April 30, 2026
Monica Cornitcher, founder of MEDASE Cocktails, shares how she rebuilt the business after a hiatus following her co-founder’s death from breast cancer.
MEDASE Cocktails is approaching one year since its relaunch following the death of co-founder, Inga Dyer, from breast cancer. Determined to honor her late friend, sorority sister, and business partner, Monica Cornitcher is opening up about how she rebuilt the business and is carrying the brand forward.
Launched in 2023, MEDASE Cocktails entered the growing non-alcoholic market, appealing to Gen Z, expectant mothers, and others seeking a sober social experience, AfroTech reported. The idea came from two Howard University alumni and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. sisters who reconnected in California and wanted alcohol-free options while socializing.
They self-funded the launch of the premium, organic, zero-proof brand — named after “medaase,” meaning “thank you” in Ghana’s Asante Twi — and debuted with two flavors: Hello Sunshine Margarita and Goodnight Moon Moscow Mule, developed with a Black female chemist. But just one year into launch, Dyer passed away from breast cancer, leaving Cornitcher to carry the vision forward.
After taking time to regroup, she has since relaunched the brand, continuing to honor her partner’s legacy.
“Do I keep moving on? There was also a lot of emotional things that I was going through around the death of a friend,” Cornitcher recalled of how she felt at the time Dryer passed. “Inga wasn’t the first person who passed in my life of cancer. Both of my parents passed of cancer, my brother passed of cancer… I had to sit with myself for a couple of months to figure out what am I gonna do? Am I gonna keep moving forward? And towards the end of the year, I said, ‘You know what? Let me pick myself up, brush myself off, and let me restart again.’”
In June 2025, Cornitcher relaunched MEDASE Cocktails with an expanded lineup, adding four new flavors rooted in a vision she and her late co-founder had outlined in a detailed 60-page plan.
“We had a very, very detailed end-to-end business plan… So it was not a surprise to me that our next flavors [were] gonna be a Jamaican Rum Punch, Lemon Drop, Old Fashioned,” Cornitcher said.
Just a year after its relaunch, MEDASE Cocktails is gaining momentum. Cornitcher is elated after securing a strategic investment to expand distribution, operations, and marketing, and help lower prices and position the brand for potential $20 million in annual sales.
With presence on Amazon, TikTok Shop, and its website, as well as in select retail locations and hospitality venues, MEDASE is in expansion talks with eyes on its key markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, the D.C. area, and Texas.
MEDASE is also targeting younger consumers through a student ambassador program and campus pop-ups, tapping into Gen Z’s growing interest in mocktails, with a full rollout planned for fall 2026.
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