MicroShiner at the 2014 ADI Spirits Conference

A little more than a month ago, the world of craft spirits descended on the Washington State Convention Center for the American Distilling Institute's annual Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo.

photo via Distilling.com

Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, just blocks from Pike Place Market, the venue played host to hundreds of established and aspiring craft distillers, as well as a wide variety of industry experts and vendors. Widely considered the essential entry point for any start-up micro-distilling or craft spirits enterprise, the conference featured a full week of workshops and breakout sessions related to beginning or growing a craft spirits business. These sessions, each one facilitated by members of craft's best and brightest, covered the entire gamut, with titles the likes of "So You Want to Start a Distillery" (John Jeffries of Death’s Door Spirits, Evan Parker of Turkey Shore Distilleries, and Robert Cassell of Millstone Spirits), "Who Are the Craft-Friendly Distributors? (John Henry of El Buho Mezcal), and The History of Craft Distilling" (Colin Spoelman of Kings County) vying for the attention of the gathered attendees.

photo via Distilling.com

Anchoring the event was ADI's Award Gala, held Tuesday night in the Sheraton Downtown ballroom. This was prefaced by an open tasting hosted by the Washington Distillers Guild, which showcased more than a dozen craft labels from across the state. With so many options at hand, discretion was the better part of valor, and a number of spirits went untasted. The absinthe was not one of them. 

Finally, the gala attendees grudgingly found seats in the grand ballroom, where Andrew Faulkner of ADI presided over the Institute's 2014 awards banquet. Distillers from across the country were recognized for their spirited achievements, with medals awarded in a variety of categories, including micro-distilled and blended honors. Derek Bell of Corsair Distillery received the coveted Bubble Cap Award for outstanding achievement in artisan distilling.

The following day was filled with more sessions, most notably the "What is Craft?" breakout paneled by Andrew Faulkner (ADI), Derek Bell (Corsair), Ryan Hembree (Skip Rock), Steven Stone (Sound Spirits), and Jim Blansit (Copper Run). This session sparked a lively discussion centered around ADI's craft certification program, and the distinction between micro-distilled spirits and those labels founded on sourced or blended products.

Another key element of the conference was the vendor expo, and much time was spent mingling with the various representatives present on the expo floor. From artisan glass and custom labels to specialty grains and handcrafted stills, companies from every corner of the spirits industry were on hand to pitch and promote their products. Mike Haney of Hillbilly Stills and Jim Malzahn of Black Swan Cooperage were crowd favorites, with both boasting products of superior craftsmanship and personality to match.

Of course, the greatest highlight of the week for us was the opportunity to meet and greet the individual distillers themselves. Each with their own unique back story and take on craft spirits, every interaction only served to reinforce the notion that this industry is as much about people as it is about product. With a network that includes everyone from makers to tasters, ADI is diligently working to bridge the gap between producers and consumers, and create a platform from which distilling dreams can be achieved.

We're already looking forward to next year!

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UnStuff Christmas

We've been getting a lot of love lately from a website called UnStuffGifts.com so we thought we'd give some back. The premise behind UnStuff is certainly worthwhile and can be summed up by their tag line "Gift ideas that aren't more stuff."

The team responsible for the site has really done a good job in brainstorming and researching unique gift options that are experiential or content based rather than material, and their presentation on the site is both witty and straightforward. See something that catches your eye, click on it, and you are redirected to a third party site that will assist you in securing the particular service in which you are interested. In the case of MicroShiner, this manifests itself in the form of a block labeled "Tour de Man" which links to our map of micro-distilleries. Other favorites of ours are "Farmer Mystery Box" - a community agriculture subscription - and "Dolphins are Forever" - the gift of a tattoo.

Digging a little deeper into the UnStuffGifts website, its worth nothing the fine print. At the bottom of the page is an inconspicuous bit of text that reads "THE ONLY STUFF WE LOVE IS STUFF THAT'S AMERICAN MADE" and following the jump leads one to the Made Collection, an aggregate of made in the USA products. And while not all of the featured items are small batch or handcrafted, they are all representative of the high quality merchandise being produced by companies, new and old, who are committed to maintaining the manufacturing legacy in America.

Most importantly, both these specimens serve to forward the ideal of deliberate consumption. Where rather than simply buying the latest trend being forced down our throats by mass media marketing, people are taking the time to consider their purchases in a holistic sense, and ruminating on the implications across a broader spectrum than just how many boxes they've place under the tree. It is a concept that we here at MicroShiner embrace wholeheartedly, and we are proud to be partnered with UnStuffGifts and the Made Collection in championing it.

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The Expanding Craft Spirit Portfolio

There is a big conversation on the tip of the tongue, or at least in the back of the mind, of everyone in the spirits industry. You overhear snippets of it here and there, in Facebook updates and blog posts, but as of yet no one has thrown it out on the ground and let the wolves at it. It’s our dirty little secret, and nobody is quite prepared to air the laundry.

Well, neither are we.

Although we are currently researching and developing a feature on the subject, the distinction between micro-distillers (i.e. those who make spirits from raw materials such as grain or molasses) and craft spirits (i.e. those who source neutral grain spirits and use this as their starting point), and whether such a distinction is even necessary, is a discussion not to be entered into lightly. But it is an important one, and if greater transparency between producer and consumer is one of the underlying precepts of this movement, which we believe it is, then any dialogue on the matter is certainly worth the while.

Another aspect of the evolving spirit paradigm is the variety of scenarios by which micro and craft spirit producers launch and succeed. From tiny stills bootstrapping in garages to turn-key operations backed by the industry’s traditional players, small batch producers run the gamut. And as craft spirits gain popularity and claim market share, interest in them, from every quarter, will only intensify.

One example of this increased attention is the recent addition of a “craft spirit” segment to the T. Edward Wine portfolio. A loosely defined collective of vintners and purveyors, T. Edward has been stocking finer outlets with select wines from their NYC headquarters since 1994. Only recently, they announced their expansion into craft spirits, and they are now hosting labels from The Noble Experiment NYC, Roundhouse Spirits, Suerte Tequila, and Industry City Distillery.

What this means to the producers is obvious, but what it might mean to consumers is amorphous at best. In their press release, T. Edward cites “integrity, transparency, innovativeness and taste” as their criteria for both producers and process, which to us seems like a perfectly good place to start.

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