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A
I always had some of the same issues from bar owners. After I create the menu, they call me after a few weeks. Drinks are not the same when you were here. I think there's a problem that consultants need to figure out. I'm all about sharing the knowledge, right? I don't hide stuff. I don't keep secrets, you know, so when I was sharing this, I realized that the way I'm explaining to people, it's like a system, right? This mixology cocktail kind of craft thing. I want everyone to be able to do it. If you buy our product, they fit like Legos. Anyone can make a recipe that looks like the best massage in the world.
B
Tao, welcome to the DTC podcast. I'm glad we could put this together. I think I saw your brand like three months ago or something. It's even before you had even launched. This is a little, a little bit earlier stage than we normally have brands on. But you've now launched, you've got, I think, a really cool product. Tell me why you built acid, buddy.
A
Thanks for having me, Eric. So, yeah, the story goes way back, since I started bartending. I started 15 years ago in Montreal, Canada. And as you know, we, we don't, we have some rules there that, you know, prevent us from really exploring a lot. We don't have a lot of options as you know, our American neighbors, prices are higher. So that's kind of how I started bartending. And I always have to figure it out, right? I would see something that internationally is happen and I'm like, can we get this to Canada? Can we make it happen? How can I make it better? And then in 2018, I started consulting for full time. And I always had some of the same issues from bar owners. You know, after I create the menu, they call me after a few weeks, the drinks are not the same when, when you were here. And instead of taking it as like, okay, I'm better than the bartenders, they have, and that's the problem, I was like, no, I think there's a problem that consultants need to figure out. You know, we try to have consistency. And sometimes I would create a bar program, leave that establishment and come back and see that the manager, bar owners decided to not do fresh lime or lemon anymore. So obviously the drinks that I left wouldn't taste the same because when they buy frozen lime, you know, it's overly bitter, it's too tart. Now it's cheaper, maybe faster for them, especially for high volume places. So that's how the problem already started. And then bartenders at some high level bars started to try to replicate the acidity that we find in citrus that we use by putting different, you know, food safe acids like citric acid, lactic acid, malic acid, absorb it, which is pretty much vitamin C. And I was like, okay, that's a good solution. So I was trying to even be a consumer myself, right? Because I, if I find a good brand, I would use it as a consultant. And not to say that they were bad, but I felt that they were maybe too tart, maybe they weren't hitting this part. They weren't kind of, they weren't a one to one replacement like you had to put a little bit because they were too tart. So I started playing with it myself. I'm like, okay, well I guess that's a, that's a good way of doing it. So I'm not reinventing the wheel here when it came to playing with acid in water to replace lime. But what I did at the time just again, because of the bar owners I was working for were like, no, I want you to do more of the cocktails. You do. But I want them to be cheap and easy and fast. I'm like, well, that doesn't compute, you know. So I was like, okay, well I need to find where I can put flavor outside of syrups and outside of spirits, right? Because if I find a really great spirit that brings the flavor and you layer to the cocktail, but the spirit is $70. It's not going to be a cocktail list. Syrups. At a certain point, I cannot put like 10 ingredients with sugar and water. Like they're going to hide in with each other. So I was like, well, what if I put my acids in a water that's flavored? So that's how I started doing flavored acids. And then, you know, long story short, I was doing it for a long time for consultants, never as a product. And then I saw that, even with that, where I thought that I made it so simple, some bars wouldn't keep it up, right? They lose the staff, the bar manager moves, and then we're like, okay, well I think I need to make it even more accessible by actually making it into a product that someone can buy and boom, make it into a cocktail. And then we have a business partner here in the US his name is Larry. I made him some cocktails that had this product. He's like, these cocktails are different. Like, what's your secret? I was like, what years of work? But also I think the, the flavored acid is what makes My content stand out. And he's like, I want to help you bring this to the world. And then I brought my girlfriend with me. It was her idea to turn it into a powder because we, we ship it around the world and now it's a, it's a pouch. And I was against in the beginning because of the image. I was like, you know, people think powders are chemical or whatever and it's not, it's fully natural. Acids are always powdered anyway. But this now is literally our game changer. It's the first flavored and powdered acid mix in the world. It's intended for any type of beverage. Obviously my background is cocktail, but I think I'm a beverage expert. So non alcoholic cocktails, coffees, teas, anything. This works anywhere. So there you go.
