Because of all of that, I was in favor of last year’s Initiative 1100. And when I heard there was a new privatization initiative coming along, I thought I would almost certainly be in favor of that, too. And then I read the initiative. And I read it again. And again… What I realized is that I-1183, as it’s written, will only address the “terrible availability” problem. Prices will still be high–if you’re hoping for a California-like drop in prices, this initiative isn’t going to provide that–and selection, believe it or not, is almost certain to get even worse!

Why? Simple.

Price

To its credit, 1183 is designed to be revenue neutral or even provide a net revenue increase to the state. Because of this, all existing taxes will remain in place. Fair. But there will also be a liquor distribution fee of 10% and a retailer fee of 17%, both of which will certainly be passed on to the consumer. Add that to the standard store mark-up, and most evaluations of price under the new system show that prices will be close to the same or slightly higher.

My best prediction is that the large brands might show a slight decrease in price, mostly due to the volume discounts those producers can afford to provide in exchange for volume. The harder-to-find and craft spirits, however? They will almost certainly be slightly more expensive. If you can find them. Which brings us to…

Selection

Because of the stipulation in the initiative limiting  liquor retail (with some exception, mostly in rural areas) to stores of 10,000 square feet or more,  there will only really be a couple of types of stores that will have distilled spirits for sale: Costco (and other warehouse stores) and large grocery stores. Costco, as you surely know if you’ve ever shopped there, isn’t interested in selection. They’re interested in carrying a few large national and international brands that they can sell in quantity. Grocery stores will be more interested, perhaps, in carrying better selection. That said, grocery stores have finite shelf space. They simply don’t have the room to add a wide array of local, specialty, and hard-to-find products to their already-full shelves. And there you are: limited selection. Quite likely, as hard as it is to believe, under 1183, we’ll have an even more limited selection than the current system.

In the interest of fairness, I should mention that 1183 does allow for a one-time auction of the existing liquor stores and the rights to operate private liquor stores on those premises. To me, this is the wildcard of the proposed system. Who buys these stores? What will their business model(s) be? Will they choose to operate them as liquor stores? There is a lot of uncertainty here, but it does at least provide a potential place for stores interested in filling the selection gap.

In addition to being a business owner, I am a cocktail and spirits enthusiast. I like to have obscure amari and vermouths and spirits and so-on in my home bar. Not to mention that Seattle has a truly great and growing cocktail scene featuring some of the most talented and respected bartenders in the country. I worry about how limited spirits selection will affect all of this.

How I-1183 affects Letterpress and other craft distilleries

It’s all up in the air, but there’s one thing I know: as a business, we will adapt to whatever happens and make the business successful. Of that, I am certain.

Of course, it’s not all black and white. There will be some small things about 1183 that will be beneficial to the craft distilling business. And I firmly believe that this industry in this region where we so love our specialty beverages is bound to be successful. On balance, though, I believe there will be more that will be difficult than beneficial.

Like I said, I wanted to like this bill. Unfortunately, as a small producer, there is going to be limited space on shelves or interest in craft distillery products by the large retailers. Certainly, there will be a few local stores looking to carry local products–not to mention those existing stores that become private liquor stores (wildcard!)–and restaurant and bar business will still be there (although more complicated to distribute to; this will be our primary audience), but, on the retail side, the logistics of being a small producer in a state where only large retailers are allowed to carry your products are going to be more complicated. As I said, we’ll adapt and succeed, focus on bars and restaurants and the private liquor stores. The demand will be there, so it’s all about sorting out the logistics, and that, especially in the near term, is going to be harder on the growing industry of small distilleries that are popping up around the city and state.

That is my breakdown. I’m voting no. And that kills me because I think the “No on 1183″ campaign has been extraordinarily manipulative and dishonest.

Do with it what you will, but whatever you choose, please go vote!

There was May of 2008 when I heard the laws in Washington were changing; that’s when I decided to really take the leap. There was a time back in 2002 when I and four of my closest friends spent a holiday weekend together and ambled into the “wouldn’t it be great…” conversations; that’s when I knew that if it was ever legal, this is what I wanted to do. There was the time in the early and mid 90s when I was working and volunteering at a couple of wineries in Walla Walla; that’s when I fell in love with fine beverages as an industry as well as a personal passion.

But it really goes back to when I was a five-year-old boy—that’s right, five—sitting in my grandfather’s liquor store in Rome. Amorino Pinti was his full name, “Nonno Morino” was what we called him. I have very strong and distinct memories of that store. When we’d visit, Nonno would sometimes let us sit and watch as he went about his business. People would come to the store for any number of things: refills of their daily table-wine bottles from the barrels in the back (one red, one white), maybe some olive oil or a bottle of limoncello, grappa, amaretto…

Nonno Morino in his store, showing off a news story about a big victory by the local soccer club. Stop by the distillery to see the original!

