VCU news

By Dina Weinstein

A new line of canned beverages will bring some alcohol-free buzz to the party this fall. Phat Ass Mule; It’s Sangria, Biotch; and Margarita, That’s Hot will herald the arrival of Everything But the Booze, a business created by two Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter alums who want to shake the mocktail market.

“We’re calling them shocktails because they’re shocking your senses with these dynamic flavors that leave you wondering why you’ve ever felt like you needed alcohol to have a good time,” said Catherine Emblidge, co-founder and strategist at EBTB.

“We found that a lot of the mocktails right now are this weak interpretation of cocktails that don’t really have that full flavor profile. They’re more in the health and wellness area and don’t really embody that party,” she said. “We feel like it’s needed because so many people, when they go to parties and don’t drink, feel left out and ostracized.”

Emblidge and Celeste Chance did not know each other when they joined the graduate program at the VCU Brandcenter in fall 2022. Emblidge (strategy track) and Chance (copywriting track) were grouped with three other students in diverse fields in a first-semester Creative Thinking class. Their assignment was to create a side hustle – either a product or service that addressed a need.

Chance, who previously managed the tasting room at Cirrus Vodka in Richmond, initially suggested a mobile bar cart.

“One of our group members said, ‘Actually I don’t drink, and it makes me feel left out at parties when there’s not a great alternative to the alcoholic beverages being served,’” Emblidge said. “So we all started thinking and we were like, ‘What if we did something that was like, everything but the booze?’”

In doing market research and studying nonalcoholic canned beverages, the group saw an opportunity for fun and festive drinks in the category.

“Gen Z’s drinking less than any other generation. The whole ‘sober curious’ movement is something that is blowing up right now,” Emblidge said. “We wanted to create something that gave that party vibe but also gave that full-flavored experience of cocktails that we know and love.”

Emblidge, who earned an undergraduate degree in government from University of Virginia, worked for seven years in the Washington area for a small wealth management firm, where she ran their client solutions department. Chance, before working at Cirrus Vodka, had earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism at VCU.

At the Brandcenter, they were excited by the EBTB’s business potential and their complementary skills, so they continued to develop, test and fundraise for the brand after the Creative Thinking class.

“From the moment Catherine and Celeste pitched their initial idea, I was captivated,” said professor KT Schaeffer, who taught the course. “Their concept and the way their research highlighted a powerful human truth was truly compelling.”

Schaeffer guided Emblidge and Chance to VCU’s Shift Retail Lab, where the Shelfies pre-accelerator program would help develop and test their products. The pair achieved notable success at the VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation’s Demo Day this April, where they pitched their products to the community and potential investors – and won the featured category.

Chance was intrigued by the ability to project publicly that EBTB operates on a larger scale while actually having a small team.

“I loved the aspect of working with the small business,” she said. “I’d already been in the service industry for some time on and off through undergrad, but I think working at Cirrus, it taught me that there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes in a business that you don’t see.”

The financial demands of running a business have been eye-opening for the pair. The Shift Retail Lab awarded EBTB a $5,000 grant in 2023 and a $3,000 grant in 2024 – the funds helped with trademark costs and product testing, with Garden Grove Brewing handling production that increased the beverages’ shelf life. An Indiegogo campaign raised an additional $5,000. A business plan came together with the help from staff at the VCU School of Business.

“Catherine and Celeste have made waves in the Richmond food and beverage scene,” said Lloyd Young, director of innovation and design at the da Vinci Center and Shift Retail Lab. “With the support of mentors like [food business expert] Ryan Evans, former director at Hatch Kitchen, they transformed their bold flavor concepts into a thriving venture concept.”

“Having that supportive community that helps you along the way has been so wonderful for us,” Emblidge added. “We couldn’t have gotten as far as we have with any of this without Kevin Storm, the brewer at Garden Grove. They were the ones helping us with our production, and with our formulas and recipes and extending that shelf life. It’s been a team effort. Those connections have come through Brandcenter, through VCU, through personal connections, through just being out in the community.”

Since graduating this May from the Brandcenter, Chance has interned at the Martin Agency while working with Emblidge on EBTB. The pair spent the summer on state and federal administrative and regulatory tasks.

With their booze-free shocktails debuting this fall, they plan to hold tasting events at Mystic Markets around Richmond and other sites. They also will continue to fundraise to expand EBTB, savoring the chance to  awaken partygoers’ senses without dulling them.

As Emblidge said, “we wanted to create something that was as great as the original.”