TAKE IT FROM YOUR BARISTA
Hey! I’m Emma, and I love fancy little beverage culture. Even more so, I enjoy sharing unique beverages and foods with my loved ones. I created Big Sis Bevs to bring my funky syrups to all kinds of homemade cocktails, coffees, teas, breakfasts and other unlikely food pairings.
Big Sis Syrups are created with sugar alternatives such as honey, maple syrup and monk fruit. As our society moves away from processed sugar, my hope is that the coffee and cocktail worlds move toward these low-glycemic, natural, unique alternatives to chemical-based sugar substitutes like sucralose, saccharin, aspartame and stevia
brief bev history
My coffee journey began in 2013 when the pottery studio I’d been working at introduced an espresso bar to the mix. I’ll never forget that my first served americano consisted of brewed coffee combined with water… still so much to learn.
If health sciences is not a major you’d imagine a small business owner to declare, you’d be right. Initially hoping to go into the medical field, I exercised my little science brain at DePaul ‘til it was fried. Not feeling compelled to begin a career in medicine, I first learned latte art in 2018 managing Hero Coffee bar on Madison St. in the West Loop (RIP).
After a life-changing three months backpacking through South America with my best friend, I decided coffee and beverages could be my happiness. I returned to Chicago to work at limitless coffee & tea. In just 4 months, I was managing both store locations and 23 employees.
The pandemic and sale of Limitless Caffeinated Sparkling Water to Keurig/dr. pepper put an abrupt end to the general managing position, however, a new opportunity to open Edie’s All Day Cafe had fallen in my lap. I developed and directed the non-alcoholic beverage program at Edie’s All Day Cafe & Bar from 2020-2022. Toward the tail end of my tenure, I added alcoholic beverage director to my belt.
In may 2022, determined to evolve my creative pursuits into a small business selling syrups and beverages to the public; Big Sis Syrups & Bevs was born and has been growing ever since. I still enjoy the part-time company of baristas and other creatives at Caffe Umbria Armitage while pursuing this dream full time.
