If the Mind is Sharp the Sword is Sharp

I once read this quote and it has stuck with me ever since. To me, it talks about the focused mind and precision. On the surface it means that no matter how sharp the blade or powerful the weapon; if the mind wielding it is fuzzy or weak it will not be nearly as effective as a lesser weapon wielded by someone who is focused. On a deeper level it explains about rest and productivity. If you are burning the candle at both ends why are you surprised when things go sideways (due to your exhaustion and fuzzy reasoning). A good night's sleep is essential for your sanity (https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/important-sleep-habits )

Before the Pandemic it was considered “Sexy” to work yourself like a slave. The saying, “I'll rest when I'm dead” is truer and closer than one would think. The truth is that forgoing sleep is neither more productive nor “Sexy”.

I will add to this, meditation. Both sleep and meditation will add to your productivity far beyond the time “wasted” doing them. A rested mind is a sharp focused mind. And speaking of focused, how about a “To Do” list. I have found that making a short “To Do” list helps me focus. There will always be something more to do but accomplishing a short list is sure better than nibbling and half-assing a long list. Too many options can paralyze you. The last thing I do before calling it a day is to make tomorrow’s “To Do” list. That way I don’t have to think about it in the morning. Just be sure to make it realistic and if something doesn’t get done, push it to the next day. If you keep pushing something off then take it off the list. You obviously don’t want to do it. If it’s something you need to do then quit being a pussy and just get it out of the way. The list will not, magically, make you want to do something. It’s just a way to focus.

One more thing I will add is to slow down. We tend to rush through things and when we rush we make mistakes, then we get to do it over again and that’s truly wasting time.

Cheers!

Improvising

Vivacity Spirits runs like a Swiss watch. A place for everything and everything in its place. Everyone is on the ball and we are firing on all cylinders!

Alas that may be the Facebook version of our life but it is not the reality. A business is about herding cats and putting out the various fires before they get too of control. Everything in its place? I’m lucky when I can remember where I set my coffee cup down 5 seconds ago.

So what do you do when the proverbial fecal matter has impacted the rotary oscillator? You improvise, you find a way to fix the problem or you wait it out. Obviously fixing the problem sooner than later is preferable to waiting it out but waiting is usually involved too.

If you don’t have a supply of something, like your custom corks, what do you do? You order your custom corks and do an emergency shipment of generic corks so you can keep production rolling or you can send what you have, in house, to the distributor and wait for your custom corks to come in and hope you can meet all your demand.

Just ran out of labels? Find a printer who can do a quick label run for you. (They are out there.)

Missing an ingredient for your next batch of gin? Again, order from your regular supplier and find someone local who can fill your immediate needs.

I have had pumps go down, miscues in production, power outages and no water supply. Are you dead in the water? Do you just call it a day, go home and have a drink? If you have the time and inventory to spare you can do that. If, on the other hand, you are crunched for time and you are just starting or in the middle of something you will need to fix the problems ASAP and get back to work. This means borrowing equipment, buying equipment if you have to or doing a MacGyver and getting something to work just enough so you can finish what you are working on.

The take away is that once you fix a certain problem you now have the answer to it and like problems so the next time something unexpected happens you can expedite the fixing of it. Remember that in an emergency good enough is as good as it is going to get.

Cheers!

Advice

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -T. Roosevelt

Everyone has an opinion and they are usually more than eager to give it to you. I have found that when you share your vision with someone, especially with friends or family, most of them will tell you why it can’t be done, why it’s a bad idea, they will point out the flaw in your plan (so you should just give up) or any number of things. Quite a few will tell you “What you should do...” or “If I were you…” As hard as it is to hear all this (mostly) negative input, I say, listen to the information they are trying to relating to you. Are they making a valid point? If yes then consider it, if not then say, “Thank you for your input.” and let it go. Just because someone doesn’t get what you are trying to do doesn’t mean that they might not be correct in some aspects. As the saying goes, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.” I will agree that 99% of what you hear you will reject but that one little nugget can be very helpful.

The quality of someones opinion/advice goes up, dramatically, if they are one of the ones “in the arena”. They have first hand knowledge of various terrains and some possible pitfalls. That doesn’t mean you should take their word as gospel, however, it’s just that they have more “Boots on the Ground” experience and specific information than the average person. Schooling is great but it doesn’t often prepare you for the real world, for when things go sideways (and things will go sideways). Cheers!

