Searching for Sip City? We're so excited to announce that we are now sunōmi switchel — the same great product line with a new look and a new name. Our founder, Nikki, explains the change below:
Sunōmi, loosely translated, means vinegar drink in Japanese. My family has lived in Tokyo for the past 10 years, and Japan is where I discovered gourmet vinegars and the quality of a thoughtful fermentation process.
When researching switchel, I dug into the history of drinking vinegars, and found that almost every culture has their own drinking vinegar recipe:
In Ancient Greece they drank apple cider vinegar and honey for medicinal purposes. Roman armies drank an apple cider vinegar concoction before battle. In the 1300s in Europe they called it Oxymel— a tonic of apple cider vinegar, honey and spices— and drank it to cure everything from gout to sore throats. In Japan, samurais drank vinegar mixtures for power and energy. In Iran, they mixed vinegar and honey and herbs as a refreshing tonic. In the Caribbean, they mixed their apple cider vinegar with warming spices like ginger and turmeric. This concoction eventually made its way up to North America in the 1700s, where it was paired with citrus, called switchel, and enjoyed by congressmen, farmers and college students alike.
The more I delved into these historical accounts, the more I realized that I wanted my company to reflect and honor this global tradition of drinking vinegar.
Our mission is to help you drink mindfully, in the same ways you eat and exercise mindfully, day and night. For us at sunōmi, this mindfulness is rooted in the acknowledgement of those who sipped vinegar before us. Civilizations have turned to this beverage since their dawn. Today, we honor that tradition by making our switchel accessible and approachable to the modern consumer.
So cheers to intentional sipping, and to those who sipped before us!
