Maypop Sparkling Water

This is the eighth article in a Vendor Profile Series intended to share the history and diversity of the Market through the stories of our vendors, as we celebrate our 25th Season. This article is written by journalist Barry Courter.

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There is just something familiar to a lot of people about being at a concert or a club or a festival with friends listening to music with a cold drink in your hand. But what if you don't want the alcohol that comes with a beer, or the extra sugar or branding that comes with a soft drink?

And, if water, even in a cool-looking can, is not the vibe you are seeking either, what are your options?

Those are some of the reasons Matt Herrick decided to partner with his longtime friend Keaton Presti-Stringfellow to create Maypop Sparkling Water. Matt saw the opportunity to use his experiences in the craft beer industry to create a new product that would serve an untapped part of the drink market.

The two friends were going through some life-changing experiences, and Matt asked Keaton to leave his job as a counselor in Indianapolis and move to Nashville to help develop a non-alcoholic product.

“It was right before the pandemic … and there was nothing available and no one was doing it,” Matt says.

Matt realized he could take elements of the beer industry - packaging, marketing, branding - and apply it to the non-alcoholic world. He also decided that the farmers market world, where the two can meet customers face-to-face and be able to talk about the product, was a good place to begin selling his product.

“Every single farmers market that we work, you meet people that are a server, are a bartender, are a manager, are an owner of a restaurant, a bar, a brewery, anything, a dog park, office, work in an office building that they want to have Maypop available to them."

Their product was well-received in the Nashville area and, after five years, the partners decided to expand their operation and now have a booth at the Chattanooga Market. Maypop is also available locally at Gaining Ground Grocery and in several bars and restaurants such as Lupi's Pizza Pies.

Maypop is named after the official Tennessee state wildflower that has a brilliant purple bloom and hardy vines that bear a fruit that pops when you crush it, Matt says.

”We sidestepped away from craft beer and took elements of it and applied it to farmer's markets and made it cool. The sober community loves us because now there's another really good option that's made with really honest ingredients, transparent ingredients.

“That's a huge arm of our business," he says. "Reaching out to the sober community and having that safe, comfortable, on-premise bar beverage that's non-alcoholic, that looks like a craft something or, kind of "there, you fit in," there's a social aspect of fitting in with that.”

Matt added that the company is very open and proud of where the ingredients come from and how the product is made.

“That's a big step, a big thing for us is that we're very honest about what goes in that can. It's a very delicate, but a high-end, elite kind of product in the sparkling water world.”

Maypop offers four sparkling water flavors – lime, tangerine, lemon and grapefruit orange – and a hop water.

“It's the best hop water you can buy in this country, and we're proud of it,” Matt said.

Keaton says that hop water is made with real, whole-leaf Citra hops from the Pacific Northwest and Yakima Valley.

“Hop water is not something that we created,” he says, “but it's been something that has been gaining traction recently. It's essentially a 'beer adjacent' flavor profile for a non-alcoholic beverage showcasing the beautiful flavor profiles of different hops.”

“We kind of steep them in a big bag like a tea process. It's gluten-free, no calories, no carbs, no sugar, anything like that. It's just an expression of the flavor profile of the Citra hop.”

Matt stresses that each sparkling water product is “made with conscious carbonation and 100% real fruit.”

Maypop is offered in 12-ounce cans at $15 for a six-pack, while the hop water is sold for $17 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans.

Matt said the long-term goal is to expand the brand, but for now they are happy to continue selling at community markets.

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