Welcome to California: Racquet Club Spirits

August 2, 2022 3 Comments

The Story of a New Craft Spirit Company in Palm Springs

In the past year or so, I’ve been off the air for several reasons — business and writing commitments, Covid, and most important, moving from NYC to Rancho Mirage CA. That’s in Coachella Valley, aka Greater Palm Springs, aka The Desert.

Now I’m back and at it. And what does a transplanted New Yorker and booze business writer/observer do? Looks for places to eat and drink (restaurants and bars here are top notch) and entrepreneurs in the Booze Business.

Meet the Owners of Racquet Club Spirits

Matthew Winks and Brian Harke, owners of Racquet Club Spirits

From Palm Springs Life magazine: “The spirit of individuality and fun from the historic Racquet Club spur a desert couple to create a new Palm Springs-inspired liquor brand. A marketing director and commercial producer together for more than 30 years, Movie Colony couple Brian Harke and Matthew Winks have spun their passion for cocktails  into a new line of Palm Springs-inspired spirits, Racquet Club Spirits.”

Racquet Club Spirits is an LGBTQ+ owned company, and producers of Racquet Club Vodka and Racquet Club Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Two truly outstanding products in my view.

The owners, Brian and Matthew, come from outside the Booze Business world but have quickly learned the business and what it takes to succeed. Brian was a marketing director, and Matthew was a TV commercial producer. They used their creative background to work on the classic bottle design with a vintage label.

Their brand launch announcement described their effort this way:

“Racquet Club Spirits celebrates the style and swagger of Palm Springs Racquet Club, a desert oasis that became Hollywood’s legendary playground. The Vodka and Straight Bourbon Whiskey are hand crafted in small batches to ensure that every classic cocktail lives up to their namesake: the exclusive Racquet Club, where movie stars went to escape.”

About the Racquet Club

Coachella Valley and Palm Springs is known for its midcentury architecture, outdoor leisure and history of attracting Hollywood celebrities.

In fact, when we first moved out here, we were thrilled and amused by many of the street names throughout the valley: Dinah Shore Drive, Kirk Douglas Way, Frank Sinatra Drive, Fred Waring Way, Gene Autry Trail, and so on. It’s a fun place to live. (But don’t ask me about the heat.)

In an interview in Palm Springs Life, Matthew described the environs this way:

“Palm Springs is similar to Las Vegas in that for years and years, people have come here to escape. The Racquet Club was certainly part of that because movie stars felt comfortable going and hanging out there. It was beyond the studio zone in the old days of Hollywood, so they were allowed to let loose. That spirit of individuality and fun really connected to us and our vibe.”

In my view, the inspiration of the Palm Springs area, especially its history, sends a message to consumers that this brand is fun, special, and transfers those attitudes to the drinking occasion.

The Racquet Club circa 1930s. From ladyevesreellife.com

The Racquet Club was founded in 1934 by actors Ralph Bellamy and Charlie Farrell so they would always have a court to play in. It served as a gathering place and party venue for much of Hollywood’s show business elite and quickly became the party spot for Hollywood royalty including Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Elizabeth Taylor, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Natalie Wood, and Robert Wagner who were regular guests. Marilyn Monroe is said to have been discovered there.

The Products

The tradition and lifestyle of the Racquet Club and Palm Springs drove their business proposition — laid back, easy-going, and as they put it, laden with style and swagger. The packaging certainly reflect this with the non-traditional label and more importantly the retro look.

While they do not distill themselves, they have worked very closely with distillers to manufacture products to their vision. Namely products that taste good and makes drinkers feel the Palm Spring vibe.

Their mandate for the vodka was that it had to have notes of vanilla with a soft nonmedicinal aroma or mouthfeel, and fruit over notes. In addition, it is filtered 7 times using a carbon with all-natural carbon originating from coconut husks. Palm Springs all the way.

The distiller is Dry Diggings Distillery, El Dorado Hills, CA. It sells for roughly $32.99 and is 80 proof (40 AbV).

The bourbon is made by Midwest Grain Products (MGP), again with Brian and Matthew’s oversight. I found it very gentle and easy to drink straight yet held up and complimented my favorite cocktail. Again, it’s got a bit of fruitiness and is well balanced, so it lends itself to mixology. There’s a bit of caramel and vanilla with some chocolate notes in there.

It’s 84 proof (42 AbV) and sells for about $42.99.

Both products are available all over the Palm Springs area in top bars and restaurants and in such off-premise accounts like Total Wine and More, Mirage Wine & Liquor, and other leading independents in the valley, and online at Mash and Grape.

The vodka has won several awards including a silver award from the NY World Wine and Spirits competition. The bourbon has received two double gold awards from the Sip Awards and the San Diego Spirits Festival.

# # #

If you’ve been a follower of this blog, you know that I appreciate startup entrepreneurs who change their work lives and enter the alcohol industry. In Brian and Matthew’s case, I especially admire their vision and their hard work to bring it to fruition. When I spoke with them recently, I was struck by their passion and drive, which was very palpable.

