Creators

As a sommelier, mixologist, and Co-Founder of Mijenta Tequila, Juan Coronado has been in the food and beverage industry for more than thirty years. Whether serving as the founder and Creative Director for Colada Shop or embarking on a brand new venture, any brand or business that Juan graces will thrive as a direct result of his experience, passion, and community-oriented mindset. So too, as a writer, Master Distiller, and passionate student of all things Tequila, Ana Maria Romero Mena brings her experience, expertise, and admiration for Tequila to the forefront of Mijenta’s aesthetic. As two incredible individuals in the rapidly growing industry, it is no wonder that the renowned Master Distiller Ana and Industry Vet Juan have joined forces to create Mijenta Tequila’s stylish and stunning look. With her impeccable designs, Ana has captured the essence of Mijenta Tequila which is as delicious as it is respectable, as smooth as it is captivating, as versatile as it is celebratory. At a glance, consumers will notice that Mijenta Tequila is a brand for the land, for the people, and for life. 

Tell us your story and hospitality background. What’s your connection? 

JC: I jumped into the hospitality and service industry about 30+ years ago. I have a background in Engineering and Art. I also have an interest in the hospitality industry which led to my curiosity in cocktails, spirits, wines, and distillates. I went to The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and became a sommelier. I got interested in diving into wine. I used to be part owner of a champagne bottle bar called the Bubble Lounge in San Francisco and New York. Then, I ventured out and did a Mixology craft cocktail bar. Afterward, I started working with brands through consulting. The whole deal with Brand Ambassadors was not a position that existed. Due to my knowledge, I got into a position as a Brand Master with Bacardi years later. This was a great opportunity because I took part in the production and marketing. I used my voice to design certain rums and to market to different countries. I became the Global person and figure for Bacardi while also being a part-owner of Colada shops, Serenata, and Bresca. I had three businesses in Washington D.C. In the case of Serenata, it is free for all for Latin spirits and Latin-inspired combinations. We cover every distillate from Patagonia to Spain. 

I did approach Ana Maria Romero. For us, it was instant Tequila love. I could tell that she was the right person to create this beautiful, delicate, aromatic, and traditional profile through the phone. That’s the way I like to describe it.

AM: I started studying wines 30 years ago. I studied at Davis University, not as an oenologist but as a sensory evaluation.  It was my passion to know about wines, and as I made visits to different parts of the world, they asked me about Tequila. There is a specific case that happened to me when I was visiting the Martell wineries.  Someone asked me, “Hey, aren’t you from Jalisco? Well, let’s talk about Tequila.” I didn’t know anything, just the basics. I knew that Tequila was a liquor that came from agave. I began to study Tequila. I visited all the distilleries, and I learned that Tequila is sophisticated and complex.  It does not have a unique process. It has several ways of being made. Even if it is a single plant, it behaves differently depending on the region, the climate, and the processes. I started doing Tequila sensory evaluation seminars. A client in 2007 told me, “if you like Tequila so much, why don’t you do one?” And he invited me to work in his factory. That’s when I realized that this is what I liked. I liked to understand Tequila, what happens in each process, the grinding, and each phase of the process. That was how I discovered the olfactory imprint of Tequila. I have an aromatic circle of Tequila. That is how I started working with big brands until I got to know Juan Coronado, who wanted to develop a Culinary Tequila. I said yes, and today I am a Tequila designer.

What inspired you to create Mijenta? 

JC:. Behind the inspiration of Mijenta Tequila is a strong feeling for the land, for what Arandas means. We wanted to create a Tequila that brings and exposes all the biodiversities, aromas, flavors, and colors of the land of Arandas. That unique red soil that governs the whole terrain is unique because of the nutrients and the iron content it possesses. We wanted to bring everything into the production and the design of Mijenta Tequila’s profile. With an eye on sustainability, an eye on the land, and an eye on the people, we can bring it all together and bring it to life. Our motto is por la tierra, por la gente, y por la vida.   