This was in the very heart of Rome but this, like most at that time, was a neighborhood store. The people would stop in, often around noon, right before the main afternoon meal (pranzo), and most would pause for a minute or two to chat: about the kids, about business, about soccer, about the neighborhood. I only understood about half (probably less) of what was being talked about, but when I remember those times what I remember is the sense of community. In my mind, these things he sold, they were things of family and community. Things he shared with them and they, in turn, shared with others.

Of course in Italy there is no drinking age, and even as a child going to visit my grandparents in the summer, we’d be allowed tastes here or there with a meal or for a special occasion. But it wasn’t until years later, after heading to college and starting my life as an adult, that I really started to enjoy wine and spirits with any level of sophistication. But those days in that store and those meals with my family, I’m certain, is when it all began.

And I can only  hope that that same passion and communal spirit comes through when people visit the distillery or open a bottle of Letterpress.

Wow. What a relief. And what a good feeling.

Finally, after an exhausting and exhaustive search through just about every corner of Seattle–from Ballard to Columbia City to Downtown to Fremont to Georgetown to Interbay to South Lake Union…and more–I’m happy to announce that Letterpress Distilling has found a home!

Come on by before or after a game! Or any time, really...

You can see it over to the right there. It’s the yellow building with the red door and the roll-up. And, as you can see, it’s just about a hundred yards or so from the main entrance to Safeco Field.

I really couldn’t be happier, honestly. Of the 30-plus places we looked at, this one was unquestionably the best. I hear people say all the time that when you’re house-hunting, you just walk into the right place and you know. And, frankly, that’s always sounded more than a little hokey to me. And then it happened. I walked in; I knew. It was the place I’d been looking for: the right combination of location, size, cost, and set-up (having been a winery in its prior use, it’s even ideally set up with water, drains, power, and a small tasting room area).

I have to admit, there were some down days during the seven-month search: days where it seemed like I’d looked at everything there was to look at, days where I’d find a good space and get excited about it but it wouldn’t work out for one reason or another, days when it felt like maybe THAT place wasn’t out there just now. But there were never days when I wasn’t determined to keep looking. And all of that made the finding that much better.

So now the fun begins. And by “the fun,” I think I mean “lots more work.” But it’s all forward-moving work now, and that’s probably the biggest relief of all.

Stay tuned…

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Oh! And I’d like to especially thank Meagan Groghan of Fursse & Hall Realty, who took on my challenging seacrh and proved to be a patient, diligent , and organized agent and an excellent advocate. Without her help, I think I might still be looking…

The title of this post reminded me of one of my all-time favorite shows. So, here's a picture.

I realize that it has once again been much too long since I last updated you all on the progress of the distillery. Mostly, I think, I keep waiting to be able to make the “We found a space! We signed a lease! Look out world!” post. And that announcement is coming, rest assured.

Honestly, looking for spaces has taken up a good deal of my time, but it’s not the only thing I’ve been up to. I’ve actually made two offers on spaces that didn’t work out in negotiations and had at least three other very good prospects fall through just as an offer was to be submitted.  Part of this is due to the fact that what we’re looking for is pretty specific in terms of size, cost, location, and the biggest obstacle of all: a fire sprinkler system. That said, we’re hard at work and my commercial real estate agent and I have a number of viewings lined up this week and next (lesson learned here: I should have signed on with an agent much sooner in the process).  It makes me feel better, though, that Steven over at Sound Spirits assures me that this was the hardest part of his starting up, as well.

Outside of the Great Space Hunt, here are some of the other happenings at Letterpress:

1. We successfully completed our first round of fund-raising, hitting our goal and giving us enough capital in the bank to get things rolling. We’re looking forward to starting our second round once our location is locked down. (And looking  forward even more to a party at the distillery for our investors! Hi investors! Party’s coming!)
2. We have secured the necessary state and federal trademarks for the business (we got our notice from the feds just last week!). That’s right! Just try and name a distillery “Letterpress” now and watch how fast we can spell “cease” and “desist”! It’s pretty fast. Because you know you wanted to, right? Of course. Hold on..I did spell those correctly, didn’t I…?
3. As mentioned in the last blog post, we have found a great local farmer from whom we can get our raw grains, and we’ve discussed with him securing “futures” on his crops for the coming years. In the meantime, we’ve got more than a ton of his certified organic rye in storage just waiting to be turned into delicious spirits.
4. We’ve purchased one large tank and have lined up sources for our other equipment, including our mash tank, fermentation tanks, and, of course, our still. Once the space is secured, the equipment will be ready to start rolling in.

There’s much more, but those are the highlights. Tomorrow, the search for the right space continues. Over the next week, we’ll be looking at spaces in SoDo, Ballard, Interbay, and Georgetown, and we’ll be looking to lock down the right space at the right price very soon.

