Two events this last weekend forced me to think about money in my business, where it comes from, and where it goes. The first was a group of customers (I’ll use that term loosely as they haven’t purchased anything in several visits) leaving the business disgruntled after being firmly told that in order to stay and listen to live music at the business, they would need to make a purchase of at least a soda. The second was an extremely generous customer who openly offered to invest in the business.
 
The first event got me thinking about social norms, what it means to “support” a business and the value of business offered amenities.  The second got me thinking about the value of a dollar and who really is invested in this business. My conclusions were closely interwoven.  Conclusion 1: in order to really support a business, you need to spend money at it or offer something value added. After all, businesses need to make money in order to operate in the first place. Conclusion 2: Nick and I are pretty adamant about not wanting investors (despite this being so flattering), but when you really think about it… isn’t every person who spends any money here, in fact an “investor” in our business?
 
All of this led me down an unexpected (but highly important) rabbit hole. If you have spent a dollar here at Ethanology in the last 3 years, where has that money gone? Conclusion 3: an incomplete list of just the local and Michigan based entities (both for profit and charitable) that your dollar has allowed us to help support.

• Nick, Me, Sofi, and Mabel                                      
• 4 Full Time Employees, 3 seasonal, and 2 interns
• 5 local artist exhibitions
• Over 50 different musicians
• Providence Farms
• Undertoe Farms
• Altonen Orchards
• McClure’s of Detroit
• Hell Fire Detroit
• Big Medicine Ranch
• Vermeersch Farms
• Friske Orchards
• Valley View Farm 
• King’s Orchards
• Bear Earth Herbals
• Shetler’s Family Dairy
• Bee Well Meadery (so excited about this recent addition! Woot woot apple brandy)
• Cherry Bee Apiary
• Alden State Bank
• Cherry Capital Foods
• Gilroy’s Hardware of Elk Rapids
• Elk Rapids Village Market
• AA Lee Mechanical
• Eisenhardt Electric
• Fischer Insurance
• Yooper Shirts
• Elk Rapids Library
• Antrim County Animal Shelter
• FLOW for Water
• Elk Rapids Harbor Days
• Grass River Natural Area
• Grand Traverse Land Conservancy

 
... and that is just what I can come up with off the top of my head. And I have to say, it feels fucking great to know that doing what feels like the right thing personally has also translated to be the right thing for the business.  My gratitude for your support is massive, investing in our business has allowed us to become part of this community and hopefully add value to the people and the other businesses around us. At the end of the day, please stay and buy that soda… it makes a real difference, and at the very least only costs you $0.67 an hour to enjoy live music and support another awesome Michigan company Northwoods Soda.

Big Love,
 
Geri Lefebre
Head Distiller
Chief of Dog Petting
Etiquette Enforcement Officer

​The hum of the stillroom fan is almost as prominent as the throb in my (our) entire body(s).  Its Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  Every single muscle in my (our) body is aching. Even my bones ache.  My brain is having trouble firing its synapses.  Basic words are not... coming out.  I need a beer.  
 
Forbes.  Fucking THE Forbes just released an article on Ethanolo¿y. It still hasn’t sunk in.  There are these fleeting moments, like Geri and I crying our eyes out in the barrel room.  Or when making breakfast this morning when I started sobbing uncontrollably. Tears of joy.  Tears that were earned.  All of the 100+ hour work weeks.  Sleepless nights.  Holy fuck, what did we get ourselves into moments.  Will our marriage make it?  Are we going to go bankrupt?  What the fuck we’re we thinking?  However, we are too tired to truly appreciate what has happened. 
 
As the staff lethargically arrived this morning, I thanked them from the bottom of our hearts.  None of this; Ethanolo¿y is not possible without the amazing family (team) we have.  I thanked them for making sure every garnish is on-point, every ice cube place correctly, every glass polished to perfection, every tincture, syrup, cocktail made with passion and uncompromising attention to detail.  Every customer experience exemplary.  They are the reason we strive for perfection.  
 
Geri and I have almost killed ourselves making sure that every spirit, cocktail and client experience is as good as it can be.  Literally. Why? Because everything matters.
 
