Thirsty Thursday #2

So if you are running around Boston with your heads cut off, traveling from liquor store to bar with no time to stop and smell the roses (or in this case drink a BB mojito), what do you do? You do what we do - you hire an intern. And what do THEY do? Everything you can’t! Enter Betsy.

This week Betsy went to was Island Creek Oyster Bar, at 500 Commonwealth Ave in Boston’s Kenmore Square. Island Creek is trying to blur the lines between the restaurant and the farmer, bringing them even closer together. This is seen in the ever-changing menu which reflects seasonal and local cuisine. Who wouldn’t be happy to see local farmers and fisherman getting their daily catch on the next plate. What we haven’t mentioned are the drinks! - serving local beers from around the New England area is the first thing you may notice about the drink selection, but serving Boston’s own Bully Boy Vodka/Rum/White Whiskey is surely the second.

When sitting down to actually try some of their delicious Bully Boy creations, we asked Devin, our bartender, why he liked Bully Boy. His response? “The guys are great; I have met them a few times when they come in to drop-off product. They are truly the real deal. Supporting brands like Bully Boy, who are a local, up-and-coming spirit brand with a high quality product is what we do.” Sounds great, Devin! And if you don’t believe that these drinks were absolutely delectable, head over to Island Creek Oyster Bar and check ‘em out for yourself, OR , head to a liquor store near you, follow the recipes for these two awesome drinks, and make ‘em!

That's all for me today, folks. Have a great start to your weekend. Peace, love, and Bully Boy.

The Big Stick
2oz Bully Boy Rum
3/4oz Demerara Syrup
3 dashes Angostura
3 dashes Doychouds
3 dashes Absinthe

Mix all together on ice and stir. Strain, pour, and enjoy!


The White Whiskey Julep
2oz Bully Boy White Whiskey
3/4oz Vanilla Simple Syrup
10 Mint Leaves

Muddle the simple syrup and mint leaves. Stir in the whiskey. Add crushed ice. Pour into a glass, add the mint sprig garnish and enjoy!

Thirsty Thursday #1

We are starting a series of blog posts dedicated to showcasing some of the cocktails using Bully Boy. For our first review, we sent our trusty intern Betsy to Umami, a hidden gem on 1704 Brookline Street in Washington Square. Take it away Bets.

“Umami” is a Japanese word meaning “savory” - what some would call the mouth’s 5th taste. Whatever you want to call it, the food was delicious, and the cocktails were both tasty and inventive.

Noon Inthasauwan, the beverage director and resident mixologist is more scientist than barkeep. She calls herself “the bitter woman of Brookline.” Why? Noon’s specialties are herb and spice infusions, like her famous hibiscus bitters, or rose bud essence.

When I asked Noon about her ‘ending talent she replied, “I love to play around with all types of herbs and spices, so I’m always coming up with new cocktails for my customers.”

Well bravo, Noon! You have opened my eyes to a whole new side of Bully Boy. Two of the drinks that I got to try:

"Everything I Love About Boston"

2oz Bully Boy White Whiskey
1.5oz Westport River Rose
3 dashes Burlesque bitters
Squeeze a fresh lemon
garnish: a mint sprig and a lemon wedge

"Rosebud Mojito"

2oz Bully Boy White Rum
3 dashes rosebud essence
10 mint leaves (muddled)
2 lime wedges (muddled)
garnish: rosebuds and a mint sprig

If you're intrigued by these recipes, pair them with any light seafood or chicken fare - you won’t be disappointed. Noon suggested that I try the tiger shrimp appetizer - made with garlic butter, smoked cayenne, and lemon thyme - where the dishes herbs and spices would compliment the drinks above. Fabulous.

That's it for me, have a great weekend. Peace, love and Bully boy. ~ Betsy

It's all in the family

Dave and I feel like we can make great booze. But running a distillery requires a lot more than wielding a mash paddle. During the course of the day we typically change into, and out of, multiple sets of clothes as we go back and forth between sales calls, mashing wheat, driving forklifts, cleaning equipment, etc. (I’m a little self conscious our neighbors think we’re making adult films in our warehouse as I’m often caught changing in the front seat of my car). Whatever. We’re busy.


