A bartender-built cordial company for modern cocktails.
Cordial Craft began with one drink made for Maia and grew into a practical way to make balanced cocktails faster, more consistently, and with fewer moving parts.
Our flagship Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial
replaces lime juice and simple syrup in one measured pour, bringing lime flavor, acidity, sweetness, and body together without added sugar.
Cordial Craft makes bartender-built cocktail cordials for people who care about what is actually in the glass: flavor, acidity, texture, and the experience of sharing a better drink. Founded in San Diego, the company brings craft-bar structure to homes, bartenders, restaurants, hotels, and event programs through thoughtfully formulated cocktail cordials.
Founder story
The story began with a bartender trying to make a better cocktail for someone he loved.
When Austin and Maia moved to a new city together, he wanted to bring one of her favorite flavors from home with them. That personal idea became a larger question behind the bar: how could a thoughtfully built ingredient make better cocktails easier to repeat?
Where it startedWanting to carry one of Maia's favorite flavors from home into a new city sparked the first product and, eventually, the framework behind Cordial Craft.Founder
Austin Davis, Founder of Cordial Craft
Austin Davis founded Cordial Craft in San Diego after years behind the bar. When he and Maia moved to a new city together, he wanted to bring one of her favorite flavors from home with them. He began developing an ingredient that could preserve that familiar experience in a new form.
That first creation was not the Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial sold today. It revealed a broader formulation framework that could be thoughtfully adapted across different fruits, citrus, and cocktail styles. He later refined that framework through real cocktail service, where flavor, acidity, sweetness, dilution, texture, aroma, and timing all have to work together.
The spark
A familiar flavor from home.
What began as a way to carry something Maia loved into a new city became the first proof that a more considered ingredient could make a drink feel both special and approachable.
The method
Built like a recipe, tested like a formula.
Austin's background in chemistry and mixology shaped the process through proportion, testing, refinement, and real cocktail use.
The mission
Better drinks, fewer barriers.
The goal is not to lower the standard. It is to lower the barrier, giving more people a practical way to make balanced cocktails with confidence.
A great drink changes the room.
A great cocktail does more than taste good. It lifts the mood, gives people something to talk about, and creates a shared point of appreciation. At home, it can become the cherry on top of a dinner, celebration, or gathering. Behind the bar, it can turn a guest experience into something memorable.
When the drinks are balanced, delicious, and easy to enjoy, conversation flows more naturally and the night finds its rhythm. Cordial Craft was built to help more people create that feeling with confidence through better ingredients, easier builds, and useful cocktail recipes.
Cordial Craft philosophy
Built with care. Refined with intention. Made for better cocktails.
From bar problem to bottle standard
The problem was never just sugar. It was balance.
Fresh citrus varies. Syrup adds weight. Prep takes time. Many zero-sugar mixers reduce sugar without delivering the structure of a craft cocktail. Cordial Craft was built to solve the whole drink, not only one ingredient.
The problemLime juice, syrup, prep, storage, and bartender variation can all change the final cocktail.
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The insightA balanced drink needs lime flavor, acidity, sweetness, body, and dilution working together.
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The solutionA zero-sugar lime cordial designed as a controlled pour for modern craft cocktails.
Product development
From formula to finished bottle.
Cordial Craft did not begin with a finished lime cordial. It began with a broader formulation framework: testing how flavor, acidity, sweetness, and body could be structured across different fruits and citrus, then refining that work for repeatable production and real service.
01 / ExplorationFlavor frameworkEarly trials explored how the same underlying balance could be thoughtfully adapted across different fruits, citrus, and cocktail styles.
02 / ViabilityFormulation and viabilityThe work moved from small-batch experimentation toward repeatable formulation, production practicality, and confident service use.
03 / FlagshipThe flagship expressionZero-Sugar Lime Cordial became the first commercial expression of that broader process: a complete lime cocktail base built for real service.
What the bottle was built to do
Complex made simple.
Cordial Craft Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial
replaces lime juice and simple syrup in one measured pour, helping margaritas, gimlets, daiquiris, mojitos, spritzes, highballs, and zero-proof drinks build faster and more consistently.
01
Lime flavor
Designed to bring bright lime character into cocktails without relying on fresh citrus prep for every build.
02
Acidity
Built to deliver the sour backbone that cocktails need to feel crisp, clean, and properly balanced.
03
Sweetness and body
Built without sugar while still giving cocktails the weight, finish, and roundness that make them feel complete.
04
Consistent service
A controlled pour that helps homes, bars, hotels, and events build better drinks faster and more reliably.
Built for real service
A better cocktail should not require a slower bar.
Cordial Craft was developed for the realities of hospitality: speed, consistency, repeatable flavor, reduced prep, more consistent zero-sugar cocktail options, and drinks that still feel intentional.
Home Bars
For home cocktails
Make polished margaritas, gimlets, daiquiris, spritzes, and highballs without building every drink from scratch.
Bars & Hotels
For bars and hotels
Reduce repetitive prep, simplify training, and help teams serve consistent zero-sugar cocktails at speed.
Events & Batching
For events and batching
Create scalable cocktail systems with fewer moving parts, better consistency, and a simpler service flow.
Our standard
Balance, function, and hospitality in every bottle.
Cordial Craft exists to make better cocktails easier to create without sacrificing flavor, authenticity, or the standards of a serious bar program.
BalanceSweetness, acidity, and body are composed in proportion, creating complete cocktail structure.FunctionA controlled pour built to solve prep, waste, consistency, training, speed, and repeatability.HospitalityThe goal is better drinks for more people, from home bars to hotel programs to full-service events.
FAQ
Questions people ask about Cordial Craft.
A quick guide to what Cordial Craft is, how the flagship lime cordial works, and who it was built for.
What is Cordial Craft?
Cordial Craft is a San Diego craft cordial company making bartender-built cocktail ingredients that help homes, bars, hotels, and events create balanced drinks with fewer moving parts.
Who founded Cordial Craft?
Cordial Craft was founded by Austin Davis, a San Diego bartender and product developer. The company grew from a personal product he began developing for Maia and the broader formulation framework that followed.
What does Cordial Craft Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial replace?
Cordial Craft Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial
replaces lime juice and simple syrup in one measured pour, bringing lime flavor, acidity, sweetness, and body together without added sugar.
How do you use Cordial Craft?
Use Cordial Craft in shaken cocktails, highballs, batching, and zero-proof builds. A simple shaken starting point is two parts spirit to one part Cordial Craft. See the complete How to Use guide
for builds and batching guidance.
Is Cordial Craft built for bars, hotels, and events?
Yes. Cordial Craft was developed for home users and hospitality teams, with a controlled pour designed to support speed, consistency, batching, and repeatable service. Explore wholesale and hospitality programs.
Where can I find cocktail recipes using Cordial Craft?
Find margaritas, gimlets, daiquiris, spritzes, highballs, zero-proof drinks, and more in the Cordial Craft recipe library.
Cordial Craft
The goal has always been simple: make better cocktails easier to repeat.
Zero-Sugar Lime Cordial is the first commercial expression of the Cordial Craft standard: deliberate flavor, controlled builds, and better cocktails with fewer moving parts. It is built for homes, bars, hotels, and events, and anyone who believes a faster cocktail should still taste crafted.