Even the cleanliness of the bathrooms. 
 
If anything, this article is nothing more than a solidification of what we already know.  Do the best of your ability.  Work harder than any motherfucker you have ever met.  Stay focused.  Stay humble and most importantly, stay true to your mission and values.  And damn, we are so fucking proud of what we have done at our little dream in Northern Michigan.  This is success.  Not letters on paper. 
 
Well, enough pontificating, I have to scrub the toilets.  It is my turn.
 
With Love,
 
Nick 

​Sunday 8am, 228 gallons of water from our aquifer are flowing through this hose on its way to the mash tun.  Tom Petty is competing with the hum of the mill, where eleven bushels of wheat are grinding their way through, in route to the mash tun, where H20 and local grain coalesce. The morning light coming into the still room accentuates the fine mill dust on my hands from loading each bushel, and the mill room has a fine coating on the surfaces.     
 
Geri is resting, for the moment, and will arrive shorty before we open.  This afternoon we will be running gin. I have configured the still, tightened every seal, (safety is paramount) scrubbed the pot, rinsed the fermenters and setup to pump over low wines.  I am 2hrs into a 14hr day.  
 
Looking around I am reminded of why Ethanolo¿y works.  It works because Geri and I do.  We work our asses off, every day to ensure that every detail is executed as perfectly as it can be.  I truly believe that value is earned, and if you work your ass off you will be successful. Not financially, that shit comes and goes, and has absolutely no intrinsic value.  I am talking about real success!  Success that can never be spent, and must be earned. 
 
I could be out on the boat, cracking beers, counting down the hours before I have to put on a suit and tie, working some shitty corporate job that sucks my soul out like a Dementor. However, I have chosen a different path and traded time for purpose.  
 
There a thousand things I should and could be doing, rather than writing this blog.  However, I have a choice on how to spend my time.  And come Thursday, I’ll have an ice cold G&T in hand, looking forward to seeing your beautiful faces.  
 
Nick  

Sometimes I look around the distillery and think of all the things that make this business possible and it blows my little mind.  It has a roof, walls, and a floor (dear lord grinding concrete is not for the faint of heart), and we sell stuff out of it.  That pretty much fits the definition of a brick and mortar business. But there is something more here.
 
Me and Nick often spend our ride home at night rehashing the day.  We talk about what broke, what went well, and what needs to get done tomorrow, but increasingly we talk about something else.
The unquantifiable side of our business, and the thing that we spend so much time in conversation about is our customers. Any place can put up cool décor, play great music, and serve a good product… but ultimately if no one shows up, you don’t have a business. Our customers make this place possible and I have so much gratitude that they are in my life.  A lot of these people have become an extension of my family and they are pretty amazing.  My customers bring me warm home-made cookies, their family recipe pizza, and vegetables they grew in their garden. They help me move heavy spent grain bins when I can’t on my own.  They serve as deputy enforcers of the house rules. They dole out big bear hugs. They spread the word about this place louder and with more gusto than I ever have. I never learned about any of this in business school.  No one told me how essential this would be to my own success and the success of this business. I guess it’s true that some things just can’t be taught in a classroom.

For those of you that know me, I am absolutely not a sappy mushy touchy feely type, I am usually Sisu as fuck. However, writing this makes me feel almost overwhelmed with the feels. Ultimately this is supposed to be a thank you, but I am not sure that I can express in two words (or any words for that matter) how happy I am to know, and be part of the cool tribe that has evolved here, but I am going to try.

Thank you for showing up, and brining your authentic, compassionate, and interesting self. You are the thing that makes this business more than a place that just sells shit.
​
-Geri

The White Whiskey is nearly back after much delay. In the spirit of celebration, I thought to share a bit of knowledge, so you can impress your friends and learn how to talk about whiskey… and not sound like a moron.

One of my favorite customer experiences to date at the distillery was a man who attempted to engage me in argument the entire hour of a tour I was giving. He was so insistent that bourbon cannot be made outside of Kentucky or Tennessee that he made sure to interrupt me regularly with loud passionate oral discharges during the tour. Thanks for the man-splain. 

