Cocktails Distilled
Cocktails Distilled
The Rise of Non-Alcoholic Bitters with El Guapo
When we think about Dry January or making any non-alcoholic cocktails, we usually think about the spirits or liqueurs that we use in drinks. But how often do you think about the bitters?
Coming in tiny little bottles, where you might only use a drop or two, it's easy to forget that bitters are technically alcohol. Most bitters commonly on the market sit around 35-45% ABV, and although you are only using a small amount, this can derail your non-alcoholic efforts.
So, understandably, non-alcoholic bitters brands are becoming more and more popular.
One such brand is the New Orleans-based El Guapo. also makes non-alcoholic mixers, syrups and RTDs. All-natural, with no-GMO ingredients, and female-led, the brand also makes non-alcoholic mixers, syrups and RTDs.
We talk to El Guapo founder Christa Cotton about creating non-alc bitters, incorporating flavours and what it means to straddle the world of cocktails and non-alc.
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Tiff Christie:When you think about dry January or even just making any non-alcoholic cocktail, we usually think about the spirits or the liqueurs that we use in our drinks, but how often do you think about the bitters?
Tiff Christie:Coming in tiny little bottles where you might only use a drop or two, it's easy to forget that bitters are technically alcohol. Most bitters commonly on the market sit around 35 to 45% ABV, and although you're only using a small amount, this can derail your non-alcoholic efforts.
Tiff Christie:So, understandably, non-alcoholic bitter brands are becoming more and more popular.
Tiff Christie:One such brand is the New Orleans-based El Guapo. All natural with no GMO ingredients and female lead, the brand also makes is about to try its non-alcoholic mixes syrups and is about to try its founder Krista Cotton bout creating non-alcoholic ers, incorporating flavou no hand at RTDs. We talked to El Guapo founder rs and what it means to straddle the world of cocktails and non-alcoholic. Thank you for joining us, Krista.
Krista Cotton:Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Tiff Christie:Now you actually come from a distilling background. What made you choose to take your company down the non-alcoholic route?
Krista Cotton:So I come from a very entrepreneurial family and I helped my dad start Georgia's first legal distillery since Prohibition here in the US and that was sort of my college project for the last two years at Auburn and I learned from that experience and then all of my prior family business experience that I love entrepreneurship but I hate family business. So I decided to sort of go off on my own advertising and did a lot of stuff with chefs and just various hospitality projects before I started dabbling in the bitters making process. But really it just started from there and while we were working on the distillery I learned enough to be dangerous about how US distribution worked and I understood that if I created something that was alcohol free, I could get around a lot of the licensing issues here in the US and it would be a way for me to grow my company faster. So I started experimenting with alcohol-free bidders. Really, we were alcohol-free before. It was cool to be.
Krista Cotton:So a lot of these companies have started popping up since COVID. Now this is a trending thing. It's becoming more popular. But we really started working on this in 2017. And it started as a way to get around licensing. But then, as I was pregnant with my daughter. I really started cutting back on alcohol at that point in my life and I am mostly alcohol-free myself, so you know it just sort of started with bitters and then just kept evolving from there.
Tiff Christie:Do you think most people actually do realize that bitters contain alcohol?
Krista Cotton:I think it's well. I think it goes both ways. I think we have a big segment of our customers who think even our bitters are alcohol and 99% of bitters are an alcohol base. They are different spices and ingredients that are macerated in a grain alcohol and have a very, very high proof, but we only use a couple of drops per drink, so it's low as a ratio in an actual cocktail, but the product itself is very high alcohol.
Krista Cotton:Ours are alcohol-free, so we have developed our own proprietary process to create these alcohol-free bitters and they're made with glycerin instead of grain alcohol. So we do a lot of education on that piece because what we do is so different than the large majority of what's available in the market. But I think most customers think all bitters are the same and made from alcohol. And then I think we have a growing segment of customers who seek us out specifically because we are alcohol free. So we talk about that a lot in all of our interviews and, you know, on social media when we put different videos out. But yes, it is. We say we're intentionally impergatory. So all of our products are alcohol-free and whether or not your drinks stay that way is up to you.
