For many years I have thought of New Year’s Eve as being like a good, long shower. The kind where you stand there under the stream of water, not washing or rubbing or squeezing a bottle, but refreshing yourself internally. Replaying the previous night in your head over and over, picking out what you did wrong; analyzing it and telling yourself today is going to be different. ‘Today, I have a plan.’
Then, without knowing where the realization came from, I had a thought that put the shower analogy into a better light. What it really comes down to is that New Year’s Eve represents the very essence of being human. Of taking what you’ve done, saving it in a folder, then cleansing the pallet and starting over again. Of another chance to prove that you can grow from your experiences. And, perhaps most important, of moving on and toasting a new beginning.
It also offers a chance to look on the bright side. This is easy to do when looking at craft culture. In our sphere, micro-distilleries are emerging from the shadow of craft beer to become a destination in themselves. Take a look at this map.
The bright side can be harder to focus on in the broader spectrum, but it is there. The Paris climate talks represent a solid step in the right direction in addressing climate change. Given the gridlock that dominates domestic politics, seeing a horde of world leaders sign off on what should be remembered as the biggest story of the year, is in itself a huge story.
While many cities across the United States are staring straight into the barrel of gentrification, there is at least a speck of beauty to the changes- long empty warehouses are being converted into havens for artists, clothiers, and a swarm of other businesses fueled by a thriving generation of young entrepreneurs. So much so that the entire concept of the office is being redefined to suit the modern worker (there is even booze in many of these places. I officed at Green Spaces, a coworking space in downtown Denver over the summer and on my first day there was excited to see a stocked kegerator near the coffee machine.)
A big part of the appeal of craft culture and the ongoing remodel of the modern worplace is seeing the work that you do pay off for yourself in multiple ways beyond a standard salary. Rory Donovan, one of three founders of Peach Street Distillers in Palisade, Colorado, has been motivated by this idea since the distillery began operations on New Year’s Day, 2004. “I’m blessed in that the harder I work, the better my business will do,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to call your own shots once in a while.”
The idea to turn those metaphorical shots into liquid ones was devised by Donovan and friends Dave Thibodeau and Bill Graham (who also happen to be two of the three partners of Ska Brewing Company).
“We got invited to a distillers workshop put on by Kris Berglund at Michigan State University in 2004,” Donovan said. Berglund, a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the university, pitched the conference on the concept of running a distillery and the three drew up a business plan on a cocktail napkin later that night. “We ended up at the Holiday Inn bar putting together a business plan that would have had us retired in our third year, very wealthy.”
Unlike Ska, which is located on the outskirts of Durango, Colorado, far from a major highway or city, Peach Street’s Palisade location is near a) an interstate highway and b) western Colorado’s biggest town, Grand Junction. But the biggest reason for their choosing Palisade was the town’s fruit production. Palisade is right in the heart of Colorado’s wine country and perhaps the most fertile area of the state for farming. They are smack-dab in the middle of the high desert, where the polar complexion of hot days and frigid nights produce some of the best tasting fruit anywhere in the world.
“A big part (of Peach Street’s location) was it being on I-70,” Donovan said. “The primary reason was to be where the fruit was, where the raw materials were coming from. We were kind of looking to ride some coattails with the wineries, and people already coming to the area for that.”
Despite fruit surrounding them on all sides, the hearts of Donovan, Thibodeau, and Graham yearned with the desire to make whiskey. Start-up capital for the business came from the three of them ponying up as much as they could and borrowing the rest from Thibodeau’s family. Initially, they made a vodka (Goat Artisan Vodka, their premiere product), as well as some grappas and other experimental liquors. The whiskey needed to age, so Donovan and the crew had to produce batches of other spirits to keep the revenue stream flowing. Goat was the first spirit I tasted from Peach Street, back in college when I lived in Durango. “We needed to have some sort of variety sooner than later because we couldn’t afford to operate for two or three years without selling anything,” Donovan said. “So we made the vodka, and some grappas and stuff. The following season, we crushed it and we got all kinds of cherries and apricots. That gave us a bump while we were waiting on the aged products.”
A gin followed the vodka. Their line now includes two brandies, two gins, a bourbon, a grappa, a 100% blue agave nectar tequila, and in honor of their location right next to an orchard, an Eau Di Vie. Moving forward, Donovan and his team are going to be stepping it up even further. “We have a little still, and we run the thing ragged,” Donovan said. ““I’m proud as hell of the progress we’ve made. It’s work, man. When you pick something you love and make it your job, it changes. I sure as shit don’t make whiskey on my day off. But I’m proud of what we’ve created. But we just got a new still that is basically going to increase our capacity by five times. That’s pretty big time.”
Look for a full marketing rebrand from Peach Street Distillers in 2016, improving the continuity of their imagery and top-of-mind awareness of their product line. Learn more about their products and check out their spot-on bird’s eye map of Palisade at peachstreetdistillers.com
Tim Wenger is a Denver-based microshiner, journalist, musician, and avid snowboarder. Check in with him at @timwenger1 and catch more of his work at Colorado Music Buzz, Snowboard Colorado, and his weekly talk show on worldviral.tv