San Antonio Bartender Launches Everything-But-the-Booze Cocktail Kit Venture Called Suck It Up S.A.
- Courtesy Suck It Up S.A.
- The Beet Bidi Bomba cocktail kit can be enjoyed with vodka, gin, rum and tequila.
Ana Cabrera, a 14-year SA bar-industry veteran, has launched a new company specializing in everything-but-the-booze cocktail kits that let folks sip expertly crafted drinks from the comfort of home.
Drawing on her experience as a bartender at some of the city’s favorite cocktail spots, including Maverick Texas Brasserie and Liberty Bar, Cabrera’s Suck It Up S.A. produces fresh juice mixers, syrups and shrubs. The timing of the launch coincides with the pandemic and statewide bar closures, which have forced imbibers to do so from home.
Suck It Up S.A. pops up every Friday and Saturday afternoon on the porch of Southtown’s Pig Liquors to sell its cocktail kits. Its hottest sellers include the Pina Linda, the Miami Vice and the Beet Bidi Bomba, which features beet, seedless watermelon, blueberry, blackberry and Fuji apple juices.
Each kit includes 16 ounces of freshly juiced mixer, paper straws, bamboo swords and coordinating garnishes. All that’s left to do is grab an appropriate bottle of booze to finish it off.
“I’ve applied everything I’ve been taught over the years and built a product I’m proud of,” Cabrera said. “After selling others’ menus … I just thought, ‘Why not promote myself?’ It’s my turn.”
While Cabrera admits starting a business during the pandemic is “not ideal,” she’s thankful for the honest perspective and support from friends in the SA bar industry. Those colleagues helped push Cabrera to hone the products, allowing her to continue serving San Antonio even if it’s not from behind a bar.
“After over a month or so of quarantine, I had to find a way to connect with my community and check on my neighbors,” said Cabrera, a longtime resident of the Southtown area. “Offering these cocktail kits has created a way for me to check on my regulars, and to try to offer some sense of normalcy in a not-normal time.”
Suck It Up S.A. cocktail kits are available at Pig Liquors, 519 S. Presa St., every Friday and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. For those not into in-person shopping at the moment, Brick Public Market’s Virtual Market offers the kits via delivery through its website. Prices range from $15 to $25.
In addition, Suck It Up S.A. will hold bar takeovers at Biga on the Banks on August 12 and 19. Biga will take dine-in reservations, allowing patrons to sample Beet Bidi Bomba straight from the source. Kits — which will include Biga’s signature barrel select collections and special Restaurant Week pairings — will also be available the restaurant’s curbside pickup program.
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