It is bewildering to me how anyone can hold on to “facts” so tightly, even when presented logical, legal, and experiential evidence to the contrary. However, I recognize, that luckily this breed of asshat is a rare one, and the rest of us tend to respond appropriately to quality information.  Given this, I felt compelled to write a bit on what exactly is a whisk(e)y.  

To E or not to E? Who cares. This is not important.

• Good whisk(e)y is made under either spelling and at most designates where it came from in the world (some of the time).  You will see me spell it more commonly with an e, as this is typically American. Let’s move on to something more interesting.

What is Whiskey? As defined: “Spirits distilled from a fermented mash of grain at less than 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof) having the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to whisky and bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof).”

• As you can see this is quite broad. The type of grain is not specified and the proof at distillation just needs to be below the designation for vodka (190 proof). Whiskey is further designated into more than 40 subtypes, most with their own rules about a few key things: Mash bill makeup, Proof at distillation, Proof at barrel entry, Barrel type/size/char/duration, Bottle Proof, and Geographic location (please note Bourbon extends to the whole U.S).  For a full list please see here https://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam/chapter4.pdf.

What is Corn Whiskey? As defined: “Whisky produced at not exceeding 80% alcohol by volume (160 proof) from a fermented mash of not less than 80 percent corn and if stored in oak containers stored at not more than 62.5% alcohol by volume (125 proof) in used or uncharred new oak containers and not subjected in any manner to treatment with charred wood.” 

• This definition is very special because all other whiskey types must be subjected to oak maturation (even if it is very brief). This means a true white whiskey (non-oak matured) can only be a corn whiskey.  Although there appears to be confusion on a national level with regulation as there are several white whiskeys on the market that are not corn whiskies.

How is this different from Bourbon? “Whisky produced in the U.S. at not exceeding 80% alcohol by volume (160 proof) from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn and stored at not more than 62.5% alcohol by volume (125 proof) in charred new oak containers.”

• Given this, all corn whiskies can be made into bourbon, but not all bourbons are corn whiskies, the key lies in the amount of corn used in the mash bill and the required specific barrel maturation (new charred oak barrels).
  
• Pro tip: This can be further designated to a Straight Bourbon if matured for 2 or more years.  You can also deem this designation with the esteemed “bottled in bond” subtype if you distill it on site, age it for 4 years, and it is bottled at 100 proof.

What is Moonshine? Ohhh boy the mysticism gets thick here. 

• The short of it? Moonshine doesn’t exist. Moonshine is code for spirits made and not taxed by the government.  A big no-no I wouldn’t recommend. Most moonshine is a product made at home illegally (because yes, ALL home distillation is a felony) from a combination of fruit juice, grains (usually very modified (think cornstarch)), and refined sugar (mmm… gross).  Add to this equipment that may contain toxic metals like lead, and a distiller who may not understand how to tell the difference between ethanol (let’s party!) and methanol (oh shit I’m blind)… and you have a recipe for something scary. Now, that being said… I have experienced superb “moonshine”. It does exist, it is exceedingly rare, and simply isn’t worth the Russian roulette to get it, especially when you can walk your ass down to the store and buy a sure thing off the shelf.  Also, please take note that the “moonshine” you can buy in the store is just a fanciful fluffy name for something else (usually whiskey).

In the spirit of whiskey, I’ll leave you with some wisdom from Johnny Carson. “Happiness is having a rare steak, a bottle of whisky, and a dog to eat the rare steak.”
 
-Geri Lefebre

I am afraid for our water. There, I’ve said it. My special snowflake spidey senses are in full tingle-mode about this one; I am absolutely terrified for the future of water. There are a lot of horrible issues in the world right now, but water effects all of us, down to our core. WE are made of water (60% in fact). WE cannot live without it (only about 3 days in fact). WE are polluting and risking the amazing gift we have (while nearly 1 billion don’t have access to clean water). Wtf… and this doesn’t even count salt water, which the almighty google tells me 3.5 billion people depend on for their food.

This shit keeps me up at night. I operate a manufacturing and hospitality facility, two industries that are traditionally heinous offenders when it comes to waste and pollution. We are small and pride ourselves on efficiency, but still… we can do so much better, and it really needs to start today, yesterday preferably.

