Lakewood resident turns fruit hobby into a new cocktail infusion kit business - The Dallas Morning News

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The pandemic has spurred a lot of new businesses, as entrepreneurs and do-it-yourselfers turned their talents into companies geared for the new normal. Out-of-work chefs launched ghost kitchens and niche delivery services; bartenders plied their trade online, hosting virtual happy hours. And one Lakewood resident turned her hobby of dehydrating fruit into a DIY cocktail infusion company called Mixy.

Meredith Levesque started making drinks at home in January. It wasn’t serious — she just wanted to try something new and creative. “Some restaurants in Dallas were doing cool infusions, so I wanted to play around on my own,” she says. “I began to dehydrate fruit and experiment.”

One of her first attempts was a spicy take on the paloma, a classic cocktail featuring tequila and grapefruit. “I gave it to friends, who liked the concept more than the flavor, so I kept tweaking the recipe through trial and error,” she says. Grapefruit proved too bitter when dehydrated, so she swapped it out for blood oranges, which delivered the flavor she was looking for.

After receiving encouragement from her friends, Levesque decided to expand her audience by debuting Mixy at the Boho Market in March. People flocked to the products, packaged neatly in Mason jars with descriptive, colorful labels. She received great feedback at the market and subsequent requests on Instagram from people who wanted to purchase more kits. Then, the pandemic shut the world down.

After the pandemic quashed in-person events, Levesque’s side hustle moved online. She set up a shiny new website and began selling kits locally. Word spread, and soon, she started to receive out-of-state orders. By September, Mixy had gained so much traction that Levesque had to quit her full-time job to keep up with orders. To date, she’s shipped products to more than 40 states.

Lakewood resident creates cocktail infusion kits called Mixy(Mixy)

Levesque grew up in Portland, Ore., and has also lived in Napa. Raised by foodie parents who liked to entertain, she was exposed to gourmet dinner parties and fancy cocktails at an early age. Though she was too young to partake at the time, she credits her upbringing with fostering her love for good restaurants and craft cocktails. But her appreciation for those cocktails rarely translated into making drinks at home.

“I wanted to have friends over and serve unique cocktails, but the thought was overwhelming, so I usually just opted for a bottle of wine or maybe a simple margarita,” Levesque says. Eventually, she became excited with the concept of infusing ingredients into liquor, because she knew she could simplify the process of developing complex flavor profiles. “It gives you a base to make a cocktail,” she says. “Even if you’re just using vodka and club soda, it gives you something more interesting than a vodka soda.”

Lakewood resident creates cocktail infusion kits called Mixy(Mixy)

Currently Mixy offers six core infusion kits. That blood orange eureka moment resulted in Tejas, the brand’s top-seller, which also features jalapeño, lime and agave and pairs best with tequila. The Uptown kit includes pear, lemon and lavender-infused sugar and works well with gin or vodka, while the Skyline contains ginger, lemon, blueberry and turbinado sugar. Try that one with bourbon. Each kit calls for 12 ounces of liquor. Just pour it straight into the jar, and let everything mingle in the refrigerator for two to three days before drinking.

The newest offering is a seasonal, limited-time product called Joy. The holiday-themed kit includes cranberry, orange, rosemary and turbinado sugar, all things that would taste particularly festive when heated with whiskey and served as a hot toddy on Christmas Eve. Or on a random Monday morning — the kits don’t judge.

Lakewood resident creates cocktail infusion kits called Mixy(Mixy)

Place an order online, and your Mason jars will arrive in a few days, neatly boxed up and containing dehydrated ingredients ready to merge with your liquor of choice. If you’d rather buy Mixy in person, you can find the products at T Shop in Lakewood, Favor the Kind on Henderson Avenue, Davis Street Mercantile in Oak Cliff, and Patina Green in McKinney, as well as Neighbor’s House Grocery in Fort Worth. Levesque and Mixy will also return to the Boho Market, which is popping up at Dallas Farmers Market on Dec. 12. If you want to say hi or purchase a couple products in person, that’s your chance. The in-person event also reinforces why Levesque started the company in the first place: the ability to share drinks with others.

“Everyone is looking for a connection to other people, even if it’s socially distant,” she says, noting that Mixy can bring people together on the back patio, over virtual hangouts or through sending gifts. “It’s so fulfilling to me that people are making memories over Mixy.”

Jars sell for $21 each and make 8 1.5-ounce servings. You can also infuse the Mixy twice for up to 16 servings. drinkmixy.com.

Lakewood resident creates cocktail infusion kits called Mixy(Mixy)

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