How it started…

I have been foraging as long as I can remember. My mother has an impressive knowledge of wild plants, and foraging for wild berries with her in the summertime was one of my favorite pasttimes. She taught me about countless edible plants, which she learned from her mother, and I carried that knowledge with me throughout my adult life. I think more importantly, I carried the childlike curiosity of wondering, “what is that?” and “can I eat that?”

I moved a lot as an adult. I attended college in Bloomington, Indiana, where I got my Bachelor’s in Psychology and my Master’s in Public Health. Afterward, I moved to Austin, Texas (where I began bartending), then various cities in other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, England, Vietnam, Greece, and Portugal.

I moved to Hawai’i in 2016 with the intention of only living here for one year. In my mind, I was a nomad and would never feel at home anywhere. Needless to say, Hawai’i changed all of that.

As an avid hiker and lover of nature, I proceeded to hike thousands of miles in the Ko’olau mountains, and a good amount of the Waianae range as well. As a bartender newly interested in craft cocktail creation, and having the curiosity about wild edible plants instilled in me at a young age, I started wondering about all the fascinating new vegetation I was seeing, and how I could use them in my craft. Soon after, the idea of Foraging for Cocktails was born.

How it’s going…

Hours spent researching wild edibles on the trail turned into years, but it didn’t take long to become what some would call an “expert” in my particular niche: identifying wild edible plants and using them in cocktail creations.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many edible plants that most people have never heard of, or at the very least have long been forgotten about as a source of sustenance. I’ve tried countless wild foods, some of which are delicious straight off the vine and therefore easy to work with, and some of which ended in absolute train wrecks, even after many, many attempts at making them palatable.

In the end, the common denominator was obvious: sugar. If a wild food tastes dry, astringent, tart, or bitter, sugar makes it taste better. If a wild food tastes great already, sugar makes it taste even better. So therein lies the key in wanting to share my work: simple syrups! Not only so others can try these wild foods in an expression that tastes great in beverages, deserts, teas, and cocktails, but also so invasive ingredients are available at a commercial level, thereby helping our land and therefore our community. Thus, Mōhala Expressions was born.

It didn’t take me long to start learning the importance of distinguishing between native and invasive plants, and learning the responsibility that comes with being a forager. The general rule is to take as many invasives as you can, while leaving the native plants alone. Therefore, one of the primary purposes of Mōhala Expressions is to use up invasive plants on a commercial level, leaving native plants to have room to thrive and flourish.

However, Mōhala Expressions is more than just a simple syrup company. It is also meant to be an educational outlet: teaching anyone who has the curiosity to learn how to forage wild food, identify plants, distinguish between native and invasive plants, where to find wild edibles, and how to use them for food or beverages.

You don’t have to fit a particular image in order to forage. This information is meant for anyone and everyone.

My hope for this website is not only to perpetuate the life of the land, but also to improve the health of the community. Whether you buy my syrups and invasive plants start getting removed on a commercial level, or you learn about even one nutrient-rich wild food, start harvesting it, and create something you truly enjoy that nourishes you and makes you feel connected to your roots, every little bit helps this land, helps this community, and helps YOU achieve greater holistic health.