B
Super interesting. I love acid profile in a cocktail. But first, back out for a little bit and talk to me. Because when you're talking about making menus for cocktail places, you were working with like the top cocktail bars in the world. Like talk to me about the business of cocktails a little bit. Like what's the tam of a product like acid buddy? Or the total addressable market. It's gotta be huge, eh?
A
It is huge. So when you think about it, any bar, whether it's a specialty cocktail bar that specializes in cocktails, so they might have a menu that's maybe 20 plus cocktails. But since I would say the early 2000s, specifically 2006 onwards, especially in America, London, Berlin a little bit started, Canada, I would say maybe in the past 10 years, everyone had to have proper cocktails, right? It couldn't just be classic, you had to add your signature. So we have the second renaissance of cocktails. We call it the second golden age. The first was before prohibition, so over 100 years ago.
B
And that's where most of the old drinks we know about came from, right? Like the Manhattan and the Martini and all the drinks that are staples came from way back then.
A
You're exactly right. They were between 1880 until 1920 and then after Prohibition in America. Some of those cocktails were now created in bars in Europe or in the Caribbean because people couldn't drink in America anymore, right? So we're definitely in part now of that second revolution. And every restaurant needs to have a proper cocktail menu. Most of the time it's between 8 and 12 cocktail, right? Most of those drinks, aside from a Negroni, Old Fashioned, maybe a Manhattan and obviously a Martini, the rest are what we call sours, right? So margaritas, daiquiris, Gimlets Bisco sour. So the source with egg white Collins fizzes. All of those drinks have to have some sort of acidity in it. And all of those drinks, 99.9% of them have either lime or lemon. So you need acidity to balance the sweet. You cannot make a cocktail that just alcohol and sugar. You either balance it with bitter or with sour. But because of, technically it's easy to balance that with lemon or lime. Roughly the same ph is how we, we, we calculate acidity level. Everyone just was like, yeah, this is what we do. You know, like, why would I do something else? Right? But what lemon and lime brings you is the flavor of lemon lime. Right. So that means that 99 of creations, whether I put miso, blackberries or tea or whatever I do, there's always that flavor of lime or lemon just kind of on the side there. And especially when you don't use fresh wine or even if you juice it fresh, but it's from yesterday, you don't want to throw it. But it's oxidized. It oxidizes very fast because of the pulp in it, because of how fresh it is. Right. That kind of puts a limitation. So if we, this is almost like a product wise, you know how sometimes people is like they create a product that they fall in love with, but it, it doesn't solve a problem. This solves the problem. Except that it's a problem that we kind of made ourselves comfortable living with. You know what I mean? It's almost like you have the limp and you're like, whatever, I can still walk, it's fine. I just want to run. Right? For me, that's kind of the comparison. It's like bars are like fine, like limes and lemon. Like, why not? You know? But now we open like a level of creativity that even a dive bar can now use. Our strawberry butter, our tomato, peach, our coffee cacao, and just put it with booze and syrup. And all of a sudden you have layers of flavor. You have the balance. It doesn't go bad, it doesn't oxidize. And anyone anywhere in the world can add these layers of flavor in a very economical way, very safe way, a very, you know, cost effective way. Again, you don't have to throw it less waste. So it kind of hits all those parts. But all of a sudden like people are like, wow, that's genius. I'm like, like in my mind I have that bias of knowledge. I'm like, I've been doing this for a while. It's just now it's a product. So, yeah, this can go all over my. My dream and my desire and the whole team. We were pretty convinced that this will be in every bar, no matter how. Like, I mean it.
B
It's a category. I love, I love when you have category creator moments when you're actually creating something that hasn't existed previously, which is, I think the main reason I reached out. The other thing too is like, I think I. I had some conversations. I was just at Shop Talk in Las Vegas, had some conversations, a lot of conversations about AI and all, all the things and the big movement of like, younger people who are drinking less. We were kind of saying, we think that might be overblown or it might. There might be a rebound back to it when, you know, when people have less to do, they. Some of them will drink a little bit more, maybe, but. But you also are just as profound in the mocktail environment as well.
