Clever Beast Botanicals was started by Chris and Carlene Thomas in early 2021 as a vehicle for their love of regional plants and their many uses. As a registered dietitian with herbalism training (Carlene) and graphic designer/photographer (Chris) the two have worked together for over the past decade helping national and international food and beverage companies through recipe development and visual content production. In 2019 Simon and Schuster hired Chris and Carlene to develop, write, and photograph a 100 recipe beverage book that focused on hemp usage (CBD Drinks for Health, Adams Media 2020).

While the duo nudged companies to use more botanicals in recipes and food styling, the large geographic region of the clients often meant recipes were limited to grocery store herbs. Since recipe development existed in an etherial space that only became real when someone put the work into making the recipe, Chris and Carlene decided the best way to really get people to fall in love with plants was to make a physical product. Using laboratory techniques to effectively and delicately extract the nuances of all parts of these botanicals has helped introduce consumers to the wide range of plants the Mid-Atlantic has to offer. It’s also nice when you have in-house branding, packaging design, and photography.

Alcoholic beverages and perfumes have been the best way to capture and share the flavors and aromas of these unique plant blends. While Carlene’s grandfather started one of the first vineyards in Loudoun County, VA in the 1980’s and sat on the Governor’s Virginia Wine Growers Advisory Board, it was never the initial plan to move Clever Beast Botanicals into the wine space.  Simply put, aromas and tastes are best captured in alcohol and oil.

In December 2023, both the Mid-Atlantic Semi-Sweet Vermouth and the Tomato Vine Solid Perfume were named “Made in Virginia” award winners by Virginia Living magazine. Chris and Carlene look forward to continuing to produce new products in a range of mediums.