Dealing With the Negative

In your journey through life you will encounter some people whose sole purpose seems to be to try to suck the life energy out of you. They seem to always look on the negative side of things. They don’t just see the glass as half empty; they look at the full glass and are sad because they understand that it will soon be empty. They are draining to be around. Their life is one tragedy after another and the funny thing is, if you ask them, most of them will tell you that they are happy people with a positive outlook on life (it’s just everyone else who is the problem).

My advice: Avoid these people at all costs, if you can (easier said than done).

For a lot of us, though, the negative comes from within. That nagging voice inside our head that is constantly telling us that we are not good enough in one way or another, that we don’t deserve what we have worked so hard to get, that we are fooling everyone and soon we will be exposed for the fraud that we really are (impostor syndrome). I refer to this internal voice of self sabotage as “The Drunk Monkey”. I first learned about the Drunk monkey listening to an interview with Matthew Ferry (for more on that subject https://meetthedrunkmonkey.com/home). Some of the best advice I have heard about dealing with the drunk monkey is to acknowledge that he may be correct but do what you are going to do anyway. Someone has to start that business or do that thing, why not you? I think the impostor syndrome comes in when you start getting accolades for what you are doing and you don’t feel worthy. You feel like you are just a normal person. If they think you walk on water, I say don’t fret about it, just smile, say “Thank you”, let it go and get back to work.

Remember: Your past does not have to be your future. Keep a positive outlook on life and keep moving forward. It’s okay to change your course if you want to, just keep moving forward. Because to not move is to stagnate (and that ain’t cool). Cheers!

Lessons Learned Pt. 2

Lessons Learned: part2

(The Marriage of Calapooia and Vivacity Spirits)

This is our ongoing post about what we experienced merging two businesses, see above, together. This post reflects what we experienced and is not meant to be completely fair or unbiased. Maybe in a year or two we will be able look back, see the “Big Picture” and laugh about it all.

Making the Budget:

There are two ways you can estimate your building budget.

The first is to get rough estimates for everything and guess from past experience on the rest. Unless your past experience is very recent you are going to be woefully low on your guesses.

The second is to get hard numbers (bids) from contractors. This way you have a much more precise number to work with. Remember that quotes are only good for so long and that if the job scope changes so will the bid.

In the first case double your guessing estimate. In the second, add 50% to the estimates (at least). You can help offset some of the cost by doing some of the work yourself (if you have the capability).

A note on construction costs: Bidding on a brand new building is going to be more accurate than on an existing building, which can have hidden issues. If you want to make a change, on the fly, say add a skylight after the framing is done. No contractor will tell you, “No”, however, that is a “Change Order” and is not part of the original bid. It must be paid upon completion of said change (much to the customer’s surprise). Change orders can be caused by City codes, finding hidden issues with the building (or surrounding property, etc) or any number of various other things. They must all be paid upon completion of the change and are in addition to the original bid price. Always always always ask questions and then make a decision based on the given facts. Having to initiate change orders, because of an oversight on someones part, can be very frustrating and begs the question:

“Why didn’t the Architect, City, Contractor, your brother-in-law catch the (glaringly obvious) issue during some previous process? Thus saving everyone lots of time, money and frustration.”

The answer is: “Who knows?”

I have a few theories, non of them flattering to anyone. Just be prepared for a long bumpy ride.

A note on Contractors: Not all, but quite a few of the contractors we have dealt with are like a teenager. If you ask them to empty the dishwasher, don’t be surprised if the dishes are all piled on the counter right next to the dirty dishes. Don’t be angry, they did exactly what you asked and absolutely nothing more. I have seen contractors frame over light boxes, bury a stud half way out of a wall while dry-walling. I have seen bids based off of old drawings. I have seen building drawings with no windows. Why didn’t they ask about what was obviously wrong? Because time is money. If we didn’t want that stud half way out of the wall we would have moved it, right? Which leads us to:

Congratulations, You are now the Building Expert

or

Do Your Homework

Welcome back to school and homework. Just because you hire professionals to work for you doesn’t mean that they are not human and make mistakes nor does it mean that they are motivated to go above and beyond (see above note on contractors). As the customer it is your job to make sure that you get what you want; from the blueprints (you had better learn how to read the basics) to something not looking quite right. When in doubt contact the contractor or supervisor and have them explain it to you. Don’t feel stupid, this is not your forte but it is now your job.