Tiff Christie:There must be a lot of education that would have to come into what you're doing to make sure that people do understand that you're alcohol-free.
Krista Cotton:Correct. So we're currently actually redesigning our labels and updating them, and part of that also comes from feedback and questions. I keep a really good list of what comes through in our customer service chats and then we kind of use that to inform the language that we use on all the labels. But education is a consistent part of what we do and I don't foresee that changing. I think people are always. There's always a thirst of knowledge and people want to learn. But I also think people have varying degrees of creativity and some people just want it to be super easy. They don't want to have to think for themselves. And then some people want to experiment on their own and it's our job to bridge the gap for wherever our customers fall in that spectrum.
Tiff Christie:Now you mentioned that you use glycerol. How different is it to make bitters without alcohol, and what's the process that you kind of go through?
Krista Cotton:It's very different. So most bitters are like I said they're made with grain alcohol. So they're either made in a distillery or people procure mostly grain neutral spirit but any kind of grain alcohol and then they'll macerate whatever ingredients spices, herbs that they're using to make their recipes and then they'll, you know, filter and bottle. So that's one way. There are other brands, usually the less expensive brands on the market, that will go to flavoring houses. So they're just buying pre-made extracts and then blending and bottling, so they're not really manufacturing anything. They're buying these ingredients and they're usually made with different flavorings and you know what have you to create a product, but it's at a lower price point. So there's, you know, pros and cons to that. So that's a second way.
Krista Cotton:And then for us we created a brewing process which really, when I started doing this, I was making bitters and crawfish boil pots. So that's how it started. And now, because we are doing the alcohol freeway, we really use a process that we've created over time and it relies on time, pressure and heat to create everything that we make and it is more of a brewery type setup. So just like you would walk into a brewery that's open to the public and you would see all the you know tanks and you know lines and hoses everywhere. It looks very similar to that, but instead of brewing beer, we are making alcohol-free bitters.
Tiff Christie:You recently released your barrel-aged vanilla. Tell us a little bit about that.
Krista Cotton:So we're always looking for ways to do partnerships with different brands that we love, and in COVID all of the small brands were having issues with supply chain and so we were really researching and I became very good friends with Burlap and Barrel. They're a single origin spice company that's based here in the US and Ori, the founder, and I were talking about you know different ways to collaborate. We had not done a collaboration project yet and he had these very special vanilla bean pods that he was importing from Zanzibar. So we had we didn't have a vanilla bitters. We were looking to make a bitters that would pair well with dark spirits that didn't have nuts, because our most popular bourbon uh based bitters products are the things that would pair well with bitters are all made with nuts, so people with nut allergies it's kind of an issue.
Krista Cotton:We were looking to expand the line in into a different direction so that we had something available for customers that that't have nuts in products. So we started with that and then we were looking for you know what's something different that we haven't done before. So that's sort of how we got into the barrel aging thing. And there is a very small rum distillery here in the heart of New Orleans called Roulez-On and we're friends with those, those two founders that we're friends with. So we all sort of got together and they were about to do a bottling and they were gonna have some empty barrels that we could use for aging.
Krista Cotton:So we took some rum barrels from friends and then we had some vanilla from friends and then we experimented with the first recipe and we did it as like a pre-sale because we didn't really know how successful it would be and the whole idea really was to do it one time. It was going to be a one batch thing, but it's been so popular that it is a full part of our lineup and it actually just got picked up by a national steakhouse chain here in the US. So it's going to be at every location at Morton's Steakhouse here in the US for a year and that starts. Oh, that'll be exciting, yeah. So I think that one's here to stay. It didn't really start like that, but you know, those are always the most fun projects. You start something and it's more of a like small scale passion project and then it's really successful. So it sticks around for a while.
Tiff Christie:Can I ask, so when you said that you're ageing in rum barrels, doesn't that
Krista Cotton:So the alcohol, like when they empty the barrels, there's a bunghole in it, so it's sort of breathing, and then we proof everything, but it's more. It's getting like the flavor and the wood but it's not like it doesn't. When we proof things it doesn't even register as like a percentage of alcohol. It's more about like the flavor of the barrel. But there is no. When we start that process there's no actual rum in the barrel itself. So it's soaked, it's partially soaked up in the wood, but it doesn't. The alcohol doesn't transfer like that. It doesn't make it an alcoholic product.
