Mingle Mocktails Builds an Eight-Figure Brand From a Side Hustle

By Amara Osei

Founder Laura Taylor said Mingle Mocktails brought in about $250,000 in its first 18 months. Taylor said the company is now an eight-figure brand.

Taylor, 55, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, started Mingle in February 2017 while working full-time in corporate tech sales. She left that job in 2019 to focus on the business. Taylor’s responses were edited for length and clarity.

What sparked Mingle Mocktails?

Taylor had given up alcohol in 2016 and found work events and social occasions difficult because the alternatives were soda or water. Planning a girls’ weekend in the Poconos, she crafted a mocktail to bring and felt a strong sense of social connection.

“It was so strong that I knew I had to do something about it,” Taylor said. She went straight from the trip to her home office instead of seeing her family, drafted a business plan and incorporated Mingle two weeks later.

What did it take to launch?

Before launch, Taylor tracked down a failed mocktail company’s founder to learn what went wrong. She spoke with about 30 industry figures, from Coca-Cola executives to one of FitAid’s founders, as nonalcoholic cocktails were not yet a category. She then hired a small incubation firm, which helped her ramp up quickly, and committed around $125,000 initially.

Taylor said business information is widely available through AI, but BevNET was invaluable for industry-specific support and the commercial side of beverage. The Tory Burch Foundation supported her as a female entrepreneur and named her a 2019 fellow. The Female Founder Collective also connected her with women founders she still relies on.

What did Taylor wish she handled differently?

Taylor said she second-guessed early decisions, including flavor balance and graphic design, and wishes she had shelved her fear of failure and trusted her instincts sooner. She felt confident about the Mingle name, but said the indecision burned energy that could have gone into building the company.

Contacts warned Taylor not to enter beverage because success rates were dismal. She still found the workload surprising and worked more than 60 hours a week in the early years.

She called the effort all-consuming, remains deeply passionate and now looks back in awe of what she poured into Mingle. She advised prospective founders to prepare for that level of commitment.

How did a barcode misfire?

Mingle launched three flavors in 750ml bottles across 100 Whole Foods stores, with Taylor designing the labels. Whole Foods called after every Cucumber Melon Mojito rang up as a Cranberry Cosmopolitan because Taylor copied the wrong UPC barcode onto the label.

Taylor said she bought a roll of small barcode stickers and corrected every affected bottle by hand. At least seven pallets of Mojito, representing more than 5,000 individual 750ml bottles, were in the warehouse. She spent several days re-stickering them and now urges a second set of eyes to review nutrition panels and barcodes.

When did revenue become consistent?

Taylor said Mingle’s sales began around month six, while consistent monthly revenue took about 18 months to establish. Over the following 12 months, the business brought in around $250,000.

Where does Mingle stand now?

Taylor said Mingle is the No. 1 nonalcoholic ready-to-drink cocktail brand in the U.S. She also said the company ranks as Total Wine’s No. 1 brand across the entire nonalcoholic category by revenue.

Taylor identified Mingle as the official nonalcoholic beverage of the Academy of Country Music Awards. She said the company has national distribution in more than 15,000 retail doors and over 500 bars and restaurants.

Taylor said the launch of Mingle Mood made the company the only brand offering both alcohol-free cocktails and functional beverages. During the month of the interview, Mingle added a limited-edition Espresso Martini to its lineup.

What drives the expansion?

Taylor said no two days are the same and she learns something new every day. Sober for 11 years, she wants Mingle to give people an alcohol-free option for one night or as a lifestyle while preserving social connection and celebration. “I want Mingle to be there for every occasion,” she said.

Taylor advised founders to know why they are starting a business and write the answer somewhere visible each day. She said 100% commitment is necessary because founders risk burning the candle at both ends. Her own commitment helped her persist through difficult decisions and long hours.

Mingle enters its next phase with Mingle Mood, the limited-edition Espresso Martini, more than 15,000 retail doors and over 500 bars and restaurants. The commercial test is whether that wider range and distribution can convert Taylor’s claimed category leadership into sustained demand. Taylor said the company was just getting started.