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CHICO — The story of All The Bitter is a blessing.

In January 2022, Ian Blessing and his wife, Carly Blessing, launched a brand of alcohol-free bitters called All The Bitter, which is now sold across the United States and is being exported to three countries, with three more to follow, according to a press release.

All The Bitter produces and distributes a line of award-winning, alcohol-free cocktail bitters that may support digestion and liver health while adding complex flavors to cocktails, “mocktails”, sparkling water, and other beverages, according to the release.

The Blessings worked at French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, where they met and worked as sommeliers.

“It’s an incredible restaurant, amazing,” Ian Blessing said. “You spend $1,000 on a meal but it’s the thing to do when you visit Napa.”

Ian Blessing started work at French Laundry in 2016 and Carly Blessing in 2015. They started out as food runners and worked their way up to sommeliers. After several years of working at the restaurant, the Blessings enjoyed their jobs but decided that having children and working until 2 a.m. did not jive.

Carly Blessing quit her job at French Laundry in May 2019 after giving birth to the couple’s first child, Jack Blessing, who is three years old now. They have another son, Miles Blessing, who is one and a half.  Ian Blessing quit the restaurant in October 2018 and started working at Bouchon, a sister restaurant of French Laundry, in October 2018.  Although for years their lives centered around alcohol, the Blessings decided it was time to get sober.

“After we had our first kid, it became apparent that drinking and raising a baby did not mesh,” Ian Blessing said. “Kids don’t care if you’re hungover. They’re going to wake up at 2 a.m. regardless.”

Inspired by the flavor profiles of the classic bitters found behind every bar, the brand’s three varietals,  Aromatic, Orange, and New Orleans, are packed with organic and functional plants like dandelion root, holy basil, lemon balm, and milk thistle seed. Non-alcoholic alternatives to beer, wine, and spirits were growing rapidly. The category is expected to grow 34 percent from 2020 to 2024, according to the release.

The company has had an incredible response from consumers, critics, and the media, including features in the San Francisco Chronicle, Good Morning America, and Forbes, plus silver and gold medals from renowned spirit competitions, according to the release.

Excited to pair their expertise in beverages and flavor with a new marketplace focused on inclusion and mindful drinking, Carly and Ian Blessing are grateful to have found early success as a small, mom-and- pop business. Handmade in small batches in the Meriam Park Alley Kitchen, the new company has already won six medals from prestigious spirits competitions like the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Los Angeles Spirit Awards, according to the release.

Ian Blessing is from the Los Angeles area and Carly Blessing grew up in Durham. Ian Blessing went to Chico State in 2003. During the COVID-19 pandemic, after everything shut down, the Blessings found their way back to the Chico area, where Carly’s family still lives.

Carly attended school for wine in Boston and worked at bars and restaurants there. Ian was on the same track working in California. He said he wanted to learn more about wine and was interested in beer and spirits and serving. He started reading and learning about it as much as he could. Both Blessings are certified through the court of master sommeliers.

“The wine program at French Laundry is incredible,” Ian said. “You learn firsthand about serving those wines. I studied and got a number of certifications and took an exam to be an expert in my field.”

After moving back to Chico, the Blessings had to decide what was next, since they didn’t want to work in restaurants anymore. Since they had just quit drinking they were excited to discover the booming world of non-alcholic alternatives, such as spirits, whiskey, gin and tequila imitations.

“It’s like having decaf coffee or veggie burgers,” Ian Blessing said. “You can enjoy the rituals and flavors without consuming alcohol. We really got interested as consumers and were making non-alcoholic drinks at home. Bitters were important to use and we decided to do one on our own.”

Ian said it can be hard to quit drinking alcohol, and coming from his background of wine, beer, spirits and cocktails, it was an important part of his personal and professional life. He was studying drinks 24 hours a day. After quitting drinking the Blessings were happy to discover alternatives exist and could enjoy the rituals and flavors they loved so much.

Ian Blessing came up with the idea for the company while staring at an empty bottle of spirits. He wondered if if he could make any cocktail in the world made without alcohol and tie it all together with bitters.

The Blessings do all of the mixing and honing in their commercial kitchen. They also do all of the marketing, bottling, stickering and other tasks associated with having a business.

“You start with vegetable glycerine and apple cinder vinegar and organic raw botanicals such as spices, fruits and flowers and let those steep in liquid for two months. Glycerine works well with extracting and shelf stability. We macerate the ingredients which means to allow something to sit in liquid for a period of time which extracts flavors. It’s like making sun tea without the sun,” he said.

Ian Blessing came up with the name for the company after hearing a guest say “all the better” on a podcast and the brainchild for All the Bitter was born.

The price for a four ounce bottle of the bitters is $26.50 and there is a three pack for $33. There are many health benefits to the drinks.

“The ingredients are beneficial and help promote digestion,” Ian Blessing said. “They are packed with beneficial plants such as dandelion and milk thistle which are great for digestive and gut health benefits. Milk thistle is cleansing. The bitters are enjoyable but also have functional benefits.”

Ian said you can mix a few dashes of the bitters in sparkling water, which also has digestive benefits, and helps with hangovers.

The bitters aren’t available in any bars or restaurants in Chico yet. The Blessings are focused on the national and international markets. They are talking to a coffee shop in Redding but for now there are just discussions.

The next step for the company is to expand.

“We want to scale and grow and see what that looks like,” Ian Blessing said. “We don’t have as much time as we’d like to spend in the kitchen. We want to find a larger facility and keep making the product ourselves.”

The Blessings are testing a handful of new recipes, including a small batch of lavendar chamomile. They also want to make canned bitters and sodas.

The Blessings don’t have employees yet so they do all the work themselves, although they have contractors and graphic designers who work with them but they are doing 90 percent of the work themselves.

The product is available in Canada in bars and restaurants and in Iceland and the Blessings are in talks with establishments in Saudi Arabia. They also want to sell in Dubai and the United Kingdom and India.

“The response has been incredible,” Ian Blessing said. “When we first started the company friends and family would ask ‘Are you selling a farmers markets?’ and we got to say ‘We’re on a call with Saudi Arabia.’ The marketplace has increased.”

The company produces usually about 10 orders a day, but could be 10 to 20. Ian Blessing said he and Carly Blessing are learning a lot and learning as they go.

The Blessings contribute about three percent of their total sales to charities. They are working with a company called 1% for the Planet, which supports the environment. They are also donating two percent of sales to drug and alcohol abuse charities or organizations that help support recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.

“I wanted my business to have an impact and give back to the community,” Ian Blessing said. “I’m happy about that and it’s really what keeps us going. People enjoy the product and we help people too.”

All The Bitter can be accessed at allthebitter.com, on Facebook under All The Bitter and on Instagram under allthebitter. All The Bitter can be found locally at the Made in Chico Store at 127 West Third St. in downtown Chico or shipped directly at allthebitter.com.

I write a business column every week. If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, or have story ideas, please contact me at jblevins@chicoer.com. Thank you.

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