The crisis that turned into Curious Elixirs’ biggest win

When a fire tore through his warehouse, Curious Elixirs founder JW Wiseman lost over $100,000 worth of premium ingredients, everything from Sicilian blood oranges to Turkish pomegranates. Insurance wouldn’t cover the loss, leaving his small business barely able to make payroll.

Instead of shutting down, Wiseman decided to create something out of the ashes. “Maybe we could be the phoenix rising out of the ashes here,” he told Catalyst. The result was Curious Elixir No. 5, a smoky cherry-chocolate old-fashioned inspired by the blaze itself. “We decided to make it a smoky drink—to literally tell the story of what happened with the drink.”

That gamble paid off: the launch became the company’s biggest sales day ever. Wiseman’s takeaway? “You have to expect that things are going to go wrong. No plan goes exactly as you intend, but if you stay flexible, even disaster can fuel your next big idea.”