We had the good fortune of connecting with Missy Koefod and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Missy, what do you attribute your success to?
We have been lucky to have an incredible team behind 18.21 Bitters. From the beginning, when it was just Kristin and me, staying up until 4am after our day jobs to label and seal bottles and our incredibly supportive friends and family would come help, support and encourage us, to today, with our Tucker, GA production facility and a team that deeply cares about the brand and drives innovation, we have had incredible people beside us every step of the way and I can’t express enough how important that has been to the success of our brand.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Back in 2014, during snowpocalypse, my wife and I started a small cocktail mixer brand called 18.21 Bitters. We had no idea how fast it would grow. Within 5 months, we had both left our day jobs to focus on 18.21 full time. Fast forward 7 years and we are a multi-million dollar brand sold in multiple countries. We are so proud to still craft our products in small batches by hand and are additionally proud to have the opportunity to give back to our communities. Starting, and successfully running a business is hard. Managing teams, vendors, investors…all of it takes a lot of juggling and we have learned a lot on the way. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience growing this brand from scratch with my wife and watching people enjoy our product…well, I just can’t describe how wonderful that feels.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood so I would probably start there with coffee at The James Room followed by a walk down the Beltline to Piedmont Park and some lunch at Woody’s Cheesesteaks. I would then grab some groceries from Trader Joes and head home to play with the pups and make some dinner at home for a game night with friends.

I think a visit to Ponce City Market would definitely be in order and I wouldn’t want to miss Honeycuckle Gellato or Bellina’s meatballs!

Slutty Vegan is a must eat in Atlanta! I am also a sucker for a pizza and Aperol Spritz day on the Fritti Patio and a little walk around the Highlands.

The High Museum and the Botanical Gardens would round out the trip along with beers at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, one of my favorites (find me upstairs!)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Kristin Koefod, my wife and business partner, and without whom none of this would have been possible.

Website: www.1821bitters.com

Instagram: instagram.com/1821bitters

Twitter: twitter.com/1821bitters

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