AM: All Tequilas are made from the same plant. However, when a customer asks you for something specific, and you see through their eyes, being able to satisfy that dream is fascinating in the development of the product. If they tell you,“ I want a Tequila that is Mineral, that represents the earth, that speaks of tradition,” you have to know what points you are going to focus on for that product. We implement a much longer cooking time for the agave. We select agaves only from regions close to Arandas, an Alteña region because that is the area we want to know. We know that its reddish color is due to the high concentration of iron that is present. We also know that there are other components that we are learning about to create the Añejo, which has more time in the barrel than another Tequila. We are studying whether the Ph influences that or not. Another topic that we found exciting when designing Tequila was selecting the yeast. We discovered which yeast would highlight all the characteristics of the highlands region. We did a study and chose one. From there, we went on to fermentation. The long or short fermentation process gives us the aromatic characteristics, and finally, the distillation issue. We also decided that this Tequila was not filtered so as not to remove aromatic characteristics. When you take care of all the points of a process, you do not need any fixes. This consideration was part of the philosophy requested by Juan Coronado and Mr. Dolan. Our Reposado is to express everything that we achieve in the Blanco, with very used barrels and very new European and American barrels. We want the barrels to be a framework for our drinks. Let Tequila not become wood. We want to transport people to what Tequila is when they taste it, and we succeeded. 

What are Mijenta Tequilas Values? How do these values intersect with your principles and standards for yourself as well as for the industry?

AM: The first thing is that it is a real, honest Tequila. It is a Tequila that expresses the naked soul of the agave. This Tequila brings us its letters of nobility through the attributes of the land. We investigate, see, and talk with the agaveros that have good agricultural practices. For us, it is very important that they take care of the soil and land. We firmly believe that without soil there is no agave. We want to take care of it and from my point of view as a Tequila teacher, people fall in love with Tequila.

JC: For us, it is very important to have safe practices when it comes to production. We consider the agricultural methods. We deal with the jimadores. We don’t own the land, but we care so much about the practices that happen on the land. We want to make sure that the voices in our work of the jimadores are understood. We want to make sure, during our process, that the hands of our team, the production team, and Ana Maria and I, the rest, are important. We want to get the final product into the right hands. We also want those with the right hands to come to understand when they taste our product, all the care that was taken during the process. Our motto is por la tierra, por la gente, y por la vida. For the land, for the people, and for life. We take these practices seriously because they involve all the pillars of Mijenta. If we do not have a good agave, we cannot create a great production. If we do not have good production, we cannot have a good product or good Tequila at the end of the day. The land is the most important thing. The hands of the people that work the land are the most important thing. Those are the true values of our brand. The care of the land, the care of the people, and how we celebrate life is our main difference. 

What contributes to a successful business partnership?

JC: We believe in doing right. At Mijenta, we believe in doing right by doing well. We want to create a good flavor profile that respects traditions, Mother Nature, and the processes that we are establishing. We always say that we are not in a rush. The product will be ready when it is ready. We cannot force Mother Nature to give us what we want. It happens when it happens, and we take that presence from Mother Nature, and then we turn it into an art. That’s what we are trying to do. It takes time, so we are very patient. Ana Maria and I, when it comes to production, ride the wave with Mother Nature. We cannot isolate the process. We are getting used to spending time and using our senses. When all distilleries smell like Mijenta, we know that we did it. It takes time. 

AM: It is very important to have common points of view about the product and the management of the image. Because in the end, each taster is a taster who will say yes or no to the product, which is a high commitment. We also consider the global vision to make a high-end product and take it to international markets. We selected very successful, capable people with a good track record to carry out this task. They are capable of not only developing a Tequila. They are also, with the correct marketing, capable of making and taking it to the people. We also believe a lot in the educational part of Tequila. We believe that the commitment to lead people to learn about our history, our land, and how to enjoy Tequila is very important. We want to have a community that buys our Tequila because it is valuable and conquers the senses. That is the educational part that we want to achieve.

What do the two of you bring to Mijenta separately? What do you bring to the brand collectively?

AM: I have contributed my experience and my knowledge of the industry. I have also contributed to doing different things, but at the same time in conjunction with Juan. Juan can understand the tastes of American palates and European and Asian ones because of his background as a world Mixologist. That vision has made this process and this product very enriching. We work together by adding ideas. We talk about creative processes, etc.

