Meet Sam Madani of Bomani Cold Buzz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Madani.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We created BOMANI Cold Buzz when we were working high-intensity finance jobs in New York City. Trying to find energy after long weeks of work, we’d frequently enjoy our alcohol with caffeine before a night out or on a weekend brunch. We were frustrated with the options we saw in the market – products either filled with synthetic caffeine, tons of sugar, countless carbs, and other ingredients we didn’t want in our body. We decided to create alcohol-infused cold brew coffee that was delicious and lower in calories, sugars, and carbs.

We worked tirelessly to make sure that the liquid itself met our demands – it had to be made with 100% ethically sourced Arabica bean cold brew, and it had to be customizable. Today, many of our supporters (aka, the “Cold Buzz Crew”) celebrate the fact that they can enjoy BOMANI out of the can, over ice, with cream & sugar, or as part of a cocktail.

Two weeks after we sold our first can in early 2020, COVID regulations began. With shelter-in-place orders, we had to be extremely creative about how we could introduce BOMANI to the market. Our goal was to be authentic and genuine over anything else – and it paid off because we truly related to customers. For example, while gyms were closed, we decided to host workout classes via our Instagram account. Similarly, while bars & restaurants were closed, we created content around how to enjoy a weekend brunch at home.

Today, we’re thankful and proud to say we’ve earned shelf space at major retailers – and we’re increasing our store count constantly! BOMANI is available at Ralph’s, Whole Foods, Total Wine, Stater Bros., Sprouts, Walmart, and more. We innovated a direct-to-consumer website, which is rare in the alcohol space. We raised $3.5m in our seed capital round from an incredible list of investors. Most importantly, our team and our Cold Buzz Crew is growing every day!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not. Even. Close.

When we first had the idea for BOMANI Cold Buzz, our initial strategy was to approach local brewers in the New York / New Jersey area and pitch them on our idea of alcohol-infused cold brew coffee. To our surprise, the small brewers weren’t open to hearing us out. They shut us down, they told us “no,” they criticized our idea, and some even belittled us for having the audacity to approach them. I’m proud of how resilient we proved to be: we refused to let these smaller manufacturers slow us down, and through a combination of strategic networking & hard work, we ended up earning a contract with one of the largest manufacturers and flavorists in the world. This was a counter-intuitive experience: we assumed that the lower-level teams would be the ones most willing to take a risk on a new company, but we found the exact opposite. This was a lesson in innovation – to succeed to the top level, you must innovate every single day, never allowing yourself to fall into being content with what you have.

Another major major challenge was launching a brand during COVID. We had to approach this business in a fundamentally different way than how alcohol brands traditionally grew. Our decision to stay away from being “sales-y” and instead focus on community building has proved to be successful – evidenced by the fact that BOMANI has over 27 million views on TikTok!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about BOMANI Cold Buzz?
BOMANI Cold Buzz is alcohol-infused cold brew coffee. At 5.7% ABV and 1/2 a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine, BOMANI is only 110 calories, 0g sugar, and 0g carbs. BOMANI is also gluten-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, vegan, and Kosher. By using 100% ethically sourced Arabica bean cold brew and infusing it with the same type of alcohol that goes in hard seltzers, BOMANI has created an award-winning taste profile that has appeared as a nominee and winner of the World Beverage Innovation Award, the SIP award, and more.

While BOMANI makes alcohol-infused cold brew coffee, BOMANI is far from just a beverage. Even before we sold our first can, we were determined to build a community – we wanted to make it clear that BOMANI electrifies life’s celebrated moments. Today, we lovingly refer to our community as The Cold Buzz Crew.

We’re extremely thankful for our retail partners – today, BOMANI is available on shelves at Whole Foods, Ralph’s, Total Wine, Sprouts, Walmart, and more. We owe that largely to the Cold Buzz Crew – our community is a major reason that our retail partners have the confidence to offer BOMANI at more and more stores.

What I personally love about the Cold Buzz Crew is that it’s inclusive and really, really fun. All a person really needs to do to join is to genuinely enjoy BOMANI and share it with the people they enjoy spending time with. We have about 100 cocktail recipes on our site – many of which were the contributions of the members of the Cold Buzz Crew!

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
As corny as it may sound, I think the best advice is to simply be yourself. People can tell when someone is being inauthentic; and all too often, networking events result in people acting the way that they believe they should act, rather than how they feel confident acting. There’s beauty in individuality, and I think that the more authentically you introduce yourself, the higher quality people you’ll meet and the higher quality relationships you’ll build.

Another piece of advice I have on this topic is to avoid talking only about business. In my opinion, people appreciate when a businessperson can talk about music, art, sports, or pretty much anything other than business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.drinkbomani.com