“ It ’ s as easy as one , two , three to create a balanced cocktail ,” Kubiski says . “ We don ’ t always have four bottles of ingredients at home , so you can take one part syrup , two parts spirits and three parts seltzer , soda or juice and it makes it easier to have a great cocktail at home .”
Before Bootblack Brand launched , Kubiski had experimented with homemade ginger syrup , testing it out on family and friends in cocktails . “ One day , a friend said , ‘ You need to sell this .’ I was crazy enough to try it ,” he says .
He learned about Hope and Main ’ s business incubator program and enrolled while also running a design studio , Firebox Creative , with his wife , Jackie Duhamel , for sixteen years . Hope and Main helped Kubiski obtain licensing and coached the first-timer in food safety requirements , including ServSafe certification . In fact , the business name Bootblack comes not only from his father who shined shoes as a kid , but also from the term bootblack , which means a person without formal training in their occupation .
“ It ’ s pretty intimidating to go from making this in a pot on my stove to making twenty gallons of it , and ensuring you ’ re compliant to make a shelf-stable product ,” Kubiski says . However , Hope and Main put him at ease and boosted his confidence in distribution . Three years later , the business now has its own commercial kitchen in Pawtucket ’ s Lorraine Mills .
74 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l APRIL 2021