This kind of chaos necessitates a lot of support, and because we can’t afford to pay anyone, we beg for help from our family. Luckily they rule. So as we gear up for the even crazier fall season (fact: 30% of all liquor sales occur in November and December, fact: Bully Boy contains 15% of your daily recommended intake of Riboflavin, ok not true, but Riboflavin is quite good for you) we wanted to give a massive, and long over due thanks to one guy who has come in huge for us, my father in law, John (not kissing ass here, she already married me.)


Those of you who have been good enough to come down to visit us at the distillery know that we’re not exactly on the Freedom Trail, and that in the interest of putting our capital towards the best ingredients and distilling equipment we could find, we lack for the more luxurious comforts such as climate control, or a place to sit. What we do have, we owe to John. Namely the most ridiculous tasting bar this side of Napa, shelving strong enough to store sleeping business owners, and a mailbox which receives our checks that people like to wait too long to send.


Over the course of several weeks John travelled from Connecticut to Boston on a much too frequent basis with a coffee in his cup holder and a tablensaw in the back of his car to help us build out the finer pieces of the distillery. These trips meant long days with little or no food (okay, there was food. We fed him a few roast beef sandwiches) and on some occasions a sleepover in the twin 'guest' bed in his grandson's bedroom. Despite less than desirable working conditions and meager accommodations, John always wore a smile on his face.


There are a lot of other people to thank for helping us get off to such a great start, but reflecting on the first three months during this momentary peace of Labor Day, we wanted to thank one of the original Bully Boy’s - Big Johnny.

"Um, wrong number"

Next to the distilling equipment arriving, the most exciting day of our young corporate existence was the day we got the phones hooked up. The company had gone from concept to reality: We had arrived. We plugged in our radio shack cordless phones with the excitement of a six year old plugging in the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. “Good thing we got two of these things,” Dave noted with a tone of relief, “Would just be too crazy putting people on hold all the time.” I wondered who our first caller would be, and I pictured myself like a young boiler room broker yelling incoming liquor orders across the floor at Dave as the phones went crazy, “RECCO!!!!”. It didn’t really occur to us back then that the Still wasn’t even hooked up, and that we had not yet started marketing ourselves. But the funny thing is, we actually got a lot of calls. They were just ALL the wrong number. Sometimes they were looking for “Luke”, other times “Maria”. Luckily, the confusion was cleared up quickly because the person on the other line rarely spoke any English. “Sorry wrong number”, I’d say, and hang up / fight back tears of self pity. It was like being called the wrong name by your gym teacher during the third month of school. So demoralizing. Well flash forward 4 months, and I can say all this with a laugh and a shrug because we have just received our first couple orders. We’re on our way! The second phone is still not ringing though, so please give us a call, and let me know if you need the number.

Here are a few of the places now carrying us. We'll be updating the list periodically. Please ask for us at your local establishment early and often:

Restaurant/Bars: Island Creek Oyster Bar, Stella, Four Seasons Bristol Lounge (starting in July), L'espalier, Hungry Mother, Savin Bar and Kitchen, Pettite Robert (South End and Needham).

Liquor Stores: Urban Grape (Newton), Liquor Land (South End), Wine and Cheese Cask (Sommerville).

Distillery Olympics

The greatest tangential benefit of starting a distillery is the massive amount of exercise you get moving the raw material around – barrels, molasses, wheat, water. Our daily routine is akin to ESPN 2 “Strongest Man in the World” competition…if the competitors were weak and had hair. We usually kick things off around 7 AM with some hydration and light stretching. Because there is no air conditioning, and the equipment is scalding hot, temps are already in the eighties, so it’s important to maintain strong fluid intake. The first event is usually the “Pallet Jack Haul”. This involves hauling 2,500 lbs of water all 80 feet of the distillery to pump into the mash tank. Incredible quad work out because you’re doing this walking backwards. The “Pallet Jack Haul” is akin to the “Tractor Trailor Haul” that Lou Ferigno won in 1983. We haven’t been keeping records, but I did notice Dave looking at his watch while I was doing my haul this morning (we haven’t discussed this yet).

