Meet Neal Cohen | Co-Founder – Tip Top Proper Cocktails

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

Hi Neal, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
For me, the exercise of building a brand is most exciting when it can be personalized, and so a lot of what comes out in the Tip Top brand stems from personal interest, hobbies, and pursuits of mine and Yoni’s – like culinary, music, art, and design. That’s a huge driving force behind why we wanted to start this business—not only to fill a niche in the market, but also to create an outlet for our backgrounds, passions, and strengths.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Atlanta-based Tip Top Proper Cocktails was founded in 2018 by childhood friends and music industry veterans Neal Cohen and Yoni Reisman. After years producing large-scale events and festivals in NYC and around the country, the two discovered something was missing from the market: high-quality, classic cocktails that could be enjoyed with convenience at a concert, dinner party, tailgate, or simply at home.
Enlisting the help of veteran Atlanta mixologist and seven-time James Beard Award nominee Miles Macquarrie (of Kimball House and Watchman’s) to develop the recipes, the team created three 100ml canned low-ball classic cocktail recipes to form their “Stirred” line: the Manhattan, Negroni, and Old Fashioned. After more than two years of recipe development, Tip Top Proper Cocktails officially launched in Georgia in September 2019. In March 2021, Tip Top announced its new “Shaken” line, featuring three all-new, ready-to-enjoy 100ml canned cocktails: a Margarita, Daiquiri, and Bee’s Knees.

As of April 2021, Delta flyers can also enjoy the Tip Top Old Fashioned and Margarita aboard Delta flights. The products are also now available as 8-packs for shipping to 46 states nationwide via online purchases: https://shop.tiptopcocktails.com/.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people worth shouting out but two in particular are Miles Macquarrie and Bart Sasso. Being a part of this exploding canned cocktail trend, the two areas where Tip Top is most differentiated are taste and design. All of our recipes have been developed by Miles Macquarrie, beverage director at Kimball House, and his palette is precisely what has allowed us to take a good product and make it truly great for the discerning drinkers out there. Branding is the other piece. Our designer, Bart Sasso, has incredible attention to detail and a terrific understanding for how to balance elegance and playfulness in a brand.

Website: https://tiptopcocktails.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiptoppropercocktails/

Image Credits
Mia Yakel