JC: In my case, since I have more than 30 years in the beverage industry, I have been able to tame the knowledge of understanding. I have been moving forward when it comes to forecasting. I bring in knowledge from the wine industry. I have made wine. I have made beers. I have consulted for big brands such as King Cognac. I have worked with Gins, Vodkas, Rums. I have experience in production and the knowledge that I have in consumers, the market, and the trends. Each market reacts differently. All of this has given me the ability to be the eyes and ears of our brand Mijenta. 

What have you enjoyed the most from all the processes creating a Tequila?

JC: My favorite part of my journey through Mijenta is the interaction with consumers and bar professionals. I have been doing this for years. It makes me feel like I’m in my grandma’s house with my big family. I love sharing good energies and stories among ourselves. It’s key to foster what is the need, where the trends are going, and what are the challenges that we are facing. I love the communication part of it. Sharing is caring for me. At Mijenta, of course, we have a beautiful product that we would like to spread the gospel of Mijenta. We would like to spread the values of Mijenta all around. Of course, the history and traditions of Mexico are key. We are a brand new brand. This is going to be a long journey. I enjoy it. I am going to be able to go to market and impact others. I  let them know the best part about creating a good brand versus us staying still and waiting to see what happens. I am a go-getter. I am always going to be out on guard when it comes to the teaching of the Tequila and the process that we meticulously create with Ana Maria. I am going to be the guardian of it forever- that is my favorite part of it. 

AM: What I have enjoyed the most is the leadership. I love that people get motivated, do the work, train the staff, share their knowledge with others, in addition to designing Tequila, which is my passion.

What have been some challenges of being a New Tequila brand next to the others with many years of history?

AM: The challenge is to have your own personality and achieve your own style. This is a differentiating characteristic from powerful brands that may be our competition. That is different. That people can say, this is a Mijenta.

JC: I echo Ana Maria. The real challenge here is not us being a new brand. The real challenge is just us creating a unique profile. We can taste thousands of Tequila, but there is always room for improvement. We have improved and taken Tequila to a different platform because we are hogging the platform of tradition and authenticity. We are also in love with the Culinary experience. We wanted to have a GM that is so smooth and delicious that people can sip it. Or, they enjoy it with ice or in a cocktail. Being able to understand the meaning of that Aranda’s perfume, as Ana Maria said before, is key for us. If there is a challenge, it would be for the other brands looking at us. 

Ana Maria, how do you differ from other Master distillers? What qualities should a successful MD possess?

AM: A deep knowledge about the processes is the differentiating aspect. Know each phase from the agricultural part to the creative part. One of the things that distinguish me is the creativity of not always falling into the same thing that everyone else does. I look for different things, different opportunities. I play with different variables that can occur in the process. This approach makes a difference in a successful MT, but also the part of forming a good team.

Ana Maria, you just recently won Best Maestra Tequilera 2020  by Tequila Aficionado Magazine. What was it like to receive such recognition? Who has helped you along the way? 

AM: It was unexpected. When you love your work and are passionate about it, you don’t expect recognition because you were hired to do something excellent. However, I am very grateful to Tequila Aficionado magazine for giving me that recognition. I believe that it commits me more to doing better than not keeping what I have. Having this type of recognition is a commitment because you have to inspire others.

Ana Maria, what other achievements/ opportunities have you had or hope to have in the future?

AM: I write books. My first book won 3rd place in Le Gourmand Award which is a very powerful gastronomy contest in France. I took third place globally with this book on the theme of the pairing of Tequila. I aspire to continue educating people who want to believe in Tequila, to continue promoting the culture of Mexico and its values. I also want to inspire women who believe in their dreams. Talent does not have a gender. Talent is talent. I believe that when talent is real, it opens doors and tranverses borders.

Juan, how do you want to position Mijenta in the consumer’s mind?

JC: Mijenta will find its niche in Culinary applications and opportunities such as restaurants, tastings, degustations, etc. In the case of the Blanco, it is the best partner that a cocktail may have. The cocktail will taste like Arandas, and it will have the olfactory sense and taste profile of land that is so unique and pristine. For consumers, I always tell everybody to bring their favorite Tequila and taste it next to Mijenta, and you’ll decide what is good for you. We don’t want to sound cocky because we are humble people. We took all the Tequilas that we tasted in our careers into consideration. 