A
So, yeah, it adds flavor. It's non alcoholic and we're trying to add on our platform, social or website, little booklets we're working on. We sell it also to a lot of countries where alcohol culture has not even existed. But people want to go and get some sort of mocktail, call it NA mocktail, whatever. So it works really well with coffee, with tea, with whatever creation fruits, etc. I'm excited to see if chefs can use it in, like, ceviches and things like that, because technically you can. But I agree, like, part of this type of consuming that I call drink and drink less or drink less and drink better. I don't like going extremes. I don't like to go like crazy and then be like, I think I should quit, right? Alcohol is, you know, it's not good for you. It's advice. But really good spirits. Like, I mean, humans have been doing this for thousands of years. They brought us together, going to the bar, drinking, brewing beer, making wine. You know, these were better than water for, you know, for hundreds of years, people safer drink beer. Yeah, exactly.
B
It was safer, right? That's because it was pasteurized.
A
Yeah, exactly. And it has art behind it. I think when people take like anything else, right, Food, any type of pleasure, if you push it to the extreme, you won't be good. Right? So I do think that people now drink, but we would never market this and like, hey, this is easier, cheaper, so you can drink more. Like, I will never say that. Drink better and drink less. To be honest. Like, yesterday we, we flew in from Montreal graphic design, so we can work on like, new pouches new products, new designs, and brought them to my bar here outside of Chicago called no school Tomorrow, and, like, it was their first time, and I'm giving them a bunch of drinks, and after a while, I'm good. Like, so even though they're tipsy, instead of being like, I'm tipsy, but I want to drink more, they're like, my mouth is full of flavor. It's almost too much. Right. And that's kind of what happens when you drink things that are layered with flavor. It actually ends up being better because after a while, you're, like, satisfied. Your palate is like, I have enough. Let's go home and sleep. You know, that's how I am, and that's how this product I believe in as well.
B
So it's beautiful. The other angle I was just thinking about, too, I was. Someone made a comment. We were out at one of the bars at the. The Hazel in the Mandalay Bay at. In Las Vegas, and we're talking about bar lime being gross. There's, like, a meme about how, like, bar limes themselves are some often less hygienic than people realize. Like, they're like germ factories or whatever that they've sat around for a long time. So you have the angle with your product of it being, like, perfectly hygienic as well, right?
A
Yeah, absolutely. Bar limes, I would never squeeze them in a glass. I mean, obviously, some bars take care of it and wash it, but you cannot tell. I tell people sometimes if you go to a bar and see that bowl of fruit sitting, even the ones they use for the peel, if you see the fruit sticker in it, just order a beer. That means they didn't even wash it. Like, they. They're telling you they didn't wash it. When you go to clubs, I mean, we. We had barbecks cutting thousands of limes. You know, they're sitting in buckets. It's not clean, so. And then when you go and squeeze it, that oil from the outside is also not clean. That's kind of what gets in the juice. I mean, that's an angle that I don't use, but maybe I should talk about it more.
B
Yeah.
A
Because I think it's gross a little bit.
B
Yeah, a little bit. But you'll get there. I think you've got your core angles now. Let's talk about your go to market, though. Like, first of all, the brand you just, I think, nailed. I think the brand is really well done. Acid, buddy. It's playful, simple. And then talk to me about your go to market, how's it gone since you've launched it?
