Muddler Cocktails

New samples go down a treat!

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:42:00 +0000

The new Muddler Cocktails have got off to a flying start. Not only has the men in white coats given them the all clear (meaning that they are safe to drink!) but some taste testing at the end of last week confirmed that the new improved recipe is ticking all of the boxes!

Not too sweet
You can taste the alcohol like a real cocktail
Deliciously fruity
nothing artificial added!
Look fantastic
I could drink this on any occasion...

Now we just can't wait to get it out there and in the hands of people who can bring it to the masses and quick!

As part of our mission to achieve this on Friday we took a trip back to Manchester, where Rupert and I were at University, to meet up with a very innovative company who already distribute a well known premium bottled lager. It was great to meet people who had come from such a similar position as ours, share stories which were uncannily similar! as well as the energy, drive and passion to make things succeed. We hope more will come from this as it could be a powerful combination!

Manchester really is a buzzing city which has changed almost beyond recognition since we were there 8 or so years ago. Unfortunately we weren't up there long enough to sample the city delights, or Mojo, which we have been told is the place to go in town. Instead we caught up with one of our old uni house mates Will and his wife Sophie, who had kindly agreed to put us up for the night, although how much choice they had in the matter I'm not entirely sure! They've settled into suburbia proper with a local boozer and curry house opposite. I have to be honest it's not a bad little set up I mean what more do you need? Other than Muddler Cocktails of course!

This week it feels we are back on track, we've got the new product and it's delivering in all areas, so it's time to start cranking up the PR machine again and throwing everything we've got behind this. Bring it on is what I say, I reckon we've got a hot summer ahead of us and it's our mission that people should be able to enjoy the deliciously fruity flavour of real fruit cocktails wherever and whenever they want to in the form of Muddler Cocktails, 'The real fruit Cocktail'!

One year full time and the men in white coats arrive

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:59:00 +0000

Well they said it would never happen... we've survived a full year in business. Isn't there some statistic about how many businesses fail in their first year?

About a year and two weeks ago Henry and I both sat down at our desks and said... right, what do we do to make this dream a reality. Although we had done 8 months preparation, this was a different feeling... what do you actually do to get a business off the ground? Since then Muddler has had full time management (if you count Henry and I as management) and we've bounced through every challenge.

A year of highs (and certainly some lows) we are in a good state. We've only properly talked about jacking it in once (which we were easily convinced out of), have not invested as much money as we had thought we would need to, have a great core of suppliers who have supported us throughout this year, no one has sued us and after filling in every conceivable government tax form we've not been banged up. More importantly we are really looking forward to the year ahead.

Currently we are starting to approach suppliers in the on-trade (bars, pubs, clubs) with the revised product for this year. To go with this is some revised trade marketing material has been knocked up. There is a high degree of confidence from Henry and I that we have everything in place for the negotiations. We are slightly further down the line with a couple of supermarkets and some discussions this week could lead to us being in a position of getting down to specific details.

Also this week in the quest for perfection Henry and I are off to see the men in white coats... well scientists. They are going to take a look at our whole manufacturing process and mixes to give the scientists approval on taste and that we are getting the best possible real fruit cocktail to market. However, it is at a university... so maybe it will end up being the less scientific method of trial that we have ended doing up until now... drinking it. I have a feeling instead that it will all get a bit scientific, I'm going to have to dust down that A-Level Physics certificate to show that I'm up to the task of understanding it all, kind of.

If I can remember to, we'll take a camera so that we have proof of us with the men in white coats.

If I'm honest, I think the only chance of real straight jackets being required is if the conclusion to Muddler drinks is a full-time return to the city/ advertising, we've still got the passion for Muddlers and almost everyone we speak to (trade and non) has the feeling that.

Although there is a touch of insanity in Henry and I... there is no need for the straight jackets (yet).

Muddler Cocktails Fruitlift

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:22:00 +0000

Firstly apologies for not having written a blog in the last couple of weeks. But we promise that we have had good reason! Since the end of the summer and our initial run of Muddler Cocktails we have been busy consolidating all of your feedback and looking to improve our offering even more!

Most notably we have introduced a new flavour! This is a vodka based cocktail which has been muddled with Mango, passionfruit and peach. It's a deliciously fruity little number and has gone down a treat in taste testing. We can't wait to get it out there. We have also been working on a third flavour but you will have to wait a little longer for this one I'm afraid!

The other thing to have changed is our bottle. One of the biggest bits of feedback we had was that people wanted to see just how fruity the drink was. As a result we've created a new design that does just this and here's the result....Let us know what you think but the feedback we've had so far is hugely positive.

As if this isn't enough we've also been working on our packaging as we start to talk with some of the big supermarkets. Below are some pictures along with Alex (our designer) helping me mock up some samples yesterday for a meeting we had this morning.

As you can see it's all hands on here at Muddler's still which we believe is the best way of ensuring quality.

So what do the next few weeks entail, well lots more meetings as we go about securing our first major outlets in time for the summer when we hope you'll be able to sit back, enjoy better weather than last year! and relax with a refreshingly fruity cocktail in your hand!

As always we will keep you posted with regular updates....

The year of Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:09:00 +0000

Happy New Year from Muddler Cocktails!

We hope getting back into things hasn’t been too arduous! Certainly took me a few days to recover from the New Year celebrations, one too many cocktails I think. As my girlfriend pointed out to me, somehow it’s only ever the one that is too many!

I managed to get away for a week to Gambia for some winter sun which was very nice and slightly strange. It was at the time when it was really cold over here so stepping off the plane to 30 degrees, only 6 hours after stepping on it, was a weird feeling to say the least and one that I never quite adjusted to, I spent the whole week thinking I was dreaming!

Of course going on holiday was the perfect opportunity to do some research for Muddler Cocktails. The hotel had a beach bar which had an extensive cocktail menu and happy hour, that seemed to last at least 2hrs! The lovely Marianne was head bartender and took great joy in making up some delicious and fruity cocktails, giving me lots of inspiration for future Muddler Cocktail recipes.

Having had a nice break over Xmas and New Year, we’re feeling energised and ready to take on 2008, making it the year that Muddler Cocktails really breaks into the market.

As we come to the end of the first full week we’ve hit the ground running with lots of activity going on and it looks like we’ve got some interesting meetings lined up already. More on this soon I hope.

Well I hope your New Years resolutions are also still going strong. If one of them was to be more healthy, to eat and drink more natural produce then remember you can’t get more natural than ‘The real Fruit Cocktail’.

As far as resolutions and new beginnings for us at Muddler Cocktails, this quote rings very true:

‘We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.’
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Quite exciting really....!

