A month-long cocktail crawl kicks off Nov. 1, and we’re the first to get in on the action. Weeks before this event kicked off, we visited a Sanford distillery to get into the “spirit” of the season.
1. Colby Theirsen co-owns the Loggerhead Distillery. He’s a computer engineer by trade, having served as the director of IT with a previous employer. Then, just a few years ago, a friend presented him with a business model. “[So] I went up to Kentucky and took some distilling and fermenting courses,” Theirsen told us. “I fell in love with it.”
2. So in 2019, Theirsen helped open the Loggerhead Distillery in historic Downtown Sanford. He still gets to play with science, and loves the infusion of art. He says making spirits – like vodka – is like cooking. “I love to cook, so I found that that’s kind of what attracted me to it.”
3. At Loggerhead, he and his team make 9 spirits. “We have to be within very tight parameters when we tell the government what the proof is of our spirits,” he explains, while using a hydrometer. All of his spirits are part of this month’s Crawl, where nearly 15 participating restaurants and bars have created their specialty drinks using his spirits.
4. Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 46 into law, which now allows distilleries to serve drinks made with their own stuff. This means that Theirsen can serve cocktails during this fall’s crawl. “We weren’t allowed to do that prior to last year. But we have a lot of people come in and ask for cocktails. They don’t really know the difference between breweries and distilleries.”
5. The Loggerhead Distillery Cocktail Crawl is Nov 1. through Nov. 30. Just hand your completed punch card into Loggerhead Distillery for your chance to win prizes.
