The engineer bottling cocktails and mocktails

“There are businesses you start to serve a specific purpose and time,” he says. “When they run their course, you move to the next. Not every business is meant to last forever.”

His ventures have ranged from pandemic-era luxury face masks to a cocktail brand built from scratch - and from a kitchen.

Catching the first wave

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit globally in 2020, Jimmy rallied two friends to explore how enterprise could support public health efforts. They launched Bear Bandit, a brand that produced fabric face masks, long before Kenya confirmed its first case.

“In business, you need boldness, quick thinking and a high risk appetite,” he says. “We saw what was coming and started making fabric masks as a creative solution. Surgical masks were in short supply—we wanted to fill that gap.”

The masks sold well—until social media platforms flagged their ads for “taking advantage of a health crisis.”

“It was frustrating,” Jimmy recalls. “But if you think about it, business is about identifying and filling gaps. That’s not exploitation—it’s opportunity.”

Mixing business with pleasure

Long before Bear Bandit, Jimmy had already tapped into another business idea—one he stumbled upon at Kenyatta University campus parties.

“Beverages are an essential part of any merry-making, and these parties I attended did not have a solid plan around them. It was always a group coming together and deciding on the go what they’d be having for the night.” he says. “I saw an opportunity.”

He taught himself mixology through online research and began catering to student parties - earning money while socialising.

This skill came in handy when the mask business wound up in 2022. With just Sh7,500 from the last batch of sales, Jimmy pitched a new idea to his partners: pre-mixed cocktails and mocktails.

“Covid-19 changed how people drank. Parties stopped, but the desire for drinks didn’t. Our aim - or to be more specific, my vision was to disrupt conventional mixology. Mocktails and cocktails are, as a culture, on-demand beverages, where one orders a drink and it takes between three to 10 minutes to make. How about, like any other drink, we would have ready-to-drink mocktails and cocktails, just like soda or juice?”

They named the new venture Drunken Ape - an echo of their earlier brand - and began producing a line called Divine Cocktails. Initial production took place in one of their kitchens. They used social media and word-of-mouth to build a customer base.

“Animal names are memorable. People relate to them easily,” Jimmy explains the philosophy behind the product names.

Reinventing the cocktail culture

Their biggest innovation was convenience. Traditional cocktails required a bartender, a shaker, and time. Divine Cocktails eliminated that.

“We brought cocktails to where people were - parks, rooftops, road trips,” Jimmy says. “We packed them in sealable glass jars to prevent spillage and fit the mobile lifestyle. It was about style and convenience.”

Their first offerings - Klaus Odyssey, Massimo Entangled, and 69 Shades of Grey - were inspired by movie characters and themes. Demand surged. Production quickly outgrew the kitchen setup.

Then came the mocktails.

“Not everyone wants alcohol, but everyone wants a good drink,” Jimmy says. “We wanted to create beverages that matched the mood of a party, whether someone was drinking alcohol or not.”

A partnership with Revolutionary Coffee, a specialty coffee processor, led to two coffee-based mocktail blends. The team started experimenting with coffee and fruit fusions - offering a chilled drink for laid-back personalities.

Their collaboration also introduced them to the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) in South C, Nairobi, where they now operate from a shared production facility.

From side hustle to employer

In 2023, Jimmy’s two co-founders exited the company. As the vision bearer, he stayed on - doubling down on expansion. By 2024, he had quit his engineering job to run the business full-time.

Today, Divine Cocktails employs a team of 10 across production, sales, and marketing. They produce about 10 cartons a week - each containing 48 jars.

All ingredients are locally sourced.

“We use real fruit from local markets. The coffee is from Nyandarua. We’re proudly Kenyan—not just in ownership but in production, imagination, and product fit.”

Customer feedback is central to their product development.

“Our drinks have to reflect what people want,” he says. “The market doesn’t lead the product. The product leads the market.”

Lessons in the mix

Despite his success, Jimmy is quick to acknowledge the challenges. Capital and regulatory bottlenecks remain major hurdles, especially in the alcoholic beverage sector.

“But the biggest investment in any company is the idea,” he says. “You can start from anywhere and scale. Without a strong idea, even all the capital in the world won’t save you.”

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