Merry Muddler Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:34:00 +0000

Its been a while since I've written one of these... Henry will claim it's because I've been out at too many Christmas parties, there is an element of truth in that (market research?) but I've also spent a lot of time buried in the numbers. It is the grubby side of the business, but getting them right and everything lined up for 2008 will allow us to really build on the good initial reaction that Muddler got in 2007.

Henry and I have spent 2007 doing a raft of different things to our 'old world' jobs and its fair to say that we've loved almost every minute of it. There have been highs and lows, but most things are fun and when you look back at commuting and the trials of office politics you know that Muddler is right for us personally.

One thing we never thought we would be doing is PR, and then concluding that it isn't actually too difficult (apologies to our mates in PR).

We thought we would struggle for column inches all over the place and never thought we would make the national press. In reality we've hoovered up the column inches in 2007 and hit several national publications (including a daily). Like most things we've decided to take this part of our business on ourselves and invest time in it. Like most of the things we've done we've tapped up our mates initially (thanks in particular to Gav) and carefully thought about how we were going to do it and what we wanted to convey (Henry loves some deep thinking). Then we have just done it and been overwhelmed by the success. The reality is that people like the simple message and think this truely is something great and interesting to report on.

I'd heard that we recently got more column inches in Morning Advertiser (the leading pub trade magazine). When I took a look around their website I was pleased to see that we had press a couple of months ago and interestingly it was a taste test. Even better news was that we scored 16 out of 20 in their independent tests:
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.aspx?articleid=51020

by my very rough and ready analysis this positioned us 2nd out of 11 in taste trials that they had performed.... a fine result and confirming that there is demand for our product.

Furthermore, without contacting the Morning Advertiser for several months we have stayed at the forefront of their minds and we are down as a product to watch out for in 2008:
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news_detail.aspx?articleid=54937
A great feat when you consider we are the only independent company mentioned in a review of 2007 and predictions for 2008.

So we are leaving 2007 on a high and looking forward to 2008 even more. Henry and I wish all our customers, suppliers, friends and blog readers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The success of the blog has surprised us (and Henry didn't know what one was when we started) and it has served as a great therapeutic tool for us. It has also been in demand, when I do see people they often moan that it has been a few days since the last post. I'm also surprised by the diversity of the readership, we know that the following people regularly read the blog:
- Friends
- Family (yep even my Mum uses it to find out what we've been up to)
- Work colleagues from our 'old' jobs
- Our suppliers (hello to the fruit people in particular)
- People associated with a large international drinks company (who own an F1 team)
- People who think they are our rivals
- Customers
- People who have read about us in the press.

Anyway, I'd better go... I have Christmas presents to wrap. My family should be assured that you are not getting a case of Muddlers (again) or even one of those XXL Muddler polo shirts I have spent most of the year trying to get rid of.

MERRY MUDDLER CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.

Marvellous Muddlers!

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:53:00 +0000

The very nice people at Delia On-line have written a brief piece on what they have called Marvellous Muddlers! Take a look at the following link, it seems that they were quite taken with how good they taste.

http://www.deliaonline.com/articles/food/food-and-drink-news,2086,AR.html

I can't wait to send them our new variant which I reckon will be an even bigger hit! More news on that in the new year...

We had a fantastic time at the Hammersmith Panto, a big thanks to all of those who got behind us and supported Muddler Cocktails and in particular Johno. Unfortunately we couldn't be there in person for the last couple of nights but judging by the amount they got through it certainly sounds like they had a very good time and most importantly raised the most ever for charity!

Is it nearly Christmas already?

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:03:00 +0000

This year has just been flying by and I can't believe the Chritmas season is already upon us.

This of course means lots of parties and lots of Muddler Cocktails to be drunk! The first of these events we have just confirmed today. Muddler Cocktails will be sponsoring the Hammersmith Pantomime, Mother Goose, between the 6th and 9th Dec which is held at the Hammersmith Town Hall.

This is a fantastic charity event which has 600 people a night attending and between ticket sales and the bar they hope to raise £50k for charity this year! Muddler Cocktails are going to have their own bar for the first two nights as well as being stocked behind the main bar, offering punters a refreshing change to the usual glass of wine or beer. Aparently there are a few tickets left so if you fancy getting in the Xmas spirit then why not come along, you can find details on http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/tickets/mother-goose-tickets-feature-1504.html

Trying not to get too distracted by Christmas as it's not even Decemeber yet, there has been some exciting stuff happening behind the scenes. We have been back in the taste testing lab and are currently working on some new flavours for the New Year. This sounds like the easy bit of the job but getting it right is far from it. There are no scientific formulas to making a delicioius real fruit cocktail, infact it's far from it. Once you have the basic concept of what it is you want to create it really is a case of trial and error, a little bit of this, a touch of that and a lot of try and try again!

We have a strong vision for creating intense flavours and these just don't happen by chance but when they start coming together its definitely worth the wait and all I can say is that we're getting close to creating another.

Talking of experimenting I was speaking to one outlet the other night who was going to offer mulled wine and Muddler Cocktails as the drinks at the beginning of the evening. This got me thinking, I wonder what a mulled Muddler would taste like? I haven't tried it yet but warming it up with an orange and a few spices could work really well. We've got our annual Xmas dinner on Saturday night which Rupert is hosting this year and I'm helping out. Perhaps we will experiment on this one. We will let you know how we get on you never know it could be the next big thing, Muddler Cocktails winter warmer!

Fame (& Fortune)

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:11:00 +0000

Having hogged the lime light a little on the PR front with a couple of quotes in The Grocer Rupert has been keen not to be out done. In true Jessop fashion his quest has resulted in, not a mere quote but, an entire article on himself!

Below is a scan of the article which is featured in this week’s Night Magazine along with the questions and his answers. It’s a great piece which summarises exactly why and what we are doing. Have a read for yourself but I was completely sold! It also means that I've got off extremely lightly on my blog writing duties but I'll make sure to make up for it later in the week....

RUPERT JESSOP

Rupert Jessop is a co-founder of Muddler Drinks Ltd, who in the summer of 2007 released Muddler Cocktails (www.muddlercocktails.com), ‘The Real Fruit Cocktail’. The first variation is raspberries, blackberries and blueberries muddled (crushed) and shaken together with cloudy apple juice and a generous helping of oak barrel sugar cane rum. He has a challenge on his hands as he seeks to convince pubs, bars and clubs that there is life in premium, convenient, 100% natural cocktails. Initial results are positive, but time will tell whether he can create a new drinks category….

