Mocktail Design

Crafting a great beverage is an exercise in design thinking

Beverage crafting is design.

Our Mocktail Design workshop, in collaboration with Juanita Unger of The NA Sommelier, uses the art of beverage craft as a tangible and engaging medium to teach the core principles Design Thinking, a powerful problem-solving methodology.

This framework helps groups and individuals define clear and actionable tasks to complete a job —in this case— to make a delicious work-friendly beverage. Participants learn to frame their steps through three lenses:

Empathy for the drink recipient
A clear definition of the desired experience
An iterative process of ideation, prototyping, testing, and doing it again!

The result is not just a delicious drink, but a shared, hands-on understanding of how to approach challenges with creativity, curiosity, and a user-centered focus.

What Mocktails Mean to Us: Designing with Intention

We learned first hand that crafting beverages can boost innovation, improve creative processes, and cement effective collaboration. When we set out to design a line of infused sugars in partnership with Juanita Unger, proprietor of The NA Sommelier, we combined Juanita’s cocktail theory with Jennifer’s botanical research and Joanna’s flavor science to create exciting — but approachable— mocktail mixes and recipes. Along the way, we captured the essence of an idea in a glass, with balanced yet complex flavors.

Talk Mocktail Workshops

Floral Sugars

Infused with botanicals, these floral sugars form a base for exciting, complex beverages.

We co-designed this line of flavorful and colorful sugars for a variety of uses- from mocktail bases to cookie and cake decorations. Read on for flavor cues and usage suggestions.

Tart and floral, this sugar brings a pop of color and flavor. Use to make an incredible mock- or full strength- margarita.
Warm and herbaceous, this sugar lends an elegant twist to berries or a sunshine hue when sprinkled on frosting.
Floral and bright, this sugar delivers on taste and color with a lasting blue hue in beverages or as a decoration.