How Mingle Mocktails is Expanding Into Functional Beverages to Capture Evolving Consumer Preferences

The adult non-alcoholic beverage category keeps evolving – and Laura Taylor, Founder and Chief Mingle Officer of Mingle Mocktails, decided her brand needed to evolve with it. After observing functional beverage growth for two years and learning about shifting consumer preferences, she launched Mingle Mood. The functional line addresses what she noticed consumers increasingly want: beverages that offer subtle mood benefits without alcohol or its downsides.

Strategic Patience in a Growing Market

Taylor’s path to launching Mingle Mood wasn’t rushed. Two years ago, when functional beverages started gaining traction, she looked at what was entering the market and held back. The products she saw featured long nutritional panels packed with ingredients she didn’t recognize. The branding felt pharmaceutical rather than approachable. For a brand built on making people feel included in social occasions, the disconnect was clear.

“I was looking at some brands that were out there, and I’m like, hmm, that feels a little bit pharmaceutical,” she told me during our conversation. “Some of the brands had this big, complex long nutritional panel with ingredients I didn’t understand, so I kind of put it aside.”

But Taylor didn’t dismiss the category entirely. She kept watching as functional beverages gained momentum, and more importantly, she started researching. She dug into trend data, studied consumption patterns among younger generations, and tried to understand what people were actually seeking when they reached for a functional beverage.

The research revealed something significant: consumers wanted beverages that could shift how they felt – relaxation, focus, calm – but they didn’t want the intoxication or aftereffects of alcohol. The functional beverage category was growing because it addressed a real need, not just a marketing trend.

Understanding the “Why” Behind the Trend

After eight years building Mingle Mocktails in the adult non-alcoholic cocktail space, Taylor understood her mission clearly: ensuring everybody has a choice that makes them feel part of the occasion. That mission had guided every major decision, from saying no to launching canned RTD spirits despite investor pressure to declining opportunities to add THC to her products.

The question with functional beverages was whether they aligned with that mission or represented a distraction. Taylor’s research helped her see the connection. Functional ingredients weren’t about replacing alcohol’s effects – they were about offering something different. A subtle shift. A tool for occasions when people wanted to feel relaxed or focused without any mind-altering substances.

“I did some learning around trends, what people are looking for, how this younger generation is drinking or not,” she explained. “And I decided to proceed with the functional line.”

The decision reflected a deeper understanding of how the adult non-alcoholic category was expanding. It wasn’t just about replacing alcohol anymore. It was about creating beverage options that served different needs, different moments, different desires – all while keeping consumers feeling part of social occasions.

A Product Line That Reflects Personal Experience

Mingle Mood launched as Mingle’s line of adult non-alcoholic social functional beverages. The products feature three ingredients: ashwagandha, lion’s mane, and L-theanine – adaptogens and nootropics that work together to help consumers feel relaxed, calm, and focused.

What makes Taylor’s perspective on Mingle Mood particularly credible is that she’s experiencing it as both a brand founder and a consumer. After 10 years of not drinking alcohol, the functional beverages offered her something genuinely new.

“They take the edge off, and I haven’t had that feeling brought to me in 10 years, so it’s a welcome change of pace,” she said. The effect isn’t dramatic or intoxicating – it’s subtle. A gentle shift toward relaxation without any of alcohol’s downsides. No hangovers. No impairment. Just what she describes as “a subtle shift in a positive way.”

This personal connection to the product changed how Taylor thinks about Mingle Mood’s potential. “People are looking for this, and now I understand the draw, as a consumer and as a brand,” she explained. It’s one thing to identify a market opportunity through research and data. It’s another to experience the product’s value firsthand and understand viscerally why consumers want it.

Designing for Accessibility, Not Complexity

The challenge Taylor faced in creating Mingle Mood was avoiding the pharmaceutical feel that had turned her off from functional beverages two years earlier. The goal was accessibility – products that consumers could understand and feel comfortable choosing.

Mingle Mood features three functional ingredients rather than a long list of complex compounds. Each ingredient has a clear purpose: ashwagandha for relaxation, lion’s mane for cognitive function, and L-theanine for calm focus. The simplicity is intentional. Consumers shouldn’t need to research unfamiliar ingredients or decode a lengthy nutritional panel to understand what they’re drinking.

This approach reflects Mingle’s broader brand philosophy. From the beginning, Taylor built Mingle Mocktails to be inclusive – products that made non-drinkers feel part of social occasions rather than excluded or othered. Mingle Mood extends that philosophy into functional beverages. The products offer benefits, but they do it in a way that feels approachable rather than clinical.

The Retail Strategic Value

Beyond consumer appeal, Mingle Mood serves an important business function for the brand. In a category that’s rapidly evolving, staying relevant to retail buyers and distributors requires demonstrating the ability to adapt and grow.

“So far the retail response has been tremendous,” Taylor shared. “And it keeps us relevant to those people that are in the position to make the decisions, so we’re happy about that.”

For retailers watching the adult non-alcoholic category expand, Mingle Mood signals that established brands can successfully navigate category evolution. It shows a founder who’s willing to research trends, understand consumer needs, and launch products that address emerging demands – all while staying aligned with the brand’s core mission.

This matters because retail buyers need to see that ANA brands can grow their categories, not just occupy static shelf space. Functional beverages represent one of the fastest-growing segments in the broader beverage industry. By expanding into this space, Mingle demonstrates its capacity to capture new consumer occasions and drive incremental sales.

Test, Learn, and Adapt

Taylor is approaching Mingle Mood with the same methodical mindset she brought to launching Mingle Mocktails eight years ago. “The beauty of having your own brand is you can test, try, and decide how to proceed based on those results,” she explained. “So right now, we are really working with Mood as our first pass at functional.”

The launch represents a starting point rather than a final destination. Taylor is watching sales data, gathering consumer feedback, and assessing retail response. She’s not making firm commitments about future functional product launches because she wants to let the market tell her what’s working.

Taylor waited two years to enter functional beverages, and even now, she’s treating Mingle Mood as an initial experiment rather than a complete strategy. She’s validating demand before committing to further expansion – letting market response guide her next moves.

“I don’t have any firm plans yet, because we just launched, and I’m just taking inventory of how much we’re selling and what the response is,” she said. The early signals look promising – strong retail response, positive consumer feedback, and validation that the products deliver on their promise. But Taylor is letting results guide her next moves rather than predetermined expansion plans.

What This Means for Category Growth

Mingle Mood’s launch illustrates a broader shift in the adult non-alcoholic beverage category. The space is expanding beyond simple alcohol replacement into products that serve different consumer needs and occasions. Functional ingredients offer one pathway for that expansion – addressing consumer desires for beverages that deliver specific benefits without alcohol’s downsides.

For retailers and distributors, this evolution creates new opportunities. Functional ANA beverages can capture different occasions than traditional mocktails or non-alcoholic spirits. They appeal to consumers who may not be replacing alcohol at all, but rather seeking specific functional benefits in beverage form.

For industry professionals watching the category’s growth, Mingle’s approach offers a model for how established brands can expand while maintaining brand coherence. Taylor didn’t chase functional beverages immediately when they started trending. She researched, waited, and entered when she understood how the products aligned with Mingle’s mission and met genuine consumer needs.

The adult non-alcoholic category continues to define itself through innovation like this – brands identifying consumer needs, developing products that address those needs, and expanding the range of occasions where ANA beverages feel relevant. Functional beverages represent one vector of that expansion, and Mingle Mood demonstrates how thoughtful brands are capturing the opportunity.

“People are looking for this,” Taylor said, “and now I understand the draw, as a consumer and as a brand.”