Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Cosmopolitan cocktail made perfectly every time?

By Georgetta L. Morque

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Cosmopolitan cocktail made perfectly every time? For Pam Smith, Diane DeBease, and Beth Brinkman, this question stirred up some creative thoughts, and before too long, the trio concocted a mix of their own and True Cocktails was born.

 True Cocktails is an all-natural, zero-calorie, and convenient powdered cocktail mix for craft cocktail lovers. The product comes in two varieties – Cosmo and Margarita. Each can be mixed with the appropriate alcohol to make a cocktail. True Cocktails is packaged with six single serve packets in a portable and reusable shaker. The product made its Rye debut at a special event last month at Parkers where it was well received. Overall, True Cocktails has been a hit and the initial production sold out.

 Friends and mothers of similar aged children, the three partners realized they worked well together when they volunteered to run an estate sale at The Osborn several years ago. They also discovered that they had related professional backgrounds. Smith worked in advertising, DeBease, in market research, and Brinkman, in design. As their children started leaving the nest, they wanted to find a productive use of their time. Weekly brainstorming led to the creation of a marketing company, North 40 Marketing Group LLC. The name comes from the coordinates of Rye.

 True Cocktails evolved with an organic beginning, said Brinkman, starting with the question about cosmos over lunch. One idea led to another and soon, they became immersed in researching the cocktail market, investigating ingredients and developing a new product. They learned that calories are a large barrier to drinking cocktails for both men and women, yet they weren’t able to find products on the market that were low calorie and tasted good. “We didn’t want the after taste from an artificial sweetener,” said DeBease.

 True Cocktails uses monk fruit, a fruit-based sweetener. Along with it are crystallized lime and orange for the Margarita mix. The Cosmo mix includes the same ingredients, plus cranberry juice powder. The group worked for many months on the formulation to determine the best consistency and taste. Convenience was also a goal. Smith said she wanted a cocktail to be as convenient as a sugar packet. True Cocktails, with its single-serve packets, is easily portable for picnics, sailing on the Sound, and tailgating.

 Although the process from idea to product was long and challenging, the founders enjoyed the experience and are pleased with the outcome. They’re already at work developing new flavors. True Cocktails can be found and purchased online at truecocktails.com. Be sure to visit True Cocktails on Facebook to learn more.