Tiff Christie:Oh, okay, sorry, I assumed it would have leached out of the wood a little bit, but it doesn't then?
Krista Cotton:No, and we have a lab and we test all of the percentages. So it's more about the flavor than anything else. But the aging process does change the flavor, but it doesn't change the alcohol percentage.
Tiff Christie:Okay, that's useful. Yep. Now with something like Barrel-Aged Vanilla, how do you suggest that people use it?
Krista Cotton:So the most popular way for the vanilla bitters is with dark spirits. So we have a lot of people that'll do a vanilla old fashioned around the holidays and they'll sub whatever other bitters they usually use in their old fashioned. And they'll use those vanilla bitters either by themselves or they'll pair them up with an orange bitters, which is fun, so you kind of get two flavor profiles in the same drink. No-transcript hotty toddies. We've used them in milk punches it's really great in a Mai Tai, all sorts of different ways. But bourbon and dark spirits are generally the starting point for most people that are experimenting with those.
Tiff Christie:And I assume the non-alcoholic dark spirit replacements would work easily as well.
Krista Cotton:Correct. So people for the alcohol-free we have some people that love an alcohol-free spirit, an alcohol-free spirit, and then we have some customers that don't love the mouthfeel or they don't feel that it gives them that same flavor profile of whatever they were used to drinking before. So I really feel like that's a splitting difference, like we have some that love it, some that didn't use it and some that don't. So either using a replacement to keep it alcohol-free so using like an alcohol-free bourbon or a lot of customers will just, if they don't want to do that, instead of doing that, they'll go towards a coffee drink or they'll, you know, use bitters, with bitters and soda has become very popular. So you know, vanilla, bitters and soda is actually quite delicious, so people will go in that direction. But we have suggestions for alcohol-free replacement cocktails, like in old-fashioned. But for people that just don't want an alcohol-free replacement spirit, they'll do like a coffee drink, a bitters and soda. You know they'll go in a different direction.
Tiff Christie:Right, okay, now, one of the criticisms of non-alc is that people don't necessarily always know what to do with the products. Correct Talking about using bitters and soda. Do you think having so many flavours in your bitters range kind of takes that guesswork away?
Krista Cotton:Yes, I hope so. That's the intention, but we, you know, we intentionally offer, you know, build your own set so people could experiment with different flavors. We have a recipe blog on our website to sort of help people out if they're stuck or don't really know what to do. We offer different tutorials and educational reels on Instagram and we're starting to get into TikTok. But you know, again, I think customers vary on the spectrum of creativity and we have some people that run wild with it and some people that want ideas and make it easy.
Krista Cotton:But yes, I think that there are so many products out there. There's new products launching all the time and it just like within the spirits world, it's overwhelming. There's so many different products and it's hard to keep track of what's what. I just encourage people to try it and see what they like. Cocktails are supposed to be what you enjoy. So either you know, try things until you find combinations that you love or products that you gravitate towards, and you know, eventually you'll keep circling back to what your favorites are. It just takes time to kind of figure out what that is. There are 12 flavors in your pitters range. How do you choose what flavors to release?
Krista Cotton:So we've been at it for seven and a half years now, so it's a combination of things. We have some of the best bartenders in the world use our products at this point and you know, either people will say, man, I can't ever quite source this, or I wish I had this product, but I want it to be like this other thing. And if we start to start to notice trends among our professional clientele, we will start R&D on things. So it can start that way. We also we we very much pay attention to customer feedback from our retail customers on our website, so things can start in that direction. Or if we have something that one of our team members is passionate about or a product that's available here locally that we haven't worked with yet, you know, projects can start that way.
Krista Cotton:When I first started, I really was working with ingredients that were located here and around New Orleans. So you know, new Orleans is the largest coffee port in the US, so the first product was chicory pecan coffee and our uncle was our first pecan farmer. So it started with things that I had access to and then it just sort of started growing from there. But at this point it really is a combination of things. It's customer feedback, professional bartender requests, and if we start seeing trends we'll do that.