Note on Architects: Architects are design professionals. Either have a very precise vision of your project or stay out of their way. If you have a vision then it is up to you to tell the Architect, as exactly as you can, what it is that you want and to police the drawings (do not assume that they “understand” what you meant). If the plans are not what you want then you must let the Architect know and have them change the drawings. This can be a bit frustrating on both ends and can run you into extra $$ as no one works for free. So be sure to communicate well the first time. When meeting with the Architect take notes. If you are making changes then have the Architect repeat back to you what those changes are so you know you are both on the same page. It’s better to pay for the changes at the drawing stage than to deal (and pay) with it in the building stage, can you say, “Change Order”

The Change Order: The change order is when you want something done that was not on the plans, say add a window to a wall or change that second story window into a double door that opens onto a deck. The problem with Change Orders is that you must pay them as soon as they are finished. Designing on the fly is a costly thing.

Note on Plan Changes: If there are changes made to the official drawings (blueprints) after you have drawn your permits, make sure that everyone involved is working from the latest set of plans. This helps to ease confusion and frustration for everyone.

I hope this shed a little light on the subject. Good Luck.

Cheers!

Thoughts on Moving

So, you want to move (or start) your business into a different building. There are pros and cons for each choice. You just have to look at your circumstances, what you want and choose which one is best for you now. Here are a few things for you to consider: (this is by no means all the options available or is all encompassing in advantages/disadvantages)

Renting a Space (assuming it is compatible with your business)

Advantages: Walk in and you are in business, The “Parent Company” has resources that you can leverage

Disadvantages: You are constrained by the “Parent company”. You don’t own the assets.

Renting a building

Advantages: build to suite, someone else does major building upkeep

Disadvantages: any improvements go to landlord, you do not own the building

New Construction

Advantages: build to suite

Disadvantages: starting from scratch

Buying an existing business

Advantages: Previous reputation, Built in Customer base, everything already in place

Disadvantages: Previous reputation, Paying for “Blue Sky”

Buying an empty building

Advantages: Shell of building is there, Basic utilities in place

Disadvantages: Updating building, Layout of building, Change of use,

The Dream

I am moving my business to a new location. I find my new place, get it ready, move in and I am good to get back to running my business. Easy peasy.

The Reality

(in no certain order)

-Dealing with: The City, the Architect, the Contractor, Inspectors (do any of them understand what your business is?)

-Building inspectors

-Pricing your project: The budget, going over budget, change orders

-The Architect: Prep work before meeting, What do you want, Going over the plans, Change Orders

-How much work can you do, to help offset costs

-Stress, Life in the pressure cooker, the fist in the chest

-The permitting process

-Practice detachment- it’s not personal

-Finishing the project

- Going forward project looking back

-Sleep

-The Pandemic

-”Free” Money:

programs to help

loans of different sorts

investors

Vivacity Observations and Lessons learned

Observations: part1

(The Marriage of Calapooia and Vivacity Spirits)

Here are some observations, I have seen, merging 2 businesses. Some of the observations are biased, but it was what we experienced during the project. As things progress and we have the luxury of hind sight, with time, some of these observations may change.

I am going to break this down into more manageable bites because I believe it will run a bit long and we are not done with the project yet. (Actually, I am cheating because we are really 7 months into the process.) I am also combining 2 blog thoughts so if its a bit choppy, sometimes, please forgive me.

The Move

After 8 years in business and 3 years of active searching; Vivacity Spirits has found a new place to call home. At the start of the new year, 2020, Vivacity will now call Calapooia Brewery, in Albany, Oregon, home.

Our Hopes and Dreams

Our Pub will become your living room away from home. While sipping on our craft beverages there will be peace in the world, the skies will open up and the angels will sing. We will all become enlightened and one with the universe. Just come on in, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy a beer or cocktail with your new family.

Unicorns and Rainbows aside, we are excited about the possibilities before us. With a brewery on site, Whiskey is in our future and we will now have another outlet for our Spirits. We will have a lot more room to move about and store barrels. We plan to expand the distribution of our beers and Spirits, eventually, beyond the State of Oregon. I would say “World Domination” but that makes me seem greedy.

Some Harsh Reality

The temptation is to believe the first paragraph, completely (one can only hope), that this is the answer to all our dreams (and in some ways it is), but the reality is that this move is going to be a lot of hard work. We are going to have a steep learning curve. The objective is for Caitlin and myself to learn everyone’s job. That way we can fill in anywhere when needed. It will be stressful, it will be educational and (despite my whining) I will be enjoying every minute of it. This move will be a catalyst for forward movement and innovation for Vivacity Spirits and Calapooia Brewery moving into the future.

