Zahra Tabatabai prepares her New Day IPA for shipping at Flagship Brewery in Staten Island. The month of March brings increased business for Tabatabai, coinciding with Nowruz, the 13-day Persian new year festival starting on 20th March this year. Her craft beers, blending Middle Eastern flavors like sumac and sour cherry, are presented in artistically designed cans featuring intricate Farsi poetry.
Tabatabai’s inspiration stems from her grandfather, who brewed his own beer in Shiraz until alcohol consumption was banned in Iran in 1979. Motivated by her grandmother’s desire to taste her late husband’s beer once more, Tabatabai ventured into home brewing during the Covid-19 pandemic while juggling freelance writing and homeschooling her 11-year-old son. Her journey led her to explore recipes, take brewing classes, and study beer-making techniques on YouTube.
Growing up hearing stories of her family’s brewing traditions, Tabatabai, now 42, embarked on creating her own Persian lager based on those cherished flavor memories. What started as a hobby has blossomed into a thriving business, with Tabatabai producing 30,000 cans in just one week recently. Her beers are gaining popularity in select restaurants, and she aims to expand her reach to national retailers.
Establishing Back Home Beer in 2021 with a $7,000 investment from personal savings and a loan from her brother, Tabatabai collaborated with graphic designers to develop eye-catching labels for her cans. Partnering with Flagship Brewery, she received invaluable support and guidance from the brewery’s team, propelling her success in the competitive craft beer industry.
A successful Kickstarter campaign in 2023 raised a record-breaking $125,255 from over 1,000 backers, enabling Tabatabai to purchase a delivery vehicle and further scale her business. As she continues to build her brand, Tabatabai remains dedicated to sharing her family’s brewing legacy and flavors with a wider audience.
Tabatabai has secured a new location to open a dedicated taproom for her innovative beers that pair well with food. She has gained a loyal following with sommeliers at popular Brooklyn restaurants like Fulgurances Laundromat and Eyval. In a strategic move to ramp up production, Tabatabai has partnered with a second brewery, SingleCut North in Clifton Park, New York. Rather than investing in her own brewery, Tabatabai prioritizes building brand awareness and expanding her business reach.
In terms of staffing, Tabatabai relies on part-time help, including a delivery person, a social media assistant, and a beer recipe consultant. As a business owner, she juggles various responsibilities, from conducting tastings and training to handling paperwork and accounting tasks.
The brewery currently offers six beer varieties, with two available year-round and others as seasonal releases. Tabatabai’s upcoming beer, New Day IPA, is set to launch in March in celebration of the Persian new year. Looking ahead, she plans to leverage the production capacity of the SingleCut facility to expand into new markets like Washington DC and Philadelphia.
Navigating distribution complexities across different states, Tabatabai highlights the requirement for distributors in most states, impacting sales margins. However, in states like New York and Washington DC, she can distribute her beer independently, avoiding distributor fees. To fuel further growth, Tabatabai is seeking investment opportunities beyond friends and family, targeting angel investors and individual backers.
