Local beverage industry veterans Sheldon Wiley and Eric Burdick recently launched a new “hard seltzer sensation” exclusively in Phoenix. Engagingly named Becky and sporting a tagline of “personality juice,” it is currently available in four flavors: pink lemonade, passion fruit, mango and tropical cherry. It is sold at select retailers Total Wine, BevMo and AJ’s Fine Foods and is available at a number of local restaurants and bars of which Sip, Montauk, Maya Day and Nightclub, RnR, Loco Patron, Sandbar and, of course, The Porch and Bevvy are a few.
Wiley and Burdick conceptualized Becky together, teaming up to can a drink prior to the canned cocktail and White Claw craze. “I’ve always had aspirations to create a fun global brand, and having my own alcohol line has been on my bucket list inspired by being entrenched in the food and beverage industry half of my life,” says Burdick, an innovator of Scottsdale nightlife also known as “Burd” who has spent the last 15 years involved in the restaurant and nightclub industry focused on building brands that revolutionized the Scottsdale nightlife scene. Now a partner in local hotspots The Porch and Bevvy, Burdick is a marketing and branding visionary whose experience has helped grow both concepts into additional locations.
Wiley is a three-time Guinness World Record-holding mixologist who’s dubbed the “world’s fastest bartender.” A vanguard of the sipping community, Wiley has been crafting uniquely fresh libations since 1999, creating specialty drink menus for Ian Schragers Morgan’s Hotel Group, Top Chef Kitchen, Top Chef Cruise, The Maggiore Group in Arizona and countless others. Wiley is known both behind the bar and in front of the camera, having been featured on primetime networks and earned hundreds of national media placements.
“After 20 years of hospitality service, it’s beyond time for me to plant a flag on the producer side,” says Wiley. “I’m excited about the process and taking our girl global!”
