Over a Glass: Monica Callinan (Sodasmith) - flair, precision and charisma

Summary of Over a Glass: Monica Callinan (Sodasmith) - flair, precision and charisma

by A Deep in the Weeds Production

34m•October 2, 2025
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Summary — Over a Glass: Monica Callinan (SodaSmith) — flair, precision and charisma

Overview

This episode of Over a Glass features Monica Callinan, founder of SodaSmith — a premium Australian soft-drink/mixer brand built around provenance, native botanicals and lower-sugar formulations. Monica, a winemaker-turned-entrepreneur, explains how lockdown prompted her to launch a locally focused mixer range (tasmanian water, native ingredients, cane sugar), why she chose cans, how she got into major retail quickly, and the rewards and struggles of running a beverage start-up.

Key points & main takeaways

  • Background and origin

    • Monica trained in winemaking (UC Davis, international vintages), later worked across wine sales/marketing before launching SodaSmith during the COVID lockdown period.
    • The brand idea progressed quickly — conceived in early 2022 and on major shelves by September 2022 — helped by a co-founder with beverage industry relationships.

  • Product philosophy and ingredients

    • Emphasis on provenance: Tasmanian water, Australian-grown fruit and native botanicals (finger lime, lemon myrtle, Geraldton wax, strawberry gum).
    • Target: a mixer that's balanced and not overly sweet — cap at 5 g total sugar per 100 mL (all cane sugar; no artificial sweeteners).
    • Native ingredients chosen for intense natural flavor that elevates both the mixer and the paired spirit.

  • Packaging and sustainability

    • Aluminum cans chosen intentionally: infinitely recyclable, lighter/cheaper to transport, faster to chill, opaque (protects flavor from light).
    • Monica resists plastic/PET or glass options despite customer requests, citing sustainability and provenance goals.
    • Note: most packaging options like screw-top aluminum bottles are currently imported, which complicates a fully-local supply chain.

  • Taste & formulation approach

    • Formulations aim to balance bitterness (quinine) and sweetness like a well-balanced wine; the “light tonic” intentionally has more quinine and less sugar.
    • The range doubles as great standalone soft drinks as well as premium mixers for craft spirits.

  • Distribution & go-to-market

    • Early strategy: landed an exclusive national retailer placement for the first two years (transcript references Coles-like national grocery), plus exposure through events like the Good Food & Wine Show and direct trade/roadshows with distilleries.
    • Partnerships with craft distillers have been crucial for brand advocacy.

  • Business realities

    • Challenges: wearing every hat in the business, logistics of moving from an exclusive retailer to wider distribution, deciding when/where to take funding or scale staff.
    • Rewarding metrics: Monica reports producing over 5.6 million cans — a milestone showing product traction.

Notable quotes & insights

  • “You don’t have to accept that” — on the commonplace use of post-mix or imported mixers in pubs and venues.
  • “We’re carnies” — Monica describing the roadshow/trade-show life and the camaraderie among producers.
  • “Fuck the post-mix — put the gun down and give me a proper mixer” — a blunt rallying cry to stop accepting low-quality post-mix solutions in hospitality.
  • “Everything’s Australian except citric acid” — an insight into supply-chain limitations (many basic beverage ingredients still sourced overseas).
  • Timeline highlight: idea to shelf in ~9 months (early 2022 → Sept 2022), enabled by partner relationships.

Topics discussed

  • Monica’s winemaking background and international experience
  • How lockdown sparked a rethink of mixers and led to SodaSmith
  • Use of Australian and native ingredients (finger lime, lemon myrtle, etc.)
  • Flavor philosophy: balance, lower sugar, no artificial sweeteners
  • Packaging choice: aluminum cans and sustainability rationale
  • Distribution strategy: retailer exclusivity, on‑premise expansion, events and distiller partnerships
  • Operational challenges of scaling a beverage start-up
  • Consumer education and “revolution” against post-mix and poor-quality imported mixers

Action items & recommendations

For listeners who want to support or try SodaSmith and the movement Monica champions:

  • Try SodaSmith (notable recommendation: Finger Lime soda and Lemon Myrtle). Monica highlighted the finger-lime as a standout.
  • Ask bars/restaurants to stop using post-mix guns and request proper canned/bottled mixers — be discerning when buying a premium spirit.
  • Support local producers: buy at national retailers carrying SodaSmith, at Good Food & Wine / food events, from craft distillers, or online where available.
  • Spread the word: recommend premium local mixers to friends, distillers, and venue managers to help change industry defaults.
  • If you’re in product development/industry: explore local supply-chain gaps (e.g., domestic citric acid production) as potential business or policy opportunities.

If you want, I can extract a short social-media caption from this episode, make a bullet-pointed checklist for retailers/bars to adopt premium mixers, or pull together a quick list of SodaSmith’s product highlights (flavors, sugar levels, packaging benefits). Which would help you most?