Juan, What is your vision for Mijenta?

JC: We wanted to deliver something that has an opportunity on a table. Mijenta Tequila is best enjoyed with friends. If my Tequila can pass the test of culinary dishes and be fine with citrus dishes,  cooked stews,  salads, and desserts, we’re somewhere. Everywhere two or three people have a bite to eat, there is room for Mijenta. There is room to enhance their experience. 

How may we follow your journey? 

Instagram: @mijentatequila

Facebook: @mijentatequila

Website: https://shopmijenta.com

By launching Unfiltered Hospitality, Co-Creators Gui Jaroschy and Ben Potts boast a consulting company that “make experience better.” In addition to creating Unfiltered Hospitality, Jaroschy has designed menus or collaborated on products with Williams Sonoma, British Airways, The Smithsonian Museum, and The James Beard Foundation and won recognition as a mixologist, director, and personality. Potts is also the co-owner and creative director of award-winning bars The Sylvester and Beaker & Gray, one of the Top 10 Best Bartenders in Miami as well as the former director of training and bar education for Blackbird Ordinary, Purdy Lounge, and The Bar in Coral Gables. Their process-driven, experience-focused hospitality development strikes a balance between the professional and the personal to find sustainable, applicable solutions to problems within the industry. Their approach stands on four pillars: process, people, product, and performance. These pillars suggest that process and people are as fundamental as product and performance in efficiency and success. Unfiltered Hospitality allows clients to acquire the tools and the knowledge to feel empowered and achieve the best results. There is also an emphasis on coaching and consulting to build and develop lasting relationships that clients then cultivate with their employees and partners. Through their Beverage Consulting, Coaching and Development, and Brand Strategy services, industry professionals Jaroschy and Potts offer a quality investment that stems from a combined thirty achievement-filled years in the hospitality industry. 

How did you two meet? Tell us where your journey intersected. 

GJ: Ben and I met each other as far back as 2008 through mutual friends. I started to manage the Delano Hotel bar in 2009 and around that time Ben had started a hospitality headhunting company. He invited me out to lunch, we hit it off very well, and we became fast friends. Some years later, Ben was bartending and becoming quite good at it. He rose through Blackbird and some other places. He was leaving those places to open Beaker & Gray and I was managing Broken Shaker in Miami. I thought he needed a job for 3 months tops, and ended up working at Shaker for over a year.

How did you two become the co-creators of Unfiltered Hospitality?

GJ: During the pandemic, we had a little time on our hands. A project came up that [Ben] got and he brought me in this time. We decided that we wanted to do more work together.  

BP: We’ve both done consulting separately over the years. We saw that the traditional consulting model doesn’t always produce the desired effect. When we got first together, we were like let’s just take this on, have a couple of extra bucks in our pocket. We saw that there had to be a better way. It started with consulting and it’s something that we still do but that consulting led to a revelation that we had. That revelation was that management, and hospitality professionals in general, are severely underserved from an educational standpoint. 

What inspired you to create Unfiltered Hospitality? 

BP: We found that there is a great opportunity for us to share our experience and knowledge, from the years that we’ve had working behind bars, with those management and hospitality professionals. That led to the second arm of Unfiltered. We still have our consulting practice. We try to make it a much more comprehensive process. We’ll get into something that we called the four pillars. Every part of our business goes through the four pillars which are process, people, product, and performance. These pillars are ingrained in each of the things that we do. For the educational component, right now we have one product that helps people make better menus because the menu-making process is a nightmare. It is all over the place. If you don’t have an organizational system and you don’t set it up right or engage the team, you end up taking on all the work yourself, forgetting to do a ton of things, and being out of the product.

GJ: To a lot of people in hospitality management, it feels like a dead-end job. For me at least, when I was managing my first hotel bar, I was working my ass off six days a week to make 45,000 a year and two promotions ahead of me were my worst nightmare. At that time, I wanted to get a brand job and bartend again. At Shaker, one of a couple of things happened. One, there was a product that I was passionate about and I was working with people that I was good friends with. Two, because Shaker is such a big name, I was invited to participate in a business development program. That process was super good for me because I got to see how to balance professional and personal and how to set goals for myself to move forward. That changed my career forever because if you’re making it, you ultimately choose how fulfilling your job will be. The more you set goals and work on improving the business, you have a reason to go to work every day. 

