One Company’s Search for Their Own Branded Cocktail

It was a straightforward request: make an orange drink. As a newly appointed content writer for Drift2 and a not-so-newly designated bartender, it was my task to help in the creation of an orange flavored adult beverage for an upcoming event.  My first thought at this request was a cocky, “Well this will be damn easy,” and that thought slowly devolved into “holy crap what am I going to give these guys?”

I should start with the concept.  The orange flavored drink was meant to serve a multitude of purposes for Drift2 and the conference.  Greg, the founder of Drift2, wanted the drink’s color to match the bright orange of the company logo so that the bottle would represent the company from a visual aspect.  Along with this, the drink was meant to be just that; something people would want to consume while they stood around and relaxed a little.  Alcohol has been the glue that has gotten people together for centuries, and this drink was supposed to attract a crowd and keep them around for a little while.  For this reason, we had to make a drink that tasted good, but not something someone could chug down in two seconds and walk away.  This drink had to be savory.  Something someone would take a sip of and want more, but not so soon that it was gone before they knew it.  On top of all of that, the drink had to be a conversation starter.  To be blunt, everyone loves a free drink, but that doesn’t mean everyone likes the drink itself.  If the drink was going to represent Drift2 in style, it also had to serve Drift2 as an initial introduction.  It had to have a taste that left someone wanting to tell someone else about it.  This checklist of necessities is what took the “damn easy” out of my attitude and replaced it with “holy crap what am I going to give these guys,” and resulted in a lot of excessive drinking to find the perfect mix.