Krista Cotton:And then we have our own internal R&D team where we always have a list of things that we're working on and we'll do test batches when there's a lull in production. So we have a couple that are ongoing and we just really work with it until we feel good about where we've landed. But usually from the start to a launch of a recipe, it takes us a good year or two to do enough testing and feel really confident about where we're landing, to have gone from idea to actual product launch. So it's a one or two year process. So it's a one or two year process.
Tiff Christie:Now you're about to release, or later this year you will be releasing, fig leaf bitters. Where did the idea for that come from, and do the fig leaves taste of fig?
Krista Cotton:They do so. When I was growing up, one of my grandmothers had a massive fig tree behind her house and that is a very vivid memory of mine and we would always pick fig leaves off of that tree. And you know, I don't know, I just I remember that fig tree. That's something from my childhood that I'll never forget and I at various points have tried to grow fig trees from. Like you know, I try to have a green thumb but I actually have a black thumb and it's never really quite worked out for me.
Krista Cotton:And there is a local bar here in New Orleans that is notorious. Everyone loves this bar. It's called Bacchanal. It's probably one of the places we get questions about the most and over the years, with doing El Guapo, I've become very close to both of the owners of that business and we've been talking about doing a collaboration.
Krista Cotton:During COVID we did a small collaboration but you know things were different and bars were closed.
Krista Cotton:We were really doing that more as a way to drum up business than anything else and it was just a limited time thing. But we wanted to bring that back and do a partnership together and their team brought up figs, and so I kind of put the memory of my childhood, together with what they were saying. And in this region figs are very prevalent, so it really started from that. And then we, you know, we were playing with figs, we were adding in fig leaves, we were dehydrating and grinding them up, we were trying all different ways to incorporate figs, and it just became a fun thing for our team. So we have done, I think, six different variations of that and now we've we're on the final two that we're sort of trying to decide between. But it really started from like I remember this from my childhood to this would actually be a really great addition to our lineup because it's so different from anything that we have to playing around with it to now. It's really going to be a product.
Tiff Christie:So that's exciting and what sort of drinks do you imagine that that would work well with?
Krista Cotton:So I hate to keep talking about old fashions, but bourbon-based spirits, I think. Again, we have a lot of products that have nuts in them, either almonds, or we work a lot with pecans. We don't have anything with peanuts, but we do a lot of stuff with other types of nuts and I'm really trying to make sure that every band in our portfolio has a nut-free alternative. So this is another one of those. So there are no nuts in this recipe, but dark spirits. I think that the fig thing also would be really great in a champagne cocktail. They do any sort of thing where you would want to have a fruit note in it. I think it is a great option for that. But we're still playing around and testing different recipes, because this is the newest bitter flavor for us, but it really started with dark spirits, and then we're sort of expanding from there and trying everything from champagne to tequila rum, all sorts of different things.
Tiff Christie:Yeah, that'd be exciting actually to be doing the testing part of that.
Krista Cotton:It's fun. It's one of the most fun parts of it, honestly.
Tiff Christie:Now let's talk a little bit about the RTD range. Are you launching these to, as we were saying before, eliminate that sense of guesswork?
Krista Cotton:Honestly, this really started at Aspen Food and Wine. I have gotten extreme cases of altitude sickness and I try to not drink when we're at Aspen Food and Wine because it's so high. And so after our first Aspen experience I decided to do an alcohol-free there's, you know, if you've ever been or not been, it's a trade show but we put everybody has like a 10 foot table in the tasting tent but most of it is wine or cocktails. So we decided to zig from the zag and we made a bitters and soda bar and it was a hit. So we had all of the bitters out and then we partnered with Pellegrino and people would come and make their own bitters and soda. Then we partnered with Pellegrino and people would come and make their own bitters and soda and from there we just had an overwhelming response of people being like man, you should make these flavors available because then it's in a can and we don't have to make our own. So we've gotten requests over the years from different companies to do RTDs that could be put in, you know, stadiums, grab-and-go's, our local airport and we've never really taken that seriously because I didn't want to invest in another bottling line. It's a different infrastructure. We don't have canning equipment. We have bottling equipment and that's another huge investment.
