Kimball House and Watchman’s Seafood and Spirits co-owner and beverage director Miles Macquarrie partnered with music festival veterans Neal Cohen and Yoni Reisman to officially launch Atlanta-based Tip Top Proper Cocktails last month. The line of ready-to-drink cocktails contained in 100ml cans come in three classic options: Manhattan, negroni, and old fashioned.
With experience producing, marketing, and running food and beverage programs at large-scale happenings and festivals like the Governor’s Ball and Bonnaroo, Cohen and Reisman say they saw a void in the drinks market at such events.
“We realized there are a lot of people like us [who] are accustomed to drinking good cocktails, but when they go to a music festival or concert, their only options are beer, wine, or a basic mixed drink,” explains Reisman.
They made it their goal to create high quality, shelf-stable canned cocktails for music venues, festivals, and other places where high volume cocktail preparation is nearly impossible. That these canned drinks also serve as an at-home or on-the-go option for cocktail enthusiasts is a bonus.
The ready-to-drink market (RTD) has grown over 40 percent in the past year, with spirit-based RTDs now generating $62 million in sales annually. Given the amount of competition on the canned cocktail market today, Cohen and Reisman felt they needed to stand out by partnering with a seasoned beverage professional to develop their line of pour-and-go cocktails.
Enter Miles Macquarrie of Decatur-based Kimball House, which has been a James Beard bar of the year award finalist for the last six years.
Macquarrie was recommended to Cohen and Reisman by Creature Comforts Brewing founder David Stein, a childhood friend of the partners who had also worked with Macquarrie during their days at Brick Store Pub in Decatur.
“When Stein pitched me the idea, I thought it was smart and something useful in the market,” says Macquarrie. However, he wasn’t in a hurry to put his name on a collection of canned cocktails if they didn’t taste like something he might serve to guests in his home or at one of his bars.
The trio spent two years testing recipes, bottling prototypes to test for shelf life, and doing side-by-side tasting comparisons of the canned versions with cocktails made on the spot at both Kimball House and Watchman’s.
“We realized no one was doing classic, elegant, aromatic style RTDs,” Macquarrie explains. “These are quintessential classics [Manhattan, old fashioned, negroni] and some of the most popular cocktails in the world. Every good cocktail bar makes them, and they are familiar to consumers.”
That comfortable familiarity was also appealing to Cohen and Reisman, who took inspiration for the drinks from Sother Teague’s menu at New York City’s Amor y Amargo in the East Village, which specializes in bitter-based cocktails and amari.
“Tip Top Proper’s drinks are the trifecta of classic bitter cocktails,” says Cohen. “We wanted to hit the standards, the ones people drink all the time.”
For Macquarrie, offering people the convenience of a canned cocktail of quality was also important, but he notes these aren’t meant to compete with drinks made at a cocktail bar. While he loves to make drinks at his full bar at home, Macquarrie realizes this isn’t the case for everyone.
“Maybe you’re prepping dinner or too tired to make a drink after work,” Macquarrie says. “Or maybe you’re having a cocktail party and don’t want to mix and serve eight Manhattans or going camping and still want that experience of a great drink. That’s where we [Tip Top] come in.”
Tip Top Proper Cocktails are currently available at several Atlanta area shops like Jax Package Store, Savi Provisions in Decatur, Toco Giant Package, and Tower Package in Buckhead as well as local bars like The Ivy in Buckhead, Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall on the Beltline, and at the Hotel Clermont on Ponce.