Above: Patrick’s Probiotic Sparkling Water comes in four summery flavors. Courtesy of Patrick’s Probiotic Sparkling Water.

WHEN SHAWN AND LYN PATRICK packed up their car, loaded in their cats, and left Silicon Valley for New Mexico in 2015, they hitched their new life to old ways of living. The Patricks had never set foot in the state before deciding that Santa Fe would be the perfect spot to launch Patrick’s Fine Foods, their probiotic foods company.

“We wanted someplace that embodies the Old West and the way things used to be, with fermentation and naturally made products,” says Shawn.

The entrepreneurial duo landed on the idea of replacing processed, sugary foods with ones using natural preservatives and fermentation. The first product, Patrick’s Probiotic Sparkling Water, was an idea Lyn had been working on for about three years. She grew up in Tennessee around grandmothers who gardened and canned, which nurtured her keen interest in healthy lifestyles. “We wanted to do something that mattered,” Shawn says. “Food is intimate and fun.”

They had long been fans of Izze Sparkling Juices but realized that even those contained about 20 grams of sugar. And Shawn disliked the kombucha drinks Lyn brought home from the grocery store. “I told her, ‘I would rather die earlier than continue to drink this.’ ”

While similar to the trendy fermented tea, Patrick’s drinks use kefir grains, a living combination of yeasts and bacteria, to produce effervescence. Unlike kombucha, kefir water has no caffeine, less sugar (about 7 grams per 12-ounce bottle), and a richer source of lactic acid bacteria. Gone, too, is kombucha’s funky tang, making it more approachable. 

The four flavors—pineapple, peach, raspberry, and ginger—are infused with ingredients such as apples, strawberries, hibiscus, rose hips, and marigold flowers. Slightly fruity and naturally refreshing, Patrick’s waters make great summer sippers either alone or as a mixer for cocktails, wine spritzers, and nonalcoholic drinks.

The company, which includes a third founder, Sonia Leyba, takes its handcrafted methods seriously, even naming the kefir grains Áine (pronounced anya), after the Celtic goddess of summer, love, wealth, and fertility.

With sparkling waters available in more than 100 New Mexico locations, including Whole Foods, co-ops, coffee shops, restaurants, and bars (see the list at patricks.fun), the company plans to roll out a line of low-sugar probiotic ketchups—in traditional and Hatch chile flavors—in August.

“We really want to be this folksy New Mexico brand,” Shawn says. “We’re looking to the past to reinvent the future of food.”

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Patrick’s Probiotic Sparkling Water, Cocktail, Refreshment, New Mexico MagazineAbove: Patrick's Raspberry Colada. Courtesy of Patrick’s Probiotic Sparkling Water.

Patrick’s Raspberry Colada
Makes 1 serving

With delicate flavors of raspberries, roses, and hibiscus blended with creamy coconut, this mocktail offers a refreshing way to enjoy a hot summer day.

4 ounces Patrick’s Probiotic Raspberry Sparkling Water
4 ounces So Delicious unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
Fresh raspberries (to be frozen in ice ahead of time) plus more for garnish 
Ice-cube tray

  1. Make 3 kinds of ice cubes: Place fresh raspberries in an ice-cube tray and pour in Patrick’s Probiotic Raspberry Sparkling Water to make red cubes, coconut milk to make white cubes, and spring water to make clear cubes.

  2. Place 3 ice cubes—one of each color—in a glass. Pour in the coconut milk, then slowly pour in the raspberry sparkling water. Garnish with more fresh New Mexico raspberries. Enjoy!