White Claw Brewmaster Launches Revolutionary Energy Drink Containing the Eastern Botanical Shiso and Zero Taurine

CAPE COD, MA., (August 2025) –  The brewmaster who helped turn White Claw from a startup idea into a cultural phenomenon has teamed up with his son to fix what they see as the energy drink industry's biggest problem: products made for teenagers but consumed by adults who deserve better.

Tony Vieira, who led the brewing science behind White Claw's explosive growth in hard seltzers, has launched Mocean with his son Christian Vieira, a 37-year-old professional who figured out that the energy drink market ignores adults. Their functional energy drink breaks with industry tradition by dumping taurine, an ingredient that in recent studies published in the journal Nature demonstrate how this ingredient promotes accelerated blood cancer growth rates. 

Mocean started with a family moment when Christian found himself in a hospital gift shop at 2 a.m., waiting for his first daughter to be born. Looking at energy drinks that suddenly felt wrong for his life stage, the candy-flavored options with extreme sports marketing seemed completely disconnected from his reality as a soon-to-be father and working professional.

This wake-up call led to a collaboration that changed how they viewed the energy drink market. Christian brought the perspective of a modern consumer who'd outgrown what was available, while Tony contributed three decades of beverage know-how from his work at major brewing companies, including Anheuser-Busch's elite brewmaster training program and his leadership role at Mark Anthony Brewing.

Christian's real-world consumer perspective drives Mocean's focus on making adult life easier rather than targeting extreme performance. His viewpoint as a millennial professional shapes the brand's mature approach to ingredients, packaging and messaging, ditching the aggressive marketing typical of energy drinks for transparency and education.

Tony’s formulation background, coupled with an  MBA from Vanderbilt University and certification as a Credentialed Brew Master, positioned the father-son team to spot opportunities in functional beverages that others missed.

The result gets its name from the huge potential they see in reformulating energy drinks for adult needs. Mocean contains no taurine, instead using functional ingredients like Echinacea, Elderberry, Ginseng, Zinc and Magnesium for sustained energy and immune support. Most notably, Christian's interest in Eastern wellness traditions led to adding Shiso, an Eastern botanical with proven wellness benefits that no other U.S. energy drink uses.

The functional beverages market should hit $277.89 billion by 2033, but most energy drink brands keep targeting teenage boys with aggressive marketing and questionable ingredients, leaving adult consumers out in the cold despite being the highest-spending demographic.

Christian positions the brand around recognizing that professionals, parents, artists and creators need steady energy for complex responsibilities, not short bursts for extreme activities. This consumer insight, combined with Tony's brewing expertise, creates what they call an approachable functional energy drink that works for customers across age groups instead of chasing narrow demographics.

The ingredient choice reflects Tony's personal connection to Eastern wellness traditions through his late Filipino mother, whose approach to health and nutrition influences the brand's formula philosophy. Combining Western brewing science with Eastern botanical wisdom addresses what Christian sees as the energy drink industry's basic misunderstanding of adult consumers who read ingredient labels, research health effects and make buying decisions based on quality and transparency.

Christian's consumer advocacy makes sense given growing health concerns about traditional energy drink formulas. The father-son partnership brings complementary strengths to Mocean's development, with Tony providing technical expertise and industry credibility while Christian represents the authentic consumer voice that drives market positioning.

Mocean launches through Amazon with expansion planned for premium retail partners. The brand targets professionals aged 25-40 who want quality ingredients and mature positioning over teenage marketing approaches that dominate the category, representing Christian and Tony's second major contribution to beverage industry innovation.

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About Mocean

Mocean is a wellness-focused energy drink that represents the evolution of the category for sophisticated adult consumers. Founded by Tony Vieira, a 36-year brewing industry veteran and former brewmaster behind White Claw's record-breaking success, alongside his son Christian Vieira, Mocean addresses the gap between traditional high-testosterone energy drinks and the needs of professionals, parents, and creatives. Featuring the unique Eastern botanical Shiso—found in no other US energy drinks—plus immunity-supporting ingredients like Echinacea, Elderberry, Ginseng, Zinc, and Ashwagandha, Mocean delivers clean energy without the taurine found in 99% of competitors. Based between Cape Cod, MA and Orange County, CA, Mocean launches in October 2024 with a mission to make adulting easier through thoughtful formulation and authentic storytelling.