A family tradition is being turned into a quickly-growing business by two young brothers. Alek Szczupak, 23, and his 25-year-old brother Jan Szczupak, are the co-founders and owners of the Glenview-based liquor brand Broda.
The company name, which means beard, was the nickname of their uncle, a Polish immigrant who was known for producing his own lemon vodka. The two young brothers are the current keepers of the vodka recipe which has been passed down for generations.
“His wife and his kids never saw him without a beard,” said Alek Szczupak, serving as the spokesperson for the company. That’s how his uncle, who passed away in 2016, got the nickname that is being used as the brand name of the product based on his recipe.
“A lot of Polish people make this alcohol in their house traditionally,” Szczupak reported. “But he was known to have the best one.”
Alek Szczupak indicated that he always had an entrepreneurial spirit.
“As a kid, everyone was watching regular TV shows. I would run home and turn on ‘Shark Tank,’” he revealed. “The competitiveness of that was super cool to me.”
The brothers began working on their business plan about 3 years ago, Szczupak reported.
“We didn’t get incorporated until March 2023,” he said. “It took a while to figure out the shelf-life of the product so we didn’t get on the shelves until nine weeks ago.”
They have managed to get on a lot of shelves already, though.
“We are currently in 14 stores and one restaurant, and we are also selling online,” Szczupak said.
Glenview locations include Keg N Bottle at 1950 Tower Dr., Unite B3; Joong Boo Market at 670 Milwaukee Ave.; J&F Liquor and Wine, 911 Greenwood Rd., Sta. A; Forza Meats, 1811 Glenview Rd.; and Tavern on the Glen Restaurant, 1820 Tower Dr.
Broda is also sold at stores in Chicago, Highland Park, Mount Prospect, Niles, Norridge, and Prospect Heights. For addresses, visit drinkbroda.com.
Broda sells for $30-$42 per bottle.
Through their research, the brothers discovered that there are other Polish vodkas available “but they don’t taste like the homemade one because it’s added sugar,” Szczupak noted. “We use real honey.”
Even though Broda is produced at Two Eagles Distillery in Mount Prospect, the brothers consider their company Glenview-based because that’s where they grew up. Alek Szczupak returned to his Glenview home after graduating from Southern Methodist University a year ago. He studied finance and advertising in college and afterwards had an internship in commercial real estate but it wasn’t a fit for him.
“I don’t like sitting down very much. I like traveling. I like talking. I like socializing and making things,” he explained. “I wanted to go the entrepreneurial route and I was thinking, ‘What is there that I know how to do that I can share with the world?’ and one of the first ideas that came up was our family liquor recipe.”
Brother Jan also graduated from SMU but still lives in Dallas.
The brothers hope to make the company more Glenview-based as it grows, Szczupak indicated “but Mount Prospect was the closest distillery that could make it for us.”
Although the distillery makes the vodka, Szczupak works on the other ingredients at the distillery to create Broda, which has no additives or preservatives.
“We figured out a way to age the product so that after a certain point, the flavor doesn’t change as rapidly,” he said.
At the distillery, Szczupak, sometimes assisted by his mother, Iwona Sikorski, as well as his girlfriend and friends, mashes lemons, peels and grates ginger, adds the ginger to the vodka and ages it, then juices the lemon and adds honey. “It takes several weeks just to get the right flavor,” Szczupak said.
Creating and selling Broda means a lot to Szczupak and his brother. He said, “We’re very proud to be able to honor those that came before us. They handed us the most perfect recipe. All we have to do is bottle it.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