Hope you’re all well and I look forward to that day in the very near future when you and I can share our first Letterpress-based drink!

As I’ve been ramping up toward production over the last several months, this was the part that was easy to forget. All of the raising of money and looking at possible locations and filling out legal forms, trademark applications, copyright statements…it all made me start to  forget a little that at the heart of this whole project is taking raw agricultural products and transforming them, through simple science and complex art, into a delicious finished product.

Then along the way, I started to look for source ingredients. My goals were simple: get the best raw grains I could find from the closest source I could find them. And then, almost serendipitously, I found Eric Fritch and his Chinook Farms. You see, I was certain that I was going to have to go to Eastern Washington for my grains. And, honestly, Eastern Washington is an amazing grain-growing region. But then I found Chinook Farms. Not only are they growing grains on this side of the mountains, but they’re growing them just up the road in Snohomish! That’s just 17 miles from my house and barely more than 20 miles from downtown Seattle! And the grains are certified organic to boot.

Wheat field at Chinook Farms.

Combine harvesting a field of hard red winter wheat.

I’ve already committed to buying grain from Eric this year, and I believe that we’ll set up a relationship to source as much of the grain from him as possible for a long time to come. It’s part of my commitment to our “farm to cocktail” slogan, and I couldn’t be more happy at the prospect.

Eric was nice enough to invite me out for a WSU-sponsored field day at his farm a few weeks ago, and that’s when that little part of the law—five little words that almost seem like a tag-on upon first reading—really sunk in: “Distilling is an agricultural practice.” There it was, grain in the fields just waiting for harvest and for me to make it into something I love. And something I look forward to sharing with all of you.

More pictures from the farm…

Just-harvested hard red winter wheat.

Rye, ready for harvest.

Sunset on the farm.

That said, the business has come a long, long way in those weeks. Probably the most exciting thing is that we’ve secured a good chunk toward our first-round fund-raising goal. That’s right! Money! In the bank! Very exciting! Four-consecutive-sentences-with-exclamation-points exciting, even. Quite seriously, though, the response to our fund-raising has been amazing  and I’m both excited and humbled to have so many people want to be involved with my business. There’s still plenty to be raised, but we’re well past halfway to our goal (!)  and well on our way (!).

Additionally, we acquired our first real live piece of equipment. Well, real, anyway. Live would probably not be so good. Anyway, my friend Garth went looking for me and found a great 800-gallon stainless tank that we’ll be using for part of our production process. It took me and the guy I bought it from nearly four hours and a whole lot of ingenuity (not to mention two roof beams, three 2 x 4s, countless wood blocks, 180 feet of rope…) to get that beast into the back of my trailer. Buy me a drink some time and I’ll show you the pictures. And now, much to my neighbors’ delight, there is an 800-gallon stainless steel tank sitting in my driveway until I find a location. Yep. Which leads me to…

…looking for spaces. I’ve been doing a LOT if looking at spaces.  Good spaces, bad spaces, spaces that are perfect in every way but one critical thing, spaces that aren’t perfect but will work really, really well with a little love and modification…  Of those listed in the previous post, one is still in the running (South Lake Union). In addition to that one, there are two other excellent candidates in the race now. With a little luck (and more than a little negotiating), I hope to have a space secured in the next few weeks, at which point, things are really off and running. And perhaps my neighbors can start talking to me again.

The spaces are very different in shape and configuration, but they would all be great with a little (or, in some cases, a lot) of work. The thing is, I anticipate doing a good portion of sales out of the distillery for the first little while and I hope to use the location to help build local awareness, so in some ways, it comes down to which is in the best spot. Where will there be the highest visibility? The best foot traffic? The best surrounding demographics?

I have my own ideas on each of them, but if you’re familiar with Seattle, I have this question for you: without knowing the other facts of the locations (size, configuration, cost, etc.), in which part of town would you put a distillery/tasting room?

Then, one day, I was rifling through a box of old photos and other keepsakes and I came across the last copy I have of the my college graduation announcement. You see, having worked on a letterpress in college, I had decided it would be more interesting and personal (not to mention cheaper, this being college after all) to hand-print my own announcements. And the moment I pulled that announcement from the box, it hit me: This is exactly what I want my distillery to be!

You see, like a letterpress is to a large printing house, Letterpress Distilling will be a thoughtful alternative to mass-produced liquors, offering small batches of carefully crafted spirits that proudly exhibit the essence of their local roots.

And from that moment on, it was and will be “Letterpress Distilling.”

Either way, stuff is happening. Things are in motion. What started as a far-off dream of mine is now a reality called Letterpress Distilling, LLC. Our goal is to make the finest of hand-crafted distilled spirits from the most local source ingredients we can, grown as close to home as we can get ‘em.

Please join me in this space to follow along as I begin the determined trek from here to first bottling. Hope it’s as much fun for you as it is for me…