This move will also come with some unique challenges. Some foreseeable some not. We will be going from 4 employees to about 20 (we will be leaning, heavily, on the Calapooia crew for support, until we can find our stride.)

We have moved all our inventory, the still and the boiler to Calapooia, not to mention all the infrastructure needed to be put in place to support the move. We are bringing the building up to current code (ADA bathrooms) and building storage/offices in the warehouse for Vivacity Spirits. Dealing with the city and all the different crafts has been an “eye opener” to say the least.

A Change in Our Mindset

This expansion will require us to change our mindset, if we want it to be successful. We will need to think on a much larger scale, farther out than before and, again, trust our new Calapooia family for assistance.

Where we sit now

Right now, we seem to be in a holding pattern. With all the construction we have not been able to set up the still (soon though). At present, Vivacity Spirits has 8 offerings: Our Fine Vodka, Bankers’ and Native Gin, Traditional and Cranberry Rum, Pinot Noir and Muscat Brandies, and Turkish Coffee Liqueur.

At Calapooia; we have a new Brewer, Tobe Holliday. He has been busy making himself at home and has already come out with a few new beers, not to mention bringing back some oldies but goodies (can you say, “ESB?”). We are excited to see where he will take us next. We have expanded the menu, at the Pub, and have been doing renovations to the building.

On top of all this, we are in the midst of the Corona Virus Pandemic, so all bets are off. The future is waiting for us to venture forth and write it.

What’s Next

Proceed as if success is inevitable.

That’s not the same as go blindly forward. It does mean look forward, assess the landscape and make your move. Then assess what happened, look at your options, make adjustments and make your move again. Repeat.

With the merging of a Brewery and a Distillery comes Whiskey. We have plans for 3 new Whiskeys: a Bourbon (of course), our Vivacity Whiskey and a Scotch style. Unfortunately, they are a few years in the future (can you say barrel aging?) We are also planning to increase our Rum production.

For the Brewery, we intend to hold the line with our flagship beers and plan to unleash the creativity that is Tobe “The Brewer”. We have expanded our taps board and plan to fill it with some exciting new beers.

We are thinking of renaming the building, “Water Hill”. Don’t worry, the Calapooia Brewery and Pub and Vivacity Spirits aren’t going anywhere. They live at Water Hill. We feel it’s just an easy reference for the building as a whole.

As soon as we are able, we plan to host a variety of events, some old favorites and some new, to become, favorites.

Cheers!

Chris

Perspective

Help Wanted:

Business seeks a “go getter” to set the tone and pace of the company.

Duties include but not limited to:

Long hours

Sleepless nights

All decision making and problems are on your shoulders

In charge of everything from production demands, floor mopping to wrangling cats (re: personnel)

Building something from nothing

Wages and compensation:

            Applicant will pay company to perform job for first 3-5 years (or longer)

            Applicant can take occasional day off at will

            No health care

            No security

Constant uncertainty

Happiness

Does anyone want this job? If you want to start your own business you are applying for this job. Make sure you pay attention to the last bit of compensation.

Today’s topic is about happiness.

If you asked me, a few years ago, would I like to own my own business? Of course I would have said, “Yes!” If you had asked me would I wanted the above job? I would have said, “Oh hell NO!” The funny thing is that they’re the same thing.

It has been said before and it is worth repeating, “It is the journey not the destination” If you look at the destination and the total effort involved, of course, you will tend be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

Look at any high end performance. They make it look so easy that you say to yourself, “I can do that!” but when you try to do it you find out that it is above your abilities, you get frustrated and most people quit with the “Sour Grapes ” attitude. Of course it’s above your abilities! You don’t watch someone play a video game, think that it looks fun and try it, for the first time, on the final level. Is it any wonder that you got blown away?

In that way, life is like a video game. You work your way through the levels, acquiring knowledge and skills, and you will eventually get to the top level and beat the game but it takes time and effort. What about cheats? Even in life; sometimes you will get some insider info that can help you gain a bit of an edge. It can be strategic information or it can be that you know someone who can give you a leg up. It’s funny; in a game that’s called cheating. In life it’s called getting ahead (although you can cheat in life, but you can also go to jail for it too or worse).

I guess this is a long way of saying that things aren’t always what they seem. Most people see the end product and they want a part of it. What they don’t see is the long, often very hard, road to that end goal. At that point the end goal, once reached, is tempered by experience.

