Raissa + Joyce De Haas, Double Dutch Founders:
“Born and raised in the Netherlands, the birthplace of gin, we grew up alongside a lively world of drinks delivering constant innovations. However, we soon realised that, whilst the world of alcoholic drinks had become more vibrant and diverse than ever, the world of tonics and mixers had scarcely changed at all.
Realising that a flavourful drink relies on the mixer as much as it does the alcohol, we took it upon ourselves to create a range of versatile mixers with new and unpredictable flavour pairings. That aim led to Double Dutch, a company which has made it it’s mission to ensure you never drink dull again.
We decided predictable wasn’t good enough and set ourselves the challenge of shaking up the mixer market. We started to experiment by pairing our own mixer innovations (Cucumber & Watermelon and Pomegranate & Basil) with a range of spirits, mainly at parties (of course) which led us to be dubbed the ‘tonic twins’ by our friends and family.
When we moved to London to complete a joint (naturally) masters in Tech Entrepreneurship, we developed Double Dutch as a business. We were awarded the best dissertation in our year, and that was the seed funding that started our career. The rest, as they say, is history (and a lot of hard work)“.