I got into my job…

because I created the position. Whenever a friend (Henry Debenham) and I went out for a drink with our friends we would come across a recurrent problem. While most people opted for the usual there were always a few who didn't know what they fancied to drink. No matter how many drinks you listed there just wasn't anything that was alcoholic and really appealed to them. So we set about seeing if we could find out what might appeal and coupled with a liking for fresh fruit products and cocktails it wasn't long before we had our light bulb moment. Our research proved that everyone liked the idea of being able to have a real fruit cocktail in a bar or club but the problem was you just couldn't get them. So we decided to give up what we were doing and start a company that could deliver a solution. What did I do before that? I was a Management Consultant at Accenture for seven years. Although the variety was good, producing and executing strategies for other people didn’t sit right with me. That coupled with an interest in the drinks market meant that I was keen to turn the light bulb into a winning formula.

If I met myself 10 years ago, I'd tell myself…

that the well paid and good career progression job I’d just got in the City would be a stepping stone to having a small company shaking up the drinks industry. I’d then pick myself off the floor and put me back on my student bar stool. Then we’d go for a curry…

My job involves....

Everything! Henry and I (founders of Muddler Drinks) have never formally split down the company responsibilities. We both have different skill sets so jobs naturally fall to our strengths… but we both always have opinions on how everything should be done. Our disagreements are often documented on our company blog (www.muddlercoktails.com/blog.html) but they are all resolved amicably (often over a Muddler) and they help us produce a drink of the highest standards.

I love this business because…

our company is producing what people want, a quite literally fresh and new product. We get loads of comments about how they love the fruitiness, that it's totally different because you can actually taste the alcohol and that it isn't sickly sweet like other RTDs. Hearing people enjoy your product because of what you set out to do is a great feeling.

The biggest challenge I face is…

offering something truly original in a business that wants to categorise you alongside existing products. People think we are an alcopop – WE ARE NOT. Our competitors are the premium ciders, glasses of wine, and spirit and mixers like the G&T and Pimms. The challenge of breaking these pre-conceptions is why I got involved in Muddler. If I wanted the easy (but busy) life I would have stuck at my City job.

The biggest opportunity is…

creating a new category of drink. Innovation is not a new cider or beer in a slightly different bottle it is offering consumers something that they have never been able to experience before. Our product is not like anything else. Our biggest opportunity is to show the industry the potential of Muddler Cocktails both for the consumer, as a delicious new alcoholic drink, and the industry as a premium profit driver.

The To Do List

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:20:00 +0000

To top off what has been a very positive week, I've just written my 'To Do' list of all that has be done immediately, and the good (but bad) news is that it is growing.

Its odd working largely on your own, particularly for a man that spent his time thrust deep into large projects in huge banks. To not have meeting invites backing up and spend all day storming up and down the office trying to get something moving is bizarre for me. It is very different when you get to actually think about what you need to do in some peace and quiet. There is always Henry to shout at or abuse on MSN, but even that is relatively tranquil!

There are also days when the number of business emails I receive is down to what I can count on one hand rather than the days where I might come back off a week long break and have in excess of several hundred business emails to wade through. So the peace is great for allowing you to focus on new flavours and do stuff like plan and think through in detail how Muddler approaches '08, but the reality is that it can get a little dull.

Over the last few months the focus has been on trying to secure deals with larger companies that could offer us nationwide coverage. This is a largely thankless task where lots of stuff is emailed, sent and phoned out and no response comes back from the organisations. So you end up every day just sending and chasing down more and more organisations.... not a particularly enjoyable experience.

The last week has seen a bit of a turning point as the inbound email levels have picked up, phone calls are being returned and everyone is beginning to talk of how we could all work together in '08. So from having an ever declining 'To do' list or one where the same chasing tasks came up on it time and again I've now got one that is properly growing. Mix in with this the fact that November seems to be the new December and all the social and business functions I'm being invited to are getting earlier. It looks as if November could be a busy period for me and Henry.

So what do I prefer, the quiet life where we spend the days strategising (I'm not sure if that is a real word) and you can occasionally nip off to play golf

or

the run we are currently having of requests and news coming each day to contend for times looking (or should that be dreaming) of what will happen in '08?

There's no competition for me and Henry. We both came from jobs where the client requests never stopped and there was too much going on. We quit these jobs not because we disliked being busy and powering from one thing to the next, but:
1. To have control of your work destiny, rather than just being a person in a massive corporation
2. We had the killer idea... 'Real Fruit Cocktails'!

So there are big disadvantages to setting up on your own, but there are also a great number of advantages (e.g. our commutes have both shortened a lot!). However a shortening 'To Do' list is something I never want in anything I do.

Anyway, must crack on the 'To Do' list isn't losing any items.... unless you include writing the Blog as a task!

Henry and Rupert each make it into their favourite magazines

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:10:00 +0000

We're currently going through a spell of inward facing work as we get the company lined up for hitting the UK market in force next year. Everything is being considered in the light of the successes of the last 6 months and how we can widen the availability of Muddler Cocktails. As open as we are we don't want too give to much away (we know there are some people looking at this blog so that they can copy our success). But rest assured that the first people to know what we are going to be up to will be the readers of the blog (and those who catch Henry or I out with a drink in our hands).

If you fancy trying some new alcoholic drinks, how about trying the Wine show (http://www.wineshow.co.uk/) which starts tomorrow evening. This event showcases wines from around the world and is supposed to have good food to boot. We've always said that Muddler is an alternative to a glass of wine or a spirit and mixer, so Henry and I are going to go and enjoy some of that alternative tomorrow night. This is a big event and the culmination of a year's worth of work by my mate Chuck, so I'm sure he'll have a slurp or two of vino to celebrate the opening night.

Chuck is one of the guys I play rugby with (and have done for too many years now) so whilst mentioning him... I'll also say hello to the Rosslyn Park Hatters who continue to excel on the field (even with me holding them back). Their enthusiasm for Muddler is kind of enforced by me, but they are working on how to squeeze as much PR out as possible for Muddler Cocktails. Thanks must go to Pat who continues to blatantly abuse our match reports for Muddler Publicity. This is the most blatant:
http://www.rosslynpark.co.uk/wp-content/docs/2007/10/parknews47.pdf
(the top of page 4) but there are plenty of others... I think someone got Muddlered this week in a game.... could we be creating a new word?

Anyway, Henry hasn't been slouching on the PR and has been going on to me for months about his favourite magazine, Dare, and how we should explain to them the wonders of our Muddler Cocktails. Once he had explained to me that Dare was only avaliable in Superdrug (just next to his hair care products apparently) we agreed that it was the way to go. So if you are in Superdrug look out for November's Dare:

and we're on page 83:

Another good piece, and we know the magazine is being read as we've already had our first consumer email about it and the mag has only been out for a few days. Another quick mention, thanks to Lil Gav for pointing us in the right direction with Dare magazine.

