MILWAUKEE — Since releasing its first bottled tonic in 2017, Milwaukee beverage company Top Note Tonic has been winning awards across the country.
The company has received recognition at the SoFi Platinum Award for Best New Mixer Indian Tonic Water and earned double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, where some of the best chefs and bartenders are judges.
For the past three years, they've achieved a "double gold" award at the San Francisco competition — something that only 0.01% of entrants accomplish. That means that all the judges unanimously voted for and liked their drink.
"We were really shocked. The very first award we won was two weeks after our first packaging was done," Mary Pellettieri, CEO of Top Note Tonics, said.
Top Note started informally decades ago when founder Mary Pellettieri was pregnant and wanted a fun non-alcoholic drink. Dissatisfied with available options, she set out to create a high-quality but low-calorie mixer with no preservatives.
"You get angry about what's on the shelf, and you just decide, I can do that better," Pellettieri said.
The company now offers six different mixers that don't necessarily need to be paired with alcohol. The flavors are: Sparkling Grapefruit Soda, Classic Tonic Water, Ginger Beer, Alpine Spritz, Lemon Spritz, and Club Soda.
"So we're really happy building a low-carbon-footprint product that is skinnier, less sugar, and overall healthier for the customer," Pellettieri said.
When I was a kid and a teenager, in our fridge we always had sparkling water, lemonade, and some cranberry juice. Mix it together, and it's delicious. I grew up on that stuff. Now with Top Note, yes, it’s tonic, it’s normally meant for mixing, but the grapefruit soda, you can just drink it as is. And it’s so good.
Recently, the company made a manufacturing change so that all bottling, packaging, and distribution happen in the USA.
The recent popularity of non-alcoholic drinks has been good timing for Top Note as they continue to expand.
"That focus on quality and serving no alcohol really leans heavily then on the mixer," Pellettieri said.
That positions the company to continue to grow. Right now, Top Note Tonics is in Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan. The majority of customers are bars and restaurants. However, shoppers can find Top Note products in local grocery stores like Outpost Food Co-Op, Groppi's Food Market, and select liquor stores.
Watch the video to see more of the mixers offered by Top Note Tonics...
The company aims to continue growing at a rate of 30-50% before eventually doubling in size. That expansion could happen soon, as Top Note will be available on shelves at Milwaukee-area Metro Markets later this summer.
This story was reported on-air by James Groh and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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