Soccer fan Joe Shepherd took a quick break from the excitement of Louisville City FC’s 2024 home opener on March 23 to grab a beer at a concessions stand. But something else caught his eye: a gimlet by Rivergreen Cocktails. “This stuff is really, really good!” he said after a few sips of the classic cocktail of gin, lime, cane sugar and sparkling water. “I was not expecting that.”
Most people don’t expect to see a canned gin cocktail, but Rivergreen co-founder and CEO Danielle Mann is changing that.
Mann and fellow co-founder and creative director Chris Witzke launched Rivergreen Cocktails in May 2021, basically out of boredom in the days of the COVID-19 quarantine.
Mann, an obstetrician/gynecologist, could only work at her day job every other week, leaving plenty of time to try new things. “Chris introduced me to sloe gin … It was sweet to me, so I started mixing it with soda water and lemon, and it was delicious,” Mann said. “I would give it [to friends], and they would rave over it. That’s how it started.”
As Mann put it, she “fell down a rabbit hole” and wanted to learn more. “I saw there were gin and tonics on the market, but that was it. So when I started researching gin, I saw these lovely cocktails that nobody was making, so I ended up playing around in the kitchen,” she said. “Chris and I were tasting a bunch of them.”
They settled on three classic recipes: the gimlet, the bee’s knees (gin, lemon, honey and sparkling water) and the greyhound (gin, grapefruit juice and sparkling water). “We wanted to do something that was all natural and with real ingredients,” Mann said.
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Mann and Witzke initially intended to outsource the manufacturing but decided to make the product themselves. They moved to a location on River Road in Louisville that had only one tank. They did everything by hand just to get the fledgling business off the ground. “It was cheaper for me to rent this place [in Louisville], get my own liquor license, and buy some minimal equipment to make a prototype,” Mann said. “We’ve been self-manufacturing ever since.”
Mann said it was slow going at first due to it still being “COVID-times,” but that soon changed when the Kroger Company signed on in October 2022.
Rivergreen Cocktails now can be found across Kentucky and in several locations in Ohio. The cocktails sold at numerous community festivals and events, including Lynn Family Stadium.
Naturally, Mann and Witzke had to expand. In three years, Mann said, they went from one tank to seven. Their first canning line processed 15 cans a minute. Their new line can process 50 cans a minute to keep up with demand.
Mann attributed the exponential growth to capturing classic gin drinks in a metal can that can be taken anywhere. “This is a new normal—to have cocktails in a can. Rivergreen Cocktails are the cocktails you’re going to take to the lake with you this summer, or to the pool or beach, or the golf course or someone’s house,” she said. “This is literally the cocktail I made in my kitchen. It’s no different. It’s the exact same cocktail. It’s just in a can.”
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Mann quit her private OB/GYN practice to work part time at Lexington’s Saint Joseph Hospital. Her new schedule frees up more time for a business venture she wouldn’t have dreamt of doing just five years ago.
“It’s super exciting,” she said. “I like self-manufacturing. I can pivot if I need to. I can do short runs, and we can make whatever we want here. To have that kind of freedom to do what I want to do is pretty cool. I’m enjoying it. I’m having fun.”
For more about Rivergreen Cocktails and where to find them, check out rivergreencocktails.com.