2008 Will Bring Great Things!
Thank you for all your support in 2007, it was a great year for us. We continued to expand our presence, we met a lot of great new friends and business partners, and our company has continued to grow. We have some exciting things planned for the new year, and we wanted to give you the inside scoop on what we're working on.
New North Shore Products in 2008
New Retailers
Here are a few great new places where you can find some of our products:
ILLINOIS
Chicago:
The Motel Bar, The Park Grill, Uncommon Ground
Palatine: Teddy's Liquors
INDIANA
Mishawaka: The Vine & Spirits
Roanoke: Joseph Decuis
IOWA
Cedar Rapids: Benz Beverage Depot
Iowa City: John's Grocery
We are hard at work on some new products for this year. We're not officially announcing them yet (although Distiller's Club members who came to our last event have a pretty good idea), but we plan on releasing at least one and perhaps 2 new products this year. We'll also have another single-batch product in the summer, and another for the fall/winter. Keep your eyes on this newsletter for the latest word!
North Shore Distillery
Events and Outings
We are also working on a full slate of fun events for this year. Expect more classes and educational opportunities, fun outings at a range of bars and restaurants, and tastings at your favorite liquor and wine stores. You can visit our website events section for the latest - we'll be updating the schedules often.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, February 2nd
Cocktail tasting at Viet Bistro (1346 W. Devon, Chicago) from 6.30-9.30 pm. Check out this fantastic Vietnamese-Asian restaurant, try some of their nibbles and taste some great cocktails featuring North Shore spirits. Want to stay for dinner? Just call for a reservation (773.465.5720).
Coming Soon
We're working on scheduling some more nights for our Chicago Trivia Contest, and we're working on a class with the folks at Corner Cooks for March 1st. Keep an eye on our event website for more details.
Did you see that?
Our desire for alcohol may be genetic (and there's a hamster out that that will pick alcohol over water every single time) - Dec 11, 2007 NY Times
Buying a drink or a bottle in Chicago will cost you more this year, now that the new tax took effect. You'll now pay $2.68 per gallon for the privilege of purchasing spirits in Chicago, up from $1.845. That's on top of the state & Cook County taxes.
Sonja's blog, Thinking of Drinking, was included in Time Out Chicago's list of their favorite local blogs. Pretty cool! Her latest post is about taste-testing ginger beers, and can be found here.
Here are a few nicknames for gin, mostly from the Prohibition era: "Madame Geneva, Blue Ruin, Blue Lightning, King Theodore of Corsica, The Celebrated Butter Gun (there must be a story there), Lush, Cholic Water and Phlegm Cutter."
In 1950, 40,000 cases of vodka were sold in the US. In 1954, it was 1.1 million. In 1955, vodka martinis became popular, and the total rose to 4.4 million. In 1967 vodka outsold gin, and in 1976 it beat whiskey. And vodka has remained the #1 spirit sold in the US ever since.
*Source - Alcoholica Esoterica by Ian Lendler (p. 122 and 130-1)
North Shore Distillery is the first and only artisanal distillery in Illinois. We have a passion for spirits, and for developing creative new products. Learn more about us on northshoredistillery.com. We hope you enjoy our products!