Thirsty Girl's Whiskey Rebellion – 12.20.2009
Rooting for ROOT: an Interview with Steve Grasse
I have been a lucky girl lately and have been blessed with some great interviews. Adding to my great run, I spoke with Steve Grasse, the owner of ROOT liquor, a new liquor with more sass then sassafras I tried at the Whiskey Festival. I did not, however, realize I would be speaking with the legend that created Hendrick’s Gin and owned Sailor Jerry. I feel like a cad, but he was lovely despite my lack of research and apparent penchant for ’40s terminology.
THIRSTY GIRL: How did ROOT get started?
STEVE: I’ve been in the business for a long time and I created Hendrick’s Gin which I don’t know if you’ve heard of and then I also traded and owned Sailor Jerry Rum. We just sold that a year ago and it was very successful. So we decided we were really up for a challenge and wanted to try something really different. In the liquor business, everything is in such a regimented category like tequila or rum or gin and we wanted to try something that sorta broke that. Even things like absinthe, there’s now like 40 of them. So what happens if you don’t play the game and you do something really different. People we told this to said, “You’re crazy!” cause they won’t know where to put it on the shelf. We wanted to have the most different type of liquor we could and we also wanted to put it in the most generic bottle possible to prove that no one cares about the bottle. If people are paying 50 bucks for something, they don’t need a fancy bottle.
I’m also really into history, particularly Pennsylvania history. I was always fascinated by root beer because I knew it was started in Pennsylvania by Charles Hires in 1876 in Philadelphia. When I researched it I found out it was originally called “root tea” and it had been around since the early settlers. In fact, the Indians used to make it and they taught the early settlers how to make it. It was mildly alcoholic. Its what they called a “small beer” and it was drunk as an herbal remedy. This was back in the days when it wasn’t safe to drink water so people would drink things that had been fermented. We took liberty and greatly increased the alcohol content as I wanted to create something that drank more like a whiskey. We researched ancient root tea recipes and came back with a list of ingredients and then experimented.
THIRSTY GIRL: I tried it at the Whiskey Festival and it has very different flavors.
STEVE: Yeah, its like nothing else out there. Usually things that are root beer flavors are liqueurs or vodkas and its all done with synthetic syrups as opposed to botanical ingredients. And of course we wanted to take it a step further and make it organic. The thing we found out though is that what was in all these recipes was sassafras and you’re not allowed to use sassafras anymore because safrole oil is a known carcinogen. Who knew? What we did is experimented and found out that wintergreen, spearmint, orange and lemon peel mixed together creates the same flavor. That’s the one thing that’s not historical is me having to take out sassafras but i think wintergreen, spearmint, well they all sound really tasty.
We have a store for Art in the Age in Philadelphia. We opened the store a year ago, six months before ROOT came out. We have monthly gallery openings so months before people could sample it before it was for sale so it really started a buzz and when if finally came out it sold out in every store it went into. In Philly we’re everywhere. In Pittsburgh we’re starting to be. We’re in PA for now and in the new year we’re expanding to a lot more states.
We have new flavors and new varieties coming out. We have a new one that’s very exciting that I just tasted the other day.
THIRSTY GIRL: And?
STEVE: I’m not going to tell you anymore. Its got the same very original Pennsylvania Dutch story to it.
THIRSTY GIRL: What a tease! You’ve been in Pennsylvania for a long time.
STEVE: My family’s been in Pennsylvania since 1703.
THIRSTY GIRL: So you really know about the PA liquor laws. How do you feel about them?
STEVE: Yes! Its interesting because they’ve really benefited us. I think Pennsylvania has a reputation for being the most difficult state to work with in the whole country. However, being a local company, they bend over backwards for us and really went to bat for us and I can’t say enough nice things about them. I think its interesting because when you look at beer, Pennsylvania is the only state in the country where Budweiser is not number one. I think Yuengling, which is I think the second biggest American owned brewery after Sam Adams, owes all its success to Pennsylvania’s ridiculous liquor laws. You can’t go into a super market and buy a case of beer, you have to go to a beer distributor. So that really discouraged supermarket sales, so Bud and Miller can’t do their normal tactics. And I think to a certain degree, this has been true in PA states stores. I was excited about was how much the state helped the local business and I’m hoping what worked for Yuengling will help us as well.
What we’ve done by being just in Pennsylvania is we’ve built up a lot of demand outside of the state. We hear stories all the time of people taking the train down from New York and buying several cases of ROOT and taking it back up cause they can’t get it.
We’ve sold a lot online, but through the blogs, we see people talking all the time about they can’t wait till it comes to their state. Pennsylvania being restrictive has actually helped us.
They’re also the biggest single buyer of spirits in the world. So its like, okay its got some clout. And what I hear from other distributors in other states is “How did you get it listed in Pennsylvania?” They think it must be good cause Pennsylvania took it. And I say “Yeah! It is good. But its also because they have a policy of helping local business.
THIRSTY GIRL: You should just stick with the “Yeah, its good.”
STEVE: Haha, yeah I just say “Yeah, its just really good.”
THIRSTY GIRL: Is there one thing you would like to see the PLCB implement?
STEVE: Well, I own a farm in New Hampshire, which is also a control state. I’m building a distillery in New Hampshire. At my distillery, I’m allowed to sell it on premises if I make it on premises. What I don’t sell in my store, the state will buy from me and sell in their stores. So, I think that would be really cool if PA let you do that. That would take the micro distilling thing to a really great place I think. In NH you can’t drink in the store, but you can taste in the store. You can take a little sip and then buy a bottle and take it home.
I don’t mind the system ‘cause i think it helps the state stay solvent. Fiscally, Pennsylvania is in better shape then most states partially because they have the revenue from the Liquor Board. As a consumer, I can see it limits choice. It would be nice if the state had key super stores where they brought in more brands and experimented more with good brands.
THIRSTY GIRL: Besides ROOT, what is your favorite liquor?
STEVE: I really like Hudson rye whiskey. I love the packaging. I love how they make it and the whole story. I think its great. I’m a big fan of Hendrick’s, but I guess that’s biased.
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Thirsty Girl’s Whiskey Rebellion