A
We're really, really happy. I think obviously we always want, want more just in the sense that we want more people to know about it. It's not even in the numbers sense yet. We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. But I want people to be like, hey, like, oh my God, I didn't know this existed. So that's kind of the play right now. We've been six weeks. We did over a thousand orders, which I think is good. Without divulging the exact numbers. We. We didn't hit six figures. We wanted six weeks, six figures. We're right under. So that's also good. We're doing a lot of sampling that's needed, obviously. But to be honest, we're very, very happy with how we went. I think my personal brand obviously helped. I don't think this brand has a normal launch because we did a quite soft lunch in a sense. Like, I didn't pay any influencers. I didn't pay for ads. This is very organic because I just wanted to see what would happen just because of the merit of the product. You know, some of the biggest name in this word. I always have the thing like, you need marketing if the product is not right. Right. And you need super nice salespeople if the marketing is not right. I know the product is right. Now I still need to do the rest to get to more doors. But so far there's people asking us from over 75 countries. We did ship personally to over 75 countries. We don't have distribution there yet. But those people are like, I don't care. I'll pay for shipping. And I'm like, did you try it? He's like, no, I just. I just know. I get it. I'm surprised no one did it before. So the feedback has been amazing. We are getting also people's ideas. We were like, hey, what do you think? There was no really feedback about the fact that it works. Right now it's more about the size. I think for people at home, the size is too big. It's almost too economical. It works too much. People are like, hey, I don't mind paying per drink more, but I want a package that's smaller. Because right now this pouch is meant to be the dissolved in a liter. But it makes you technically 44 drinks. You know, for someone at home, 44 cocktails is kind of like a lot. I get it. I'm like, I don't want you to drink that much. Right. It also doesn't go bad, really. It's just more like the space in the fridge and whatnot. So we are working now in smaller pouches. So that's coming. The speed of action now is kind of the essence for us. And no, we're really, really happy. We're proud. When you see those messages, like, my favorite message, the DMs is when someone says, this works, you know, with the big googly. It's not like it's tasty, it's like, this works for me. That's really one of the best messages. And we've been getting those. And yeah, more to come, and we have to keep at it and we have to get it into more hands.
B
I think I'm just looking at your Instagram feed here, and I think it needs to be discovered more. I actually follow a lot of, like, mixologists, TikTok and Reels and things like that. So I imagine partnerships with them or even just making, you know, I'm sure you're a busy man, but doing more. I see you do some of those videos, but, like, a real dedication to those videos over time on those platforms, I think will just absolutely crush for you.
A
Yeah, we need to do all of those. But again, it's time. You know, we're a small team now. We don't want to invest in hiring too much. We rather invest in product innovation, market sampling. So we, at a certain point, we'll have to. Right now, we are talking with some people that we personally know so they can kind of create simple home contents for us on TikTok. We're not on TikTok. We are gonna do that. So I'm gonna literally have a person being paid. We're gonna ship her all the flavors, all glassware. We're gonna buy her booze, buy her shakers or whatever. Don't even try to do what I do. Do what you, as a home person that likes cocktails and likes cooking, like, do your angle right. You don't even have to speak. But I want you to pump them, you know, one per day. So we are gonna do that probably next month. She. She's abroad, she's in Paris, so we're gonna do that with her. We're creating ambassadorship program with bartenders who kind of create menus locally. So we are gonna give them commissions. I think that's one of our best ways. I think part of the what. What makes us proud is we get people reaching out to us. We want to sell this for you, like, when. If You're a tequila brand bartender is like, I want to sell this for you. There's a thousands of bartenders like, please leave me alone. Like, I cannot get all these tequilas here. Like, I won't be able to sell all of you. Our product helps bartenders and bars and bar owners and people at home. So bartenders feel comfortable actually going to a fellow bartender or competitor bar or friends bar and be like, dude, did you see this? So we are going to help those bartenders monetize because I'm a person that, you know, got my chance through it through a Netflix series and whatnot and open my bar. But a lot of bartenders don't know what's the next step, right? Like if they don't want to just depend on tips anymore. And we all saw what happened with COVID and whatever. Like, it's kind of risky. Our job is kind of risky a little bit, especially nowadays. So they're like, what else can I do? So you can go sell houses, you can sell booze, but you know, we don't need millions of those, right? So helping them monetize by helping other buyers know of a new product and us giving them commission, I think it's a good way of doing this. And then I think by the summer we're gonna create some sort of program that makes sense for especially micro influencers. I like the people that have like between thousand and ten thousand. I think it's not about the views in this case. It's about the, the reach being so targeted that if you have 5,000 followers, but the ones that follow you that actually will ask you, hey, what did you use in that cocktail? And then just copy it. I think that's where the secret sauce for us will be in the next few months. In terms of social, I think it's.
