With another crazy winter and fickle spring behind us, we Rhode Islanders are on our way into another hot and humid summer. That means the same old struggles like sitting in beach traffic or waiting in lines extending around the corner for a Del’s or other RI favorite summer treat. So while the Ocean State gives us plenty of tried and true ways to stay cool and refreshed over the summer months, I’ve been looking into alternative avenues to relief. One that I’ve found is Granny Squibb’s Iced Tea. Their teas are delicious, their story is one built and bred in li’l Rhody, and their latest development — being certified organic — is an exciting return to the values their company was started on. I caught up with Robin Squibb, the founder of Granny Squibb’s, and learned a little more about the company’s origins and their plans for the future.
Robin told me that their recipe is a family one from Granny — yes, Granny Squibb is the real deal. The grandmother who started it all, who happened to create a simple, classic recipe for iced tea that would spread throughout her community of Saunderstown, was an amazing person, a stellar athlete and a family woman who made the perfect iced tea to serve her family and friends when the ocean breezes off Narragansett Bay just weren’t cutting it. And whether 1936 or 2016, that simple recipe of fresh lemons, cane sugar, spring water and mint (which still grows wild by the family homestead in Saunderstown) has stayed the same.
Now, the company is sticking true to their commitment to Granny’s recipe and style more than ever, and are rolling out a recently certified organic re-design. Talking to Robin, she was excited to share the news about going organic, but mostly because it would bring the company even closer to the original vision: sharing tea that her grandmother would be proud of. “We”re going back to basics, the way granny made it,” she said when I spoke to her over the phone, “Granny was an amazing person and we want to pay tribute to that. Plus, we’re one of the few companies out there that is actually selling a beverage because it tastes good. A family recipe, earth-friendly glass bottles and a few (now organic) ingredients. That’s what we do.”
One thing Robin was excited to share (and I was even more excited to hear about) is the ways Granny Squibb’s is reaching out to other local businesses to enhance their customers’ experience. While they’re a company rooted in the experience of family life and their teas alone are enjoyed by New Englanders of all ages, Granny Squibb’s has been experimenting with more adult combinations as well. They’ve been working closely with Bully Boy, Boston’s first craft distillery since prohibition, to develop a bottled version of one of the recipes featured on their website — the “Squibbwreck” (their take on a Shipwreck, using their Mojito Lime Iced Tea and dark rum from Billy Boy). They also have tons of recipes online for fans of their teas to try at home, all complete with Granny-themed names that will make you smile on their own (I know I’m trying the Lemon Mint flavored “Squibbtini” as soon as I get a chance).
Looking through some of the pictures of Granny Squibb herself and her family back in the 1930s, I was captivated. I always love a good black and white photo from years gone by, often collecting them from antique stores and yard sales. But it was really something to see the grainy film of smiling faces on sailboats and sitting seaside at Narragansett Bay, the same one that I cool off in when July rolls around. And more than that, not only to have pictures capturing a look into my state over 50 years ago, but to hold in my hand a glass of that moment in time, by way of a recipe that hasn’t changed since then. What a delicious kind of nostalgia! I can see why their bottles proudly proclaim Granny Squibb’s to be “A Rhode Island Original.” And I can see they’ll soon be a Rhode Island standard, just another one of the traditions and classics that make this state home.
