TOLEDO, Ohio – Whether you love booze or are more of a beer lover, Toledo Spirits has you covered. Have a cocktail at the Bellwether downstairs or walk down the stairs and try the Heavy Beer Company’s variety of craft beers.

Founders Andrew Newby and Dustin Wade shared some behind the scenes of the distillation process. One of the newer products in the Toledo Spirits line is Black Kite coffee liqueur.

“Only three ingredients: coffee, rum and sugar. Coffee and rum are made right here on site. The sugar is made entirely from 100% cane sugar; white (and) brown. It has a nice pleasant sweetness. Really good rich coffee and you can definitely tell there’s rum in there, ”said Andrew.

In addition to the simple ingredients, Toledo Spirits has teamed up with two other local companies to create Black Kite coffee liqueur. Andrew shared that the new product is “the perfect collaboration of our ingredients and the cold brew process at Black Kite Coffee. We also work with Flying Rhino. It is an excellent collaboration between three great institutions of Toledo offering a fantastic spirit and very drinkable.

The coffee liqueur has a strong coffee taste and ends with a warm sweetness. In addition to the new liquor, Andrew and Dustin shared the creative process behind their East Side Gin.

Dustin shared his take on gin being a polarizing mind based on the reactions of others. He mentioned that people love or hate alcohol and there is hardly any in-between.

“We probably spent the most time with this because we’ve tried dyeing methods where we distill individual ingredients and then mix them together. And then we ended up settling down, actually after about 100 test batches, on East Side Gin, ”Dustin said.

Most of Toledo Spirits’ product development is a two-year cycle and begins with a brainstorming session. The team decides on a combination of ingredients that are both true to the brand and that make the liquor stand out. After brainstorming, the distillation process begins and is followed by numerous tasting trials. At the end of the cycle, a spirit of Toledo is born. East Side Gin took around two years to develop due to the many ingredients and processes that can be used to produce the product.

“Gin is really juniper flavored vodka. So you start with a basic spirit, a really good vodka, and then once you add gin to it, it’s gin… and whatever you do after that it’s kind of open, ”Andrew said. .

Dustin explained in more detail the two styles used to distill gin. The first being a pot gin, where all the ingredients are boiled together in the kettle. The second is a carter’s head style, where the ingredients are put in a vapor trail. For their East Side Gin, Dustin said they found a combination of the two.

Beginning their partnership in the tech industry, Andrew and Dustin found their true passion when they created Toledo Spirits in 2013. Located in the historic Vistula district, also known as Lower Town, Toledo Spirits influences the city ​​of glass one cocktail at a time.

While Toledo Spirits carefully and intentionally craft each spirit, there is one thing that stands out the most – their dedication to the local.

“By really tying that kind of farm concept to the glass, then you get some of these local farmers and producers involved in the product,” Dustin said.

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