One way we are trying to help is by actively participating in straw-shaming. Just kidding, sort of. We don’t offer straws with drinks anymore, plain and simple (and yes we are looking into alternatives).  They aren’t necessary folks, and actually, for most purposes it’s a little weird.  I mean, can you imagine drinking wine or beer with a straw? Strange right? So, why do we insist on it with cocktails? It’s not necessary and if you want to impress your friends you can educate them on why drinking cocktails at the interface (where air and liquid meet) is the preferred style if you want to maximize flavor and aroma enjoyment.

I know that this might fuck up your lipstick, or whatever, but it is straight up fact that most people do not need straws to consume their cocktails (and the micro percentage that do are easily accommodated). We are all responsible for ruining the planet with plastic, in the US and UK alone we throw away 550 million straws. Every. Damn. Day. Try to picture that. And that’s just plastic from straws. All this plastic is killing the ocean, and news flash… we need the ocean to live. This is now not simply about killing sea turtles (which should be enough), this is self-preservation people, time to wake up. Commit to doing a little better every day, make better choices, and hold each other accountable.

Ps.  We have a back-stock of straws that just throwing away seems really really unhelpful.  Can someone please think of something creative/ helpful to do with these. Perhaps someone can make something beautiful from them? Anyone want to buy them off us with 100% of proceeds going to Plastic Oceans International?
​
-Geri 

FYI: if you are short on time or attention feel free to just skip to the last 2 paragraphs.
​
Politics in general has always been a topic I have avoided like the plague.  I truly believe everyone is entitled to their beliefs (even if they are stupid) so long as they aren’t harming anyone.  That was literally my entire political philosophy. I have always wished everyone educated themselves fully on the issues in question but realize that even this is not a reasonable request, one person simply can’t know (or care) about it all, our tiny worldview might implode. One thing I really thought to be common sense and good for all Michiganders (and the world really) was taking care of the environment. Duh’ right?
​
So, it’s lame duck season. For those of you who don’t fully understand what this entails, lemme break it down.  It’s open season on everything for the political and financial gain for special interest groups or people (usually in the form of corporations).  Sometimes this works out really awesome… like for instance Senate Bill 0579.  This bill (among other things) has given the beverage industry a really nice tax break, but only if it can be certified that they are using at least 40% Michigan grain and fruit.  This is a huge win, except for those of course that lose the benefit of the tax revenue.  It is my hope that businesses will use this new piece of legislation to strengthen or initiate relationships with Michigan farms, and to build their businesses (and the tax base as a whole).  This ultimately would be a win for everyone. This will certainly benefit my distillery (as we use 100% local grain and fruit). 

However, I would without hesitation give up all of this, in order to squash another lame duck bill, SB1197, from being passed (along with other sketchy-as-fuck notables like SB1211.) Anyone who is for this bill is absolutely, 100%, not interested in preserving the Great Lakes.  It really is that simple.  The argument for Unbridle (Line 5 pipeline owner) is painfully weak and riddled with absolute garbage statistics.  I can almost always at least “put myself in someone else’s shoes” so to speak… not with this one.  This proposed corridor would be fine if not for the petroleum aspect.  We are talking about putting one of the worlds greatest resources at risk (whether… or not we possibly get cheaper fuel in the future is moot at this point… how short-sighted).  We have literally put a man on the fucking moon, but can’t figure out how to get oil from point A to point B without putting it through the WORLD’s largest surface freshwater system? For real? 

A leak would be devastating. Complete devastation, total economic collapse for Michigan.  Best yet, this new bill would make it the responsibility of the taxpayers to clean up.  We would lose everything: land value, drinking water, wildlife, tourism, industry, jobs, residents (cause who the fuck would want to live next to an oil spill). This company already has had a bad spill in the Kalamazoo River, and we are going to just trust them? Umm, nah. This isn’t just Michigan’s problem.  What about the other states connected to this great system of water? Shame they don’t get a vote…although looks like we don’t either. Not even incoming government would be able to help as this legislation is designed to tie their hands as well (no, seriously). This is our home, we must protect it, and the time to act is literally upon us. Call your representatives, call your senators, and call Governor Snyder (he’s very much for the bill).

