Partner Content: The Pathfinder
The Pathfinder has never played it safe. Known for its complex, herbaceous Hemp and Root spirit and unapologetically strange branding, the Seattle-based brand has built a cult following around the art of the non-alcoholic cocktail. Now, co-founder Chris Abbott and his team are venturing into new territory with The Pathfinder Espresso Tonic: a blend that delivers both caffeine and complexity in one can. In this conversation, Abbott shares how a chance ferry encounter with Caffe Vita’s owner sparked the collaboration, why real espresso was the missing link, and the bold move he’s planning to take next.
You’ve called your Espresso Tonic the “finest and most daring” Pathfinder RTD yet. What makes it so?
From the beginning, it’s been our goal to create complex and delicious drinks that deliver flavor on par with alcoholic drinks—such that a consumer isn’t sacrificing anything when they opt away from alcohol.
With our non-alcoholic spirit, Hemp and Root, and then our first two RTDs, Negroni and Spritz, we were firmly planted in the world of cocktails. Coffee adds a whole new dimension to our brand, and another competitive set to evaluate to ensure we’re delivering on the original promise. It has to be a damn good cocktail and a damn good coffee drink. Something that isn’t easy to do. That’s where the daring part comes in.
What drew you to coffee as the next evolution of The Pathfinder? Why now?
When you hand a bartender a bottle of The Pathfinder for the first time, more often than not, they turn to coffee to pair it with. As we moved into RTDs—to demonstrate the versatility of our spirit outside of the bar—it was a natural direction to showcase The Pathfinder with coffee.
You’re working with a full espresso shot in each can. How does that change the drinking occasion versus a typical RTD?
With the advent of the espresso martini and brands like Mr. Black, we’ve seen a surge of coffee cocktails in bars. The occasion is Friday night: you’re with your friends, looking to drink amazing cocktails and laugh heartily.
Our Espresso Tonic is a convenient option for those who are looking for that same occasion on the go, when they are off to a friend’s party or to the beach for a bonfire. For us the occasion is the same as our other non-alc cocktails; this one just offers that caffeine kick, as does an espresso martini on the alcohol side.
There’s a lot going on flavor-wise: juniper, sage, saffron, orange peel, Douglas fir, and—of course—espresso. What was the north star for this formulation?
Yes, The Pathfinder’s trademark is complexity. But to your point, it must all balance out and taste great on the whole.
Our north star for this formulation was an espresso tonic made with freshly-pulled espresso. We married the mouthfeel and depth of flavor that comes with espresso with the complexity and distinctiveness you get from The Pathfinder’s blend of 20 botanicals. We strived to deliver a balanced experience of both in harmony.
What was the biggest formulation or production challenge you had to solve before getting this to shelf?
It was the espresso.
At first we looked at cold brew; we just couldn’t find that depth of flavor and mouthfeel that you get with espresso. Partnering with Caffe Vita to utilize their Cold Shot was the real breakthrough for us. Caffe Vita utilizes a novel technology to make espresso at scale, and they deliver a punchiness we couldn’t find anywhere else. To your first question, having real espresso in our Espresso Tonic was the differentiator that helped us make it one of the finest RTDs yet.
You describe this collaboration with Caffe Vita as a “homecoming.” Can you paint the picture of early days on Capitol Hill, and how Caffe Vita supported you?
Caffe Vita was one of our first partners in Seattle. They agreed to take on The Pathfinder in their cafes even before we had a distributor in Washington.
Our launch plan was to saturate a five block radius in the Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle such that you couldn’t walk there and not wonder, “What the hell is The Pathfinder?” We were in Life on Mars, a trendy cocktail bar that serves vegan food and Le Dive, which serves natural wine. You could also find us in Sugar Pill, an apothecary, NW Liquors, an independent liquor store, and Neumos, a high-energy iconic Seattle music venue. And you could find us down the street at Caffe Vita.
Caffe Vita is a stalwart in Seattle’s local coffee scene. To have their support in that neighborhood and beyond was super meaningful. Vita created The Pathfinder Espresso Cola to serve in their cafes and sold the first bottles of The Pathfinder Hemp and Root spirit. It was a huge deal for us to have their backing.
