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Meet Christopher Rice
Mobile Bar Owner and Mocktail Creator
We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Rice and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Christopher, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I spent years working in hospitality. Restaurants, bars and event companies. I worked my way up from barback and busser to bar manager, beverage director and general manager. I was looking to continue my growth when I found out we were going to have our first child. For me, family is everything. It is the reason I want to work so hard, to provide for them. I also wanted to have control of my time. In restaurants (as in many jobs), you have zero control over your own schedule. I was expected to be there to either open or close. I would spend 60 hours plus each week running the restaurant and if something came up it in my personal life it would like pulling teeth to try to get something covered.
I didn’t want to continue to do that. I wanted to have control over work I brought in. I didn’t just want to be in a building because that was the expectation as the manager. If there is work I can do at home so I can be around my family (I now have 2 children), then that is where I will be. My own business has allowed me to grow it the way I have wanted to as well as let me use my time in the day the way that I see fit.
MY JOURNEY
A Glimpse Into My Career Journey
I started Make it a Double back in spring of 2022. With my background in running high level bar programs, I wanted to bring that as well as the hospitality to people without having to pay those prices. What initially set us apart was my desire to make many of our ingredients from scratch outside of the alcohol. I always believed in having fresh juices and making my own syrups for all the bar programs I had ran in the past.
Then in December of 2023 I decided to stop drinking. With that Cool as a Cucumber was born. It is strictly a mocktail company. I saw a need for the non-alcoholic arena to have better options. I wanted to take what I was already doing in creating drinks with fresh juices/syrups/etc. and bring that to create one-of-a-kind drinks with all fresh ingredients. This was very important to me because I wanted to offer people at events who didn’t drink better options. Why were they always stuck with lemonade or a Coke?
Cool as a Cucumber has blossomed, and also helped grow Make it a Double. There have been many challenges in growing a strictly mocktail brand that focuses on high quality ingredients made from scratch. I don’t add preservatives, so the shelf life is short compared to other products. I don’t use Non alcoholic spirits because I want them to be friendly for everyone including kids. I purposefully try to keep the sugar amounts down, and I try to create original flavor combinations for people so they don’t feel like they are just drinking juice.
FAVOURITE PLACE
Local Favorites: Must Visit Eats and Experiences
I am a huge fan of Washington Park. It is one of the first spots I take my friends from out of town. The parks in Denver were one of the selling points of wanting to move here for me, and they feel like oases in the city.
When it comes to a place to go that does some great live music and awesome food, I love to take people to Revival in Uptown. They do great Southern style food including brunch. I love taking people out to Edgewater Marketplace. The food stalls there and the options that are available is always wonderful. They also have a great bar and a rooftop. If I want to take people to a game at Ball Arena or Coors Field I love to stop by Society Sports off Blake. The ownership and staff is great and it always has a great game day atmosphere.
Having two kids, my favorites spots are always family friendly and we love going to the Museum of Science and Nature in City Park as well as Children’s Museum near downtown. The Forney Museum is also another great place for families and my son who loves cars.
Shoutouts
The People Who Make It Happen
My wife is my number one support person in my life. We have done everything together and taken big risks in the last 8 years together. We moved halfway across the country. She has supported my dreams of owning my business since the very beginning. It takes a lot of trust to have a family and trust your partner with starting a business that statistically will probably fail in the first 2-5 years. I started a little over 3 years ago and she has trusted me and never let me waver from growing this business together. There were moments where I am sure she would have wanted me to go back and get a job with a steady paycheck, but she never once pushed that on me. Every time I have an idea on how to grow the business she always supports it. I absolutely could not be here without her.
READY TO BEGIN
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