How do you distinguish Unfiltered Hospitality from other consulting companies?

GJ: We  are set on changing the conversation, not just being paid to fix a problem and have that same problem pop up in six months. The first part of education asks how we can invest in management to where the ownership and the business get a better product but the managers themselves can have a life and see a sustainable version of a long-term career in hospitality. That’s what is exciting to us. We are still figuring out day by day to make that a reality. As Ben said, it has kind of taken its shape when we do more traditional consulting because we spend all of this time figuring out how to help people develop systems to keep things moving forward. Now, when we do consult, we approach it in a different way. We develop the team and the management to embrace the consulting and take it a step further. 

BP: It’s not something that lasts three to six months. It lasts three to six years. Not to say that the cocktail menu should last three to six years, but making sure that [management and hospitality professionals] feel empowered enough to create their own next menu. Everything that we do is with the idea and intention of making the hospitality experience better. Everything on our website is better _____ because that is the intention behind our company. We know that there is a better way. We know that we can help people get there by doing some of the work ourselves which is essentially what we are doing with consulting but then also helping them figure out their own path. We always use the term “coaching” in a lot of our materials because you have to do the work. 

Why the emphasis on education?

BP: I was very fortunate with my upbringing. I went to good schools. I was able to go to college and graduate school. I received a ton of education. Before working in hospitality, I worked in investment banking. I was in Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory for a long time. To get to that point requires training and education. When I started in hospitality in 2009, I got the standard bar back training. I didn’t get anything about what the company is about or what my role plays in the grand scheme of things. It was basically like ‘these are the tasks that you have to accomplish.’ As I progressed through the industry, I noticed that that never really changed. Even when I had experience working in smaller organizations and large hotel groups–––the training is all the same. With my experience of having so much education going into the finance industry, I was like maybe if there were better education and better training in the hospitality industry, the whole industry could get better. People could have a better experience, not 1 out of 10 times, but 5 out of 10 times which would be an incredible improvement. The lack of education was a systemic issue that we could work toward solving.  

What inspires you to create (Bar design, menus, etc.)?

GJ: Connect with people. What we try to do when we are making a menu for someone, or if we are teaching someone else to make a menu, is to understand the concept. There’s the What, Why, and How. The Why is that beautiful thing that connects with people. It is why you’re doing it in the first place. If you can make your offering near that, or best accentuate that, or tell that story…that’s what really connects with people. Shaker is such a strong brand because they get that. The Why is the same and the four properties could not be more different. There’s an outdoor bar in Miami with a garden. In Chicago, it’s indoors in a basement. But they all have the mission statement: create an extraordinary experience that connects on a personal level. Go higher with the details but make sure it connects with people personally.   

In addition to Consulting, what other services does your company provide that you would like to highlight and promote?

BP: We are very excited about the human development of hospitality professionals. We also offer Brand Strategy for companies and suppliers that are trying to launch a market. Gui and I have both been buyers for six-plus years. We have been approached by thousands of brands over the years. We have found that experience to be lackluster. We wanted to find a better way to improve a product launch. We’ll help with anything from product launches to how to enter the market in a more effective way and how to talk to buyers. We apply the four pillars to just about everything that we do. It works in Consulting. It works in Education and Coaching. It works in Brand Strategy. 

To follow Gui, Ben, and Unfiltered Hospitality’s journey or sign up for their services:

Website: https://www.unfilteredhospo.com

Instagram: @guibme, @benpottsbenpotts, and @unfilteredhospo

Entrepreneurs and power couple Ana Luis Monis and Richard Monis understand that resilience, perseverance, and passion are the keys to a successful business. After bartending for sixteen years and creating his own craft cocktail catering company called Craft Cartel, Richard realized that for his side of the hospitality industry to survive the pandemic, he had to offer a product that championed the best parts of the craft cocktail business. With her Psychology background, Ana infused a sense of positivity, wellness, and jubilation that gives Jolly Hour boxes their vibrant, inspirational, and aesthetic appeal. Jolly Hour is a craft cocktail company that packages the taste, the excitement, and the joy of the cocktail industry into its boxes. Richard and Ana also support local businesses.  They locally source their ingredients  and their team consists of bartenders who have been disenfranchised by Covid-19. Jolly Hour boxes are an affordable way to bring delicious mixers into homes, corporate Zoom calls, and date nights from industry professionals who want to spread happiness and elevate everyone’s quarantine experience. 

