SourPuss Lemonade refocusing business on RR

Rio Rancho startup, SourPuss Lemonade, is leaving Cottonwood Mall to refocus its business in the RR community where it first got its customer base.

“We liked getting out in the community. So I set up twice a week in Northern Meadows, then we did a lot of back to school events and church events. I knew if we continued at the mall, I was going to have to give that up. I did not want to give that up,” owner Michelle Tucker said.

Tucker and her family started the lemonade business with nothing more than a few tables and a canopy. The lemonade idea was inspired by Tucker’s daughter who made a batch of lemonade for an arts and crafts fair one day. Tucker started making combinations and selling the product locally during the pandemic. The name was inspired by her husband.

“My husband was like, ‘well, hey, you’re a sourpuss all the time anyway so lemonades are really good business for you’ and then I was like ‘that has to be the name now’,” she explained.

The sassy black cat on the logo was designed by Tucker’s son.

“He wasn’t old enough to remember Lady and the Tramp but I wanted those mangy Siamese cats with wiry whiskers. But I just wanted a black cat and he came up with the design and it just stuck from there,” she said.

Then, last year SourPuss found a brick and mortar in the mall. However, after running the business there for a little while Tucker discovered she wasn’t as connected to the community as she was in Rio Rancho because the pace at the mall didn’t allow for conversation. While she thought there might be some ill will if she returned to Rio Rancho, customers actually showed up in more numbers than at the mall.

“Just seeing the support we’ve gotten from not just from leaving the mall but people driving from the mall out to Northern Meadows where I set up twice a week for lemonade and I’m grateful but that’s also just crazy,” Tucker said.

She added that she is surprised some of her customers are “die hard” fans that follow wherever she goes.

“We’ve honestly been busier than what we were at them all and it has been amazing to see the community support so that just really solidified and Made me feel like I made the right decision,” she said.

The return to Rio Rancho will come with a few changes, though, according to Tucker. Instead of the canopy the business used before the mall, the lemonade production will take place in a food truck. Tucker says customers will still be able to watch the process through the truck’s window.

Along with the lemonade, she will start serving small snacks like soft pretzels and hot dogs. Her daughter’s home made Churro Cheesecake Bites have become popular as well. She says this is to bring an option out to Northern Meadows, where restaurants and food places are non-existent.

“We have nothing out there. There’s no food and no one wants to Door Dash because the very few restaurants that have Door Dash, they have to charge so much extra so then people don’t give the Door Dash drivers tips at all or very little tips. So a lot of people won’t even take the orders out there. It’s just it’s so hard out there so we are going to try and start serving just small food items. At the mall, we were super famous for our churro cheesecake bites that my daughter made,” she said.

Now, the food will follow Tucker to the food truck in the neighborhood.

“Our trailer was designed for lemonade so I don’t want to get into the whole food aspect of it but small food items just to have something to offer with the lemonade,” she added.

While the goal is to downsize the business, Tucker says in a way it has also upsized.

“It’s been upsizing for us also because we see the customers that are still following us. Still able to do the events that we want to do and give back to the community,” she said.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are Tucker’s designated Northern Meadows days but she also does events at nearby schools and churches.

“It’s cute to see on the little kids face, especially at the elementary schools because when we go, we create a drink just for their school,” Tucker explained.

When Joe Harris Elementary was going back to school after summer break, Tucker created the ocean wave for them.

“You can’t be at the beach, but you can drink something that would be at the beach,” she mused.

It’s moments like that which Tucker missed at the mall because the connection “just wasn’t the same”.

Tucker knows that lemonade companies are not rare in this day and age but says her company is different for two reasons.

“We wanted a price point that was going to be obtainable for families, for everybody,” she said.

While produce in general never has a sure price, Tucker refuses to increase her prices. The prices, she says, will stay the same through thick and thin.

The other reason she says SourPuss is different is because of the hands on work and transparency with customers.

“This is my first business that is actually growing without me even honestly doing a lot, you know, I mean it’s just gone places,” she said.

For Tucker, it’s not a job for her either because she has fun with it and it’s not about the money.