Client Name: Justin and Lori Discoe
Business Name: Discoe Beverages
Business Website: https://nabzr.com/
Industry: Beverages
Location: Lee, NH
SBDC Advisor's Name: Warren Daniel
It seems fitting that Justin and Lori Discoe of Discoe Beverages would make non-alcoholic cocktails that emulate the cocktail experience without the adverse effects of alcoholic beverages. They use complex flavors with botanical notes and L-theanine to help promote relaxation naturally, so you get the “aaah” without the “ouch.” Like their product, Justin and Lori are delightful and their warm, welcoming, and fun personalities can make anyone feel relaxed.
Discoe Beverages launched in 2021 with the creation of their main product, NA’BZR, a canned non-alcoholic cocktail. Discoe Beverages and NA’BZR was born after a trip Justin took back home out West.
Justin was inspired after reuniting with some of his lifelong friends who were talking about how they were doing their dream projects and following their passions. Hearing their excitement, Justin was then driven to follow an interest he always had, to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and distilling.
Once back in NH, Justin shared his ideas with Lori including how they could incorporate the plant science part of it. Lori, the self-proclaimed “science nerd” and lover especially of plant science says, “he knew he had me hooked.”
Justin and Lori, who are full time high school teachers, describe themselves as “creative people who were looking for a challenge.” They say, “The idea of making a complex, adult drink that could satisfy without the alcohol was very intriguing.” Justin’s love for tinkering and Lori’s love of botanicals, came together perfectly for this business.
So, they purchased a 10-gallon still and began distilling botanicals with consultation from herbalists, and good friends willing to taste test. And, eventually, as prices went up, Justin ran with his tinkering skills to build a 1-gallon still for their kitchen stove top. All the trial and error resulted in two delicious non-alcoholic cocktails, Lemon GinFizz and Cranberry GinFizz, with a third product coming soon!.
Discoe Beverages is proud to share they will soon provide the only non-alcoholic spirit you can purchase in NH State Liquor stores, and they are preparing to launch in Whole Foods in both New Hampshire and Maine. The bulk of their business though, is through traditional “mom and pop” stores.
As part of their launch into Whole Foods, Justin and Lori are hard at work rebranding their signature NA’BZR product to its new name, Circle Back.
Justin explains, “as we're evolving as a small company, we're also evolving as our brand and finding out who our customers are. So, for us, Circle Back has good meaning because you circle back in a lot of ways in life, whether that's drinking, over drinking or not drinking.”
Lori adds, “we've never taken an anti-drinking position because we believe it's a choice. It's just you need an alternative sometimes to be able to choose.”
The Discoes are no strangers to business, as this is their third company. “I love business,” says Justin. We took a different approach with SBDC this time because even though we had companies before, we needed that rudder.”
“There’s so much to running a company, especially when you’re in a new industry,” says Lori.
Justin and Lori started working with NH SBDC Business Advisors, Warren Daniel and Ed Miles prior to launching their business.
“We realize that our strengths are on the creative side,” says Lori, “so we just wanted to go to experts that would give us solid business advice. And one of the beautiful things about SBDC is that they're truly objective. They're just here to help.” Justin and Lori recognized their need for help navigating the State and legal systems to be sure they had all their bases covered. With Warren and Ed’s help, Justin and Lori have also been able to leverage opportunities for small grants to receive things like legal advice and marketing assistance, as part of SBDC’s recent FAME program.
They also appreciate the feedback they receive from their SBDC advisors. “It’s just great to have that objective voice,” says Justin. Lori adds, “they support the big dream, but they’re practical for where you’re at.” Then, half-jokingly, Justin and Lori both share about their meetings with Warren and Ed, “it feels like we’ve gone to a college class every half hour. They just have so much knowledge.” They refer to their advisors as “wonderful sounding boards, helping us to be aware of pitfalls in our course and how to maneuver and find solutions.”
In closing, Justin and Lori advise fellow small business owners,
“No matter how much experience that you have in business, there are always areas that you can benefit from the insights that the SBDC team offers, and it's free! It is a wise move no matter who you are to always seek quality support.”
Watch for NA’BZR (soon to be Circle Back) in a store near you. Visit https://nabzr.com/ for more.