When we tell people Still Branch is a single-serve cocktail mixer in a packet, we get one of two faces. Either a nod, or a squint that says, isn't that the airline-mini move? Fair question. So here's the thinking.
What every other format gets wrong
Walk the mixer aisle and look at the formats. Bottled syrups are good, and we respect the craft ones. They also want a fridge that, after you open it, takes up counter and shelf space, stays home when you travel, and is hard to reopen cleanly. Canned cocktails are heavy, they need to stay cold, and they trade away craft to fit the liquid into a can. The mainstream bottled mixers have been coasting for about a decade.
Every one of those formats compromises something. We didn't want to repeat the same compromises, so we picked a different problem to solve: how do you get a balanced, bar-quality Old Fashioned with no refrigeration, no tools, and no counter, in a package that fits in a pocket. The answer was a single-serve cocktail mixer.
Why a single-serve cocktail mixer was the answer
Sit with that problem, because it's harder than it sounds. The easy move would have been a smaller bottle, or a nicer label on the same old syrup. Both have been done to death. The hard move was rethinking the container itself and asking what a cocktail mixer should be if you started from how people actually live, which is to say mobile, busy, and short on counter space.
The single-serve cocktail mixer sachet is one serving, perfectly measured, shelf-stable, light enough to forget you're carrying it. It fits in a kitchen drawer, a host's bar cart, a ski jacket, and a carry-on. The same packet works for the weeknight cook who's out of simple syrup, the Saturday host pouring four at once, and the person drinking at the top of a mountain. One product, three completely different nights.
It's a contrarian bet, and we like it that way. Almost nobody in the category is offering a single-serve cocktail mixer without refrigeration. That format is the whole point of the company. It's what lets the drink travel, what makes trial easy and low-risk, and what earns the box a spot on a shelf next to brands that physically can't follow us there. A 12-ounce bottle can't ride a chairlift or slip into a carry-on. We can.
A single-serve cocktail mixer that didn't cut the liquid
People sometimes hear single-serve and assume we cut a corner on the liquid to win on convenience. We didn't, and the awards are the proof. The medals tell us the drink holds up: SIP Awards Platinum 2024 and SIP Awards Double Gold 2023, judged blind against cocktails that came out of bottles and bars. The judges didn't know they were tasting something from a packet. They scored it on what was in the glass, and it won.
There's a business reason the format matters too, and we're upfront about it. Convenience is what makes someone try us once. The quality of the liquid is what makes them come back. A gimmick gets one purchase. A real drink in a smart package gets a customer who buys again and tells a friend.
We'll also own the tradeoff. A single-serve cocktail mixer costs more per drink to make than syrup poured by the gallon into a big bottle. We chose to absorb that for the things it buys: a serving that's measured exactly, a product that never spoils on your shelf, and a format that goes everywhere a bottle can't. You're paying for the precision and the portability, not for less drink.
We get asked whether the format limits us. We see it the other way. The format is a platform. The same sachet that holds an Old Fashioned today can hold the next cocktail tomorrow, with the same promise: balanced, shelf-stable, pocket-sized, no refrigeration. We started with the Old Fashioned because it's the hardest classic to get right at home, which made it the best proof that the format could carry real craft.
A single-serve cocktail mixer on a retail shelf
There's a retail truth buried in the format too. A bottle needs a cold case or a premium shelf and real square footage to earn its keep. A single-serve cocktail mixer sits on a shelf, ships light, survives a warm stockroom, and travels home in a coat pocket. That's why the format isn't only good for the person drinking. It's good for the independent shop deciding what to stock, the gift buyer who wants something that won't break in a bag, and the traveler who refuses to check a bottle. One decision, the single-serve cocktail mixer, quietly solves problems all the way down the chain. A buyer can stock it without rearranging a cold case, a gifter can mail it without bubble wrap, and a customer can carry it home in a jacket pocket without a second thought. The format earns its keep at every step, not just in the glass.
Turns out the best place for a cocktail is wherever you happen to be standing. So that's where we built ours to go.
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