Hyacinth Nembhardt has operated different iterations of her drink business, Concoctions MKE. Originally, it started out as a liquor store with specialty drinks to go, then it was a mobile cocktail truck, and at the end of 2020, she opened a full-service and to-go bar at 4943 W. Fond du Lac Ave. which is also home to Uppa Yard Restaurant.
“I’m excited to bring Concoctions back to a brick a mortar location at a time where to-go options are at an all-time high,” said Nembhardt.
Concoctions MKE specializes in frozen drinks, including their top-selling Jamaican-themed Treasure Beach made with frozen mango, swirls of strawberry and topped with candy.
"It warms my heart that this is our most popular drink. My father was Jamaican and now that he’s passed I feel like selling so many of these is his way of saying he's proud of me," she says.
There are other Jamaican cocktails on the menu including a house-made rum punch and a Rude Boy made with ginger beer, rum and house-made lime juice. They also have a couple of hot drinks on the menu for winter.
All of the drinks are available with or without alcohol. The drinks are prepared without alcohol, and then customers decide if they want to purchase a 15ml "airplane bottle" of alcohol on the side or not.
"They not only decide if they want alcohol in it or not, but if they do, they can customize it with whatever liquor they like and at the price point that's best for them," says Nembhardt.
Concoctions MKE offers drinks to go as well as limited seating. Nembhardt has a staff of six and her daughter, Hyleah Pulley, serves as the manager.
This summer, Nembhardt hopes to have the drink truck back on the road, but it will depend on the state of the pandemic. She is happy for now to focus on her new bar.
"Things are going really well so far. My expectations are exceeded," says Nembhardt. "We're 100 percent female-and-minorty owned and operated here and I couldn't feel more blessed with my staff."
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
