When Bronya Shillo was 11 years old, her family bought a bar. Not just any bar – the only bar on a seven mile island in Long Island Sound, complete with its own light up disco dance floor. Here she learned how to play pool, deep fry a mozzarella stick, shuck oysters, and other unmentionables... At 18, she joined the rest of the family and began tending bar.

Whether it’s in the kitchen, behind the bar, or outside, Bronya has always been interested in how things were constructed, but found a way to make it her own. As a bartender she enjoyed the craft of mixing, experimenting with flavors and refining cocktails.

Each Friday she blended the bar’s signature beverage, Fishers Island Lemonade, in several 15 liter batches. They served FIL throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning – it would barely last the weekend. One night Bronya reached into the cooler to grab a beer and thought, “What if I canned our lemonade?”

The rest is history.