Welcome to the Booze Business gentlemen.

The Best Dirty Shirley: More than the drink of the summer

June 16, 2022 No Comments

The Shirley Temple Grows Up

The internet, press, and TV are all abuzz with the Dirty Shirley. It’s described as the drink of the summer 2022. The NY Times was among the first to write about it. The Today Show recently went so far as to describe it as overtaking the Aperol Spritzer as the summer drink.

So, it’s not surprising that I thought this drink was worth looking into. Among the first thing I came across was this press release from Black Infusions, makers of Black Fig (Double Gold at San Francisco Spirits Competition), Gold Apricot (96 points from Wine Enthusiast), and their newest product, Dark Cherry. The latter addresses the Dirty Shirley two ways — used as a cocktail at bars and restaurants and a canned version as a Ready-To-Drink (RTD) cocktail.

Black Infusions was created and is owned by the husband-and-wife team, of Michael and Barbara Davidson. I’ve known them since 2018 and wrote about them then. I figured I’d check in with them and learn more about what’s going on in general and with their brands. So, we spoke at length on the phone and here’s the interview:

BB: Before we get into the Dirty Shirley… how’s business overall?

Michael: Business is good, we’re gaining traction from consumers, largely because of our retail distribution. But, you know, it can always be better, so we keep pounding the pavement.

BB: What accounts are you in?

Michael: Off-Premise we’re in Total Wine & More, Kroger, Wegman’s, Whole Foods, Stew Leonard’s, and more. On-Premise we’re in a range of what you might called “marquis” accounts like Fig & Olive, Balthazar, Eleven Madison, Jean-George’s restaurants, and a bunch of others.

BB: How did the Dark Cherry infused vodka come about?

Michael: Our position in the market is based on vodka naturally infused with fruit — just fruit and neutral grain spirits, no artificial flavors, no other additives, no extra sugar. At 60 proof, consumers love our Black Fig and Gold Apricot products because they can enjoy it by itself and in cocktails. When we thought about other products, cherries came immediately to mind.

Barbara: I would add that finding the right blend and especially the right cherries, took time. Like some fine wines, we needed to find the right balance of cherry types. Our blend is 80% Bing Cherries and 20% Rainer.

BB: And how did the RTD product come about?

Michael: Lots of our bartender fans and friends kept making different kinds of drinks with Dark Cherry. One was a Cherry Coke. But the one that got our attention was a Shirley Temple with Dark Cherry vodka… The Dirty Shirley. Then…

Barbara: We felt that just adding vodka to the traditional recipe was wrong. If you order a Dirty Shirley at a bar, the recipe calls for lemon lime soda like sprite, grenadine, and maraschino cherries. Much too sweet and artificial tasting. When we taste our product with the trade, the response we got was, “You ought to put it in a can as an RTD.” So, we did.

Also, It’s special, unique, it’s fun, it’s yummy, and after the last two years, I figured we could all use a reminder of simpler times. Our new Dark Cherry vodka gives us a delicious yet all-natural twist with the convenience of a can.

BB: How is it different than the Dirty Shirley made in bars?

Michael: The RTD has our Dark Cherry vodka, fresh lime juice, some real ginger, and a touch of carbonation.

BB: How is it going so far?

Barbara: We just launched in May and only in a few markets, but we can’t keep it in stock.

Michael: From a business standpoint, the RTD will hopefully accomplish several things: promote the Dark Cherry infused vodka as a brand, highlight our full line and raise awareness of our other real fruit products, and perhaps open the door to other RTD entries.

BB: So, it’s not just a new brand, it will play a strategic role.

Michael: That’s right.

BB: Where can my readers find the RTD?

Barbara: We launched in Boston, at Big Night Live and sold 130 cans in 3 hours. BevMo/Gopuff requested availability in CA. We will also launch Gopuff in MA and DC, and Total Wine in MA.

BB: The best of luck with all your products. You’ve come a long way from when we originally met. Here’s to continued success. Thanks for your time.

Coole Swan: A Whiter Shade of Cool

March 12, 2021 2 Comments

Move Over Bailey’s, Here Comes the Swan

According to Impact Databank, Bailey’s Irish Cream is a 1.5 million 9-litre brand in the US and grew 6.5% from 2018 to 2019. But after you read the story about Coole Swan Irish Cream Liqueur, you might wonder if Coole Swan, with the right resources, might just make a dent in those numbers.

The Back Story

David Gluckman, whom I’ve written about in the past, spent 45 years in the drinks business primarily in the new brand development area. Much of his career, 36 years to be exact, was with International Distillers and Vintners (IDV), the company that became Diageo. Along the way, he created Sheridan’s, Le Piat d’Or, Tanqueray Ten, Bailey’s Irish Cream, among others.

