still didn’t have a good, peaceful feeling about it. Ok, I have my trademark, but I really don’t like it. At the time I didn’t even like the name, Parton’s Moonshine, because it relied too heavily on my name, and on Dolly’s fame. I mean, I’m not an idiot, Dolly made the name Parton famous. It just is what it is.” Running this through her head on another drive, the name Shine Girl came to her. She said, “that’s the name, that’s it”. She went home that day and secured another trademark.

Using recipes that came down from both sides of her family, Danielle began distilling. She’s steadfast in her rule that she won’t make anything she can’t say she likes, stating “How do you sell that?” She has four flavors of moonshine: Red Velvet, Lavender, Rose’, and Coconut. Therer’s also Vodka and a Limited-Edition Rum. She says “70% of spirit purchase decisions are made by women, why shouldn’t the alcohol they buy be made by a woman, and for them.” You can see her as a guest judge on Master Distiller’s and featured on Moonshiner’s on Discovery channel. She’s often at Shine Girl and happy to sign a bottle and take a selfie. As you leave, she’ll send you off with “Glad you got to see me!” shinegirl.com

SAKHAR JAMS FOOD

Two personality-filled powerhouses from Columbia, South Carolina are taking the world of jams, jellies, and preserves by storm with their own concoctions featuring locally sourced fruits, intentional infusions, and old-fashioned, small batch methods. Spend five minutes with them, and you’ll quickly see that they’re destined for big things—they should probably have their own reality TV show.

Reshma Mahadkar and Jessica Henry are managing to make jam—and run a thriving business—with their own four hands. Both are single moms with five children between them, nothing about their journeys has been easy.

Born on the outskirts of Mumbai, Mahadkar came from humble beginnings, and recalls stealing fruit as a child to feed herself and her brother. After coming to the United States in 1992, she watched her parents become successful business owners. She internalized their entrepreneurial approach, taking her own professional risks and setting lofty goals.

Henry was born in upstate New York. Her grandparents were farmers, and she grew up living close to the land, learning to can fruits and vegetables. When she was a teen, Henry’s parents bought land in South Carolina. They lived in tents on the property while they all pitched in, building their home by hand.

This experience instilled in her a do-it-yourself spirit.

Mahadkar and Henry lived on the same street in Columbia, SC bonding over their shared love of food, scrappy childhoods, and conversions to the Jewish faith. “There are so many parallels to our lives,” says Mahadkar. Their friendship soon turned into business partnership, and they haven’t looked back.

Mahadkar took up jam making as a way to cope during a difficult season of life. At the same time, Henry was looking to reenter the workforce after a decade as a stay-at-home mom.

In July 2020, the pair started making small batches of jam in their home kitchens using fruit grown by their friends. After months of selling out as quickly as they could make their jam batches, the self-described jam queens decided to launch Sakhar Jams in January 2021. “I used every single bit of my background to come up with a business model for us, and she took an enormous risk,” says Mahadkar.

Sakhar means sugar in Marathi, Mahadkar’s native language. “Resh’s dad cried when she told him she was using that name,” recalls Henry. “It means a lot because he came here to give her these kinds of opportunities.” The name honors Mahadkar’s upbringing and their Indian-inspired jams, like Strawberry

Reshma Mahadkar Jessica Henry

Written by Laura Drummond / Photography by Dang Good Creative

FRIENDS SERVE UP THE FRUITS OF THEIR LABOR

Masala Chai and Rangpur Lime Marmalade.

Sakhar has flourished. Operating out of a commercial kitchen space, they distribute jams to retailers throughout South Carolina as well as directly to customers nationwide via their online store. “A lot of dedication, thought, and planning has gone into the success of our business,” says Mahadkar. Even with their growing popularity, Sakhar’s recipe for success hasn’t changed. Mahadkar and Henry continue to make all the jams by hand, yielding nine jars at a time. It’s truly a labor of love. “Our jams are so special because we make it the way your grandma would make it.”

