Cocktail mixers in a ‘dry town’? Timing is right for Ocean City’s big party night
OCEAN CITY — It may seem odd that a young entrepreneur in a dry town created unique mixers for premium cocktails, but on the eve of Night in Venice, when the entire bayside of Ocean City turns into one big party, it may be fitting after all.
Michael Larkin is the CEO of FoolProof Mixers, a small business he founded two years ago with help from family and friends after finishing his degree in business.
FoolProof Mixers offers three varieties (for now): Watermelon Mint Mojito, Pineapple Habanero Margarita and Peach Jersey Smash. The mixers are small-batch with real ingredients and no preservatives, offering options for a wide variety of cocktails.
Larkin, originally from Newtown Square, Pa., has been visiting his family’s second home in Ocean City for summers since he was a baby. When he was in his senior year at Boston College during the COVID-19 pandemic, he spent a lot of time inside ordering drink mixers because he couldn’t go to bars. Then he started experimenting with his own.
“I was coming up with these recipes in my apartment. I brought all of my friends over to try these mixers and asked, ‘What do you think about this?’ They were giving me feedback. Of course they loved to be there because they were getting free alcoholic drinks,” he said, laughing. “Meanwhile I was sitting there with an Excel spreadsheet taking their feedback to decide how we can make something good.”
Staying indoors brought another thought to mind that figured into his time in Ocean City: “How can we have a nice premium cocktail that everyone can make at home instead of going to bars?”
“I started thinking about Ocean City because it is a dry town,” he said. “We’re America’s Greatest Family Resort. Everyone wants to spend time with their family and not be at a bar, so how can we bring that experience right at home?”
With liquor stores right over the bridges, people living and staying in Ocean City can pop in, pick up mixers and alcohol and return to their homes, where they can whip up cocktails with ease. (The concept, of course, works for anyone, anywhere who wants to enjoy a cocktail at home without the bother of dealing with finding too many ingredients.)
Larkin originally began selling his FoolProof Mixers at the Margate farmers market. “It was when we were making the product ourselves,” he explained.
With good feedback over two years, and much-needed and appreciated help from family and friends, he began to wonder how he could make the mixers on a larger scale.
He ended up partnering with the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University, a food incubator/accelerator.
“I got to work directly with them and their food scientists for a year and spent a lot of time with what we made in our house and how we actually could make a commercial formula that is shelf-stable,” he said. “We were able to do that over the course of a year and in the middle of March launched the first run of product with all the commercial labels.”
“I give Rutgers a lot of credit because the Food Innovation Center is focused on not using artificial ingredients and preservatives. It’s figuring out how to use real ingredients,” he said.
They hot-fill the mixers which makes them suitable for shore shelves. The bottles, which make six to eight cocktails, have to be refrigerated only once they are opened.
For now, patrons can find them on store shelves locally only at Boulevard Super Liquors just over the bridge from Ocean City on Roosevelt Boulevard in Upper Township. They also can be purchased online at foolproofmixers.com.
How he decided on the mixer flavors
There is a lot of competition in the mixer market, “so I wanted to pick some flavors that were interesting that no one had yet. In my research I came up with the Pineapple Habanero Margarita,” he said. “I remember when I was making it, the habaneros were making my eyes tear up.”
Larkin wanted to grab people’s attention when they looked at the labels. “That’s kind of where I started.” That’s why he didn’t create a mixer for familiar drinks such as an old-fashioned, although that is on his “roadmap” for future products.
Jersey Peach Smash came about when he noticed how people loved to buy Jersey peaches.
“That’s one of our original flavors. We’re at these farmers markets and everyone loves Jersey peaches, they love Jersey products, so we wanted to incorporate how we give people the taste of a Jersey cocktail at home. You get a nice sweet peach drink with a little hint of citrus.”
The most recent is the Watermelon Mint Mojito. “People love it, especially when you’re outside and you shake it over ice. The mint adds that coolness flavor,” he said.
Larkin said although the mixers are labeled as margarita or mojito, they are quite flexible. On the website there are recipes for cocktails such as the frozen watermelon mule, spicy pineapple paloma, bourbon peach smash, peach thyme spritzer and frozen pineapple habanero margarita.
For those who want to enjoy alcohol-free cocktails, these mixers work for them as well – just add club soda and a lime garnish.
All of the mixers are agave-based. “We wanted an alternative (to sugar) that still tasted good. Agave is a little bit cleaner than sugar, a little less calories,” he said.
The runs for the mixers are small. Working with Rutgers, the last run was 1,000 bottles. Other advantages with small batches are being able to maintain quality control and come up with new flavors that can be done in future runs, such as a Christmas special.
“Our company is big on doing non-conventional flavors. Trying to find a little twist on things.” These mixers are summer cocktails, but as FoolProof moves into winter Larkin expects to add mixers for other drinks, possibly a hot toddy.
Special for NIV
“I think people would be excited about getting a bunch of local mixers for a big party or big event, so I’m excited,” he said.
To that end, FoolProof Mixers is offering a Night in Venice special. To get 20 percent off orders from the website, put in the code, FPVENICE20. Select “Free” local delivery at checkout or text/call Larkin at (610) 888-4655.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff