Ian & Carly Blessing: Not bitter about leading the non-alcoholic conversation
/A look back on two years of leadership in the category, but more importantly, in the community
Ask anyone in the beverage world about the non-alcoholic drinks space four years ago, and they would tell you it was non-existent. Other than big alcohol’s dealcoholized wine and beer at chain retail, there wasn’t much available for the non-drinker. In that void, former French Laundry sommeliers and founders of All The Bitter Ian and Carly Blessing happened to quit drinking and have kids and began to seriously consider what they were going to drink now that wine was off the table. As 2020 started to unfold, a virtual onslaught of non-alcoholic products started to hit the market and the Blessings did what we all did - emptied their wallets to build a home ‘dry’ bar.
As they experimented with non-alcoholic cocktails and drank bottles of non-alcoholic wine they realised that adding bitters to zero proof drinks elevated the taste in a way nothing else could. With their background in wine, and a love of the non-alcoholic drinks category, they created their own path forward in a way that has changed the trajectory of the entire industry and positioned them as leaders in the space.
“The entire reason we started All The Bitter was to help people make better drinks. So we could offer an ingredient missing from the marketplace,” explained Ian. “We were able to take our knowledge of flavours, and putting together flavours, to assemble and create the recipes for our non-alcoholic bitters. And learning very quickly how to make good non-alcoholic cocktails!”
It’s been two years since the couple launched their first three products and people can’t stop raving about them. The original three core products have expanded to four, with small batch ‘special release’ bitters selling out like hot cakes.
“The word is out, so our last small batch of lemon verbena bitters sold out in 36 hours,” Carly explained. “And we have a new batch of chocolate mole coming up soon which I’m sure will also sell out even quicker!”
The success has meant an exciting move into their own small commercial kitchen space this year. Glimpsed briefly on a zoom call with the founders, it’s clear All The Bitter has come a long way and is a small but mighty enterprise.
Carly says it’s terrifying.
“It’s terrifying, but super exciting. Every day we come home and are so happy and grateful and terrified at the same time.”
More importantly though is people not only rave about their bitters, but they also rave about Ian and Carly. This is one of the keys to their success. What has made them leaders in the space is their genuine approach to community first.
Ian was frank about their origin story.
“We both came from actively abusing alcohol, and AA wasn’t a fit for us, so when we found a community online that we could share and share milestones with it was awesome. We get to talk about n/a drinks. We’re not talking about sad alcohol abuse stories - we’re talking about beverages. Instead of talking about what we can’t do, let’s talk about what we can do.”
They’ve continually added value to online groups, social media conversations and articles about the movement, and never centred the conversation around their product. They celebrate both people’s milestone posts and non-alcoholic wine reviews with an equally joyful approach.
“Of course the product was needed in the market, but our mandate was really to use All The Bitter as a vehicle to educate and move the community forward. We’ve been passionate about this long before we made our bitters. We were excited about the community first.”
“Our mandate was really to use All The Bitter as a vehicle to educate and move the community forward. We’ve been passionate about this long before we made our bitters. We were excited about the community first.”
For Carly, she finds joy in helping change the narrative around mommy-wine culture.
“It’s still very strong out there, and I just want to help women see there’s a better way to deal with stress and what you’re going through than drinking.”
She leads by example. The pair say they equally share the load of both All The Bitter and raising their family and both agree they wouldn’t be where they are today if they were still drinking.
“Kids are up at 6 ready to party whether you have a hangover or not,” laughed Carly, who admits to taking on more of the mental load of family planning and scheduling despite the demands of being an entrepreneur.
Ian shares they’re pretty much a dream team both at home and at work.
“Our skill sets are very complimentary. Carly likes to get her hands dirty and do the physical work testing batches and preparing the bitters, whereas I like to do the other soft skills stuff like finance and marketing. We work well together!”
Despite the meteoric growth of their company, they are still grounded in their values and why they do what they do. They often get emails from people sharing just how much of an impact they’ve made on them.
“People write to us and say “You’ve dramatically improved my life” and we’re over here thinking ‘we make cocktail bitters…it’s just bitters’. People tell us these beautiful stories, and it’s meaningful,” shared Ian.
What’s in the future for All The Bitter? They say canned bitters and soda is the next natural step for them, as they can easily use their own extract and local resources to get it rolled out.
“What we want to do more than anything is make wine, but we’re still many years away from that happening. There is so much demand for the product, and more and more restaurants will be building n/a programs, so it’s just one foot in front of the other for now!”
Whatever is next for the Blessings, the non-alcoholic community will surely be there to support them, one bitter drop at a time.
You can find All The Bitter in the U.S. through allthebitter.com and in Canada through Cocktail Emporium.
