Elixir G is the latest Hawaiʻi product to go from farm to table. Bill Tocantins is behind the craft concoction, something he calls his ginger adventure.
Creating the cocktail mixer took him from a bar in Southern California to the fields of Hamakua on Hawaiʻi Island.
"I started researching ginger, started learning everything I could about ginger, the science of it, the growing it, what was coming from some countries, other countries. And it took a little while but in a few months, I learned that Hawaiʻi grows the best ginger in the world," he said.
The ginger gets sent to a bottling plant in Los Angeles to be mixed with lemon juice and cane sugar.
Elixir G is currently sold only at Tamura’s in Hawaiʻi. On the continent, Tocantins said Elixir G has been in over 400 restaurants.
"We just got a little bit of a promotion started with the Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association. They're putting out some information about the Gingerita promotion for the month of May where we are giving $1 for every Gingerita sold to the Hawaiʻi Food Bank," he told The Conversation.
This interview aired on The Conversation on April 20, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
