This New Drinks Retailer Aims To Disrupt The Spirits & Cocktail Industry For The Better

Socially Spirited Fun

Dear Drink To That reader,

When a good business idea comes along in the drinks industry, it’s my duty to inform you about it.

Socially Spirited, a disruptive new cocktail and spirits retailer, is exactly that. 

Founded in the UK by Jamie Isenwater, Socially Spirited aims to educate and reward people who’re into cocktails and spirits through high-grade products and a brand ambassador programme.

Products include the all-rounder Umbrella Gin and smooth-tasting Mamy Wata rum that have been sourced and developed with a true love of spirits in mind.

As much as I could tell you about Socially Spirited, it’s always best to hear the story straight from the horse’s mouth, which is why I got in touch with Isenwater for comment. 

What inspired the creation of Socially Spirited and why should people get involved with the brand ambassador programme?

Socially Spirited came about because we realised people love to drink cocktails but often don’t have the knowledge, ingredients or confidence to make them at home. In those cases, it’s much easier to serve wine or beer but the enjoyment isn’t quite the same. Socially Spirited was created to help bridge that gap.

People should get involved in the ambassador programme if they are either able to educate others about cocktail-making and their spirits choices or they would like to embark on this journey towards making cocktails at home, themselves. 

Of course, for anyone that’s part of the Ambassador programme, they have the opportunity of earning some additional income at the same time and that’s obviously a great incentive in these particularly stretching times.

What was the sourcing process like for creating Umbrella Gin and Mamy Wata rum?

In the case of every brand, we started off by asking what problem did we want to solve and that inevitably led to a particular cocktail or serve that we then worked back from. In the case of Umbrella Gin it was a liquid that would make an amazing Negroni but also mix with a variety of tonics given that is how most people drink gin in the U.K. 

For Mamy Wata, it was to create a rum packed with flavour that is perfect for daiquiris and mojitos and that can stand up to the wide range of rum serves without getting lost as most white rums do.

Once we knew what we were looking for, it was a case of searching out the best craft distilleries, testing dozens of different recipes and then iterating over and over until we were sure we had the perfect liquid. 

We had a team of current and former bartenders who blind-tasted their way through hundreds of products to get to what is the current Socially Spirited range.

What kind of products are you looking to launch in future?

We’re currently working on a Tequila and a Bourbon which would round out the range nicely in the short term. Those two, in addition to the current range, would cover us for 18 of the world’s 20 most popular cocktails. 

The next wave after that is likely to include Mezcal, a dry Vermouth to go with our sweet one, an aged rum and either a brandy or Cognac. After that, we’d love to work on some of the more ’under-the-radar’ regional categories such as Shochu, Sake, Pisco and Calvados. We’d also love to add some non-alcoholic spirits to the range but we don’t think, as a whole, that the quality is quite there yet.

Support Socially Spirited

Check out the Socially Spirited store and see the products for yourself.

For transparency’s sake, I’ve joined the brand ambassador programme and by clicking the button below I’ll receive a commission on any products you purchase.