Hidden Gems: Meet Chuan Liu of Levels of Grandeur

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chuan and Shan Liu.

Hi Chuan and Shan, can you start by introducing yourselves? We’d love to learn more about how you two got to where you are today?

We are first-generation immigrants from China and as with most immigrant parents, ours spent long hours working. Although we rarely had the luxury of family bonding time, our mom always ensured that we would eat dinner as a family at least once a week. As our parents got more established over the years, we had the privilege of sharing most of our meals as a family. We didn’t have much growing up, but we would eat together as often as we could, which led to all of our happiest moments being centered around good food and great drinks.

Our passion for good food & drinks stayed just that while we pushed forward with our individual educational and career endeavors — Shan obtained a degree in Engineering while Chuan went on to pursue a career in Business & Sales.

The summer before Shan was supposed to officially start his engineering job, he decided to take a casual gig at a brand new hotel downtown. This is where he fell in love with the hospitality industry and would continue on to work at craft cocktail bars, top 100 restaurants, nightclubs, cafes, and more for the next 7 years, perfecting his craft and mastering flavor.

Over the years, Shan had always been tasked with creating custom cocktail menus for a wide array of establishments — as a purist dedicated to his craft, he always insisted on making elements of a great cocktail (such as the syrup) in-house. This small collection of unique & versatile syrups served as the foundation for Levels of Grandeur, our current line of artisanal small-batch beverage syrups.

Conceptually, Levels of Grandeur had existed for quite some time, but it did not become palpable until Chuan got involved in August of 2021. In the midst of the pandemic, she was averaging 70+ hour weeks working as a consultant in corporate America and she was overworked, miserable, & unfulfilled. If nothing else, Covid had taught her that life was short and entirely too precious to spend being miserable. On a whim, she called Shan one Sunday night and asked if he was serious about pursuing the syrup line professionally — he said yes and she put in her notice the following day.

A few months after that, Shan also resigned from his director-level position to build the business full-time.

Would you two say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road — or course, we’ve encountered the typical challenges for new businesses in regards to start-up capital, rejection, lots of failures, etc. What keeps us motivated to push forward is the unwavering confidence that our service brings value to our customers and that we truly have a superior product.

On the other side of it, the successes we’ve had are due to our incredibly supportive friends, peers, & colleagues who have provided us with great opportunities and lots of love along the way.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a locally based and produced premium small-batch beverage syrup company. Traditionally, the syrups were designed to be used in craft cocktails, although they pair beautifully with all types of beverages including coffees and teas.

Our premium syrups are crafted with minimal, all-natural ingredients — we always start with pure cane sugar and incorporate fresh fruits, spices, juices, herbs, etc. We never use any high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings, colorings, or preservatives, and we aim to keep our ingredients list familiar and pronounce-able.

A huge differentiator for our line of syrups is the focus on esoteric flavors. We really wanted to emphasize the craft element of cocktails/beverages, so we feature very unique and adventurous flavors such as Strawberry Thai Chili, Saffron Honey, Marzipan, etc. while also providing more traditional flavors for widespread application at a competitive cost.

Currently, we locally distribute syrups to some of Houston’s most popular bars and restaurants. We also specialize in custom syrups to help alleviate labor costs & quality inconsistencies for commercial establishments.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Houston is already such a massive melting pot of different cultures and in the next 5-10 years, the diversity will just continue to grow, ESPECIALLY with all the transplants from other major cities. We have always been a foodie city and the demand and growth of the existing food and drink culture is ready for a boom.

Within the last two decades, the evolution and appreciation for craft cocktails has been dramatic. In the early 2000s, a simple Jack and Coke could be considered a “cocktail” — nowadays, “cocktail” implies a certain level of complexity and craft. As bars and restaurants are shifting to the craftier side of things, the demand for quality is only going to grow as well.

Because Houston already touts so many amazing chefs, concepts, and cuisines, restaurants and bars will inevitably have to become more competitive in staying trendy.