The number of craft distilleries is exploding internationally. What happened in craft beer 10 years ago is now happening in spirits. With thousands of awesome products flooding the market, this has created a discovery problem.
When you walk into your local liquor store, you usually see walls and walls of bottles. They may just seem like bottles but each has a story, usually of a passionate entrepreneur trying to make the world a little bit better. But these stories often go untold and customers settle for the bottle with the prettiest label. Something needed to change.
So we built our version of "Product Hunt for spirits." Join the club and we assign you an SMS-based sommelier who learns your tastes. Are you into sweet bourbons with a vanilla taste profile or smokey mezcals? Each month we send you a craft bottle that is tailored to your tastes. Most are not available in your local liquor store. Each box includes the in-depth story behind each bottle, tasting notes and interviews with the maker. We ship to 36 states including MA, TX, NY and CA.
It's an easy way to explore the world's best spirits and support their makers..
I'd love to get your feedback on our beta site. I have thick skin so please let me know how we can improve the site and service.
Cheers, Harry
P.S. - We created a discount code for the Product Hunt community. Use the code "KITTY" for $10 off your purchase.
@mikeorren@yourspeakeasy Great! Looks like an awesome event. I'll reach out to see if we can do text ordering for certain bottles.
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I used the app to purchase a bottle of small batch gin as a present for my younger brother. The gift was a massive hit. Will definitely be giving a couple subscriptions this Christmas. Huge fan of all the products put out by Team DrinkEasy / Swig.
@willielit Thanks Willie. Thrilled to hear the gift worked out. Always try to curate bottles with beautiful design, great taste and a good story.
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@harryraymond@seenickcode Thanks for building this so I don't have to. This is the perfect product that I've been looking for for a while. I want it. Badly.
But.
$80 a month is a lot to spend for something I don't know that I'm going to like. Having a subscription for me means that I could only buy this every month and nothing else. And if I don't like it, or it takes me a while to drink, then for the rest of the month I couldn't get any bombers of beer, or any other things I like.
If there was a way to get smaller sizes, like 350mls, for $40-$50, I would be a lot more likely to buy. Or even smaller. I like to sample, I like to try lots of different liquors and producers, and if I have to buy a whole 750ml for $80, then the bar is so high I can't cross it.
Maybe, in the end, I can't be a customer, or I could only be one occasionally, but I COULD be a regular customer, and other could, too, if the bar was a bit lower.
Those are my 2 cents. I could be a minority. Looks great, I want to use it, I was ready to buy, but I can't put all my eggs in one, $80 basket.
@hellosmoore@seenickcode
This is fantastic feedback Shannon. Appreciate it.
First off, we are absolutely trying to lower the price. The challenge is the weight and regulations around liquor delivery.
Two things we're struggling about:
1) shipping and taxes on liquor costs about $18. We decided to include that cost into the subscription to keep pricing simple.
2) are people willing to pay $18 for shipping and taxes for a $30 bottle. Possibly.
That said, thanks to @chrismessina, we're working with Uber to lower shipping costs and regulation are loosening around the country. That should allow us to lower prices.
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@harryraymond Like the concept, I think there is huge potential for concierge services to help people discover products in area's where they are spoilt for choice.
That said, I agree with @hellosmoore that there the entry price and quantity limits the appeal to a lot of people. I kind of struggle to see the target audience.
In this case, I would assume that the user that is mostly overwhelmed by choice is the casual drinker, who is looking for something for a special occasion or a gift. This is usually not the person willing to commit to $80+ every month. While a great way to start way to start a collection, a full bottle a month adds up quickly - unless you're borderline AA. So how about retention? Also, how does this scale to thousands of customers? If I don't know what to pick, how do your sommeliers know?
The explosion in the number of craft distilleries and amazing spirits brands over the last couple of years has been phenomenal, but it's made discovery tough. I've been using Drinkeasy's SMS service for the last few months and I'm really excited to see this subscription box come to the market to make discovery of amazing new brands even easier.
To paraphrase the old Remington ad, I liked it so much, I invested in the company. Excited to see this launch and to watch it scale. Watch this space - as there's a lot of cool stuff already happening and coming down the pipe over the coming weeks and months. Congrats to Harry & Nick - they've built something that the market clearly wants - both on the demand and supply side!
I'm a big fan of Drinkeasy, and a big fan of @harryraymond! I'm very excited for the launch of this service, and yes, @bentossell, if you'd like to get me a subscription for the holidays, I'd graciously accept!
I'm already a happy customer of the Drinkeasy SMS Concierge service, and in fact once splurged on a bottle of Charbay Release III Hop-Flavored Whiskey from their Lifetime Collector Series — entirely over SMS! Talk about conversational commerce done right!
More recently I picked up a bottle of Lock, Stock & Barrel Limited Edition 16 Year Old Straight Rye Whiskey, 107 proof:
Since I want to support Harry, and I want you to try this service, he's set me up with a $10 discount code. Just use "MESSINA" when you check out, and then think of me whenever you nestle in with your new purchase! 🍸
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Hey Harry, really think this service is a necessity for anybody trying to get into spirits. Personally, I am overwhelmed by the array of options available when looking for something new to try. There are so many opinions floating around on spirits that manually parsing them and making a decision is quite time-intensive. Drinkeasy's new club is a brilliant idea and I can't wait to try it.
@jdori_ Excited to hear you have a similar problem. Like a good tech app, discovery has become a real problem in a market with so many more products. Hope we can help.
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Love this! Any plans to expand to the UK? I know so many people who'd be your best customers
@louise_doherty Yes Louise! Can't officially announce it just yet but we're integrating with a major premium spirits retailer in the U.K. Should be shipping nationally in the U.K. by end of January.
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