So on to my PR achievements. I hope you are sitting down at this point.... this is the big one!

We've made it all they way to the Old Stortfordian.

What? You don't know about this publication. Let me explain, it is my schools old boys newsletter:

This is the school that I went to for 11 years and Henry spent a gap year being beaten up by small children.

So here you go, here's the piece:

So just wait for the next Muddler Blog to see if Henry has been able to better my PR in the Old Stortfordian.

The Muddler Cocktails PR machine rolls on....

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:09:00 +0000

As if winning the rugby on Saturday wasn't enough of a reason to celebrate, Muddler Cocktails has also managed to scoop a press release in The Grocers drinks special.

We feature next to Baileys in the Spirits at Christmas section with a picture of the drink and bottle stating that the 'Producers are optimistic about the growth in pre-mix and cocktail categories'

This comes just a month after we last featured and also ties in with our press ad that features a few pages later.

Hopefully this double whammy will give us the impact and stand out we need to take Muddler Cocktails to the next level.

Momentum is definitely building with the success of the Oasis launch the week before. As you can see the product looked great in the stylish and premium environment.

Hopefully this week will be just as encouraging as Rupert and I head back to the tasting lab and look to expand Muddler Cocktails range further....

In a Muddle?

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:30:00 +0000

What a wait you've all had for me to write inspiring words... and yet again you may have to wait a little longer! I'm certainly going to bring you up to date, but inspire, we'll see.

The last few weeks have been a feverish bed of activities as we juggled the tasks that could lead us to hitting our targets. These targets are the ones that Henry had previously mentioned to really help us focus. When you have no office politics, managerial or even shareholder direction (or hassle) then it is easy to stare wide eyed each morning at the realm of possibilities and end up getting none of them done. We're managing to avoid this by keeping our eyes on specific targets....

Or are we?... with a range of other enquiries and distractions coming in you have to learn to juggle everything and on top of that there is 'play time' which currentl is the the Rugby World Cup.

Last Friday Henry argued with van hire companies, ended up with a people carrier, took 5 hours to get to Manchester, lugged a load of stock around and then presented Muddler to the shoppers of Oasis in the Trafford Centre. This was a great opportunity to gauge customer reaction, promote the drink and for Henry to hang around in a ladies store. With a number of people driving to the Trafford Centre the samples were small but there was the increasingly familiar mix of lovers (who REALLY like it) and those for who you wont get them off their usual tipple. The biggest disappointment for Henry was going back to the City where we were students and ending up getting into the middle of town too late for a curry (well a civilised one) and the kebab he had was really poor. Our ex-housemate, Will, who kindly put Henry up in Manchester has promised better when we go up for our house re-union. Henry's demanding a Manchester curry!

Whilst Henry was pushing Muddler north I was pushing south to Marseille. The tickets I bought 21 months ago for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals had come good and I made the long train journey to watch us smash the old rivals Australia. What a weekend, what a game, what an atmosphere in the town, what a location we had for our accommodation (a cheap and strategically placed yacht in the port). That marks the end of me seeing World Cup games live, and it is now on to shouting loudly at the television and reminding my Aussie housemate about the score last weekend.

Anyway, what have I been up to on the Muddler front. Henry mentioned the success of our Muddler Launch Party. Well last night I confirmed it by going to collect the cases that they did not use in the White Horse that night... it was surprisingly few so it obviously went down well!

Also on the day of the party I got stuck in to the first rugby game of the season for me. So I have more PR to note, as Muddler Cocktails made it into Park News (Rosslyn Parks newsletter) - click here to see the article (on page 4 about the Hatters). Thanks to Pat (aka Skipper) for blatantly lobbing in Muddler Cocktails for a plug.

Whilst on the subject of PR we have recently mailed out a number of samples to the press (the postal strike will have meant that they are still crawling towards them). Prior to all this I gave a sneak peak of the PR to a friend of a friend who worked at www.urbanjunkies.com (a massive what's hot daily email for Londoners). Even without a link to our website the hits on our website went up by a few thousand that day.

Next week sees the launch of our first advert in The Grocer (it is actually out tomorrow - Saturday) a trade magazine for the supermarkets and independent shops. We think we've been cunning to make it stand out, but the proof will be when we see it in the publication. The aim is to re-enforce the messages that we are putting out to the Supermarkets et al. We also think that they've written a bit about us, but you can never be sure. If you want to grab a copy (it is in some newsagents) and delve in to the alcohol special.

Other business has seen me wrestling with our accounts as I've managed to get out our first VAT return. Having been waiting for this for 6 months it is nice to think that we may actually get back the VAT we have spent setting up the company.... but it did lead to a day a half of me going back through all our expenses and trying to get it all okay in our accounting system!

Hopefully, the HM Revenue and Customs will not need to post me anything... just a bank transfer will be sufficient. The other issues of dealing with a small business is the joy of a postal strike. As I said above we did a big PR push on the day before the strike - sending out approximately 40 boxes of stuff but I doubt they will have got to them by now. I still really haven't had any post so the prospect of the strike starting up again are not great for any small business.

The other battle is with couriers, in the old days Henry used to lob stuff at the post room and it magically disappeared off to its destination. I just used to zip some stuff up and email, ftp it etc and there were the couple of occasions where we were desperate for time and the stuff was too big to send electronically that we would burn a stack of DVDs and bung someone on the Eurostar to make sure it got somewhere first thing. BUT all of that was easier than trying to get couriers to actually collect our stuff, not break it and deliver it in a timely manner. Those bright yellow vans that storm around towns could do with improving customer service quite a bit. So we've both spent time emailing and phoning couriers to try and locate a large number of samples and presentation boxes etc that have been sent out.

The other job I currently have that you never (or rarely) experience in a large organisation is chasing down outstanding debts. Almost all of our customers have been timely in paying (far better than I expected). However, there are a select few who are becoming a bit slow so need that nudging. Interestingly it is both the big and small businesses that fall into this category. Things will now get more interesting as the postal strike means that 'the cheque is in the post' is not a ridiculous suggestion....

In between all this Henry and I have started reading books again... and it is NOT Harry Potter. This is all part of our look at our strategy for the future. The current book that I've completed and Henry is ploughing through is the story of Cobra Beer, the result is daily discussions between us that help shape our thoughts. Let me make it quite clear, we are not imitating anyone... whoever said writing endless Blogs like this are a good idea?