Next event is the 25 gallon “hoist”. This is actually a team event, which I learned the hard way (I tried doing it alone and doused myself in 160 proof alcohol. Dave could have “Zoolandered” me into oblivion by lighting a match, but he didn’t because we’re bros). The “hoist” involves each man grabbing a handle on a 25 gallon tank, which holds our “feints." The feints are made up of “heads” and “tails”, elements that add flavor to the overall mix but are a bit stinky on their own. We store the “feints” and then add them back for flavor. If I completely ruin my back doing something at the distillery, it will be doing the “hoist.”

Next up is the main event: “The Mash.” “The Mash” is the Everest of distilling events. It’s a four hour affair that kicks off with one of us lugging 16, 50 lbs bags up a step ladder, dumping them into 190F degree water, and then mixing with a paddle. After drawing the short stick on Monday, I gear up by donning my distilling hoodie, which I wear to avoid getting burned by the tank, and which has the added benefit of making me feel like Rocky. Using a four foot stainless steel paddle, I mix in the 800 lbs of wheat flour until it’s a viscous consistency (think oatmeal). The work is excruciating, and I often worry about losing consciousness and falling into the tank, but Dave keeps me going with random outbursts intended to pump me up: “C’mon man!! By the power of Grayskull!! Scoreboard!!” I don’t even know what he’s talking about, but the intensity in his voice is inspiring. And so after paddling what feels like 12 miles up the Charles, “The Mash” is complete. The mash tank is now full of beautifully smooth, tan colored nectar, which after it sits for four days and is distilled, will be the source of roughly 100 bottles of pure sipping enjoyment.

Time for lunch.

Spirit Production

A man and his forklift. Willbur's favorite activity: Moving stuff, in this case a 3000 pound tote of Blackstrap Molasses. The molasses arrived from New Orleans. The guy who delivered it got blocked in by a school bus and spent two hours looking over our shoulder and trying to convince us to participate in an underground moonshine ring. Truckers are phenomenally entertaining and consistently the most interesting people we deal with.




40 gallons of molasses and 600 liters of filtered water are the base of our rum "wash." Watching the molasses flow into the "mash tank" is deeply relaxing. Cleaning the tank at the end of the day is not. Actually its torture. It usually involves one of us climbing into the tank and scrubbing it by hand. Not fun for two lanky guys.













The hydrometer, which measures alcohol by volume, reads 85, which means the spirit is coming off the still at 170 proof. On the left is wheat whiskey. Yes, whiskey is clear when it exits the still. It's the barrels that give whiskey it's distinctive hue. At 170 proof, I don't recommend putting this in a mint julep. We'll cut it down to 60ABV (120 proof) with filtered water. It then heads into the barrels to mature. Once it's done mellowing, we'll cut it down to 40ABV (80 proof). Mint Julep time.



The vapor flows through the condenser and then out the spout pictured on the left. We collect it in gallon jugs and separate out the "hearts," which is the middle portion of the run. The gallon jugs allow us to separate the best spirit with precision. We'll combine a small portion of the "heads" (front portion of the run) and "tails" (back portion of the run) for complexity and flavor. The still fills a gallon jug every fifteen minutes (roughly).

Men at Work

On the left is the beginning of a 1,200 liter, wheat mash. The wheat is mixed with filtered water and enzymes are introduced to break down the starch. Once the starch has been converted to sugar, yeast is added to convert the sugar to alcohol. The mixture is pumped into a fermenter and sits for five days, at which point it is 11% alcohol by volume (scroll down).






Here's a picture of Will mixing in 16 bags of wheat, which weigh 50 pounds each. The wheat is shipped from Aurora Mills Farm in Linneus Maine, a small town on the border of Canada. On average, we go through 1,600 pounds of wheat a week (Scroll down).









Once the mash is finished fermenting, we pump it into the still (more on that in an upcoming post). Once the cuts have been made, and the best spirit has been separated, we blend it down to 40 alcohol by volume with filtered water. In the case of our vodka, it is then chilled to 30F and carbon filtered, after which it is filtered again using a particle filter (scroll down).






The production board. Keeping track of what mash finishes when gets confusing (I know. Sad). We take down the date of each mash, the BRIX (percentage sugar), and the specific gravity at which the mash finished. The specific gravity helps us determine the alcohol content.








A new delivery of wheat. Watching the eighteen wheelers back down cramped Cedric Street while angry commuters spew vitriol gives me the sweats. Those drivers have nerves of steel.