JW Wiseman, founder of curious elixirs, spent the better part of his career as a builder of NYC startups (Thrillist, Skillshare, Daily Harvest), bars and nightclubs (Whiskey Brooklyn, Output), living the life of a professional partier + business guy.

After one too-crazy night in 2012, JW (or John), realized he had to make some changes – and dropped his alcohol consumption by 95%.

Wiseman quickly grew bored of club soda + bitters, yearning for something adult that didn’t yet exist. He started tinkering at his home in Marlboro, NY for himself and other friends that were starting to drink less.

His first curious elixir debuted at the 2013 opening weekend of Playland Motel, a multi-artist hotel in Rockaway Beach that Wiseman was involved in. Strangely, the elixirs proved more popular than the booze that night.

After years tweaking recipes and collaborating with award-winning mixologists and food scientists, Wiseman launched Curious on Kickstarter in 2016. Their launch party at the Panther Room inside the nightclub Output is the stuff of legend. The launch video, which Wiseman wrote, has been viewed over 10 million times on Facebook + Youtube. Later, Wiseman apprenticed with food scientists to level up his beverage craft to be able to make his own solo recipes (in truth he never stops).

Curious became the first top-selling name in NA beverages and has been widely lauded by countless outlets and critics (NYT, WSJ, Esquire, Vogue, etc.). In many ways, Wiseman created a whole new category: craft non-alcoholic drinks for social pleasure + self-care.