Look at the people who win the big lottery. Most of them have declared bankruptcy and are worse off than they were before they won it. Wasn’t it supposed to answer all of their problems? If you learn to be happy with what you have now, then when you do hit it big you will have a much better perspective on things. I believe the quote is “No matter where you go, there you are”. If you think that “things” will make you happy then when you get them you will still be unhappy because there are always other “things” to get.

--Christopher M Neumann

Perceptions: Part 1

I was reminded, recently, that events are just events and that it isn’t until later (sometimes much later) that we can truly label them as either good or bad.

An example:

Quite a few years ago I thought I was suffering from a really nasty sinus infection. I was waking up nauseous, I threw up, and I had this massive pressure build up in my forehead. I was getting ready to go to the hospital when I passed out behind the wheel of my truck, luckily still in “park”. When I came to I was being loaded into an ambulance. I protested and the next thing I remember was coming to in the ER. They took an MRI and found a “mass” in my head. The next thing I know I am waking up in the ICU ward, I have 2 tubes sticking out of my head and I am feeling pretty good.

Sometime later, my doctor visits me and tells me that I have a fibroid cyst (not cancerous) in my head at the top of my spine and that it is preventing the fluid from exiting my head, thus the pressure buildup, and that the tubes inserted into my head are relieving that pressure, as long as I stay level with the bags of light pink fluid the tubes are going into.

My thoughts are:

I didn’t know that brain fluid was light pink and I think it’s funny that the ICU is using a level as a medical instrument. Well KISS.

Around this time my wife is emailing everyone we know to tell them what has happened and as a few friends are discussing my symptoms, one realizes that she is having the same symptoms. She goes to her doctor and discovers that she has a mass in her head too, unfortunately it is cancerous and she ends up losing a large peach sized scoop of her brains (her description).

So why do I mention this? If I look only at my issue I could lament how bad the situation was and I could whine about, “Why Me?”. If I look at the bigger picture I can draw a connection to my friend discovering her head issue because of me discovering mine. She would have eventually discovered that she had brain cancer but it would have probably been too late.

If you ask me why I had to go through my experience? So my friend could discover her cancer and still be alive today.

My experience also taught me a few things; the most important of which is that I have an amazing wife and that I am not ready to check out, yet.

So, events are just events and whether they are “good “or “bad” depends on one’s outlook on life. How we react to and what we do with the experience is what matters.

--Christopher M Neumann

The Next Step

A warning: We are talking about high proof Spirits here not beer or wine, which have a lower alcohol content and a much larger number of participant businesses, thus a larger political influence.

So, you have jumped through the government hoops (federal and local), you have your finances in order, you have your equipment and you are making your Spirits.

Now what?

The first thing is to get your Spirits in a given states liquor stores. This means getting a distributor for said state or getting into the state run warehouse. The problem is that there are 50 different states and it would seem 50 different rules (I won’t talk about foreign distribution here).

There are basically two types of state distribution models:

Control States- These are states where the state government controls the distribution of the alcohol (and in some cases the stores themselves). See http://www.nabca.org/States/States.aspx for a list of control states.

(Go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage_control_state for a lot more information on control states)

To be able to sell your product in these control states; you must pass a jurying in process (usually held once or twice a year) and you must meet certain quotas or risk being de-listed from said state.

If you are a distillery in a control state you are (usually) automatically listed with the state, although a minimum sales quota may still apply.

3-Tier States- These are states that use a state licensed distributor, at the wholesale level, to distribute alcohol to state licensed businesses. (See the above link to see if you are in a control state or not). Your distributor will probably also have quotas that you will need to meet in order for them to keep you listed with them.

(It’s all about making money folks)

With all the new micro-distilleries coming on line, getting a distributor seems to be getting harder. Persistence is the key. Sometimes working with a distributor outside the main channels can work but you do need to be careful.

The next thing you will need to decide is how aggressively you want to grow.

Quite frankly this is usually a matter of how much money you want to put into advertising and competitions.

This reminds me of the old joke; how do you make a small fortune with a winery? Start with a large fortune.

The same can apply for a distillery. As you grow you will also need to keep up with demand. If you can’t keep up with demand you had better have a product people are willing to wait for.

I am a fan of being more conservative. On the other hand you can be too conservative. You will have to cross that bridge when you come to it.

 -Christopher M Neumann

How to Conduct a Tasting

When I go to a liquor store to do a tasting I get feedback from the agents and the employees. It’s actually more like they tell me stories about different people coming in to do tastings for different companies. They are always amazed that I come in ready to work. I am dressed well and I have brought everything I need to conduct my tasting (except for the small trash can that I keep forgetting). I am amazed at some of the stories that they tell me.

