A New Swagger Man Approved Cocktail has hit the market– Grisly’s Cosmic Black. Eric Trueheart shares his creative journey as the co-founder of this creative and delicious new RTD beverage.
The pandemic came hard and refused to go away quietly. For Eric Trueheart, one part of a husband and wife duo, the lockdown presented something he hadn’t had for a while: an abundance of free time. And he chose not to let it go to waste.
Hailing from a TV writer background, Eric has written cartoons for nearly every kids network in Los Angeles. His wife, Samantha, comes from the music industry. Together, the two of them account for an absurd level of creative energy. While talented at scriptwriting, Eric never shied away from exploring other interests besides his day job. One of those beloved hobbies was tinkering with craft cocktails.
Now, if only he had more time to pursue that interest seriously…
Fast forward to 2020. Like many other Americans, Eric was rocked with the devastating impact of the realities of COVID-19, then dazed by the subsequent lockdown. What would any restless, creative person do in a lockdown?
First, go absolutely stir-crazy like everyone else. THEN do something extremely imaginative.
The pandemic provided time for Eric to seriously pursue hobbies other than his nine-to-five. He and his wife began experimenting with cocktails. A veteran of the entertainment industry, Eric understood that any good, creative outing has the potential to be shared with the world. His mixology pastime naturally turned into a more concerted effort.
By the end of 2020, he had created some seriously great tasting ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails and a company to advertise them.
Eric provides insight into the genesis of his creation, “I would see actors and actresses in L.A. drinking vodka sodas at bars and parties. They want to keep carbs out of the body and still get loaded. I understand that. But then, I would see actors and actresses drinking the canned vodka sodas currently on the market. This I do not understand! To suck one of those things down willingly amazes me. I tasted a few of them and now I call them punishment beverages because of the horrifically bland taste.”
Additionally, hard seltzer drinks relentlessly bombarded the RTD beverage industry. Some are good, few are great, but the vast majority leave a regretful taste in your mouth with strong hints of mediocrity. “Be honest,” Eric says, “You’re sick of hard seltzer drinks. Everyone’s sick of hard seltzer drinks.” Hard seltzer hogged the RTD cocktail market, leaving many consumers craving something new, different and…better.
Eric remembers his wife’s “aha” moment. “There wasn’t really a whiskey cola beverage in the RTD market.” She recalls, “It was an interesting drink idea that had kind of been ignored.” After a little research, Eric’s wife Samantha surmised again, “This was a stratospherically growing category in one of our favorite industries. The stars aligned on having the right idea at the right time.”
Eric and Samantha got to work and created the Black Yeti Beverage company with their first product, a genuinely delicious whiskey and cola beverage titled, Grisly’s Cosmic Black. Besides real -aged bourbon and gourmet cola, the drink comes with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and toasted marshmallows. Drinks like this don’t come in neighborhood dive bars or in other RTD cans.
Oh, and are you expecting a beverage like this to be packed with sugar and high in carbs? Think again! It’s a low carb drink with zero sugar added. In other words, health conscious people love it and L.A. actors and actresses are forced to endure punishment drinks no more.
Not to mention, Eric’s history in creative thinking was the perfect background to attack the marketing. Black Yeti Beverage and its Grisly’s Cosmic products feature enticing visuals and a memorable mascot on the front of the can. Eric says, “Our mascot is the benevolent Cosmic Space Yeti. He’s a force for good vibes and unlimited eccentricity from beyond another dimension.”
Eric spent years cutting his teeth in the entertainment industry, a tough game accompanied with plenty of lows. One of the things that surprised him the most about tackling a new venture in a different business was his sense of accomplishment.
“As a writer in entertainment, you can spend months or years working on a project only for a buyer to emphatically tell you, ‘No.’” Eric says, “We could create Black Yeti and simply tell ourselves, ‘Yes.’ In entertainment you put a lot of work into things that go nowhere. We figured if we were going to put a lot of work into something, it might as well be something that will definitely go somewhere.”
The Black Yeti has landed in select retailers in California. The next time you reach for a hard seltzer RTD, Eric hopes you deny the punishment beverage and treat yourself to the fruits of his pandemic stir-crazy labor instead.
Grisly’s Cosmic Black is available in select retailers in California. Visit blackyetibeverage.com and follow @GrisleysCosmic on Instagram for updates.