Krista Cotton:So we started really researching this and figured out that we could do this potentially. So we started looking into it. We partnered with a local brewer and we are canning the first pilot batch next week, which we're super excited about. But it started with just bitters and soda at a festival and now figuring out how to formalize that into a can. And then we're partnering with a couple of our local markets and different vendors around new orleans to test, to get feedback on the recipes as a pilot before we really expand and make very large batches of this. But we were able to solve the infrastructure conundrum of having to invest in yet another big equipment investment to with working with a brewery. We don't have to do that. So it's another test. We're always testing things, but we're super excited about it and it will be our first canned product. So TBD. I'm excited to see how it turns out.
Tiff Christie:So if you're using your bitters and soda, then theoretically people could make these flavors at home.
Krista Cotton:Oh, absolutely so. We have customers and we do various educational videos and content on this and we talk about it on the website as well. We have a lot of customers that'll just buy the bitters and they'll do bitters and soda at home. It's super easy. I do that a lot myself, but people will use it in their soda stream. They'll just do bitters and soda. You can do it all kinds of different ways, but it's just an easier, I think.
Krista Cotton:Cans like as a grab and go. They're also. They're no sugar added, they're vegan and it's also natural. We don't use any colorings or flavorings. It's all whole ingredients. So we believe in the natural way of doing things. I grew up in South Georgia around a bunch of farmers. I have a lot of family members that are farmers, so I really care and I'm very passionate about the agricultural aspect of this. So doing it in a can allows people a natural version of like the flavored club soda varietals. This is, you know, bitters and soda, but the bitters are really just a natural flavoring that is derived from whole ingredients that we're making ourselves. So it's just a more natural alternative to like a flavored sparkling water.
Tiff Christie:But amazingly convenient.
Krista Cotton:Exactly so, instead of having to carry the, you wouldn't really like walk to or like go to a football game with like a bottle of bitters in your purse. I would, but most people would not, so this is just an easier way. You know, it's just like a more simplified way to get your bitters and soda.
Tiff Christie:Now you also sell mixes and syrups.
Krista Cotton:We do.
Tiff Christie:Which part of your catalog has proved to be the most popular?
Krista Cotton:So that's hard to answer because we started as a bitters company and then we had a lot of requests from bartenders that wanted syrups to pair with the bitters. So the bitters and syrups really go to a certain segment of customers. It's more industry focused, so it's a lot of B2B, and then it's in higher end bottle shops and retail stores but it's a very specific set of customers and it is a smaller set of customers because it's people that want to make craft cocktails and don't mind recipes with 15 ingredients. We learned very quickly that there was a big demand for an easier version of that, which is how the mixers line came to be. We did a partnership with Costco here in the US that got a little bit turned on its head because of COVID. They actually pulled our Costco supplier deal for toilet paper. I don't know if y'all remember the great toilet paper shortage of 2020. But yes, so that was a thing.
Krista Cotton:But the good thing that came out of that for us was this mixers line. So the velocity on mixers, like the number of bottles that we sell, is much higher because it's in a lot of national grocery chains here in the US. It's in a larger segment of liquor stores because it's at a lower price point, they sell a lot faster, but I would say they're the same popularity. They're just going to a different group of customers, so they're very different.
Krista Cotton:And then talking about, you know, expansion and the, you know the cans and other things that we're considering for the future, we don't really, you know, we don't know where that's going to fall. We have a thesis on what we think will happen, but we really try to keep this crawl walk run theory. So we do things really small in the beginning and get feedback, because we don't want to overly invest in something and then be disappointed or surprised with where it ends up. I'd rather start small and make sure that we're making sound financial decisions before we put out a huge investment and it doesn't work out quite like we thought it would thought it would.
Tiff Christie:That makes sense. Now you sound like you've got a lot in the pipeline and we've discussed the things that are about to be released. I imagine there's a fair number of products that are still in their development phases as well. Correct? Where do you see El Guapo in the future? Where is this all going?