Looking forward we met our 'juice guys' or should that be 'juice gals' on Wednesday. The aim was to discuss where we take the products going forward and to try out a new flavour that Henry and I had come up with from our garden tasting session. We always new that so many of the juices in supermarkets were not a true reflection of a 100% natural product and have all sorts of sweeteners etc in them. The reality is that they don't actually taste like the actual fruits. At our juicers they put together a 100% natural equivalent and the taste was very different to those un-natural imitators. Next time you are in the supermarket whether it is in the chiller or not take a look at the back of the carton to find out what is in the product, you may well be surprised. So we have pushed that flavour to the side and will go back to the drawing board. A discussion then kicked off about potential fruits and purees etc so then followed a large barrage of stupid questions from Henry and I to understand more about the taste/ texture properties of various fruits. You don't want to even begin to imagine what the weather this year has done to juice prices - almost all of them have gone up as harvests are down but the juicers are once again scouring the markets to find the right quality of fruit. So thanks once again for the help of our juicers who continue to support us as we build the brand and come up with flavours that do not work!

So the main focus is the future as we decide how to prepare for 2008 across all aspects of our business. The future's bright and orange (or maybe pear or strawberry). The question we currently wrestle with is how best to make it work and get the message of 'Real fruit cocktails' out there. In between all of this we run an entire office and business in the current time.

The answer to my title question is - NO far from being in a Muddle we are looking at putting Muddler on the right course for the future.

3 it's the magic number

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:14:00 +0000

So it was another eventful week for Muddler Cocktails. We attended our first trade show in Birmingham which meant driving up there every day which was pretty exhausting. It was really good as it meant we got to see a lots of people from many different and varied backgrounds and get their views on our product.

The first thing was setting up our stand. With it being last minute and on a tight budget we decided to make the most of what we had and used our cases as a way of branding and creating something interesting. Below are some pics of what we did. We got lots of positive comments from the other stands, it seems the minimalist and natural approach that we have adopted in everything we do goes down very well, which is just as well!

Overall the week was a real confidence booster. While for some it wasn't their thing for the vast majority we got a really good response and a number of these were extremely positive. The really encouraging thing was that it ticking the boxes we had set out to; different, refreshing, not too sweet, a real cocktail, fruity, just what I feel like when I want a drink... and it wasn't just the trade that were sampling it. We also had a wide range of consumers from the Leisure show next door which created a funny mix. One minute you had your typical real ale landlord with rosy cheeks and a large beer belly the next you had an orange tanned, peroxide hair, testosterone pumped body builder having a taste. It went down particularly well with latter because of the naturalness and nothing added element.
It was a great experience and we came away with some really interesting leads to follow up on this week. An unexpected bonus was meeting some really nice people on the stands around us. There was a real sense of comradery and it was great to be able to share experiences and the odd glass of wine or Muddler Cocktail.

Saturday was our launch party at the White Horse, which also linked up with a couple of Birthdays as well. It was great to get everyone together and celebrate what we have achieved so far. Muddler Cocktails certainly got things in the swing and it was absolutely heaving, they couldn't serve the drinks quick enough. Everyone was so positive about it and if ever we were going to end the week on a high this was it. I think Rups and I could enter the Guinness book of records for the number of times we had to tell people what it was all about but it's all about spreading the word and it certainly spread around on Sat night.

As you can imagine yesterday was very chilled and spent recovering but today we're straight back into things. This week is all about our launch event with Oasis clothes store at the Trafford Centre on Friday. The promo flyer is below come along if you're in the area and shop in style with a cocktail in your hand!

Muddler Cocktails at the NBLS this week! Plus loads more exciting stuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:53:00 +0000

Muddler Cocktails will be at the National License Business Show (NLBS) in Birmingham at the NEC this week.

After some last minute negotiations we have taken a stand at the NLBS in what we hope will be a great opportunity to meet some of our contemporaries and people who can help expand Muddler Cocktails beyond independent pubs, bars and clubs.

More on this at the end of the week as this is just one of the many things that got under way last week.

We have just kicked off our drive on the Off-Trade which saw us getting PR in The Grocer last week. (I'll attach the article but currently having some technical difficulties with uploading images!)

This was a great way to start our campaign for 'Real fruit cocktails, whenever and wherever you are' and really take Muddler Cocktails to the people. To keep the momentum going we have just signed off on some more activity with The Grocer which will be coming out in the next 3 weeks so Alex our designer is busy working on this. We are also contacting some select Off-Trade partners in a bid to take Muddler Cocktails beyond the On-Trade in the New Year.

It also looks like we are now going to be partnering Oasis clothes store for the launch of their new store in Manchester at the Trafford Centre! Oasis contacted us directly and were really keen to get us on board to help them launch in style. For us this is a great opportunity, as not only are Oasis such an established and credible high street brand but they also appeal to the more mature and sophisticated market that Muddler Cocktails also aspire to reach.

As if this wasn't enough we are also looking at doing some advertising which will be linked into a targeted pre-Christmas campaign focused on driving volume through the on-trade. Alex was briefed this morning and is looking at some more artworks this week, details on this will follow shortly.

Oh and how could I forget, Saturday night is the official Muddler Cocktails launch party! We've got a great venue lined up and we've invited all our friends and people who have been invovled along the way to come and officially mark this momentous occasion!

So as you can see lots going on at the minute which is just the way we like it.For now though our focus is on the NLBS. Rupert is currently on his way here in a van full of stock as we are setting up this afternoon in preparation for the start tomorrow. It should be a fun week, if you can make it pop in and have a delicious real fruit cocktail on us!

Friday afternoon Oddjob fun...

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:26:00 +0000

... fun for you lot, not me! I'm no chicken, so here are some choice photos of me dressed as Oddjob last week:

Yep they are in time order... so you get the one of me pristine having just got ready!It was 80s themed... but I lived up to tradition and continued to go to fancy dress parties dressed as Oddjob. What better way to kick-off the evening than with a Muddler!

If you thought I looked bad, trying being a massive blonde/ bald Dutch man trying to look like the mini-man that is Prince, or being caught with your mouth in a funny position!

I didn't know that the Chuckle Brothers wore sweat bands.What am I looking at?

The Miami-vice styled Chuckle Brothers must die!

Its all his fault... Chris Jackson the balding man that had got a little bit older!

Nobody was harmed in the taking of these photos... well not physically anyway!

Early tomorrow I'm off to France to catch England's rugby world cup opener... so photos of that next week me thinks.

I know what everyone is asking? Will this blog just turn into shots of Rupert socialising and looking stupid... I have a feeling it is going that way!

