El Guapo is a New Orleans beverage company making award-winning bitters, syrups, mixers, canned Bitters & Soda, and cocktail kits for bars, restaurants, hotels, retailers, and home bartenders. We obsess over exceptional ingredients, sourcing from single-origin farmers and even family members in our supply chain, while avoiding commodity spices, artificial flavors, colors, and extracts. Our products are alcohol free and designed to work beautifully in both spirited and spiritless drinks. What began with bitters made in crawfish boil pots now serves thousands of accounts across all 50 states and beyond. We exist to make better drinks easier, without sacrificing quality, flavor, or a sense of occasion.

I’m Christa Cotton, CEO of El Guapo, a New Orleans beverage company I built from small-batch bitters made in crawfish boil pots into a nationally distributed brand serving thousands of retailers, restaurants, hotels and bars across all 50 states. Today, El Guapo makes bitters, syrups, mixers and canned Bitters & Soda, with a focus on exceptional ingredients, sustainable practices and products that make better drinking accessible to everyone.

My entrepreneurial journey has been defined by learning to scale without losing what made the company special in the first place. I’ve grown El Guapo across retail, hospitality and foodservice, built national partnerships, and most recently earned Walmart’s Golden Ticket for national expansion. I’m a proud Tory Burch Foundation Fellow and recipient of the inaugural 2025 Tory Burch Foundation Founder’s Award. I’m also a James Beard Foundation WEL Fellow and was named to Wine Enthusiast’s 2025 Future 40. Through every stage of growth, my goal has remained the same: build an enduring company rooted in New Orleans while creating more opportunity for women in business.