Indigenous-owned KWE Cocktails brings the flavours of northern boreal forests to consumers | Canada Voices

Chefs and gastronomes alike have ardently explored the idea of Canadian food by looking at the plethora of riches we have in our forests, prairies and tundras.

The beverage world shares similar fascinations. Jessica Coté, founder of artisanal drink brand KWE Cocktails, in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, wants to bring the flavours of northern boreal forests to Canada through cocktail syrups and canned non-alcoholic cocktails.

“Flavours are part of what we are. When you go to France, they talk about terroir and what grows there … and every region is really proud of what grows ‘here’,” Coté said.

Coté grew up on a family-run blueberry farm, which she now operates with her brothers. Her paternal grandmother was a major influence in her life, passing down ancestral knowledge of Indigenous plants, herbs and traditions. Coté loved food, cooking and foraging, and her grandmother nurtured this passion.

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“She was aware of what to eat … what sweetgrass to use, what to put on your fish after hunting,” Coté said. “You work with what you grow in your backyard. So this is why I know my backyard.”

Finding nothing available on store shelves that captured the real taste of Canadian blueberries, Coté created her first product in 2017, a blueberry cocktail syrup. Other flavoured syrups followed, including wild mint, spruce, hops, cranberry and fir, with which she developed signature mocktail recipes such as the Atoca Boréal.

“It really transports you to northern Quebec where cranberries grow in acidic soils surrounded by spruce forests. It’s a reflection of our terroir … and deeply rooted in the boreal landscape,” she explained.

Bartenders from Saguenay to Quebec City have embraced KWE’s syrups and the company has seen steady growth in both retail and food service over the years.

Among the restaurant using KWE is Le Clan in Quebec City, which was named Restaurant of the Year at the 2025 Lauriers de la Gastronomie Québécoise.

In 2021, Coté made a decision to expand into ready-to-drink non-alcoholic cocktails just as the mindful drinking movement began to grow.

“People were asking for it saying, ‘I like your syrup. I like the recipe. Is it possible to have it already made?’ So we said yes,” she explained. “We’re not just a brand – we do it all. We go into the forest, we collect the [ingredients], we create the recipes.”

KWE, which means hello in the Innu language, offers five non-alcoholic cocktail flavours that are foraged, produced and canned at their own small canning facility.

They use ingredients such as sumac in a sumac lemonade, sea buckthorn and a plant called Labrador tea – something you won’t see in your grocery store produce aisle, but has been used in Indigenous communities for centuries.

“It’s hard to do a really good cocktail without alcohol but I think we are able to recreate the different layers well with real fruit, real acid, with tannins,” said Coté, who shies away from using artificial flavours in KWE products, noting the sheer plethora of our resources.

“It’s a part of independence, like if you know what can grow here you won’t need [imports]. I don’t use cinnamon any more because I have sweet fern growing in my backyard that really tastes like cinnamon,” Coté said. She also points to sweet clover, or ‘boreal vanilla’, for its resemblance to the flavour vanilla.

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KWE syrups and canned drinks are now available in dozens of specialty stores across Canada.

Coté was recently invited to present KWE as part of the second annual ICAN Indigenous Pavilion at the 2026 Restaurants Canada show. This opportunity allowed Coté to introduce the brand to new restaurant and hospitality venues across Canada.

“We have so much to be proud of, and this is a great opportunity for everyone in Canada to know what grows here and what it tastes like,” Coté said.

Sarah Kate is an alcohol-free sommelier, writer and founding editor of the publication Some Good Clean Fun, which accepts advertising. She was previously affiliated with the Zeronimo wines brand in Canada and currently has no role as a brand ambassador for any non-alcoholic beverage brands.