In 2005, he left Diageo and decided that, together with some former clients/colleagues, they would develop products for their own company. As he puts it in his book (That S*it Will Never Sell):

“When I think back, I was isolated from most of the tough stuff… working for a company. All I had to do was come up with ideas. Other people looked at production, finance and marketing. Now that I was working on a brand of my own, I came to realise how difficult things could be at the deep end.”

Among the products they developed was Coole Swan where they saw an opportunity for a product with lower sweetness and more modern, sophisticated packaging which broke with the Bailey’s template.

Currently, the brand is an independently owned family business run by husband and wife team Mary Sadlier and Philip Brady. Interestingly, Mary Sadlier’s background was in corporate finance at Diageo.

I’ll come back to her in a moment, but about now you’re probably wondering where the brand’s name comes from.

Coole Swan

As Mary put it, “the name Coole Swan was inspired by The Wild Swans at Coole, a poem written by one of Ireland’s great romantic poets; W.B. Yeats. In this poem Yeats writes about finding everlasting beauty in an ever-changing world – just like our wonderful Irish Cream Liqueur. Coole Swan, an eternal beauty, we just bottled it.”

According to David Gluckman, he and his associates had a hard time coming up with a name for the cream liqueur they invented. Either the name didn’t fit or was already taken. By chance, David was catching the last plane out of Dublin and looking for inspiration, picked up a copy of a book of Yeats’ poetry. He found one of his most famous poems, as he put it, “a wistful reflection on the passing of time called The Wild Swans at Coole,” a park near County Galaway.

(A link to the poem is here.)

About Mary Sadlier, the owner

Mary Sadlier, who with her husband Philip Brady, run the Coole Swan business, hails from Navan in County Meath. The Coole Swan company is based nearby in Tatestown near Navath in the same county.

Mary is an amazing businessperson and struck me as someone who is always learning, always growing.

As mentioned, she was in corporate finance at Diageo. In my view, after talking with her at length for this article, it was clear to me that she has a keen overall sense of all aspects of business, marketing and sales included. She has participated in Going for Growth a six-month part-time program, supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, which assists ambitious female entrepreneurs to achieve their growth aspirations.

I found this quote from her on their newsletter:

“The Going for Growth program was of tremendous benefit to me. To be among so many brilliant women made me grow in confidence and allowed me to ‘lean-in’. The fellow participants are like really good neighbors – they are there with you when need them but not when you don’t,” says Mary.

What Mary and her company lack is the corporate resources to meet the challenge of Bailey’s and the dozens of Bailey’s knock-offs and wannabes.

About the product

The best way to describe the product is to compare it to Bailey’s:

Coole Swan is made with Single Malt Irish whiskey, Belgian white chocolate and fresh cream. It is only produced in Ireland. Bailey’s is made with Irish Whiskey and a propriety recipe of chocolate flavors. The company reports that it is made in both Dublin, Ireland and in Mallusk, Northern Ireland. But given its volume and widespread global distribution, I suspect it may be produced elsewhere as well.

The alcohol by volume is similar for both, around 16/17% AbV. The price points vary with Coole Swan selling for (roughly in the US) $29.99 and Baily’s at $25.

So long as we’re talking comparisons, I found this review from Common Man Cocktails:

“BAILEYS’ has a really deep nutty/chocolatey nose hitting your nostrils with a fairly potent ethanol all along whereas COOLE SWAN is far more tamed (with an actual cream thickness when swirled around the glass) with a lot more components coming through at once, not standing out or taking over one another but all having their say and coming out nicely…”

The Future for Coole Swan

The brand does around 10,000 9-litre cases in the US and currently is in New York Metro, Colorado, New Hampshire, Kansas, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Mary is smart enough to know the US market and is looking at LibDib (and other approaches) to expand into Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, California, as well as Maine Vermont and New Jersey.

Globally, the brand is in Ireland (of course) and elsewhere in the UK, Germany, Australia, and Alberta Canada.

My takeaway

From a personal perspective, my wife and I have always been Bailey’s Irish Cream lovers, considering it as a special treat, upon occasion. However — and at the risk of offending my Diageo friends — Coole Swan is at an entirely different level of cream liqueurs. It is, as the label indicates, a “Superior Irish Cream Liqueur.”

I’m well aware of the trend toward low and no alcohol and one might wonder as to whether the drinking climate will inhibit the growth of all cream liqueurs. However, the sales data shows that the leading brands, have grown one percent recently — basically flat but not declining. With all due respects to the trend followers, not everyone buys into it (what’s the point of drinking a no-alcohol tequila) and, regardless, a bit of indulgence goes a long way these days.

The challenge Coole Swan faces is resources, and, to make the brand grow by expanding in current markets, adding meaningful and strategically important new markets, building awareness and trial, and the human resources to make all this happen.

What Mary and her team have going for them, and why I believe in the growth potential of the brand, is tenacity, passion, intelligence, and strategic thinking. They need that and more to make a dent in the category and Bailey’s sales.

I love a good David vs. Goliath story. Don’t you?