At one store, I was told, the person conducting the tasting was verbally abusing a customer because the customer didn’t like the spirits they were offered. This included following the customer around the store yelling at them.

Wow!

So here are some tips (In no particular order of importance) for anyone who will ever be showing a product, it doesn’t even have to be alcohol related.

1.    Know your product:

There are times when a company hires “Spokespeople” to showcase their products. These people, generally, have no connection to the company and may have never heard of the product they are showcasing. If you ever find yourself in this situation; do yourself, the store and potential customers a favor; read up on the product. Because I will guarantee that some customers will know way more than you do about what you are showing or they will have heard “things” about a product and will want some information. Either know the answer or tell the truth and say that you don’t know. Trying to BS an answer will only show your ignorance and make you look like the fool.

On the other hand if it is your product then you should have all the answers as it pertains to your product and a general knowledge of the product category.   (However, even though I make Vivacity Spirits Fine Vodka and have a general knowledge of all things Vodka. That does not make me the repository of the entire world’s vodka knowledge)

There are occasions when an “expert” comes in and starts to tell you things about your product and you can barely follow what they are talking about. In this case, I find that it is much easier to just agree with them because they obviously know more than you do and they will prove it by asking you a question so arcane or confusing that you can’t answer it (most times because they have mixed information from different Spirits or are just plain wrong).

Sometimes they are very knowledgeable. These people are fun to talk to.

2. Be prepared:

This is pertinent for the person who is showing their own product(s). Bring everything you need to conduct business. The less the store has to take care of you the better you are generally received and the more professional you come off.

    I try to be a low needs taster.

For the person not directly associated with the business, you will need to have the store give you everything. Help them help you.

3. Interact with the customers:

Does that sound silly?

I had one store manager tell me they had a “Model” showing some spirits and every time someone approached the table she would turn away from them and face into a corner.

 Ok, again, Wow!

 Not only should you be interacting with the customers (when I am conducting a tasting, I consider myself an employee of the store. I sample them on my products and try to direct them to the things they are looking for) I interact with the employees and the manager as well. Who do you think is going to recommend your product when you are not there? This does not mean you have to suck up to them, it just means be professional and courteous.

If, however, you are returning to the same stores you should also learn the names of the employees, it’s a nice touch.

4. Be Professional and Courteous:

One of the stores pet peeves, I am often told, is the person who comes in dressed like they just got back from a month long camping trip and are generally asses to everyone. They argue about everything and when they are not engaged with a customer they are playing on their phone (which makes them not engaged with the customers).

Confession: I too have been on my phone at a tasting. I keep it on in case of emergencies and because I post my tastings on Instagram. If someone approaches the table the phone immediately goes away and when I am done with my post then the phone goes away for good until I am done with the tasting.

In my opinion being dressed appropriately (meaning clean and with a company logo) is very important.

5. Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover:

How often have we looked at someone and made a snap judgement?

The other day I tasted at a liquor store and two gentlemen, who I was pretty sure were homeless, were sampling my wares. They tasted my Traditional Rum, raved about it and announced that it was Pina Coladas for the evening and purchased a bottle.

Never assume who you think will purchase what you are promoting. Be polite to everyone and treat them all the same.

6. Have Fun:

This goes along with engaging with the customers and employees. Have fun, make jokes. It’s OK to bust their chops, a little. That way everyone is in a good mood and it also helps the time go faster.

7. Have Thick Skin:

This goes along with #1: Know your product, but don’t attach your self-worth to it. No matter how good your product is, there are people out there who will not care for it (I’m being nice here. Some will expound on how crappy they feel your product is).

I was conducting a tasting and I had just sold about 17 bottles of our Fine Vodka when a gentleman tried my Spirit and proclaimed, “I hope you don’t have stock in this company” Ouch! But a little less so because of the previous bottle sales. Now-a-days rejection is somewhat expected but it can still be a tiny dagger in my heart.

            --Christopher M Neumann

Advice

As Casey Neistat (https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat) said (and I’m paraphrasing) “Ideas mean nothing it’s action that counts.” So when people (good meaning people) try our Spirits and then say to me “What you need to make is…” I feel they are being lazy (and I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way). What I hear them telling me is, “I have an idea, that I think is cool, but I don’t want to put any effort into it. You make it, because I might think about buying it, if you made it”.