The next James Bond 'Odd Job Returns'

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 08:05:00 +0000

First things first, where are the pictures of Rupert dressed up as Odd Job that's what I want to know.
Rups it could be your big break, Pinewood studios might get straight on the phone to ask you to star in the next James Bond, 'Odd Job Returns'! Just think your evil trade mark could be opening bottles of Muddler Cocktails with your bare hands and then throwing the bottle tops at people, like a throwing star, a match made in heaven.....maybe not, but lets see a couple of photos anyway, it's always good for a laugh.
So what has been happening at Muddler HQ? Well since the excitement of the press releases, yesterday we saw our executive director, and voice of reason, Malcolm Jessop. Two and a half hours later we emerged, having been put through our paces, with a detailed plan of action and a renewed energy and focus on the goals we want to achieve before Christmas.
This really is exciting as it involves going to the next stage of our launch and includes among other things, organising collaborative events with bars and a high street brand, investing in an advertising campaign, developing our next flavour and of course growing our distribution further. More details will follow on these activities nearer the time.
We have certainly got a lot to do, as Malcolm said there really is no reason why we shouldn't be working 7 days a week at the moment and we're all for this. The slight problem is that the rugby world cup starts today and Rupert is actually going to most of the games! I can't complain because Rupert has actually invited me along to one of these, but we wont be letting this slow us down. I can envisage a certain amount of tag going on between us to keep the Muddler Cocktails campaign rolling forward 24/7. It's going to be a full on 3 months ahead but we're relishing the prospects of what opportunities it might bring and of course if things from time to time get a little too much one can always find time to sit back and relax with a delicious real fruit cocktail.

Muddler hits the national press!

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 07:53:00 +0000

As promised the Daily Mail has published a bit about Muddler today, so we are now officially a Fashion Food:

For something you can actually read:

No mention of a pour over ice, but apart from that we're really happy as they seem to have hit the nail on the head.

We've managed to track down a copy of the trade publication the National Bartender (July/ August edition) which also mentions us and puts in a shot of the bottle and drink:

The next trade publication that we know we are featuring in is the Caterer and Licensee (a trade publication) so another 20,000 people get to hear about the wonders of Muddler... we'll have to wait to see what this one looks like.

So it is now time for stage 2 of the press assault.... well more to the point we better work out what I mean by that.... which publications will get excited about 'Real Fruit Cocktails'?

Media blitz? and other random bits

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:51:00 +0000

Well a media blitz might be terming it a little too strong, but the result of Muddler Press launch is now rippling through.... with some exciting news about the national papers. This is the 'news' (almost literally) so far:

1. National Bartender - a small feature (or couple of hundred words) on Muddler has gone into the August edition. We are still trying to track down a copy, but it all sounds like good news.

2. The Publican - one of the leading titles (probably between this and one other) for the on-trade (pubs/ bars/ clubs etc) and apparently 'Proud of Pubs'. They have written a third of a page on the merits of Muddler (and referred to this very blog) and included some of our marketing material:

To read the article please take a look at the Publican website.

(I'm not that happy that Henry keeps on reminding me that he has been quoted in the press and I haven't been.... nothing to do with him writing the Press Release and taking the better quote then!).

3. The Daily Mail - The journos at the national paper have spoken to Henry a couple of times and have confirmed that they are putting us in the Fashion section next Monday (3rd September). We are not sure what they are saying or how big the piece is (we are assuming thumbnail size). But we are fairly sure that they are including a picture of the bottle (as they requested one). Henry and Alex (our designer) being perfectionists, were not really happy with the previous bottle photos, so an impromptu photo shoot was convened and the resultant brilliant shot is below:

I was just relieved to hear that it was in the Fashion section and not a piece on the negative effects of alcohol or underage drinking (which would be unfair as we have done everything possible to make our drink for mature alcohol drinkers). So it is fingers crossed for Monday to see what the result is.

4. Caterer and Licensee - A piece should be going in their forthcoming edition.

We are currently having conversations with some other publications and we are about to bombard some more publications with the wonders of the Muddler media pack (which is mostly the product itself).

So a big thank you must go to our good friend Gavin Gomez who gave us a clue as to what a Press Release is! Also to Noules (of Aussie Jimmy and Noules fame) for always telling us that PR was the answer.

So are we becoming media darlings? I doubt it, I'm still in my shorts and unshaven as I write this, so I don't think the Paps are camped outside my flat quite yet. Anyway, it was never about celebrity status, Henry and I have specifically not applied to a myriad of business TV shows etc as this was never about us. People tell us that the blog and website allow them to have a good chuckle at our expense but we just want to show people the inner workings of our young company and if that involves people laughing at me... it won't be the first time!... or the last.

Apologies, it has been a week since we really put anything up on the blog so there is some other news....

Website - there were a number of (mainly minor) enhancements that we wanted to make to the website (and a couple of typos) so myself and Alex have pulled this together and last night we released a new version of the site. The changes are subtle (the site had gone down pretty well in the first place) but we hope you like them (for example the new photo of the bottle is now on the homepage). I hope to change the look of this blog soon to make it more Muddlerish.

Events/ Catering companies - we are beginning to get some traction with a number of the London events/ catering companies. Henry and I agreed that when we used to live in the corporate world the company functions often seem repetitive. As you walked in to a function the opening drink was always one of the rather uninspiring collection of Champagne, Pimms or Bucks Fizz and made events feel very similar. With the success of Muddler at weddings etc we know that this is a drink that almost everyone likes to get a party started. Later in the evening it is always good to have to hand when you are dancing the night away. So having targeted this sector we are beginning to see some good interest. So if you are organising an event or just attending one this Christmas you should be asking 'Have you got some of that Muddler Cocktail stuff?' you may be pleasantly surprised by the reply.

V Festival - I will put up embarrassing photos of me at the V Festival (northern branch) on my next post... this was a great event I attended with some hedonistic input from Paul Dixon (aka Dee), Kelly & Gav.

Weddings - The wedding (and associated Stag do) season has finally come to an end for me and Henry. Last Friday saw the the marriage of Hazel and Rob in Sussex. A great do, in a fantastic location that meant the wedding had a really fun and positive atmosphere (its great to see two people who work so well together). There was also plenty or real ale which kept Henry and I entertained. We've seen a lot of our Manchester University Geography crew this year and to be quite honest... it has been great (jugs of water over my head aside). It's not over yet, December will see us at the annual re-union weekend away (the only time we normally see each other each year).

