Pratt Standard

Effective Tuesday August 19, Pratt Standard is pausing operations due to an unexpected shortfall in working capital following a change in support from our primary strategic partner. While we hope to resume operations at some point, without capital this may be the end of our cocktail-making journey.

If that is the case, what a privilege it has been to serve this community.

Thank you first and foremost to our staff. To our dedicated team of production employees who have tirelessly made over 25 million ounces of cocktail ingredients over the last 10 years we have been in constant operation. To our fulfillment team, who packed every single order, batched cocktails at venues like Nationals Park and Capital One Arena, drove thousands of miles and made sure our customers received our juices, mixes, and syrups with care and dedication. To our Syrup Haberdasher Joy Wilson, who wears many hats including but not limited to responding to thousands of customer service emails, running our Instagram, and pinch hitting teaching cocktail classes. To our Head of Sales and my Co-Owner, Wes Debenport, who revolutionized our business and took us from a small company with a niche mission to a force in the local beverage space, who I hired as a part-time sales person and realized soon after that I had gained a partner. And to all the staff who have come and gone in our ten years in operation, as well. Everyone committed 150% to making this business work, and for that you all have my deepest respect and gratitude. I’ve shed many tears this week, and all of them have been about you.

Thank you to our investors, who committed to the dream of Pratt Standard and supported us through thick and thin, through pivots and growth and downturns. You all believed in this business as much as any one of our team, and believe in our products deeply enough to put your own hard earned money behind them.

Each one of those ounces we crafted and sold represents a cocktail made and shared, and we are so proud to have been a part of those moments, from the big and important to the small and mundane, in our customers lives. Thank you to each and every one of our customers for allowing us to be a part of those moments.

Some highlights in our business journey that stick out to me:
-Selling the first bottle of our tonic syrup, at a small pop-up stand at Union Market in November 2014
-When Danielle Vogel at Glen’s Garden Market took a chance on selling our products as our first wholesale customer.
-Hiring our first production employee, Matt Demma, who did it all- cooking, recipe development, events, and deliveries.
-Hiring our Head of Sales Wes and with his help making the first steps to build the products that would eventually drive our growth- our fresh cocktail mixes
-Selling our first bottles to Whole Foods and launching a regional bar program with them in March 2020 (whelp!)
-Teaching over 30,000 people how to make cocktails at home over zoom (what a pivot!)
-When Levy Restaurants at Nationals Park took a chance on working with a small business like ours to design and execute over 30,000 cocktails in five weeks for the Enchant Holiday Market in 2021
-Creating a process for fresh citrus juice that allowed us to provide hundreds of gallons a week to local restaurant groups, including Mission Group, Starr Restaurants, Silver Diner Group, and many others.

You can find our remaining syrup inventory at Shop Made in DC locations across the district. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

Cheers,

Tory Pratt
Founder and CEO
Pratt Standard Cocktail Company