Sober Curious? This Brand is Redefining Social Drinking

Behind the Pour

James and Alina Mahoney started Madam Mocktail as an Instagram page — not as a business plan. The pivot to product happened because the audience was real and the gap in the market was obvious: there was no shelf-stable, bar-quality mocktail that a restaurant could pour with confidence or a guest could bring to a wedding and feel proud about. By the time Crystal and Roger sit down with them, Madam Mocktail is in 100+ Pennsylvania locations including 7-Eleven, shipping nationwide, and building a hospitality footprint that most alcoholic brands take years to achieve.

What You'll Discover

• Four core flavors that cover the cocktail canon: Lemon Drop, Passionfruit Mojito, Cosmo, and Black Cherry Mule. Each is built to match the mocktail equivalent of a recognizable cocktail — not a generic juice blend, but a product with a specific flavor profile and a named drink identity.
• BevSource partnership for quality ingredients: Madam Mocktail worked with BevSource to source natural, bold ingredients at commercial scale. The result is a product that tastes like the cocktail it represents, not a seltzer with juice added.
• Glass bottle with twist-off cap — 7-day shelf life: The packaging decision is deliberate. Glass communicates quality; the twist-off enables on-site service without tools. The 7-day shelf life after opening sets a hospitality-appropriate standard.
• Sober curious as a cultural moment, not a trend: The Mahoneys describe the audience as people who want to participate in social occasions without the alcohol, not people who can't have it. The distinction matters for how the product is positioned and sold.
• Restaurants using Madam Mocktail as a cocktail base: Some accounts are using the mocktail as a build ingredient in low-ABV cocktails, extending its use case beyond the zero-proof customer.

A Moment of Pourspective

You do not have to be drinking alcohol to be drinking intentionally. A good mocktail is not a placeholder — it is a position. The sober curious movement is not a phase. It is a category.

Explore the Conversation

The Madam Mocktail episode is a TLC departure from the usual spirits review or founder-founder conversation — James and Alina are building a brand in the non-alcoholic space, which means their conversation touches categories that Crystal and Roger do not usually address. The growth curve from Instagram page to 100+ locations is the episode's spine. The hospitality adoption story is the most practically interesting segment. When a restaurant uses Madam Mocktail as a cocktail ingredient rather than a standalone pour, the product crosses from the mocktail section of the menu into the cocktail program. That use case changes the economics of the brand significantly. Crystal and Roger's genuine curiosity about this space comes through. They are not dismissing the sober curious audience — they are exploring it as an extension of the same philosophy that drives everything on TLC: drink what you love, understand what it is, and choose it deliberately.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Madam Mocktail? Madam Mocktail is a ready-to-drink mocktail brand founded by James and Alina Mahoney, available in four flavors: Lemon Drop, Passionfruit Mojito, Cosmo, and Black Cherry Mule. It is shelf-stable in glass bottles and available at madammocktail.com.
• What does sober curious mean? Sober curious describes people who choose to reduce or eliminate alcohol for health, social, or personal reasons without necessarily identifying as sober. The movement has grown significantly as a wellness-forward lifestyle choice.
• Is this just juice in a bottle? No. Madam Mocktail was developed with BevSource to replicate the flavor profiles of specific cocktails using natural ingredients — the result is a product built to stand on its own as a bar-quality pour.
• Where can I find it? 100+ locations in Pennsylvania (including 7-Eleven) at time of recording, with nationwide online shipping at madammocktail.com.

Episode at a Glance

• Guests: James and Alina Mahoney (founders, Madam Mocktail)
• Hosts: Crystal and Roger
• Runtime: 17 minutes, 35 seconds
• Category: Non-Alcoholic
• Notable: 100+ PA locations, 4 flavors, bar-quality non-alcoholic RTDs