The claim is that sap rising through the tree in the cold of winter is the heralding of Tu B’Shevat. From speaking with Ari Tolwin CEO of Happy Tree Maple Water you’ll find out that it’s not maple syrup shooting out of that trunk. Conversations on maple-tree tapping and alternative hydration are par for the course when speaking with this food start-up whiz. Pull up a tree stump and grab a glass of maple water; you’ll be all the more nourished for it.

You kind of discovered this maple water how exactly?

It’s a pretty cool story. Reminiscent of Home on the Range. My brother owns a homestead upstate and while I was visiting there a few years ago he asked if I wanted to make some maple syrup. When I went to the buckets hanging on the trees I wondered why they were filled with water and not syrup. He explained “The water is what comes from the trees and that is what we’ll boil down to syrup — try it it’s delicious and good for you!”

I took a swig and I realized “Hey! Till now I thought water came from rain and oceans! Who knew it can also come from maple trees?”

Quit your day job?

Right away! I was working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and also had prior entrepreneurial experience. I took a mason jar filled with maple water from my brother’s trees to Whole Foods in the Upper West Side and showed it to what they call the “forager” someone who brings new items into the store. She was sold!

We’re putting on our botany hats. How does this process work?

In the fall tree leaves use solar energy to create carbohydrates. (Think fourth-grade science and photosynthesis.) When the ground thaws in the spring the roots pull water up from the ground. The water collects nutrients and carbs from the tree trunk and flows throughout the tree providing all the nutrients the tree uses to blossom. The water moves through the tree like our blood circulates to keep us healthy. That’s what we tap and bottle.

Right now between our suppliers we tap about 150000 trees — enough for 1.8 million gallons or 15 million bottles. The tapping season lasts about eight weeks — and best of all it’s completely sustainable for the tree.

And what does it taste like?

The water tastes sweet but not sugary sweet. We also offer some varieties of maple waters — pure pomegranate juice or freshly squeezed lemon — and the result is a delicious drink that has a fraction of the sugar content but so much taste. And lots of health benefits. It has B vitamins (which the tree uses to break down carbs and convert to energy) which are good for our metabolism and it contains manganese to strengthen the tree but for humans it’s good for our skin and bones!

How do you know this isn’t just another drink fad?

Products created by nature aren’t fads. And — the numbers don’t lie! We’ve been growing at a rate of two to three times each year. Plus we get amazing feedback from customers. One lady said that it was the only drink she could stomach after her chemo sessions. Another time I got an e-mail was from a father of a boy with Prader-Willi Syndrome a condition where the patient has an insatiable appetite and slow metabolism. His kid refuses regular water but loves our lemon maple water and that’s the only thing they can get him to drink which is life-altering because hydration is really important for these kids.

Have you had any pushback or challenges educating the consumer?

Any new product needs to be explained. And many people mistakenly think that maple syrup comes from the tree as is and are often surprised to learn that it’s actually the water that the tree gives us.

What are some of the challenges of the job?

Of course we experienced all the usual start-up growing pains but one crazy story is when we were on our way to cross into Canada to meet some maple farmers and realized that we didn’t have our passports. Tthe website stated unequivocally that we could not enter Canada without passports. When we got to the border we said we’d come to tap maple trees and after interrogating us a bit they let us enter without passports! Those Canadians take their maple trees very seriously.