Recently, I have found myself thinking about a Latvian proverb my dad used to tell my siblings and me:
Kas nelien karstā, nedeg pirksti.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
I do not spend a lot of time thinking about Latvian proverbs, but this one has been running through my head lately.
For a long time, I understood it as a warning: Stay out of the heat. Avoid unnecessary risks. Play it safe and you will keep your fingers intact.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
The problem is, I have never been particularly good at staying out of the heat. I have always been willing to take risks when I believed in where they could lead. I can be cautious, calculated, and probably overthink things as much as anyone. But when I know something is the path I am supposed to follow, I follow it.
Over time, I have come to understand the proverb differently.
Of course you will not burn your fingers if you never go near the heat. But you also will not learn what the fire can teach you. You will not grow. Sometimes burnt fingers are simply proof that you were willing to get close enough to try.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
I stepped into the heat in 2022 when I left my career in Big Law in Los Angeles to pursue a dream that had begun years earlier during a family trip to Latvia, the birthplace of my dad, Arvid.
Fermented birch sap has been enjoyed in Latvia for generations. Experiencing that tradition firsthand in 2014 gave my brother Alex and me a deeper connection to our Latvian heritage and opened our eyes to the possibilities of this remarkable ingredient.
More fingers were burned when I packed up my life in Santa Monica, two blocks from the beach, and moved to Alaska.
I grew up in Springfield, Illinois, the literal and figurative beating heart of the country, in my admittedly biased opinion. Before law school, I had never even stepped foot in Alaska.
I was not terrified of the cold. What was unsettling was the uncertainty. The darkness ahead.
I have always embraced change. After all, change is really the only thing that remains constant. But this was different. I was walking away from a career I had been building toward since I was 12 without knowing exactly what came next. Underneath that uncertainty, though, I knew this was my path.
My calling was in the birch forest.
It was sharing this incredible beverage and the tradition behind it with people across North America. Something rooted in the forest and brought to the table. Something incredibly simple in a complicated world.
Forest-based wellness. From tree to table.
In 2023, Alex and I became the owners of Kahiltna Birchworks, which is the world’s preeminent birch syrup producer and has been crafting Alaska birch syrup outside Talkeetna since 1990.
Suddenly there were employees, facilities, equipment, inventory, customers, loans, and thousands of birch trees to tap. Plenty of opportunities to burn our fingers.
And then we turned up the heat again.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
The dream has always been Birch Brew. Birch Brew begins as organic birch sap harvested from Alaska’s boreal forest. Through wild fermentation, we transform it into a refreshing, gently effervescent, non-alcoholic drink unlike anything else on the market.
For me, Birch Brew is bigger than a beverage. It is about taking something rooted in my ancestral homeland, building it here in Alaska, and reconnecting people with an ingredient northern cultures have valued for generations.
Last year, we introduced Birch Brew with a pilot of approximately 5,000 bottles made from roughly 500 gallons of birch sap. The response exceeded our expectations. We met many of you at the Anchorage Farmers Market, tastings around Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley, and stores throughout Alaska. We listened to what you loved and what we could do better.
We knew Birch Brew could be even better.
So, back into the heat we went. Over the past year, we have refined the process, improved the quality and carbonation, and prepared to make Birch Brew on a much larger scale.
Now it is here.
Birch Brew returns in a new 11.2-ounce glass bottle with three flavors:
Lemon
Raspberry
Lemon Ginger
Our Original flavor is taking a little longer than expected. We are making sure it is exactly right before bringing it back.
Each flavor is made with high-quality ingredients, including organic juices and organic raspberry purée.
Never sweet. Never artificial. Always rooted in authenticity.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
I have not stepped into the heat alone.
My fiancée, Andrea, left Los Angeles in 2024 and joined me in a dry cabin on our property outside Talkeetna, which is a pretty good indication that she was committed to both me and this adventure. In January 2025, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Lillian, and this December we are expecting our first son.
My brother Alex has been part of this dream from the beginning and is now working full-time in the business. He and his amazing wife, Hunter, have joined us in Alaska. They are expecting their first child in January. My sister Margot helps with social media and my mom, Julie, has supported us in just about every way imaginable.
And then there is our incredible team of full-time and seasonal employees who keep all of this moving every day. This is truly a family business, and our definition of family has grown to include the entire team helping us build it.
All of us have felt the heat. All of us have burned a few fingers. And all of us believe it has been worth it.
We cannot wait to meet you at tastings and pop-ups throughout the summer and fall. You can find Birch Brew at retailers throughout Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, Fairbanks, and other Alaska communities, and, of course, online.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
Finally, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every customer who bought a bottle, came to a tasting, shared Birch Brew with a friend, gave us honest feedback, or simply encouraged us to keep going has helped get us here.
And we are not stopping anytime soon. This is only the beginning.
Our goal is bigger than selling bottles. We want to bring the remarkable products of the birch forest into more people’s lives and introduce a new generation to something northern cultures have understood for a very long time.
Forest-based wellness, from tree to table.
I hope you will be with us for every bottle, gulp, and sip along the way.
He who does not go into the heat does not burn his fingers.
I am incredibly excited to share the 2026 batch of Birch Brew with you, forged by fire and shaped by every lesson we learned along the way. I hope you enjoy this new round of Brew.
With gratitude,
Ted Hammers
Co-Founder & Chief Birch Officer
Hammers Family Birch