At a time when the alcohol-free beverage market is flooded with different options, brands are vying to stand out on shelves.
Stursi’s secret? Having unrivaled flavor.
Co-founder Livv Mills is a mixologist by trade, so she was able to use her expertise in ingredients and flavor profiles to curate a line of alcohol-free cocktails. With flavors like purple papayaberry & sweet ginger, lush pineapple & autumn spices and dewy blood-orange & cardamom chili, these savory mocktails are made to bring taste buds to life.
“In 2023, I started exploring mocktails, and my sister wasn’t much of a drinker herself. So, she joined me on my quest to find mocktails that we could enjoy,” Livv says. “But mocktails haven’t quite made it to the same level of prestige that alcoholic drinks have and everything we tried was missing flavor. So, we ended up experimenting in the lab and created our own mocktails.”
The sister duo then decided to blend their mixology skills, deep cultural roots and intentional design to elevate the alcohol-free beverage space with Stursi.
Breaking Through the Mold
According to Lexx Mills, co-founder of Stursi, her and her sister built the beverage brand from the ground up without any outside capital.
“We’ve raised a little over $60,000 through grants and pitch competitions over the last year and a half,” she says. “We’ve been very fortunate to get those awards to help us start.”
Livv’s background in mixology has also saved the sisters around $15,000 in start-up costs. Aside from being able to formulate the beverages, Livv has her own design studio where she does all of Stursi’s branding and packaging designs.
And while getting the funds to bring Stursi to life has been quite an adventure for the sisters, complying with FDA regulations has brought along its own set of challenges.
“Thankfully, we didn’t have to go through any TTB hurdles that alcohol brands have to, but on the other hand, we now have to comply with FDA regulations,” Lexx explains. “So that has really been a challenge on our end in terms of the formulation for Stursi.”
“The formulation has been probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, I’m not going to lie,” adds Livv. “This past year has been super stressful, but it’s also been truly rewarding because normally, when you’re formulating any kind of beverage, alcoholic or not, brands will go to a flavor house or beverage scientist so that they can come up with a commercially scalable recipe to get to the manufacturer, but that’s expensive.”
To help cut down costs and keep the flavor to their liking, Livv began formulating her own recipes.
“So, now I’m basically a beverage scientist between everything that I’ve had to read and research,” Livv says. “I broke through the mold and created an FDA-approved commercially scalable recipe that is cost-effective.”
The Stursi Difference
With consumers increasingly becoming interested in healthier beverage alternatives, the alcohol-free category is booming. Between its refreshing flavors and ability to resonate with a diverse customer base, the Mills sisters are confident that Stursi will stand out on shelves.
“Other brands on the market are watered down, bland and have little to no flavor. Another complaint we hear is that bartenders often make mocktails too sugary or too sweet,” Lexx says. “That’s why we created mocktails that taste like real cocktails, giving consumers complexity and a mouth build that doesn’t just taste like juice.”
Lexx also explains that her and Livv are being very intentional about the Stursi brand experience, making sure that they resonate with consumers and connect with a diverse community.
“This is something that Stursi will stand up against any mocktail on the market,” she notes. “Many mocktails tend to lean into the healthy lifestyle, and understandably so since a lot of folks aren’t drinking for health and wellness reasons, but that doesn’t always play into a social environment. It’s important for us to bring that same level of sexiness to our brand as what people are accustomed to seeing in the alcohol space.”
Stursi’s Sensational Launch
The Mills sisters are almost done with their push to market, with Stursi’s official launch planned for late summer of 2025.
“We will be the official non-alcoholic cocktail of a university or arena here in Maryland starting this fall, and the partnership announcement will be coming later this summer,” Lexx says. “You will also be seeing us in independent retailers, bars and restaurants throughout D.C., Maryland and Virginia later this summer.”
Currently, Stursi is available for pre-orders through its website, www.stursi.com, with shipments to start later this month.
“We’re also planning a series of launch events this summer that we’re super excited about,” Lexx says. “They’re going to be in our home region of D.C. and Maryland. It’s going to be a time, so stay tuned for those dates later to come!”
