We recently connected with Sean O’Neill and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was early 2020 during the lockdown. My wife and I, both in the hospitality industry, all of a sudden had no work and were stuck at home. There seemed to be no end in sight.

One night, I came across an article online about the best liquors to drink straight. The problem presenting itself was that people no longer had mixers for their cocktails at home and were either not able or not willing to go out to the store to buy more. Being a mixologist with nothing but time on my hands, I realized that this was a problem I could solve. I could create mixers and deliver them to people’s houses so they could enjoy good cocktails without having to leave their homes.

I had actually already been experimenting with various immune-boosting ingredients to make something non-alcoholic that I could drink to help me combat my own anxiety. After deciding to make mixers, it seemed like the perfect place to start. I tried my concoction with bourbon, and it turned out to be delicious! We named our first mixer Immuni-Tea. Knowing that many people are not big bourbon drinkers, I wanted to make a second mixer that paired well with other liquors and thus, our Blueberry Basilade was born.

I did think that this idea was a good one, but we had not initially intended for it to turn into a business. I truly wanted to use my skills to provide something positive to our community during a stressful time. I figured that if I was suffering from anxiety, it was likely that several others were, as well, and this was a way that I could help. It was only after our neighbors started insisting that they pay for the mixers and sharing our story with their friends outside our neighborhood that we decided it might be worth turning into a business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

xI have worked in the bar and restaurant industry since I moved to America when I was twelve, so I have had a lot of time to hone my skills. I enjoy experimenting with different ingredients and flavor combinations to create delicious and innovative cocktails.

My wife and I moved to Austin in 2016 and though I immediately got another bartending job, my goal was to open my own bar that would collaborate with local distilleries, breweries, wineries and farms to celebrate what central Texas has to offer. My wife and I had just started looking for land a month or two before the lockdown, which instead led us to the business we have now.

We started out as a weekly mixer delivery service and continued that model for about two years. We would post a new menu each week and deliver all throughout the greater Austin area on weekends. The mixers are all made with fresh ingredients and do not contain alcohol, which enables our customers to decide which spirit they would like to pair with each mixer, (though we do offer suggested pairings) or to drink them as mocktails.

As bars and restaurants have opened back up and the need for cocktails at home has regressed, we are switching our focus more to providing mixers for private events like birthdays, corporate mixers, bachelor/ette parties and weddings, though we do still post new delivery menus for holiday weekends. It has been especially rewarding to be able to help our customers make their events extra special. We often have people reach out to us because they are hosting their own event and want to offer their guests unique cocktails, but they also want to enjoy their own party and not be stuck behind the bar all night.

I think our mixers have sold so well because they are crafted fresh and local and not made with the preservatives and unnatural ingredients that you find in the mixers you would buy in a store. I also believe that there is great value in the fact that we have done all of the work ourselves. We are the ones making the mixers, communicating through our newsletters, delivering to our customers and bartending the events. Our customers know us and our story which has built a level of trust that I don’t think is felt with a lot of other businesses.

I am most proud of creating this business from the ground up, especially during a time that we really needed it. No one ever expects for all of their household income to suddenly stop. I am extremely proud that we were able to work together and get through a difficult time and come out stronger on the other side.

The main thing that I would like readers to know about our brand is how much we care about the quality of our products and the satisfaction of our customers. I’m sure that sounds a little cheesy, but it’s true. We have been so supported by our customers up until this point that we want to make sure they are always happy with what we provide.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

We had been strictly a word-of-mouth business for the first several months we were in operation. When we had gotten enough of a routine down that we determined we could handle more business, we decided to invest in some marketing. Our first target was a local paper that is distributed once a month with updates about what’s going on in our community — construction plans, school updates, government issues, etc. One section provides an overview of business openings, closings, relocations and upcoming projects. We reached out to the paper to find out how much it would cost to include our business in the list of new openings and, much to our delight, the listing was free. We submitted some information and a couple pictures and waited for the next issue to come out. When we got the issue in the mail, not only was our business in the list, but it was the feature! We were shocked. We had not asked for it and didn’t have to pay for it, and it was so exciting to get new clients who said they had read about us in that paper. The following month, the feature business opening was a new large chain grocery store, which only added to our disbelief that our tiny business had earned the spot the month before. It gave us some validation in the early days that we were doing something unique and worthwhile.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think owning a business is a constant test of one’s resilience. We have met several hurdles along the way that we have had to overcome. The first one that comes to mind was pretty early in our new venture. We had been delivering our mixers in Mason jars, but a few months after we started the business, America faced a nationwide shortage of Mason jars and lids. We needed to come up with a new way to bottle and serve our mixers and get the new containers within a week because we delivered every weekend. We ended up deciding on 750ml glass bottles, which also ended up having their own shortage toward the end of 2021, but thankfully we had enough of a supply stored to make our way through that one.

Another difficult and unexpected test of our resilience came in February 2021 when Texas experienced a freeze and statewide power crisis. Our business was doing really well. We had a successful holiday season and were gaining momentum into the new year, but then the storm hit. We had to take a week off because we had no power or clean water to make our products. The following week, our sales were only about 1/3 of what they had been before the freeze. We were grateful that we had any orders at all, and we focused more of our efforts on reaching out to customers and offering to deliver free clean water if they needed it. It was understandably a tough time for a lot of people, and it took us over a month to get back to our normal sales volume.

Our most recent test of resilience has been the switch from weekly delivery service to only holidays and private events. It is a risk to move away from weekly revenue, even if it is less than we were making in previous years. The transition is not yet fully complete, as we want to make sure that when we are doing important events such as weddings we are doing them right. We are working on building a mobile bar that will be both functional and beautiful and will hopefully elevate our services to the next level.

Contact Info:

• Website: Crafterscocktails.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crafterscocktailstexas/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crafterscocktailstexas

Image Credits
All photos were taken by Crafter’s Cocktails