We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charlei H. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charlei below.

Charlei , appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Dominique Mariette, Co-Founder of Drank Pouch actually came up with the name. Originally, the pouches were intended to be in plastic pouches but as Drank Pouch developed it became clear that bottling our cocktails was the right direction to go. I remember being in a meeting and I was like, Apple doesn’t sell us apples so why would we change our name?

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Drank Pouch is the seed of a good time. It was literally created with a good-time in mind. It was unexpected. We we were not looking to become founders of a hand-crafted cocktail company. It just happened in a why-not type of way. Our #cheersoverfears philosophy is mantra; a reminder to enjoy things and embrace joy. It mirrors our sisterhood and how we show up for one another.

A few of the things that set us apart is how we source our ingredients, and how we craft our cocktails. It’s so important to us to craft cocktails that don’t make people feel bad while drinking or the morning after. Of course that will never be 100% in our control but we do what we can and thats clear when experiencing our dranks!

Currently, we have three timeless cocktails:

Playa as F*ck – a neat sweet groovy blend of flavors paired with tequila and hints of lavender.

El Lujo – a luxury fuse of champagne & velvety flavors coupled with a robust Tequila.

Demon Time (our best seller) – a nostalgic blend of invigorating citrus and cognac made for a good time.

As of now, Drank Pouch is available as a set of three in 50 ml bottles for $21.00. We have drops where orders can be placed, and we’re always take inquiries for collaborations. Through collaborations alone we’ve seen our Mini Set is perfect for TSA travel, a multitude of events, gifting opportunities, and of course personal enjoyment!

I’m really proud of Dominique & I because we’ve truly taken our time. So many times, we’ve been met with pressures out of our control and we always stay the course. Sooner than soon, we’ll be launching a bigger size bottle, and then another product that’s really going to be something! I’m also really proud of how we’ve honed in on our branding identity in a way that’s authentic to us. From visuals, to our voice, our tone, and our philosophy. It took about a year and a half to develop but we took our time and we’re both really proud of that.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Oh God! I can’t say all the details but Dominique and I met during a snow blizzard back in 2010. We were snowed in at a mutual friends house and that’s all I’m going to say! When we reach our first million I’ll tell the story in full – it’s actually so silly!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

Absolutely – all of our cocktails are made in-house.

Each and every drank we bottle is handcrafted. We’ve talked a lot about going into manufacturing. We talk about what it that means for our ‘hand-crafted” promise, and certainly what it means when we scale to a larger demand. It’s not a blindspot, it’s just something we haven’t decided just yet – we still have a lot of work to do.

Manufacturing a product is no easy thing, especially when there is real intention and reasoning behind it. There’s a-lot of A/B testing, especially in our case. You have to take your time, analyze the data, and focus on the numbers. Where does it align with your vision? Which areas is it meeting brand promises and customer needs? There’s a whole slew of practices behind manufracturing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drankpouch/
• Other: collaborations & inquiries – [email protected]

Image Credits
Photo of me in brown, Photographer – Claude Langley Founders Photo – House of Opa