How did you get started in the Hospitality Industry in Miami?

RM: I’m from the Northeast. I moved to [Miami] eight years ago. When I started Craft Cartel six years ago, I looked into the market to see what was out there. There were craft cocktail catering companies but, not to my surprise, there was one in San Diego, one in Hawaii, one in Chicago, one in New York, and nothing in South Florida. Nothing against South Floridians, because I love it, I live down here. We’re about eight to ten years behind every major city in America. When something trends somewhere else, it takes a long time to start happening down here. I think it’s important when new companies try to make a splash in a big market pop-up down here and try to make Miami, South Florida their home. Supporting these companies in the biggest and best way possible is immensely important. 

AM: I don’t come from a food and beverage background. Richie and I met in Mexico, while I was working at the beach for a summer, once the summer was over I went back to my city SLP, to work in the hospital -I am a Psychologist, but then when Richie and I started dating, and we moved to Miami, that is when I had to reinvent myself. I started working in hospitality because it’s Miami, and there are so many opportunities in the hospitality industry and I also have always liked working with people. From hospitality, I started focusing on marketing. There is so much psychology involved in marketing. I found a way to do my passion and connect with people. I started working in JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa for events and sales. Then, Covid hit. 

What inspired you two to co-create the Jolly Hour?

RM: This whole thing came about because I had this craft cocktail catering company, and I suddenly couldn’t do events. We just had a baby girl in January. We just bought a house in March. Everything went to shit the second week of March. I’ve been doing this for six years, so I knew that we had lost the rest of the season. I knew what the summer was like so I’m staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. I have eight months until I maybe see a dollar again. My wife was on maternity leave, and she wasn’t going back. She was an event manager for JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. They weren’t going to take anyone back in events. They laid everybody off because no events were happening. Now, we’re two people who doubled all of their expenses, a baby, and no business that I can operate. I didn’t have consumers because the market wasn’t comfortable with events. I benefited tremendously from the person [Ana] that I’m married to because my wife is a very positive-minded person. It’s all positivity, whereas I take things as they come. My wife made me realize that lots of good things have come out of really bad situations.  

AM: Everything goes in a perfect direction. We started Jolly Hour, and I said we could do this. It’s a great idea. It’s something that [Richie was] passionate about.  I like marketing and figuring out the look for Jolly Hour. I wanted the box to be pretty. There is so much love in the recipe that it had to translate in the box. Everyone likes when you have a present, and the gift is pretty on the outside too. We really try not to cut corners. We make a product that we believe in from start to finish, even in the packaging. Everything is well thought out, and that is where my input goes. You get the whole feel that we intend to share with everyone.

You are also the founder of Craft Cartel. How does that company differ from Jolly Hour?

I have had Craft Cartel, a craft cocktail catering company, for six years. I built a local following because my market is local compared to Jolly Hour which is across the United States. As I built up Jolly Hour, I understood the need to get local awareness, presence, and support. I support other local businesses as well. Even if they’re my competition, I still support them because I want the event industry to be strong in South Florida. With Jolly Hour, we sell things all over America, but we want to have things on lock at home too. I want people in South Florida to know that we are here and that a company like this exists. 

What are some key characteristics of being an entrepreneur? 

A good friend of mine said that business does not make the entrepreneur, the entrepreneur makes the business. It doesn’t matter what you do, Richie. You have a natural entrepreneurial spirit inside of you, so find a way to do the next thing. Just give it your all just like you did the first time. I had to do things differently because Covid has made the world slightly different. That’s literally how Jolly Hour happened. If I can’t go to an event space, set up my bars with my bartenders and fancy glassware, and make you fancy, cool cocktails that you can enjoy, how else could I do that? [The answer] was sticking everything in a box and shipping it to people’s front doors.