How did this collaboration actually come about? Was it a rapid process or years in the making?
I live on an island just outside of Seattle. One morning, I was taking the ferry into the city when I recognized Deming Maclise, the owner of Caffe Vita, sitting outside on the upper deck. After introducing myself, we spoke for the whole crossing, then exchanged phone numbers.
Deming asked me how this new Cold Shot product of his could be showcased. We were in the final stages of R&D for our Espresso Tonic and I was concerned about missing our timelines, but the potential to partner with Deming and Vita was just too tantalizing. With his Cold Shot, we could get actual espresso in our cocktail. So it came together really fast, and I’m really thankful for the Vita team and their hustle. We changed our whole formulation and still hit our timelines.
What’s something surprising you learned about coffee while developing this beverage?
Before starting the R&D on Espresso Tonic, I hadn’t really considered how different coffee drinks have different levels of caffeine. At the outset, we really wanted the caffeine content to come naturally from the coffee we added, rather than from a caffeine extract. In our early versions using cold brew, the caffeine content was low. Since our can is 6.7 oz and equal parts Pathfinder, tonic, and coffee, there just wasn’t that much caffeine. That’s when I discovered cold brew only has ¼ of the caffeine per fluid ounce versus espresso. The only way to get the caffeine content we wanted was to use espresso or add a caffeine extract. That was the Aha! moment. We had to figure out how to have espresso in the drink to avoid caffeine extracts.
There’s a kind of bold weirdness to this launch that feels very Pathfinder. How have consumers responded to your brand positioning in the past? How do you expect them to receive this new SKU?
Thanks for using the word weird, and boldly weird is even better.
Our brand agency, Quaker City Mercantile, is so freaking good. Most of their clients end up asking them to dial back the weirdness. We tell them: the weirder the better! We’ve had an incredible outpouring of love for our branding, including 1,300 reviews on the Hemp and Root spirit alone. Here’s one from last week that clearly shows people want weird, they crave weird, and the weirder the better:
⭐ The Drink That Awakened My Elk DNA ⭐
At the dead of night, I open The Pathfinder on the counter. It hums faintly like an elk remembering its past life. I didn’t drink it. It drank ME. It smells like a forest that pays its taxes. Ask the bottles. Is it an elixir? A potion? A lifestyle? I asked but the bottle said nothing. It doesn’t have to. My chakras just signed a lease, my spirit guides high-fived. The refrigerator hums louder. It’s jealous. A vision came to me of a buffalo wearing sunglasses. He whispered, “You are The Pathfinder now.” I understand everything. I forgive my phone battery. I know who I was before coffee. EUPHORIC VIBES ROOT MAGIC TRANSCENDENT FLAVOR ZERO REGRET FULL MOON APPROVED. ALL DRINKS ON ME!
We think people are going to love the Espresso Tonic. It’s dark and brooding and tasty and… weird.
The espresso tonic format has serious bartender credibility, but is still unfamiliar to many consumers. How do you plan to bridge that gap?
There is every indication that the American consumer’s appetite for coffee is insatiable. To find a format that’s trendy with bartenders but still somewhat unfamiliar with consumers is a dream. We’re a back bar brand first, after all. And while there is a need for consumer education, it’s not that steep a curve.
It’s coffee and tonic, two things most people understand, plus Pathfinder, which many do not yet understand—but will soon. The opportunity to be first to popularize the espresso tonic in a ready to drink format is wildly exciting. We’ll be doing a lot of sampling to get people to try it, and many retailers will be selling single cans, which provide a low-cost entry point for consumers. We believe when they taste it, they’ll love it.
What’s next for non-alc? Do you think we’re entering a new phase for the category, where beverages must be both functional and culinary?
All eyes are on cannabis drinks.
With big alcohol distributors like Southern Glazer’s and Johnson Brothers establishing cannabis teams, low-dose cannabis beverages are set to take off with wide and powerful distribution partners. As far as functionality goes, next to caffeine, there is nothing more interesting than cannabis. We’re currently at work formulating a new cannabis spirit, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it early next year…
For more from The Pathfinder, visit their website.
