A new storefront for simple syrup company Toasted Simple is now open in East McKinney.
The business, which was founded just over five years ago, makes simple syrups infused with real toasted food. The East McKinney shop offers cocktails and mocktails made with Toasted Simple syrups.
The setup
The company was founded by Matt Thornton and Brad Pendleton, longtime friends who have career experience in bars, restaurants and alcohol distribution companies. The business idea was sparked by a desire to see real food used in products that flavor drinks like an old fashioned, Thornton said.
After a testing process that involved developing products in their own kitchens, the duo launched Toasted Simple in March 2021. The initial response and sales, both online and at the Dallas Farmers Market, drove the pair to establish a manufacturing facility in Denton by late 2022.
Since then, the company has grown to include a staff that represents the brand at events in Texas and out of state, Thornton said. Multiple Toasted Simple products are also sold by Total Wine & More.
The specifics
Simple syrups offered by Toasted Simple are all-natural and small batch, the company’s website states. The top seller is the Toasted Old-Fashioned Elixir, a brown sugar syrup infused with flame-toasted orange, cherry, vanilla and cinnamon, Thornton said.
The company also offers the Toasted Old-Fashioned Elixir: Black, a version of the elixir that features toasted blackberries, mint, lime and allspice, according to its website.
Other available simple syrup flavors include:
- Blueberry lemon
- Cherry almond
- Cinnamon clove
- Espresso bean
- Honey pecan
- Oak demerara
- Orange peel
- Pineapple jalapeno
- Strawberry basil
The business’s simple syrups are versatile, Pendleton said, and can be used for both cocktails and mocktails.
“We are a real food item,” Thornton said of the simple syrups. “We have different colors, we have different textures. We have particles of black specks that come from the charring process of the foods. It's all written on our label that, ‘Hey, this is part of the normal process’”.
Quote of note
“Your old fashioned doesn't have to taste the same every night. That's why we developed this brand,” Thornton said. “If you think about the blueprint for an old fashioned, it's literally defined as a high-proof spirit, a bitters and a sugar. We are the sugar. ... Historically, it's just a sugar cube muddled ... Modern bartenders use simple syrup. That's why we did a food-infused simple syrup.”
Diving in deeper
The McKinney shop is located in a renovated grain silo on the Tupps Brewery property as part of the brewery’s Build-Your-Own-Business program.
In collaboration with Tupps Brewery, Toasted at Tupps offers a build-your-own experience to customize an old fashioned or craft cocktail, a company social media post states. As part of the experience, guests can purchase spirits from Tupps and create a drink with mixers and guidance from the Toasted Simple team. The menu also features other cocktails and mocktails.
“It’s the first permanent place where people can sit down, experiment with flavors, and experience what Toasted Simple is all about,” the social media post states. “For us, this is a huge milestone.”
The Tupps Brewery taproom also offers cocktails made using Toasted Simple products, including the Captain’s Old Fashioned featuring the Toasted Oak Demerara syrup, the brewery’s website states.
Pendleton called the partnership between Toasted Simple and Tupps Brewery a “no-brainer.”
“We were already doing pop-ups (at Tupps Brewery) and we know that there's room for growth here,” he said.
