Unique drinks take over farmers market

Aside from local, organic produce, the Parker Farmers Market boasts a mini donut vendor and The Comforts Of Home food truck. Photo by Erika Siebring.

Truthfully, the defining quality of Parker in the summertime is its festivals. Waking up bright and early on a Sunday morning, the town is beginning its steady transformation into a slower, milder version of Bourbon Street, with diverse small businesses replacing the alcohol. The weekly Parker Farmers Market gives visitors a taste, and locals a reminder, of how they’ll have to get used to taking detours around the strip.

For the past seven years, this bazaar has meant stepping into the sun with dogs and children in tow, walking up and down Mainstreet and crowding under the few shady spots. With the smell of fresh kettle corn in the air, this farmers market is the chance to discover brand new things from the minds and hands of Colorado's businesses.

Case in point: the Colorado Wassail Company. As the exclusive producer of McGowan’s Olde Tyme beverages, Parker’s Mainstreet Flower Market started carrying this Colorado company’s wassail this past holiday season. What is wassail? CWC owner Greg Polashock describes the drink as “a cross between apple pie and Christmas,” as it is a seasonal drink made from various juices and spices. Even though it can be mixed with rum or brandy, the drink is non-alcoholic; according to Polashock, the drink is meant to be enjoyed by everyone.

"Wassail is deeply personal to me and goes back to my childhood," Polashock said. "My mother [maiden name McGowan] began making wassail for holiday cocktail parties when I was a very young boy. It was the one time when my sisters and I were allowed to join the grownups and mingle. While our cups did not contain alcohol, simply enjoying the same beverage as the adults made us feel included."

According to the owner, each McGowan recipe is developed by him, though the company's newest product -- McGowan' Olde Tyme Spring Spiced Tea -- is based on a drink his mother used to make. Created for the summer weather, this iced tea is a blend of black and orange tea, juices and spices, and is described as uniquely fruitier and more complex than typical iced tea. Perfect to drink while walking around Mainstreet in the summer, Parker residents should keep an eye out for the CWC booth every Sunday; their latest creation, a butterscotch pumpkin chai, will be tested on the public in late summer.

Similarly, Happy Leaf Kombucha can be spotted at the farmers market, producing a non-alcoholic fermented tea believed to have origins in ancient China. Once fermented, it retains the bubbly nature of a weakened soda, but still tastes like a combination of tea and spices. Actually, Happy Leaf sells their kombucha by the amber bottle, refilling empty ones for passers-by from large kegs. Tasting and looking a bit like ginger beer, their chilled cranberry-orange-tarragon brew proved to be popular this past weekend, continuously running out of sample cups.

However, if tea isn't for you, there's Sati Cold Brew, taking the prize for Colorado’s most unique, trendy drink. This Denver-based coffee company is new, but it's getting ahead in how it produces caffeine. Sati's brew in particular retains the flavor of coffee and various notes of honey, vanilla and lavender; it isn’t just coffee, it’s artisan-made coffee, with flavors that go beyond chocolate, caramel and hazelnut anymore.

Parker’s Farmers Market will continue, weather-permitting, every Sunday until the end of October.