Growing local line of syrups and mixers concocts flavors like bananas Foster and smoked peach

It started with a banana-flavored tiki drink Derek Stewart tried at a cocktail lounge in Nashville. The bartender wouldn’t divulge what was in the banana syrup. So when Stewart returned home, he began playing around in the kitchen, chasing that fresh banana taste.

It launched a creative new chapter in his life. He started concocting his Exquisite Elixirs collection of small-batch, seasonal mixers and syrups around late 2023, committing to the brand full-speed in March 2025. By mid-April, his products had made their way onto shelves across Louisiana, now stocked in nearly 20 retailers around the state. Bars and restaurants are catching on to the brand, too—mixing Exquisite Elixirs into drinks at Coop’s on 621 and Tiger Tavern in Gonzales, Spanky’s Daiquiris Dutchtown and Galvez Seafood Company in Prairieville. And expansion is on the horizon, Stewart says.

But Stewart isn’t new to the food and drink industry. At 18, he went to bartending school and later worked in a few bars, where he says he got “really into craft beer.” That led to him co-opening Gilla Brewing Company in Gonzales in 2019, which he later sold to new management so he could open his butcher shop, The Meatatory, in Prairieville in 2022.

Exquisite Elixirs’ mixers and syrups are designed to be used with multiple different spirits. The syrups are more concentrated than the mixers and can be used for more than just cocktails. Think: toppings for ice cream, coffees or baking. 

Its standard collection comprises six mixers—smoked bloody mary, blueberry lemon drop, strawberry Moscow mule, lavender-honey bees’ knees, spicy pineapple margarita and a blackberry mojito—and five syrups—bananas Foster, jalapeno lime, smoked old-fashioned, vanilla-bean espresso and smoked peach.

The smoked bloody mary mix is one of the most popular. Smoking juice and tomatoes lends an almost meat-forward flavor, and he says customers have even told him they’ve used it when cooking with spaghetti sauce.

“I kind of pride myself on using fresh, high-end ingredients, because that’s what I want in my drinks,” Stewart says.

For the seasonal summer line of Exquisite Elixirs, Stewart fashioned two syrups and four mixers: very berry syrup, five-origin vanilla-bean old-fashioned syrup, basil cucumber smash mixer, Vice City strawberry colada mixer, blue Hawaiian mixer and smoked salt paloma mixer.

Exquisite Elixirs also has a limited-edition syrup for Father’s Day called Sportsman’s Paradise. It’s an old-fashioned, leathery syrup infused with burnt orange, wild spruce tips, cane syrup, tobacco bitters, barrel-aged bitters and cigar leaf.

For now, Exquisite Elixirs is a one-man operation.

“It’s just me,” Stewart says. “I make them, bottle them, label them, sell them, stock them—everything.”

He says he is being careful of not “oversaturating” by putting out too many products at once. Instead, he is particular about the drinks he makes. He decides based on his personal favorite flavors at the moment or the drinks he’s made for other people that are well-received. He also does tastings at local stores, bars and restaurants. 

“(It’s) a lot of experimentation,” he says, “and just tweaking things.” 

Where to shop it around the Capital Region

Alexander’s Harvest Market

12513 La. Highway 73, Geismar

Calandro’s Supermarket

4142 Government St.

Carter’s Supermarket

8349 Vincent Road, Denham Springs
1160 Hatchell Lane, Denham Springs
29760 Walker S. Road, Walker

Curve Mart

44063 La. Highway 431, St. Amant

Diversion Market

18736 La. Highway 22, Maurepas

Hokus Pokus Liquor

17524 Airline Highway, Prairieville

Merle Norman Prairieville Cosmetics & Boutique

17424 Airline Highway, Prairieville

Michael David Menswear

17424 Airline Highway, Prairieville

Port Vincent Village Market

20009 Walker S. Road, Denham Springs

Ralph’s Market

6431 La. Highway 44, Gonzales
15013 La. Highway 44, Gonzales

Matherne’s Market

7355 Highland Road

The Meatatory

17424 Airline Highway, Suite 12, Prairieville

The Tipsy Librarian

7450 Jefferson Highway, Suite 375

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