Hella Cocktail Co. Stir Up Creativity, Culture, and Charisma

Williamsville, NY – When you think of a classic cocktail, it contains four distinct and essential ingredients: spirit, water (or ice), sugar, and bitters – which bring balance.  Without one, it’s possible the entire concoction goes down the drain, and it takes just the right team to know the formulation behind those bitters, in particular, to make the proper cocktail.

A Tops spokeswoman had the pleasure of speaking with Jomaree Pinkard, one of three Co-Founders of Hella Cocktail Co., a brand they proudly carry in its stores.

The company, founded in 2011, quite by accident, started simply as a hobby between three young men who met, of all places, on Craigslist.  While they all came from diverse backgrounds, they all had one passion in common – they shared food and beverage as a love language. When they began, these co-founders met on nights and weekends, honing their craft of creating the perfect bitters, their first of many products.

“It takes a long time to make,” Pinkard said. “When we started, we made it in mason jars and [it] took 30 days to make because it has a botanical and spice infusing process. What people find when they try is that it’s difficult to make and do so consistently – but we could.  We’ve always been committed to a quality process.”

Time and again, the “Bitter Boys,” as they were affectionately termed, delivered bold flavor, quality and consistency.

“Bitters are the backbone for many – the salt and pepper, if you will, for the bartender,” Pinkard said.

They soon learned they were ahead of the trend, delivering Hella intensely flavored bitters amongst the bar community as speakeasies were starting to make a comeback.

“I think the bartending community was looking for more variety and innovation – they experimented with us. We were all working towards growing the cocktail community together,” Pinkard said.

But they didn’t set out to be a business. They enjoyed it, but they found over the years that their product had legs the more they were appreciated by the community.

Hence, they set out with three goals in mind:

1) They wanted to elevate people’s choices, offering selection and craftsmanship; they wanted to offer flavor

2) Flavor – coming from diverse backgrounds, each co-founder brought their own cultural background to the table which was key – Jomaree Pinkard – (African American) Tobin Ludwig – Jewish American, and Eddie Simeon – Mexican/Filipino American

 3) Stories to share – each had varied and broad perspectives that were important to infuse into the brand.

“This is what makes our brand-our brand,” Pinkard said. “Hella intense and Hella delicious.” And so Hella Cocktail Co. was born.

When asked where they see their brand going; “Up and to the right,” Pinkard laughed. “We want to build more community and build on flavor.  Quality and convenience will continue to be a big part of what we do. [Also] engaging people in sharing their authentic voice. We are what diversity looks like and when it works, so we’re just going to keep adding perspective. And diversity of flavor alike sure does make a good cocktail.”

As in any new business venture, there are things to be learned, and Pinkard said that the biggest takeaway was;

“Don’t discount your influence or your journey. It’s most important.  Everyone’s stories are important and bring value, and sometimes you don’t think that when you’re starting out. There is authentic value to yourself. When we got together, it was over food and beverage, just like when we grew up, and that’s never changed, so we leaned into that. It’s a purposeful way to see things, and we’ll continue to lean in,” Pinkard said.

You can find Hella Cocktail Co. Bitters in most Tops locations. To learn more about this product line and their story, visit www.hellacocktail.co

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