For many cocktail connoisseurs, enthusiasm for ready-to-drink (RTD) products are as mixed as the ingredients in their bottles. A reputation for overly sweet, syrupy concoctions leave many consumers wishing for a homemade or mixologist-crafted alternative.
SoulBoxer Cocktail Co. is one of the new breed of RTD purveyors changing consumers' minds by re-energizing the category with an artisanal approach to their Brandy and Whiskey Old Fashioned offerings.
"Everybody hates bottled cocktails," jokes Jason Neu, who along with Doug MacKenzie, started SoulBoxer in 2015. "I actually used to have a little whiskey barrel of brandy Old Fashioneds in my kitchen that I'd just made for fun. I would bring them at holidays, or hanging out with friends and family, and we were taking it around to some people. They were like, 'THIS is awesome.'"
Thanks to that encouragement, Neu and Mackenzie - without a business plan or financial backing - initially ran 300 cases and have never looked back. We were lucky to catch up with Neu to learn more about the budding bottled cocktail brand.
How has Soulboxer's first three years been?
Jason Neu: Tremendous. You want this great growth when you're building out your business plan, but we would've never dreamed that we could take a category that didn't exist, and it's gone where it's gone - it shows that people are ready for it.
How is Soulboxer reaching new RTD consumers?
We do a ton of consumer tasting. Most often, they're going to walk past an RTD. RTD doesn't have a great reputation, so we do it from the top. Once you get people to try it, then it's kind of built word of mouth and it steamrolls. It's crazy.
Are there any RTD trends that have caught your attention?
Premiumization is what everybody talks about. It happened years ago with vodka and then whiskey and gin. People want better value. They don't want to spend more money, but they want something better for the money they're spending. With RTDs, it's like the last thing out there that's not premium yet. There's a few other companies that are doing it and even guys that are putting it in cans. It just feels legitimate now.
What makes a Wisconsin Old Fashioned so unique when compared to a traditional Old Fashioned?
I grew up around Wisconsin Old Fashioneds, so it's always been this really nostalgic, cool thing withthe brandy and heavy with the fruit. Go to a supper club, and they will pour soda on it. That's what I always knew, but as I started to get into the cocktail scene 10 or 15 years ago, I realized what really well-made cocktails are. We wanted something that split the difference when we started with the brandy Old Fashioned. We have cherry and orange, but it's real Door County cherries and we wanted something that you could drink on the rocks like a classic stirred cocktail but in Wisconsin, you're going to throw a little soda on top. That's cool, too. We encourage people to drink it however they want to drink it.