Lemonade stands have long been a celebrated past time for instilling trade skills in youth while teaching them valuable lessons about entrepreneurship and community engagement.  

For New Jersey-born Chelsea Handler, this longstanding American tradition recently led this stand-up comedian, actress, writer and producer to venture into the world of beverages, partnering with the women-led company Owl’s Brew Boozy Tea and Tea Cocktails, New York, to launch her own Vodka Lemonade line.

“As a young entrepreneur, I started a lemonade stand and quickly realized that adding vodka to my world-class lemonade recipe made it even better,” Handler says. “When I discovered Owl’s Brew at Whole Foods, I was immediately drawn to their commitment to real ingredients and bold flavors, which aligned perfectly with my vision. 

“Partnering with their incredible female-led team to create a vodka lemonade that’s light, refreshing, and has just the right kick felt like a no-brainer,” Handler continues. “It’s the kind of drink you’d find at an adult lemonade stand — and yes, it comes in a to-go cup.” 

Owl’s Brew Co-Founder, CEO and Certified Tea Sommelier, Jennie Ripps, explains that the partnership with Handler unfolded perfectly.

“We had been thinking about creating a spiked lemonade for a while, and once we started talking, the collaboration came together naturally,” she explains. “We were aligned on making something that felt nostalgic but better — refreshing, clean, and not overly sweet, and with an elevated spin from the mindful inclusion of botanicals you wouldn’t normally find in a lemonade (like lemon verbena). It just made sense.”

Maria Littlefield, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Owl’s Brew, further details how Handler’s backstory makes the partnership a natural fit for the launch of Chelsea’s Vodka Lemonade line.

“Chelsea shares a story in her latest book about starting a lemonade stand as a young entrepreneur — when she wasn’t making enough money, she started spiking it, and her luck changed,” she says. “It’s one of those early playful memories that really stuck with her. She discovered Owl’s Brew at Whole Foods, tried it, and loved the flavor and focus on real ingredients.”

True to its origins

Both Ripps and Littlefield are no strangers to the power of real, clean ingredients paired with spirits — not just for wellness, but for flavor. In fact, this concept is at the very core of Owl’s Brew foundation.

“Jennie and I met in 2009 and launched a company called Brew Lab Tea, where we created custom tea programs for restaurants like Scarpetta, Momofuku and Quality Eats,” Littlefield explains. “Through that work, we realized how beautifully tea could pair with spirits. It added depth and flavor in a way that felt clean and elevated, without the heavy, sugary mixers.”

Ripps adds that these experiences were not only the basis for founding Owl’s Brew, but also the company’s entry into the beverage alcohol space.

“We started with tea cocktail mixers and eventually expanded into the canned alcohol space because we saw a real gap: people wanted something convenient, delicious and made with real ingredients,” she says. “At Owl’s Brew, I’m always thinking about the impact of ingredients — both functionally, and in terms of making the most delicious, refreshing beverages possible.”

Littlefield couldn’t agree with Ripps more.

“From day one, we’ve been focused on transparency and using ingredients you can actually pronounce,” she says. “We’re proud to be offering something different in a category that’s often crowded with artificial and ‘natural’ flavors.”

Moreover, given the current landscape of the U.S. ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage alcohol market, Littlefield considers real ingredients to be the hallmark of standing out in a crowded space.

“What’s often missing in the category is a focus on flavor that comes from real, whole ingredients,” she says. “That’s where we believe Owl’s Brew stands out. Our products are brewed with organic tea, real juice, and clean spirits — no shortcuts. We’re making something we genuinely want to drink, and we’ve found that a lot of people are looking for the same thing.”

Ripps reiterates the importance of offering functional ingredients, noting that the market is ripe with the opportunity for unique drinks that meet today’s consumers’ need states.

“The RTD space in the U.S. has grown rapidly over the past few years,” she says. “However, while the space is crowded, we are still seeing white space for products made with full transparency — i.e., no added flavors, no sugar substitutes and full nutritional panels. 

“I truly believe that Owl’s Brew tastes amazing because of the incredible quality of our ingredients; plus my ‘10,00 hours’ developing tea programs for restaurants and hotels,” she continues. 

Further, Ripps notes that unlike many brands that outsource production and create products in labs, as a Certified Tea Sommelier she hand-blends Owl’s Brew flavor bases in her own kitchen using a unique mix of teas and botanicals.

Pigging backing off this, Littlefield adds that another point of difference is that Owl’s Brew isn’t limited to a single product type. 

“The brand offers a range across three distinct categories: Hand-Crafted Boozy Teas, Spirits-Based RTDs, and a soon-to-launch line of Hand-Crafted Cocktail Mixers that we’re debuting this fall,” she explains. “We want to redefine what you can expect from your boozy beverages. I would note that we innovate based upon consumer demand, so all our product lines are based upon what we’re hearing our consumer wants from our brand.”

Aside from the partnership with Chelsea’s Vodka Lemonade line, Owl’s Brew is holding steady to its commitment of bringing a fresh take to the RTD beverage alcohol market with the recent launch of its Sun Tea & Vodka lineup.

“The introduction of our new Sun Tea & Vodka lineup felt like a natural next step for us,” Littlefield says. “We’ve always been passionate about creating clean, delicious drinks using real ingredients, and Sun Tea & Vodka brings that same ethos to a classic summer staple. 

“The inspiration came from the tradition of making sun tea — letting tea slowly steep in the sun — which is such a nostalgic, feel-good ritual, and something my grandmother used to do all the time,” she continues. “We wanted to bottle that feeling, but with a twist: fresh-brewed tea paired with real fruit juice and premium vodka. It’s simple, refreshing and just feels like summer in a can.” 

Yet, despite bringing all that is fresh and clean into the realm of RTD beverage alcohol, to Handler, there is something even more special that makes Ripps and Littlefield’s Owl’s Brew stand out from the crowd.

“I’m a big believer in supporting women who are out there building cool, smart businesses, especially in spaces that have traditionally been run by men,” Handler says. “Jennie and Maria know what they’re doing, and they don’t mess around with their ingredients or their mission. 

“Partnering with their female-led team to bring my vodka lemonade to life has been a dream,” she continues. “Our lemonade is refreshingly light, not overly sweet, and feels like the perfect grown-up take on a classic lemonade stand.”

And as far as what’s in store for Chelsea’s Vodka Lemonade and Owl’s Brew, Handler has yet to show her hand for what the future might hold.

“I love working with the Owl’s Brew team, so you’ll just have to stay tuned,” she concludes.