The Kara Goldin Show | 822 Meredith Mills-Merritt: Founder & CEO of The Original Southside

About this episode

Meredith Mills-Merritt discusses her journey in creating The Original Southside, a premium gin-based ready-to-drink cocktail brand.

On today’s episode, we welcome Meredith Mills-Merritt, Founder and CEO of The Original Southside — the premium gin-based ready-to-drink cocktail brand redefining what “clean” and “craft” mean in the spirits industry. Inspired by her mom Leah’s beloved gin, lemonade, and mint summer cooler, Meredith transformed a nostalgic family recipe into a fast-growing national brand. With a background in prestige beauty, she approached beverage the way few founders do — with precision around formulation, ingredient transparency, and sensory experience. The result is a 10% ABV cocktail made with certified organic, vegan, gluten-free ingredients, sweetened with 100% sugarcane, and crafted with a proprietary gin distilled in Vermont. Since launching in 2024, The Original Southside has expanded into 20+ markets and landed at retailers like Whole Foods and Total Wine — all while building a bold, vintage-meets-modern brand identity that stands out on shelf and at major cultural events. In this episode, Meredith shares what it takes to break into a heavily regulated, traditionally male-dominated industry, how she defines “premium” in today’s ingredient-conscious world, and the lessons she’s learned…

People in this episode

Guest: Meredith Mills-Merritt

Topics covered

• premium cocktails
• mindful drinking
• spirits industry
• brand storytelling
• ingredient transparency

Keywords

• clean
• craft
• gin
• ready-to-drink
• organic
• vegan
• gluten-free

Mentioned in this episode

Products: The Original Southside

Books & works: The Kara Goldin Show

Places: Vermont

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