<a target="_blank" href="https://www.totalwine.com/discover/trusted-picks/expert-picks/molly-horn-picks">Molly Horn</a> is the Cocktail Strategy Manager for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.totalwine.com/">Total Wine & More</a>, the country’s largest retailer of wine and spirits (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizthach/2024/02/14/how-total-wine--more-became--largest-us-wine-retailer/">Forbes</a>). Molly’s responsibilities include tasting, recruiting, branding, and marketing new first-to-market spirits, as well as educating sales floor team members on spirits and mixology. Before the pandemic, spirit sales accounted for ~27% of Total Wine’s sales. As a result of the pandemic and a growing national interest in spirits and cocktails, in some stores, spirits now account for as much as 50% according to Molly. The company created her role to help them keep up with demand and enthusiasm.In this conversation, we talk about additive-free certifications in tequila, the NA movement, some of her guilty pleasures, how she thinks about training her staff, and more.To the NA movement, according to Total Wine’s internal numbers, ~80% of NA sales are made to people who also drink alcohol, which helps highlight that its growth is being fueled by people who are enjoying NA products at times instead of or in addition to products with alcohol.Do you know someone who might enjoy this? Feel free to share it.Molly came to Total Wine with more than a decade of expertise developing and managing bar programs in the D.C. Metro area. She was head bartender at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.farmersrestaurantgroup.com/">Farmers Restaurant Group</a>. She is a Certified Sommelier and a judge for events like the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.iwsc.net/people/profile/754/molly-horn/judge/all">IWSC</a> (International Wine & Spirit Competition).Thanks for reading. Subscribe for free to keep up with my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://decodingcocktails.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">decodingcocktails.substack.com</a>

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Podcast ep. 68: Molly Horn, Cocktail Strategy Manager, Total Wine & More

Decoding Cocktails

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