Krista Cotton:El Guapo in the future. Where is this all going? We would love to be the go-to thought of natural additives brands in the US and abroad. We want to be the people that, when you think of a great drink whether it's spirited or spirit-free, that you want bitter soda mixers, a canned drink, we want to be that trusted brand that people love and people understand is well-made and made in New Orleans, a city that a lot of people have a great love and affinity for. We're big on community involvement. We do a lot of things here in New Orleans and regionally and are getting more into national events and initiatives as well. We care a lot about sustainability. That's a big aspect of everything that we do, as well as customer service. So you know we want to grow, but keep our same core values intact as we do that. So the hope is that we just continue expanding and that we are becoming top of mind for customers all across the US and abroad.
Tiff Christie:What do you want people to take away from using your products?
Krista Cotton:I want people to understand that well, they're well-made and that they're you know, the sourcing and sustainability are very important aspects to us, but I think we always say a beautiful product, we'll get it purchased once, but a delicious product, we'll get people to come back again and again and again, and we do have really high customer retention. So our hope is that that continues and that we're able to build a loyal following based on our merits and what we're producing, and that as more people try it, they understand the difference and it's mainly sustainability, ingredient focus and customer service and that people value that and that people will pay a little bit more for a higher quality product. And they understand that that goes towards quality jobs, supporting a small business in New Orleans, and that we're continuing to deliver on everything that we believe in.
Tiff Christie:Now you mentioned earlier that low-alcoholic has become incredibly trendy at the moment and that there are a lot of products in that market. Now what do you see as the future for non-alcohol? Do you think that's going to get whittled down or do you think it's going to keep expanding?
Krista Cotton:I think that non-alcohol is here to stay.
Krista Cotton:I think that a lot of people are very conscientious about their drinking and either trying to cut back or be more mindful about consumption in general, so I don't foresee that changing. I do think that there are a ton of brands launching and, just like there currently is in the US. Right now there is a big consolidation within brewing. There was a boom in craft brewing and craft distilling and you know, right now there's a lot of those businesses that are closing up shop are being consolidated because it was a bubble in the market, and so I do foresee that happening. Within NA brands, there will be a lot of things launch and some things will be more successful than others, but I think some of that is it happens when a new category comes into play, but I don't think that this is going to be a dying trend. I think that you know, the better quality products, the things that customers really gravitate towards, will stay around and will become big pillars in the industry, but I think that there will be some experimental brands that won't make it.
Tiff Christie:Yeah, that's probably right Now if people want to experiment with your brand. Where are the products available?
Krista Cotton:So we are in 3,000 locations across all 50 states and eight countries. Here in the US, the website elguapobitterscom is the best place to browse products and see the entire product lineup Fresh Market Nationwide. That's a big grocery chain. We're in every location, so that's a great place to look for the mixers specifically. But the website is your best bet. But also ask at local bottle shops and if there's a place that you really want us to be and you don't see us, reach out to our customer service chat on the website. We will respond and get in touch with whatever store. I think a lot of our customers find us because they find us on their favorite local bars menu or there's a cocktail that they really enjoyed and then they come by it from the website and then they're a customer of ours directly. So also look for us on your favorite bar and restaurant menus.
Tiff Christie:Now outside the US. You said eight countries, so where abouts
Krista Cotton:So we are. We have an export partner that handles Australia and New Zealand. We have various locations across Canada and Mexico, and then we have a couple of places in the UK and a few in the EU. I'm actually working on a bigger warehousing situation in the EU to make us more readily available because we get the most requests from EU countries. So that's one of our projects for 2025 is to figure out how to make it more readily available. But there's a couple of places in Germany. We have a couple in France, but it's not as prevalent or like widely distributed as it is in the US, but we're working on it.
Tiff Christie:Well, if people want more information, they can, of course, go to the website, which is elguapobitterscom, or connect with the brand via your social yes, so elguapobitterscom and at elguapobitters on all platforms. All right, well, krista, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.
Krista Cotton:Thank you for having us. I really appreciate being here.
Tiff Christie:so much for taking the time to talk to us today.
Tiff Christie:Thanks so much, and we'd also like to thank you for listening. Be sure to visit cocktailsdistilled. com to access the show notes and, if you like what you've heard, we'd love you to subscribe, rate or give a review on iTunes. Until next time, cheers.