Note: The reason I listen to these comments is that every once in a great while someone does come up with a really good idea (The saying goes: Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while)

Please understand, I make distilled Spirits; if I have an idea that I think is worth something (say an app) I tell my programmer friend “What you need to make is…” and he, bless his patient heart, listens to me (because he also believes in the above note) and then will ask me questions about the idea that then becomes obvious, I haven’t thought the idea through. Here I thought I was lying gold at his feet, for something I thought was cool ( and that I might buy, if he made it). What I was really laying at his feet was worth, maybe, $50 (if he was really lucky and after a ton of hard work).

If you think you really have an idea that is worth a million dollars why would you give it away? On the other hand, if you made a small sample of something (let’s say a Gin) and asked me for my opinion; I would be much more inclined to give you feed back and maybe even offer you some suggestions as to how you could market it. If it was the most amazing gin I had ever tasted I would tell you so and then we might have a serious talk.

Would I want to make it for myself? No thank you our product lineup is full, but if you wanted us to make it for you (see previous post on contract distilling) we might be able to help you. Again, why would you want to give away something, possibly, worth that much money?

This reminds me of a quote I ran across recently, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” -Thomas A Edison

Cheers!

-Christopher M Neumann

19. Afterword

So what have we, hopefully, learned from the last few month’s posts?

That Distilling is fun and frustrating?

That we all have a lot to learn?

That I could have condensed the information down?

YES to all of the above.

I hope I have shed a little light on the subject of distilling and what it takes to do this. I also hope that some of you will find some of the information included of value. It was all learned the hard way.

If you have the burning desire to create something special and are willing to take the hard road then this might be your path.

Be aware that you will probably work longer hours and for much less pay than ever before and that you will enjoy your job more than you thought you would. After all it’s your baby.

I have only been at this for about 5 years now, so I am still the newbie. But I have learned a few things along the way (hopefully). Looking back (and forward) would I pursue this line of business again. Absolutely! This has been the scariest and the most fun adventure I have ever been on and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. Cheers!

By Christopher M Neumann

18. Promoting Your Spirits

Congratulations! At this point you should now have a bunch of cases of your very special Spirits. Take a moment to bask in the pleasure of your accomplishment.

Now what?

Believe it or not, now comes the hardest part of this whole endeavor (hands down the most time consuming and frustrating).

You may have just created the most amazing Spirit ever put forth by man but no one will try it, unless they know about it and are given the opportunity to taste it.

How will people find out about your Spirits? You have many options open to you.

You can:

·       Yell it from the rooftops. You should be doing this from the very beginning of starting your distillery.

·       Advertise

·       Word of mouth

·       Enter competitions

Yell it from the rooftops

I have found that the real business of Spirits is in the marketing. No matter how good your Spirits are; if no one knows about them how will you sell them?

From the moment you decide to make Spirits you should be telling everyone about it. This is where social media can be a real boon; of course if you are shouting about how you are going to be making these  Spirits and don’t produce any, people will start to ignore you because you lack follow through.

Advertising

Advertising your Spirits, other than on social media, can be problematic and expensive.

In my opinion one of the best and most memorable ad campaigns was Absolut Vodka’s ads from the 1980’s

 (http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/the-best-of-the-great-absolut-ads) 

You saw these ads everywhere and by the end you could recognize a bottle of Absolut vodka simply by the bottle shape alone.

Unfortunately that form of print ad doesn’t really pack the punch it used to and it was extremely expensive (but worth it to Absolut).

In the end, I feel it’s up to the individual distillery to make their best call.

Word of Mouth

In my opinion “word of mouth” is the most powerful advertising you could ever get and it’s free but be aware that word of mouth can cut both ways.

Competitions

Except for the fact that you pay to enter these competitions, this advertising is also considered free. How many times have you come across articles touting the 10 best Whiskeys or the 10 best Spirits, etc.? The more impressive the competition is the bigger the bounce from winning a medal from it. After winning a medal you should definitely be yelling about it from the rood tops. Cheers!

--By Christopher M Neumann

17. The Final Product pt. 2

As was stated in section 11, a picture is worth a thousand words but holding your finished product in your hand is truly an amazing feeling. All your hard work has culminated with this bottle of your amazing Spirits. This is your baby. Congratulations!

…Now what?

--By Christopher M Neumann

16. Production

Now it’s time to put all the pieces of your puzzle together. If you haven’t already distilled your product you should do so.