On a random plug, if you haven't done so you should check out the amazing King Jacks which contains one of the University lot (Phil Newby) they are awesome and their new single (out in October I believe) has an unbelievably catch riff in it that Henry and I can frequently be heard humming. Check them out here (and listen to the single) - www.myspace.com/kingjacksmusic

I think I've rambled on enough today about what we've been up to, so what is coming up...

Oddjob - An old work colleague of mine, Chris Jackson, is having his thirtieth this weekend. I wouldn't normally mention stuff like this, but it's fancy dress. As it now says on the website I love an excuse to dress up as my alter ego, Oddjob for fancy dress.... whatever the theme (this time it is supposed to be 80s so maybe I'll add eye-liner to the effect). So the question is, how much will I look like Oddjob:

Photos to follow next week...

Rugby World Cup - As a man obsessed with rugby, this should be a time of me getting excited for the Rugby World Cup that kicks off in just 8 days. Although as an England fan, I'm slightly nervous at the prospect of being embarrassed this time around. I've got tickets for every round of the England games (now right up to the final) so fingers crossed for a strong performance. So this means a number of shorter Muddler working weeks for me to hop across the channel to soak up the atmosphere... Will I be the only man actually taking booze (Muddler) to France? I'm sure the photos will tell too many tales... I'll make sure that they get put up here.

The next question is will I write more often... I hope so, but there are so many things to do, like sorting out the Oddjob costume that take up my time! But I promise to improve.

Don't forget to take a look in the Daily Mail on Monday....

The Venue list is growing....

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:49:00 +0000

Last week Rupert and I got back on the road having had a couple of weeks 'off' writing proposals to pub chains, supermarkets, event companies and anyone and everyone we could think of who might be interested in our new drink.

It's hard work slogging the streets, walking into places unannounced, I can't help but feel like one of those annoying sales people you get called up by. I guess there are a couple of fundamental differences; firstly we are doing it in person and secondly we have a product that is actually relevant to the people we are selling it to and good! But still it takes a deep breath and a little bit of front to walk into a bar and demand to see the manager.

Not that it should, as the result is often a positive one. Another successful week of sales in the Shoreditch area is testament to this, I think we got into another 6 or 7 venues which wasn't bad considering it was only two afternoons work. So the list currently stands as:

Chelsea (SW3)
Market Place

Fulham (SW6)
The Durell
Fest Bar

Vauxhall (SW8)
Nolans Freehouse

Greenwich (SE10)
Oliver's Bar

Hammersmith (W6)
Raven

Camberwell (SE5)
The Castle

East Dulwich (SE22)
The Palmerston
The Vale

Herne Hill (SE24)
Pullens

Brixton (SW2)
The White Horse

Clapham (SW11)
Project Orange
Wessex House
Out of the Blue
Rinky Dink

Borough (SE1)
Goldsmiths
The Miller
Horse

Honor Oak Park (SE27)
Tapastry

Holloway (N7)
Manjaro

City (EC1)
Barbican Centre
Platinum Bar

Shoreditch (E1)
Red Lion
Strongroom
Charlie Wrights
Comoco

South Kensington (W8)
The Terrace

St Ives
The Tap Room

Guildford
Jo Clarks

St Albans
The Druid

Private Members Bars
County Constitution Club, St Albans
Mediacom, London

I got a call last night from my very loyal little sister who with her friends had just bought the last 4 bottles left in The White Horse Brixton (don't worry she is over 18). Her friends liked it so much that she was calling to find out where they could go to get more because they were demanding another! Hence the updated the list above. She then proceeded to give me a motivational speech on how we should be out every night in the pubs and bars selling to the punters to get this off the ground. She even volunteered her own services in doing so.

I think she's right. It's so easy to sit behind a computer writing proposals but the hard work is getting out there and wearing your product on your sleave, or in the case of our muddler t-shirts our chests. In reality it really needs both, so look out for Rupert and I over the next couple of months, you might well see us out and about singing the praises of ours truly as you enjoy a drink one evening.

Bribing journalists

noreply@blogger.com (Malcolm) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 07:56:00 +0000

Hi, I’m the voice of sanity for the Muddler’s empire…. in other words the person who says you can’t possibly do that (but the two of them go ahead and do it any way) and the person who says why aren’t you doing this (and if I’m lucky they might consider doing it).

I’ve spent my lifetime advising others how to run their businesses and started a couple of my own which have been moderately successful, but I have never before been involved with the drinks industry. Having known Rupert for nigh on 30 years (that tells you how old he is!) and Henry for around a dozen years I should have guessed that when they wanted to set up a business together they would go for something that involved alcohol, albeit it is not all bad as it contains pure fruit as well.

The big issue for the boys is getting the word spread around about what a wonderfully refreshing drink the Muddler Cocktail is and why doesn’t your local pub/bar/restaurant stock it. If anybody, who reads this, is bold enough to pass on to me (or the boys) the name of a top line journalist (or in fact any journalist) who writes up a piece about Muddlers and/or any contacts in the drinks trade who suddenly order a dozen cases of the pure fruit flavoured alcohol then I, personally, will reward them splendidly. What this means in reality is they could get to meet me (a scary thought for all concerned!) and receive, at least, a case of Muddlers, which I will buy with real cash (or QC as some of us, down the market, call it) from Rupert & Henry. Email the boys or me at malcolm@kimbersjessop.com with your contact names.

It is very important to me that Muddlers is the fantastic success that it deserves to be, if for no other reason than, what with the pension crisis of the past decade or so, I am relying on Rupert to keep me in my old age in the manner to which I wish to become accustomed.

Here ends my first ever blog entry; does this mean I’ve time travelled and become a member of the younger generation again (I can dream can’t I)?

All the best.

Malcolm

PS. In certain circles QC stands for…….. “Queens Currency” (i.e. cash not disclosed to the Inland Revenue).

Win a case of Muddler!

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:12:00 +0000

In my best boxing ring announcer style voice.....

Ladieeeeeees and Gentlemen

I'm pleased to announce that Muddler Cocktails in association with The Palmerston of East Dulwich are offering the opportunity to win a case of Muddler Cocktails.

Muddler Cocktails is the undisputed champion of real fruit cocktails and continues in its quest for worldwide notoriety. Their partner The Palmerston has recently been voted the best Gastro Pub in London.

All you have to do win the case of muddlers is sign up to the Palmerston's newsletter (you can always unsubscribe later). You can find all the details on their home page:
www.thepalmerston.net

You have until the end of August, but why not get cracking and do it now (it will only take 30 seconds).

Anyway, let the competition commence....

I'm not sure the boxer announcer thing worked, but what's done is done now!

Their are rumours that Malcolm Jessop (yes he is a relation) who is the voice of re-assurance for Henry and I when we get in a panic with the business side of things is going to have a stab at writing one of these blog post things.... heaven only knows what he'll write.

