Amanda Victoria was fluent in the language of storytelling long before she began telling her own. Prior to creating her NA beverage brand Siponey Spritz Co., she spent years helping others shape their narratives: teaching cocktail history, writing copy, designing campaigns.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the first time we talked about Siponey, Amanda didn’t start with numbers and branding; she started with the bees. In that first conversation, she talked about harmony and connection: the soft vibration of a healthy hive, her hands tracing circles in the air as she spoke. You could almost hear the hum of the hive. It was clear she wasn’t just building a beverage brand. She was tending to an ecosystem.

This interconnectedness with nature was exactly what Amanda had dreamed of. Working in the spirits world, she had come to yearn for a product made with ingredients straight from nature (not just natural flavors). When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she decided to create it herself. “I wanted to offer something delicious that honored nature and offered an elevated, mindful drinking experience that was both accessible and inclusive,” she recalls.

Experimenting in her kitchen, Amanda gravitated towards honey as the heartbeat of her recipes, both for its depth of flavor and as a way to stay connected to nature.

Enter the bees

Over time, Amanda’s mission grew to include sharing her passion for supporting people and the planet, and honey became the conduit.

Throughout history, honey has been used in medicine, ritual, and preservation. Archaeologists in Egypt have found sealed jars of honey in ancient tombs, still golden after 3,000 years. In Greece, honey was referred to as the “food of the gods.” Across Yoruba, Caribbean, and Latin American traditions, it’s blended with lime to treat sore throats, stirred into teas to increase physical strength, and mixed with herbs for healing.

Honey is patience in liquid form. Bees visit as many as two million flowers to produce a single pound of honey. Its color and flavors shift depending on the season and the flowers—clover, goldenrod, wild rose, aster—carrying the memory of the time and place where it was created.

Honey connects a beverage to an ecosystem: the farmers, the weather, and the bees themselves. In her search for something natural and real, Amanda aligned herself with this lineage. Slow, deliberate, and human—moving at nature’s pace. As Amanda says, “Our [focus on] honey is a symbol of care: for the bees, for the land, and for our future.” Sustainably-sourced organic wildflower honey from New York ties us to the terroir of our local ecosystem.

Heritage and Resilience

Bees thrive through rhythm and communication. Each has a role: forager, nurse, builder, protector. Each is vital to the collective. When one part falters, the whole system feels it.

As a Latina founder and mother, Amanda relates to these rhythms. Every decision in Amanda’s company reflects that energy, from sourcing responsibly to hiring inclusively to steady, intentional growth focused on building an ecosystem. In her work lives a quiet invitation: to slow down, to listen for the hum, and to always, always return to the source.

Amanda shares, “Nature taught me that balance is everything. You can’t force growth; it has to be nurtured, and it is not linear….I’ve learned to work in harmony with my environment and community, through many seasons, and am often guided by my connection to Mother Earth.”

The beverage

Inspired by Amanda Victoria and her leadership, this From the Source recipe mirrors the rhythm of the bees. Collaborative, steady, and endlessly giving. A drink that celebrates balance, vivid and quietly powerful, just like its muse.

She Is the Hive

By LP O’Brien

Ingredients

  Fresh garden herbs (mint, thyme, chamomile)

  ¼ ounce matcha honey syrup, see recipe below

  ¼ ounce fresh lemon juice

  5 ounces Siponey Roots

Add herbs, matcha honey syrup, and lemon juice to a shaker with ice and gently shake.

Strain into a chilled highball glass over fresh ice.

Top with Siponey Roots and give a light stir.

Matcha Honey Syrup

Ingredients

  2 cups wildflower honey

  1 cup hot water (160–170°F, not boiling)

  3 teaspoons culinary-grade matcha powder

Bloom matcha with a small amount of hot water and whisk until smooth.

Combine honey and remaining hot water, stirring until fully dissolved.

Whisk the bloomed matcha into the honey syrup until evenly incorporated.

Cool completely and store in the refrigerator.