Crafted with Purpose.
Built for Bars that Create Culture.
A Rebellion in a Bottle
We didn’t set out to start a beverage company. We just wanted people to have a better time at the bar.
The idea came in 2017 returning from a trip to Napa Valley frustrated. It wasn’t the wine that had failed—ironically, it was the lack of anything else. Some people weren’t drinking. Some couldn’t. Others didn’t want to. But no one had thought to offer an alternative. That silence was loud. And that silence sparked an idea.
At the same time in the UK and Australia, two names—Seedlip and Lyre’s—were building the first wave of non-alcoholic spirits. We watched, tasted, learned. He admired the ambition but rejected the direction. These brands were playing the volume game—mass market, online-first, influencer-charged. We wanted something different. More personal. More human. More… real.
We called it Sexy AF—a cheeky, unapologetic brand that ended up winning Best in Show and four Double Golds at the 2021 World Spirits Awards. For most founders, that would’ve been the champagne moment. For us, it was confirmation we were on the right path—but it wasn’t enough. He was already obsessing over how to make it better.
“We find it hard to believe Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam, or Jack Daniel’s won their first awards and said, ‘That’s good enough. If they didn’t settle, why should we—just because our competition did when they won an award?”
We weren’t looking to win additional medals for something that had already proven itself. He was looking to evolve the entire experience of what drinking could be—from the first pour to the final impression. That mindset became the foundation for what came next: not a refinement, but a complete reinvention.
We dismantled what we rebuilt and started again, obsessing over ingredients, aging, process. No artificial colors. No shortcuts. Just patience and obsessive craftsmanship. A ten-month process for SOBREO versus two months for Sexy AF. Why? Because of six months of oak aging and individually macerating botanicals instead of blending them all at once.
The result? Better flavor profiles, more complexity—and a formula that actually enhanced the flavors and aromas of alcoholic spirits. Hundreds of batches were tested. The result was SOBREO—a zero-alcohol, zero-sugar elixir built not to mimic alcohol, but to elevate drinking—with or without it.
While most of the category pushed sobriety and “Dry January” messaging, instead of preaching “don’t drink,” we focused on “drink better”—and do it in a bar. We made a product to help bartenders serve drinks that feel special, regardless of what’s in the glass.
Instead of scaling into Walmarts and Targets, we leaned further into learning. In 2024, SOBREO outlasted the category’s early stars (Seedlip, Lyre’s) and outperformed the new wave (Pathfinder, Ritual, Ghia, Free Spirits) to become the only brand served at Smoke and Mirrors, Las Vegas’s first state-regulated cannabis lounge. For a full year, it was the base for every drink in the house. Not because we thought cannabis was the future of hospitality, but because we knew that understanding it deeply would make us better—better at hospitality, better at innovation, better at seeing what’s next.
At the end of that year, we went dark online, shut down Vegas, and moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut—bringing that hard-won insight to the cultural capital of American hospitality: New York. Ready to start the next chapter in the evolution of SOBREO.
The difference? SOBREO doesn’t shout online. It doesn’t sit on retail shelves or court influencers. It’s exclusive to venues. It’s reserved for staff who give a damn. It’s a quiet revolution in the hands of people who care.
We are the first to admit the journey hasn’t been easy. Failed partnerships, disappointing ambassadors, and a thousand missed shortcuts. But every step, taught us something. Taught us how to listen to bartenders, how to refine a drink, how to stay honest in a culture obsessed with hype.
Eight years in, we're still hands-on. Still under the radar. Still swimming upstream. “We’ve had more bad days than good, but every morning, we wake up excited. And every single time we see a bartender pour SOBREO for the first time and watch their face light up—it’s all worth it.”
This isn’t a brand that plays by the rules. It’s not a product that bends to trends. It’s a belief. A conviction. A rebellion that’s been quietly creating since 2017—and is just getting started.