Right... I'd best be off there are deliveries to do and then it is Friday afternoon taste tests.... Any ideas for what the next Muddler Cocktail recipe are gratefully received.
....

A surprising yet welcome new market

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:13:00 +0000

Since we got hold of Muddler Cocktails our families have been a huge support, not least in their enthusiasm for getting their friends and colleagues to try it, and from this a very interesting trend has appeared.
The group of people we get consistently positive feedback from, more than any other, are the 50+ females. It appears that Muddler Cocktails really hits the spot with its 100% natural ingredients and more mature strength and flavour.
Its funny because of all the groups of people these would have been the ones, along with 50+ men, who I would have thought were least likely to change their habits. On reflection this is a view of the 50+ I formed when I was about 12!
The reality is that most people I now know who are over 50 have more freedom and choice than any of my friends. This in turns means that they are more open minded with a great sense for exploration, that change and difference is good, that there's always time to experience and find something new.
While 50+ might not sound as glamorous as the 25-35 year old market, perhaps it is this group that really sets the trends, where to travel, what to eat, what to drink.... One thing that is for sure, if we have inadvertently produced a drink that they find a delicious alternative to the odd glass of wine or gin and tonic we will be happy as larry!

Buy one get one free?

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:40:00 +0000

Reiterating what Henry said, time is flying by.... so at the moment my contributions to the blog are suffering! So I've vowed to sort it out and this should be the last time that I leave it a week before updating you all.

So following on from what Henry said we made it up to Liverpool (I wasn't that late) and on Monday had an interesting meeting with a small company that specialises in bringing new alcoholic drinks to the major buyers in the 'on-trade' (anywhere that serves alcohol for consumption on site eg pubs/ bars). So we discussed our product and once again it looks like we have a convert to the joys of Real Fruit Cocktails. The conclusion was that we did truly have a different offering to everything else on the market and that some of the bigger groups may be interested.

He was meeting a large national distributor the next day and agreed to take the product along to see what they thought. Their conclusion was that it really could sell, but that it was too costly for them (and their clients). This was not far off what we had expected given that what we have produced is something that is truly different and more premium than anything else that they currently sold.

Undetered we have decided to focus on clients that specialise in niche natural products. Once the market understands that a real fruit cocktail in a bottle is expensive to make (and therefore buy) we will take it back to this national distributor.

We've also begun to focus our efforts on the off-trade (the supermarkets and the off-licenses). After much deliberation we have picked one supermarket and are going to progress with attempting to get on to their shelves so that people can enjoy the real fruit cocktail at home! If you want the product at home we have an interim solution that involves us delivering it or couriering it to people.... but this is not the long term solution! Incidentally if you want details of this please let me or Henry know (rupert@muddlercocktails.com or henry@muddlercocktails.com).

After we have had such positive feedback from our first customers and the drinking public we decided that it was time to get our product out to the masses (and those beyond our London foothold) so we've decided to push on with these expansion plans. Whether they'll work or not time will tell (and it'll take us a few months to finalise details with either an off-trade or on-trade large scale supplier). What's also clear is that you wont be expecting to see us on a buy one get one free deal in your local supermarket.... the margins for us are very slim and if they are expecting us to fund many (or any) of those deals then it might be a step to far for us. Its early days though... lets see what happens.

We also spent some of last week back on the roads and have some additional bars to add to the current list. I'll publish a full list of pubs/ bars over the next couple of days, but the good news is that my local The Florence (in Herne Hill) is now offering me (and others) a Muddler Cocktail on an evening out!

Some more updates soon... but must go now as there are some repeat orders in that need to be fulfilled.

Talking of buy one get one free deals... Wessex House is offering buy one Muddler get one free before Midnight on a Friday night.

And my new (Aussie) housemate (Ben) wont stop asking for a mention on the blog. Something about attributing our success to his arrival... I'm not convinced that grabbing the occasional bottle of Muddler from our fridge is helping... but if it stops him talking about English weather....
I say grab me a Muddler whilst you are there.

Another week flys by

noreply@blogger.com (Henry) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 15:36:00 +0000

I'm not quite sure what happened to this week. One minute it was Monday the next it was Friday.

After the initial success of our cold calling on pubs and bars, this week we decided to start looking at other ways we can get some real momentum going. This meant a few days back in the office putting potential proposals together for the big breweries and pub groups.

After a couple of days of staring at the computer it was welcome relief on Thursday to be back out there selling which resulted in another 4 venues:

Market Place - Just off the Kings road
The Durell - Fulham Road
Fest Bar - Fulham Road
Nolans Freehouse - SW8

As you can see we are starting to get a good spread across south London, but we know that we need even more than this if things are really going to take off. And as luck would have it that is exactly what we got on Friday.

My girlfriend, Jenny, was up in Liverpool for a wedding and was dropping off a couple of cases to her Dad for us. His business partner was with him at the time and asked how things were going. When Jenny told him that we were looking to approach some of the breweries he piped up 'I know someone whose been in the industry for years and sells to all the major brewers do you want us to see if he's interested in having a meeting?'

To cut a long story short Rupert and I are heading up to Liverpool this afternoon for a 10.30am meeting with this guy tomorrow morning!

So next week is shaping up to be another very interesting one. That's if Rupert ever gets here to pick me up. He's currently an hour late. But it's meant I've had time to write this and see the end of the open. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

Those initial Muddler venues...

noreply@blogger.com (Rupert) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:53:00 +0000

Over the last week and a half the most frequently asked question has been... where can we get these Muddler Cocktail things?

Henry and I have been really excited by the initial reaction to Muddler Cocktails. We've been doing some cold calling and getting out there to see what pub landlord/ bar owners think of the drink. The feedback has been really positive, as soon as people try the drink, they are enjoying the taste and signing up to stock the product.

We've hit the streets and on Friday night we the product being bought by people unrelated to our group grabbing a Muddler... and going back for another one. It was great to see and is proof that the cocktail revolution is starting!

Muddlers is currently available in the following pubs/ bars/ clubs, so grab one today:

Greenwich (SE10)
Oliver's Bar

Hammersmith (W6)
Raven

East Dulwich (SE22)
The Palmerston
The Vale

Herne Hill (SE24)
Pullens

Clapham (SW11)
Project Orange
Wessex House
Out of the Blue

Borough (SE1)
Goldsmiths
The Miller
Horse

Honor Oak Park (SE27)
Tapastry

St Ives
The Tap Room

Guildford
Jo Clarks

Private Members Bars
County Constitution Club, St Albans
Mediacom, London