Flavors are released in small batches according to their seasonality, as all their fruits are sourced in South Carolina. “When we’re supporting South Carolina farmers, the community gets stronger,” says Henry. “Your jam that you’re eating was literally picked maybe a week ago and then processed. The freshness is there,” says Henry.

GrowFood Carolina supplies fruit from farms across the state, and Sakhar also partners directly with fruit growers. For example, Mahadkar and Henry found a farm in Rock Hill, SC that had raspberries this summer, so they made the nearly two-hour drive to pick enough for jam. “It makes no sense to me to get from an outside source when there’s so much growing regionally,” says Mahadkar. “It’s important to us because of sustainability. It helps our community, and

our jam tastes that much better.” The flavor combinations—of which there are many—are thanks to their creativity and consistency. “Resh has a drive for creativity, and I make the jam,” says Henry. “Coming up with flavors and ingredients is natural to me,” says Mahadkar. She considers what flavors will naturally complement the fruit that’s in season, how they can incorporate ingredients from local businesses, and what unique combinations will get people excited. Some flavors keep it simple and “let the fruit shine,” as Henry says, like Original Blackberry, Original Raspberry, and Muscadine Jelly. Others are infused with high-end spirits, artisanal teas, and other ethically sourced ingredients, like Strawberry Prosecco, Brown Sugar Peach Bourbon, Apple Chai, and Spiced Honey Plum. “Every jar that you’re buying, you’re supporting a plethora of people,” says Mahadkar.

When asked what the future holds, the ever-pragmatic Henry says she’s only focused on the next step, while the persistent dreamer Mahadkar shares a list of plans and possibilities. “We have roots here in Columbia. It’s all about building the community that we’re in,” says Henry. “We want to model for our children that grit and perseverance—despite failures and obstacles—can lead to fulfillment,” says Mahadkar. “I see space in the food community for Sakhar. Our hope is to grow big enough so we can be an asset in the South.”

sakharjams.com

THE CEEBO EFFECT

Most light beers aren’t marketed as something to be savored. In fact, the brewing method isn’t one that allows for any depth of flavor, and the mouthfeel of a full-bodied beer is completely lost. But for Kyle Alligood, maintaining all the properties that make beer such a sensory experience is part of what makes his non-alcoholic brew different. You get all the flavor, all the richness—but none of the effects of the alcohol, and with significantly less calories than even light beer.

Alligood’s inspiration was simple. Being a wine rep in San Francisco, he was constantly around alcohol and wanted to eliminate the complications and headaches of hangovers without having to sacrifice the social enjoyment of drinking. Naturally, he took advantage of the growing number of non-alcoholic beers available so that he could still be socially active and network as a wine rep, without the effects of alcohol impeding him. After moving back to Charleston, South Carolina, in 2019, he realized that he was in the perfect position to fill a hole in the market: As massive as the local brewery scene is, none were offering non-alcoholic beer.

It wasn’t until 2020 when the world shut down and Alligood was furloughed that the idea went from abstract concept to reality. After a couple of years of brainstorming and transitions with his day job as well as the support of his wife, Lauren, he founded Ceebo in March 2022, with the release his first product in the North Carolina and South Carolina markets in April 2023. Named Ceebo for the “placebo effect” that drinking a non-alcoholic beer can offer, Alligood is filling that niche in the market that is decidedly lacking in the South. As plentiful as mass-produced light beers may be none of them are of Ceebo’s incredible quality. And with good reason, as Alligood’s methods for brewing are unique. “We make small batches utilizing an innovative brewing process that never exceeds 0.5 percent ABV during any point of the process, as opposed to the more popular, harsher methods of making beer and then removing the alcohol after it has been brewed,” he explains. “We then pasteurize to ensure flavor, stability, and compliance.”

If it sounds expensive and time consuming, it’s because it is. Still, “our

Kyle Alligood