B
Yeah, I think it's a product that could be really built for TikTok shop specifically. I was. It's, it's. It's such a neat platform because it's. It's actually more like Amazon than it is like Facebook as far as the brands are concerned. Because it has this marketplace and it's. It's a content. It's. It's a product that lends itself so well to exciting good content. It's branded so well. I could see it really taking off there. Even live selling where you have like cocktail hours on, like doing live selling, selling a product. I could see it being a TikTok
A
shop yet, like, like, how would you describe it to someone like me, for example? So like is there actually a warehouse that holds the product? No, you put your link like does it work?
B
Yeah. So it's still, you still have to fulfill it yourself, but you can basically it's an alternative to Shopify in this case. So basically they would check out with their payment equipment on TikTok shop and it's. And the real play on TikTok shop is affiliates where you would. I have a friend who I talk about on this podcast all the time, but he's scaling to probably $100 million this year and a very small team he sells, it's called Frostbuddy, which are these. Which you could do a collab with essentially because you can make, you know, cocktails in your Frost buddy. But, but he literally just goes. He has now, I think he scaled up something like 13,000 affiliates that he has people that just make. And again micro affiliates, they're micro, they're not big influencers and he just has them all on. On sort of pay per. I think mostly paper for performance models. I'm not entirely sure about that, but I could see that being a really cool opportunity for you guys.
A
Interesting. So basically if brands like us work with these micro macro influencers, their followers, if they watch them make these videos or these lives, I'll buy exactly that.
B
And then on the profile they say buy. The buy button will be on their profile and they can buy directly from that person's profile.
A
Yeah, that's genius. I mean business wise I have to, to get into it. I'm not a tick tock person actually even being Instagram is almost like too much for me. I have to do detox days. But for business, I think nowadays having these socials, anyone can start a branding, you know what I mean? Imagine back in the day if I started this three years ago. I have to find a distributor first. We have to do ads on like TV or whatever. The world is a much different place when it comes to these kind of brands.
B
Super cool. And you mentioned Netflix and we didn't even. We talked about it in the pre interview. Just give me a little bit on your hero's journey to becoming a drink influencer and your. What you took away from your experience on Netflix.
A
Yeah, I don't know if I'm a trick influencer. I mean, yeah, but because I tried before, as I told you, I couldn't even spend two minutes on Instagram. Like it literally bothers me. So I. And I don't know how to edit. I hate editing.
B
I didn't mean to offend you, but even Even in the bar sense, in the bar world, you are an influential person.
A
Take it as an offense at all. But like I'm saying it as like, to be fair, I didn't build that following because of my video prowess, you know what I mean? Like, I'm. I'm not good at it. It took me time to understand hawks and whatnot. I had to do it for the business, but I would have gone my whole life without needing to learn about it. But for the business, it was something that I needed to learn. I mean, yeah, during COVID bars were closed. I had kind of like retired from competing. You know, I'm 39 now and bartending competitions back in the day were huge thing, right? Right now you still see them, but they're not the same. But your only way to kind of do more as a bartender, whether to get your dream job if you don't, or just make more money somehow. Even before social basically become known without Instagram, was to win a major bartender competition, right? And I tried, you know, I did some and then I was like, okay, this is not kind of the ride I want to take. Let me focus on something else. And then Covid kind of made all that disappear. There was these people that were working on this TV show about drinks they added in their minds for years, it just never happened. And they managed to convince Netflix to take a chance on this during COVID where people were at home. And yeah, it was like a really weird ad on like a Facebook group. It looked like, not serious. It looked like a word document. They couldn't say the name of the show because it was the first season and it was like a co American Canadian production. And like, no offense to Canadian productions, but usually you're like, you know, it's not big, right? I'm like, if I do it, like, who's gonna watch this? And Alberta, like three people maybe. Like, I don't know, man, should I do it? Because also, like, if you build your, your level, sometimes a show, if it's so bad, bad it might hurt you, right? So I was kind of worried about that. But then I was like, no. I think for someone like me who keeps talking about, you know, Anthony Bourdain, rest in peace, he was like a big