When the MillerCoors facility in Golden, Colo., experienced a small flood in its basement a few years ago, little did the company know what it was about to stumble upon.

Representing the “Tenth” reference in Tenth and Blake Beer Co., the 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee is one of the company’s smallest, most experimental breweries, says Tom Cardella, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago-based MillerCoors division of craft and import brands.

When co-founders Martin Chalk and Peter Maher started developing their vision for New York-based Balance, their goal wasn’t to create a beverage company — it was simply to bring the homeopathic benefits of Australian flower essences to consumers, Chalk says.

Following Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co.’s acquisition of Atlanta-based Teavana Holdings Inc. at the end of 2012, the tea industry is waiting for the hot tea segment to boom, according to experts.

The beverage marketplace continues to make strides against the economic downturn that hampered consumers and businesses beginning in 2008. In Beverage Industry’s compilation of the Top 100 beverage companies based on 2012 sales, The Coca-Cola Co. continued to lead the list by recording an additional $1.5 billion in sales compared with 2011.

Like companies across all categories within the beverage industry, players in the tea category are fighting for consumers’ attention.

With a title like chairman of the party, Josh Deth of Revolution Brewing has a tall order to fill. The Chicago-based craft brewery went from operating solely as a brewpub to opening a brewery for its consumer packaged goods (CPG) business last spring, but the idea of Revolution Brewing began much earlier than that.

Last year offered the sports and protein drinks category a big marketing opportunity through the London 2012 Summer Olympics, says Jennifer Zegler, beverage analyst at Chicago-based market research firm Mintel.

The old saying that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” might someday transition to “A supplement a day keeps the doctor away” as topics such as the U.S. obesity rate, an aging baby boomer generation, and increased energy/alertness continue to bring attention to the nutritional/dietary supplement segment, according to market research firms.

Since its founding in 1969 by a group of entrepreneurs, Celestial Seasonings has remained situated against a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colo.