Winter dryness comes from a simple reality about temperature. Cold air holds less moisture than warm air, which means stepping outside in December and January exposes skin to air that contains a fraction of the humidity during summer months. Coming back indoors doesn't offer much relief. Heating systems warm rooms but pull even more moisture from the air, creating environments where your skin faces the same challenge it did outside.
When they met in 1976, Malcolm Clark was running a biological laboratory in Toronto, and David Law was studying business at the University of Wisconsin. Neither of them knew much about farming, but they both saw an opportunity in mushrooms.
Holiday baking has a way of drawing folks in, regardless of skill level. The person who can pipe a perfect rosette and the person who's never cracked an egg both end up in the kitchen this time of year, pulled by the same impulse to make something that smells like cinnamon and butter.
Portland Syrups started in 2012 when Chris Onstad and Dan McLaughlin got tired of what they found on store shelves. The drink mixers available were too sweet, full of artificial ingredients, and packaged in ways that created waste they didn't want to contribute to. So they started brewing syrups in their kitchen.