influence for me. I would have dreamed for someone just following me around and me tasting and making stuff, but at the same time, I gotta take a shot at it. And then the auditions were like three and a half months, so it was quite long. They were distance. We had to answer questionnaires like really long hundred questions videos, send them, portfolio, whatever. And it was during. Right before omicron happened, like 2021. And I did it and I was really happy I did it. Definitely changed my career, my life. People wanted it. Bartenders, especially Worldwide, wanted it. They needed it. And a lot of people, I guess they saw something in me. They saw my creativity. I was truly being myself. I was very focus. I really wanted to do the best I can because I was like, there's only one winner. And sometimes like that doesn't matter. Doesn't mean that you are not good or the other person is better or worse. If I do my job, maybe the right person would see me. And I was like, if one person sees me and helps me open a bar, that's enough. And it ended up being way more than that. And yeah, very blessed and very grateful to do it. So that obviously helped me get following online. And credibility. I think that's, that's what it is. Because if you. I saw a lot of influencers not just in the bar world, like just people who talk or whatever, like do stints or, or like funny videos and they, they launch, you know, a seltzer or, or energy drink. It doesn't always relate to sales because the, the millions of followers you might have, that's huge, obviously. But people like you because you're funny, not because you know how to make drinks. Right. I think prime is a good example of that. I mean, those are huge. And now it's all discounted because like, we want to watch you. We don't really like what you drink. Right. Me, it's all about that is like people who tried my drinks or watch me work know that I take it so seriously. Almost too seriously. I also actually stopped doing sponsored posts because I'm like, no, I like, that's not how I do my Instagram. I don't think they're good for you to pay me to do that. I don't think they. They convert properly. I wanted to create my own. And this is actually just the first product of a much, much company that we can talk about another time.
B
So, yeah, yeah, well, I talked. I will kind of wanted to end on your vision for where this can go. Like you like, like we've kind of discussed the sky's the limit with it. It's cocktail buddies dot com, which is the. Which is the overall brand, which I advise everyone to go to. If you. If you like cocktails, go check it out. Show Tao what the DTC audience can do in terms of purchases. Where do you see this going in five years.
A
So all of this kind of started with me giving masterclasses where I'm all about sharing the knowledge, right? I don't hide stuff. I don't. I don't keep secrets, you know? So when I was sharing this, I realized that the way I'm explaining it to people, it's like a system, right? When people ask me about creativity, I don't tell them that you have to be me to know that putting blue cheese and vanilla strawberry actually works. Like, I believe that all of you can do it. But there is a system that makes cocktail work. Cocktail Buddies is the mother brand for all of this. Acid Buddies. The first, because it's the most needed, because it's the one where we didn't want to compete, where it's kind of crowded. But the next lines are Sweet Buddy, which obviously is syrups, but it's syrups that have bricks. Brix is how we measure sugar and liquid that fits exactly perfectly with acid body ph. For people to make the same one recipe for source, it's 2 ounce booze, 3 quarter acids, 3 quarter sweet. They're like, for real. I'm like, every drink you saw, I made on Drink Masters on Netflix. Same, same. Every drink I have in my bar, same. It's not the recipe that changes, right? It's if. If all your ingredients are kind of contained, that's what makes the drink work, right? So it's how you extract the flavor and bring it back. The right ABV, the right pH, the right bricks. So we're creating products that I want to bar a new bar or small bar, or dive bar, bar to go on Cocktail Buddy. My vision is in three years, a dive bar goes on Cocktail Buddy and just buys everything we have. They don't need a consultant. They don't need to pay thousands of dollars. They don't need to train the bartenders that much. This mixology cocktail kind of craft thing, I want everyone to be able to do it. I come from a country where we don't have good cocktails. Like, I come from Tunisia, and people just drink whatever, right? But I know that they want more. It's just very hard. So I'm creating products to be shipped worldwide that if you buy our product, they fit like Legos, you know? And anyone can make a recipe that looks like I made it, that looks like the best bar in the world. Make it. That looks like the best mixologist in the world. Make it. I want to democratize it for real without dumbing it down, without compromising on flavor or on quality. And yeah, we started now, but we won't stop until this goal is achieved. That's how the team feel about it, so we'll see.