What has it been like to create these Jolly Hour boxes?

There was red tape. We can’t ship alcohol. I’ve been doing this for six years with Craft Cartel, and if there is one thing that I’ve learned it’s that the magic in what we do in the craft cocktail industry, those individuals that work behind bars, it’s not the alcohol that is the art of what we do. We don’t make alcohol. There isn’t a bartender in the world who distills his own Rum, Vodka, Gin, Whiskey, or Tequila. Other brands have that job and that is their expertise. Bartenders build a Rolodex of ingredients and information. We understand flavors and ingredients and how to pair those things together, how to properly prep them, and how to put them together intricately and uniquely so that people can add the one element which is alcohol. 

How do your mixers stand out from other mixers? 

The idea behind Jolly Hour boxes is that we are doing everything that you can’t go to the store and buy. We make these boxes from scratch. We work with only seasonal ingredients. We use a book called The Flavor Bible. In the back of The Flavor Bible, there are like a hundred pages of ingredients indexes. We use these indexes to come up with recipes, and then we work ingredients into the cocktails in a way that we think is the best. When we use bitters, we make it ourselves at home. Every single cocktail box on the market doesn’t do this. In other companies, the majority of the items in the subscription box are promo items. The market of craft cocktail boxes is primarily subscription-driven. You get one box, and you don’t get to choose the box. The items aren’t made by the company that sold you the box. At Jolly Hour, every item in the box is made by us. We make the bitters. We dehydrate our own fruits and flowers for garnishes. We make all the syrups in-house. We only use seasonal ingredients, so everything is at its peak. We’re having less of an impact on planet earth by doing so as well. We can also source locally by using what is here. We represent South Florida. When we do cocktail recipes, we want to make people freezing in Ohio feel like they’re in Miami. That’s what we do. We make cocktails that speak to the masses. It’s about tastiness, freshness, and unique, interesting recipes. 

Tell me some characteristics of your product: name, packaging, cost.

RM: We sell you a box that has twelve cocktails for $50.00. When you add a bottle of $12- $30, it costs you $7.00 a drink for a craft cocktail that is prepped, thought out, and just as good as a cocktail that you would find at a brick-and-mortar bar for $13-$14. 

AM: We want our product to be quality and sustainable. We don’t want to do what other companies are doing. We want to do what we like which is good products, good recipes, and good craft cocktails. When you get a box and everything has been sponsored, you don’t see the company’s value in it. We put value into our boxes. We put heart in our recipes. That’s not something you see everywhere. It’s very unique because we are creating everything from scratch. 

What can consumers expect from Jolly Hour Boxes?

You get to try different stuff every month. Different flavors are coming out. We do four different seasons. It’s a great way to take the liquor cabinet in your house and find something to do with it. It’s a great gift. It’s a great thing to do with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, friends, corporate Zoom calls, etc. We want you to be blown away. We make bitters that no one makes on the market. No one makes Kaffir lime bitters, banana bitters, or salty date bitters. The only way to have those flavor combinations is to do it on our own. We handle the whole process. You don’t wait more than a week or ten days. We do five-season craft cocktail boxes a month- all based on one main spirit. We do a Vodka box, a Tequila box, a Whiskey box, a Rum box, and a Gin box. We do that because, no matter what spirit you like, there is an option for you. 

Why is it important to support new businesses that come to Miami?

We need more of an industry in this city than just food, beverage, and tourism. We can’t just keep selling the dream because eventually, as we see with Covid, things can take the dream away real fast. It doesn’t matter how many days of sunshine we get when you can’t get down here because of Covid. Suddenly, everyone starts struggling. That is actually how Jolly Hour was born. 

What services does your company provide that you would like to highlight and promote?

In addition to the Jolly Hour boxes, we do virtual mixology classes. 

How do we order your product? 

You can order Jolly Hour boxes at thejollyhour.com.

How may we follow your journey? What are your social media accounts?

Instagram: @jollyhour and @craft_cartel

Facebook: @jollyhourbox and @craftcartelcocktailcatering

Twitter: @jollyhourbox