Leesburg native Christa Cotton’s company making a splash

ALBANY – A drink mixer gift box produced by a company owned by Leesburg native Christa Cotton will be at a Louisiana Costo store and available online for the Christmas holiday season.

The New Orleans-based El Guapo Bitters is owned and operated by Cotton, a 2005 Deerfield-Windsor School graduate. The company manufactures, distributes and sells a line of cocktail bitters, syrups and mixers for various upscale bars, restaurants and retail establishments.

The Christmas gift boxes will be available at the New Orleans Costco through Nov. 17 and on Dec. 12-15.

The gift box features single-sized servings of Bloody Mary, Salted Paloma, Mojito, Lemon Drop and Hurricane drink mixers. All products are gluten free, non-GMO and vegetarian, too. All bitters are no-sugar added.

Last Christmas, Neiman Marcus dubbed the company’s Tonic syrup “The Rolls Royce of Tonic” in its annual Christmas Book.

Current clients include Neiman Marcus, Whole Foods and a litany of celebrity and James Beard chefs.

El Guapo has been honored with four Good Food Awards — the nation’s highest honor for sustainable, authentic, and natural food producers. Cotton serves as a spirits category judge for the annual competition in San Francisco.

Cotton, a 2010 Auburn University graduate and a 2019 graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, is a certified sommelier and the daughter of local entrepreneur and 13th Colony Distilleries co-founder Alton Darby and Cathy Darby.

The gift boxes featured inside Costco will also be available online at ElGuapoBitters.com and at local gift shop Place On The Point throughout the holidays.

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