Drunk’s Denial | Gourmet Dessert Treats with a Twist

Authentic gourmet desserts infused with alcohol? Sign us up for a taste test! In today’s blog article we feature Drunk’s Denial, a unique and fun business concept that has recently launched.

So what is Drunk’s Denial? 
Founded by Tessa Pietersz, Drunk’s Denial was an idea that came to her about 12 years ago. Tessa knew exactly what her mission and vision was and what she wanted to achieve with the concept of alcohol infused gourmet desserts.

#BoldTip: when starting a business, it is very important to determine your company’s mission and vision early on.

Vision
Tessa’s initial vision for Drunk’s Denial was for it to be a physical location in the form of a patisserie and delicatessen bistro where she would be in the lab creating the original products. This idea meant that the project would be quite a large one so it’s something she kept postponing and categorized it as a luxury project for the future. Tessa tells us: “I always knew that I could cook, but I have never baked. I never baked cakes or anything in that fashion until end of last year when in the midst of the pandemic I attempted to recreate a chocolate lava cake for my boyfriend. After the lava cake came other desserts and with a little bit of encouragement from his part, I decided to launch Drunk’s Denial around mid-December last year”.

The meaning behind the name
After the concept permanently nested itself in Tessa’s mind, the name came to her. “In my 25 year career as a program developer and producer I could always rely on my frontal lobe to come up with innovative ideas that either solve problems or fill niches and the right side of the brain to step up to the challenge by coming up with fitting and catchy names” says Tessa. Drunk’s Denial, Made by Locals, Everything Tessa and Trend Alert are just a few that Tessa is happy to call her own and they’re all projects that she is currently working on, with Drunk’s Denial being the most recent addition. While Made by Locals and Trend Alert were put on the slow burner while the local eco-system slowly neutralizes itself from the current economic devastation, other projects like Everything Tessa and Drunk’s Denial found their way to the top of Tessa’s production line.

Transition from Media to Gourmet Food Industry
You may know Tessa from her days in the media world and we really wanted to know what the transition was like for her. Tessa says that “life is to be lived in phases and sometimes what you need in life is right under your nose”. After 20 years of leading on television and juggling single parenting with four kids, Tessa was heading full speed into a major burn out. She felt lost and felt like the life she was living wasn’t working for her anymore. The problem was that she didn’t know any other way to live. She always saw Drunk’s Denial as a big and costly project and she never envisioned it as a project that would bring her joy and peace in her already busy life until she started baking for fun. It was then that she realized that she should be the product developer and the baker and that was enough for her to take the first step. Tessa adds that Drunk’s Denial is much more than pastries, it’s about one of a kind creations infused with alcohol for example a whiskey infused cigar or a jar of tequila pickles that she joyfully creates in her lab, it’s all about experimenting and having fun!

The people (and by people we mean, us) want to know: do you make the desserts yourself? 
“It’s funny because even some of my best friends have asked me this question over the last few weeks. I think it is because of the collaborative nature of the Made by Locals project that I launched at the end of 2019 in which I curate local products and sell them under the Made by Locals label. But yes, I do. I take immense pleasure in inventing new products and creating something new on a weekly basis in hopes to spread some joy and pleasure to the consumers”.

Boss lady at work: day to day
Like a true boss lady at work, we asked Tessa what her day to day looks like. Tessa says that life can be as crazy as you make it and after spending most of her career life with a constant full schedule, it dawned on her that she was running out of time with her two eldest children. “They were growing quickly while I was pouring myself into work and new projects and suddenly it didn’t feel like it made sense anymore. I knew how to be at work, but I didn’t know how to be at home, this realization startled me” says Tessa.

So, when it was time to do it all over again with her two little ones, she decided she wanted to be more present so she could enjoy the time she had left before the big ones left the nest and to also maximize her time as a mother of four. Working from home was the way to go but she knew that she needed to make time for self-care in this stage of life as well. It’s all about balance they say!

Here is a peak at a day in the life of Tessa:
5:50 am: I wake up

6:00 am: alarm goes off and I start my day with meditation while in bed

6:20 am: I make it a habit to make my bed as soon as I rise. Making your own bed is one of the best disciplines a person can incorporate into their lives and their children’s lives.I consciously greet all my pets with attention, intention and love. This practice was life changing to me because of the energy I get back from each being.
I like my house quiet while I practice gratitude as I am putting the evening’s dishes away and take time to thank God for each dish and the food I get to serve my kids with every day

6:35 am -7.30 am: prepare the kids’ lunch boxes and then wake the little ones up with soft words, kisses and hugs. This too is magical! Kids have breakfast as I get dressed for the gym and I walk them to school.

8:00 am – 9:00 am: HIIT at the gym

10:00 am-11 am: office work, manage social media platforms

12:30 pm: cook lunch while listening to audio books and after have lunch with the kids while they tell me about their day

2:00 pm: check orders Drunk’s Denial & bake, do hair and make up for photoshoot

3:00 pm: photoshoot Trend Alert & live shoot Aruba Tourist Channel

4:00 pm: supervise homework kids, work, and take them to their activities.

6:00 pm: go walking with my dad (I do this 2x a week)

8:00 pm: work, do research, and plan next day’s events.

8:30 pm: put kids to bed & prayer

8:40 pm: continue work, do research, plan next day’s events

9:30 pm: me time/Netflix/wind down

10:30 pm: bed time/journaling/make a to do list, gratitude moment and prayer

11:00 pm: sleep

3:00 am: I wake up because I am dreaming about work. I think about the dream and the problems the dream has solved or the ideas that have come up. This happens more than I dare to admit.

3:30 am-4 am: breathing exercises and fall back asleep

5:50 am: start all over again!

Tessa’s view on running your own business is that it’s extraordinarily rewarding, yet remarkably tougher if you decide to do it all alone. It is particularly more challenging when switching between responsibilities because things can become incredibly tricky and overwhelming. But at the end of the day there is also extreme joy and Drunk’s Denial gives her so much pleasure because she loves to see the products become a reality. It starts as an idea, followed by research, experimenting, production, packaging, sale, distribution and lastly, receiving praise from the consumers in a matter of days. “I live for it! ” says Tessa. In the end you gotta love the process though, from beginning to end because behind each white box with black ribbon lays a ton of little things that need get done.

More than anything Tessa loves baking (she finds it incredibly therapeutic) and creating new products, that is truly her favorite thing. “Seeing what I envisioned develop into an incredible and unique product is what has brought new life into my life. I no longer feel lost. With only two months under the belt, and our first wholesale deal made, I think that Drunk’s Denial is outperforming my expectations.”

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*Photography: ARTN Photography courtesy of Xclusivo Magazine