#86. 50/50: The Cocktail Box Company Bridging Alcohol-Free and Alcohol-Full

#86. 50/50: The Cocktail Box Company Bridging Alcohol-Free and Alcohol-Full

Sober Curious, Mindful & Alcohol-Free Drinkers Podcast: Low No Drinker · 2025-05-07

This week, I'm chatting with Jonny Hughes, one-half of the husband-wife duo behind Penthouse Cocktails – a unique at-home cocktail box service offering both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of the same drinks. Johnny, who also writes for Low No Drinker Magazine, brings his refreshingly honest and sometimes blunt (be warned!) perspective on everything from balancing a business that serves both markets to the challenges of finding quality non-alcoholic alternatives to his perspective on low/no wines.

Johnny also shares practical tips for making non-alc cocktails at home and explains why their 50/50 business model (right down to their pink and blue branding) is both their greatest strength and their greatest challenge in today's competitive alcohol-free market.

WE CHAT ABOUT
0:00 Welcome
2:16 Johnny's story
6:18 Equality between cocktails
9:33 Alcohol consumption in hard times
11:36 What goes into a Penthouse Cocktail
18:15 Building the business around non-alc
22:41 Taste comparison to full-alcohol
25:43 Making cocktails at home
30:55 Socialising and working together as a mixed drinking couple
36:25 Growing the low/no business
41:36 Serving two markets
46:45 Where to find Penthouse Cocktails
50:00 The BBQ-Q
53:33 AF wines taste like s**t

PENTHOUSECOCKTAILS.CO.UK

WE ALSO TALK ABOUT:
Corona Cero*
CleanCo Tequila*
Nozeco*
Lyre’s Malt*
Stryk Not Vodka*
Limonzero*
Twisst Irish Cream*

Plus+ Get 10% off drinks at Wise Bartender* & Dry Drinker* with code LOWNODRINKERMAGAZINE

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Sober Curious, Mindful & Alcohol-Free Drinkers Podcast: Low No Drinker

The companion podcast to Low No Drinker Magazine, the No.1 UK magazine for mindful & sober curious drinkers. 

The Low No Drinker Podcast is the place to come and meet the people, places and brands leading the low-and-no-alcohol revolution. It’s your introduction to a life less intoxicated with no judgement, no pressure and no expectation. 

Get closer to the people behind the drinks that make it possible for you to live a life less intoxicated, whether that’s for a night, a week, a month, a year or a lifetime, and the industry experts bringing it all to your door. 

 

Find out what motivates them, what their own journey was like and why you should try their amazing drinks.

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