If you live by me you can call or write to the following officials: 

SENATOR Wayne Schmidt :
517-373-2413 or [email protected]

• Ask Mr. Schmidt why he voted yes on this bill.

REPRESENTATIVE Tristan Cole:
517-373-0829 or [email protected]

• Ask Mr. Cole to consider all the stakes at risk, and vote no.

GOVERNOR Rick Snyder:
517-373-3400 or [email protected]

• Tell Mr. Snyder you know right where he can stick his precious pipeline.

 
Please help the fight to keep Michigan awesome.  I am so damn grateful to be here, and just want it to stay beautiful for many generations.

​- Geri 

Ethanology is striving to reinvigorate a notion from the past, that of a “public house”.  We have written in the past on this idea and so in support of this idea recently attempted to organize a candidate meet-and-greet at Ethanology where all of the Elk Rapids Village Council candidates running would be able to come in and speak for 5 minutes about who they were and what they represented, and then stay for an hour of informal questions and mingling with attending members of the public.  The event would be free, we would set up, moderate, and provide a PA system, and no purchase would be necessary to attend. This idea came to us after a customer came in the previous week and expressed that he felt like he neither had enough information, nor knew where to get more regarding the candidates.  As business owners in the village but not residents proper, we don’t have a vote, so this issue hadn’t been raised in our own minds.  We do realize now though, that although we don’t have a vote, we do have a voice, and a platform for other voices.

In the end this event failed due to lack of response on several candidate’s part.  We had given a week notice, which we understand is late notice, but certainly enough time to respond to an e-mail with a yes or no. We received responses from the following candidates:  James Janisse, Charles Schuler, Barbara Mullaly, and Gerard Knoph. Thank you to these candidates for responding to the event invitation. To us personally, it reflected professionalism and the initiative it takes to be a public service person.  We chose not to go through with the event because we had wanted at least five candidates to participate in order for the whole public interest to be better represented.
​
In closing, we hope that any community readers will do their very best to not just vote, but vote well informed on issues like the environment, education, local business support, sustainable growth, and public wellness.  Please take into account the opinion of those who use and support the community, not just those who have homes there.
 
Nick and Geri

It’s three AM on a Thursday and I am so tired I forgot my dog in the parking lot today.  For those of you that know me, this is quite a feat, due to my level of obsession with canines, mine especially. Despite this, my tiny brain simply won’t stop chugging along in its desperate attempt to process the many lessons of these last few weeks. 

On paper Ethanology is stronger than ever, coming into the slower seasons in a position of strength. Also, it finally rained so that means there will be whiskey (insert huge sigh of relief). And yet, there has been loss… painful and surprising, rearing its ugly head. The past few weeks have been a healthy reminder of why hospitality is such a dynamic and difficult job, and that unlike most other jobs, the renumeration isn’t guaranteed to be commensurate with the effort.
 
Hospitality at any level can feel a lot like being the permanent host of a party. Awesome when things are going smoothly… frustrating when things are not (cue person attempting to sneak wine into my establishment multiple times)… and sometimes even disgusting, like a urinal clogged for the 10thtime (dear chewers, this device is meant for your wee only, hence the name).  At the end of the day you can often leave feeling like a deflated balloon, especially us ladies in the industry, as we typically experience more harassment and attempted debasement (although this is strictly not tolerated in my establishment).  This industry has its rewards, but it can come at a high price of long hours, unpredictable days, and lots of troubleshooting.  Some days, like today, this stuff overshadows all of the wonderful things, but only until it is properly mentally sorted, and lessons are learned. 

So as I mentioned, the last few weeks though rewarding, have been a bit of a ball buster. This isn’t without positive consequence however.  Nick and I have come out the other side feeling more confident in our own ability to pinch hit and that we can rely on each other to pick up any slack in the line.  We have learned a lot of good lessons on what we want the future of our company to be like, and who we can count on to share in that dream.  All in all, many lessons, with many more to come. And at the end of the day, my day job is still pretty damn cool.

-Geri