B
Love that. I'm a believer. Really would love to keep in touch with you over the. You know, we could do yearly check ins as you scale this up because I could see it becoming a really big thing again. Go to cocktailbuddies.com, i'm gonna go right now and grab a couple packs just to try at home and I hope the audience does as well. Thank you for taking the time out of this has been a lot of fun.
A
Absolutely, Eric. I appreciate it. We'll come back for sure with new products and next time when we launch a new line, I'll send it to you first.
B
Awesome man. Thanks again.
A
Cheers to that. Thank you.
B
Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you're not a subscriber to our newsletter, you can do that right now at directtoconsumerall. One Word co. I'm Eric Ditto and this has been the D to C podcast. We'll see you next time.
Date: April 6, 2026
Host: Eric (DTC Podcast)
Guest: Tao (Founder of Cocktail Buddies, creator of Acid Buddy)
This episode explores how Tao, a seasoned bartender and consultant, harnessed personal experience and industry gaps to launch Acid Buddy—the world’s first flavored, powdered acid mix intended for cocktails, mocktails, and beyond. Tao and Eric discuss the journey from identifying the need for cocktail consistency, to market adoption, early growth, social strategy, and the vision for democratizing expert bartending worldwide.
Industry Observation: Tao shares that consulting for bars exposed a core problem: once he left, drink quality would slip as managers substituted fresh citrus with inconsistent alternatives (frozen juice, bar lime), which affected taste and quality.
Necessity Breeds Invention: In search of reliable flavor and efficiency for high-volume venues, Tao began to experiment with replicating citrus acidity using food-safe acids, then progressed to developing flavored acids—ultimately resulting in Acid Buddy.
Unique Approach: The breakthrough was making the acid mix flavored and powdered for easier shipping, longer shelf-life, and universal application (not just in cocktails but non-alcoholic drinks, even food).
Market Need: The solution is not only about flavor, but logistics and hygiene—solving issues ranging from spoilage and waste to sanitation (dirty limes in bars).
Massive Potential: With the second “golden age” of cocktails, bars everywhere need a reliable source of acidity for sours, which make up the majority of popular drinks. The need is worldwide—spanning casual and premium venues.
Global Aspirations: Acid Buddy’s usage is not limited to bars—works for mocktails, coffee, tea, and even culinary dishes. Reaches non-drinking markets as well.
Fast Traction: In the first six weeks, Acid Buddy received over 1,000 orders, shipping to 75+ countries, despite a soft launch and no paid influencer/advertising campaigns.
Organic Growth Strategy: Early customers, mostly professionals, embraced and evangelized the product. Plans are to leverage microinfluencers and bartender affiliates for broader reach without heavy ad spend.
User Feedback: Home users want smaller packs; bars buy in bulk. New SKUs are rolling out rapidly for home mixologists’ needs.
Next-Gen Growth: Receptive to TikTok Shop and affiliate structures—seeing the opportunity in creator-driven commerce and real-time selling.
Content with Authenticity: Tao prefers empowering everyday home bartenders to create rather than only professionals, making the product approachable.
From Consulting & Competitions to Drink Masters: Tao’s expertise and personal brand were amplified by his Netflix appearance, shaping Acid Buddy’s credibility.
Product Integrity: Tao distances himself from paid posts to ensure authenticity, ensuring product quality and professional reputation always come first.
On Industry-Wide Opportunity:
On Hygiene & Bar Practices:
On Building for Bartenders:
On Democratizing Mixology:
On Personal Fulfillment:
Cocktail Buddies “System”:
Democratizing Quality Cocktails:
Eric and Tao close with a call to explore CocktailBuddies.com and keep an eye out for further innovation—hinting at yearly check-ins as Acid Buddy (and future “Buddies”) scale. Tao’s goal is unambiguous: bring world-class cocktails everywhere, for everyone, without compromise.
Explore Acid Buddy and future products: cocktailbuddies.com