Blind Tiger Spirited Cocktails

Demand for non-alcoholic beverages as artfully crafted and sophisticated as their spirited counterparts has been steadily growing. Even before the global pandemic shut down bars and restaurants, mocktails and whole months dedicated to abstaining were trending.

In August 2019, NielsenIQ reported on the “sober curious” movement and flattening consumption of alcohol in bars and restaurants, primarily driven by Millennials. When Nielsen began tracking the trend a year earlier, more than half of consumers said they had abstained from alcohol at some point during the year with concern for health cited as a primary motivator. NielsenIQ went on to report that between 2018 and 2019, retail sales of nonalcoholic beverages had grown by an extraordinary $1.1 billion.

Today, unlike during the Prohibition that went into effect in 1920, many people choose not to consume alcohol on a regular basis. However, the attraction of having a drink with friends remains. In response to an unmet demand, as well as decreasing sales brought on by the pandemic, Rebecca Styn, owner of Room 33 Speakeasy & Café in Erie, PA, answered the call to provide sophisticated drinks sans spirits.

Styn, whose family introduced her to music and piano at a young age, was pursuing a career in performance when she realized she preferred to be in front of people rather than spending the majority of her time in a practice room. Switching her studies to administration, she found herself working with nonprofit organizations in fundraising and marketing. One passion was revitalizing Erie’s downtown.

Particularly fond of the history, music and art of the 1920s, '30s and '40s and considering that Prohibition ended in 1933, she knew she wanted to do something around the number 33, marrying the pre- and post- eras. Coincidentally, a historic building at 1033 State Street was available and fit with her mission of revitalizing downtown. In 2017, she and her husband and partner, Rob Mahrt, opened Room 33, a speakeasy-style restaurant in downtown Erie.

When the pandemic hit, in-house operations at Room 33 shut down and sales became takeout only. Pennsylvania laws did not allow sales of alcohol to-go, an exception that was granted in New York State through June 2021. At the time, 90 percent of Room 33’s revenue came from bar sales. With a little bit of research and her affinity for early 20th century style, Styn came up with the idea to create a line of ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic cocktails inspired by Room 33’s classic in-house recipes for Prohibition-era favorites: Sidecar, Southside, Bee’s Knees and Ward 8. Mixologist and product designer Elizabeth Heffernan created new cocktail recipes that would mirror the flavors of the originals, but without the alcohol. The Room 33 team including Shawn McCall, general manager and business developer, and Mahrt, the finance guru, adopted the brand name, Blind Tiger, from the nickname given to speakeasies during Prohibition.

Styn wrote a business plan, researched grants and funding, and in January of 2021, won first place, a $50,000 prize, in the Northwest PA Big Idea contest sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, an initiative of the PA Department of Community & Economic Development. The Ben Franklin Idea Fund provided the start-up financing to launch Blind Tiger Spirit-Free Cocktails. A wildly successful Kickstarter campaign added fuel to the fire.

Parkside Beverage in southern Pennsylvania, a connection made through the Ben Franklin idea contest, helped Styn and the Blind Tiger team source natural and organic ingredients, juices and extracts, and engineer the production process, including finding a co-packing manufacturer in Cleveland willing to work with their bottle-filling process and small scale.

Unlike traditional mixers that tend to be syrupy and sweet, and non-alcoholic spirits, Blind Tiger Spirit-Free Cocktails are ready to drink (just shake over ice and pour) and can also be used as mixers in spirited as well as non-spirited drinks. They are even refreshing mixed with sparkling mineral water. The essence of a spirit, such as juniper in place of gin, is included in the cocktail so the flavor is already there and can be enhanced by adding the spirit that inspired the original drink.

According to Styn, the goal is to “take a complex craft and make it as easy as possible. We wanted to keep the flavor profiles complex and allow customers to enjoy the same experience with people who do and who don’t want to drink.”

In the coming year, Styn and her team will be wrestling with unknowns—learning to scale production to changing demands, adapting to consumer feedback and navigating the logistics of packing and shipping within the constraints of limited supply chains. In the short term, Blind Tiger cocktails can be found at the Erie Food Co-op and some local Country Fairs.