By Helen Mitternight

She came up with Daysie Syrups, and, although the coffee that uses Daysie isn’t too sweet, life couldn’t be sweeter for Pate!

Sometimes you want your coffee to taste like something other than just…coffee. But the sugar bombs that you get at the big coffee chains leave you feeling like you’ve just had dessert for breakfast. Tara Pate, who heads up marketing for the Butcher & Bee restaurant, was on the hunt for something that had no preservatives, used recycled bottles, and had ingredients you could pronounce. She came up withDaysie Syrups,and, although the coffee that uses Daysie isn’t too sweet, life couldn’t be sweeter for Pate!

Tara’s take

Favorite kitchen tool or gadget

Definitely my garlic press! I like to move fast in the kitchen, and this saves so much time.

In my refrigerator (three things)

Oatley oat milk, some sort of Red Clay Hot Sauce, and Butcher and Bee smoked onion jam – I put that on everything! 

In my pantry (three things)

I’m always looking for hacks, so I use Omsom Asian starters, a cold brew coffee, and Fishwife sustainable tinned seafood.  

Comfort food

Pizza, always pizza. If I won the lottery, I think my husband and I would move to Italy and own a pizza shop.

Favorite smell

Gardenia. My mom had a gardenia tree in her garden in Florida, and it just smells like home to me.

Favorite drink

A salted caramel cold foam cold brew, made with Daysie, of course!

Number of hours you work a week

70-80 hours!

Most underrated ingredient

I’ve been on a chili crisp kick for a while, so I’ll say that.

Favorite meal to cook at home

I love salads. I used to only get them out, but then a vegetarian friend taught me how to make salad dressing at home.

Best advice a mentor gave you

It was Michael Shemtov, my boss at Butcher and Bee and, it wasn’t really advice, but he and his wife wrote me a $5,000 check when I was trying to start Daysie, just to show they believed in me. I have that check framed.

What’s next

I am 100% working on a pumpkin spice flavor. And I hope to get on the shelves at Whole Foods.

Learn more about Tara Pate on the latestCharleston Grit episode of the Hidden F&B podcast.And, if you want to uncover the hidden heroes beyond Charleston, check out the national podcast athelenmitternight.com.