I guess I should mention that you have a choice to make here. Do you label empty bottles first and then fill them or fill them and then label them? (Our bottle shape dictated that we label first then fill).

If you choose to label empty bottles first, you will need to estimate how many bottles you will need. This can lead to too few or too many bottles labeled.

A quick side note:

There are 2.3775 Gallons of liquid to a case of 750 mL bottles. (You need to know this for tax purposes)

Also, when estimating volume, don’t forget about the miscibility of fluids. This is when 2 liquids added together don’t add up evenly. The miscibility of alcohol and water is .96 (meaning that 50 + 50 = 96)

If you choose to fill the bottles first; you will have to deal with the extra weight of the full bottles while labeling (at least you will always have the exact amount of labeled bottles).

Now it’s time to have a filling party! We have found that a three person team can fill a batch of Vodka in about 3.5 hours (longer if things don’t go quite correctly).

-Christopher M Neumann

15. Ordering Everything

So, you now have your Spirit, your label (with COLA approval) and your bottle choice. Now all you need to do is order everything and you are off to the races.

In actuality you will have been doing multiple things at once:

(Caitlin refers to this as juggling a bunch balls and getting them all to land at the exact same time)

You will have contacted the bottle company and set terms for purchasing bottles, ordered them and, at least, have them in transit.

You will have ordered your closures, safety seals and, at least, have them in transit.

You will have submitted your label design to the printer, reviewed the proofs, set the terms for purchase and submitted your order.

You will have your labeling machine and bottle filler in place and working properly.

Doing only one process at a time and then moving to the next would lengthen your timeline to extreme proportions.

The trick is to keep up on your inventory so you never run out of anything. (Sometimes not as easy as you would think)

14. Closures and Safety Seals

Two down and the closure to go.

 Following my bottle “theme” we chose to have a wood topped closure with real cork and we decided that I would brand the top with our “V” logo (this was done by hand for the first two years). On top of that, all of the branded V’s had to be in the correct orientation in the bottle (and still do).

Next came the safety seal. This is used to make sure no one has sampled a bottle before you have purchased it or added anything to said bottle. It can be anything from the classic strip of paper over the top to a shrink wrap bottle topper. We chose to go with a clear safety cap with a peel off top (it had a small gold tab to pull). This was also oriented to the front of the bottle.

To me, it’s all in the attention to detail; from the Spirit itself to the finished product you hold in your hand.

--Christopher M Neumann

13. Label Design and Approval

Now that we had our bottle we needed a label. I wanted something old yet new.

My idea was: I wanted the label to be reminiscent of an old steamship poster (like you see in the oldie movies) that has been on the wall for a time. It was still very readable but a bit weathered.

It brought, to me, the feeling of the daring sea faring days of yore. (As a young man I had thought about going out to sea to ply a trade).

We decided to hire a design firm rather than try to design it ourselves. This wasn’t the product to put an amateurish label on. We found a local design company and told them of our project and what the general feel we were looking for. After 3 weeks they came back with 3 concepts for our evaluation. Two were so-so but the third really struck our fancy (mainly because it had a motorcycle on it and we both ride).

With a little back and forth we got the label design hammered out and it was time to hand it off to the TTB for COLA approval (yes you have to submit your label to the government to make sure it meets their requirements).

COLA is not a soft drink (well it is but not in this case) it stands for Certificates Of Label Approval. If you are going to put a label on your bottles of Spirits (and you know you are) you must submit your label to the TTB for COLA approval (they want to make sure you dot your I’s and cross your T’s appropriately). Your label can be rejected for so many reasons (most, obvious only to the COLA people).  I could go on about all the fun things you can or can’t do on your label but I am going to just give you the link instead; http://www.ttb.gov/labeling/colas.shtml is the main page for the TTB’s COLA web page. There are links to everything you ever wanted to know about labels and their approval.

After a few corrections we got our COLA approval and sent our label to the printers.

--Christopher M Neumann

12. What's is a Name?

We are going to take a step back before we move forward. Your company has a name which will appear, prominently, on the label but what are you going to call your Spirits? We tend to name all our large equipment at the distillery and we also named our Spirits. Fine Vodka, Native and Bankers Gin, Traditional Rum and Turkish Coffee Liqueur. Some are more of a descriptor than an offhand name. You will need to decide for yourself what to call your Spirit. Being simplistic in naming your Spirits is never a problem but I like to add a descriptor to the name to help customers imagine what our Spirits will taste like.

 --Christopher M Neumann