Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Vikre.
Hi Emily, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
One frigid January evening in winter, we – Joel and Emily – were visiting my, Emily’s, parents in Duluth. It was –15˚F from an arctic wind whipping down from Canada across the frozen expanse of Lake Superior. My parents had just been to their first-ever spirits tasting, and they excitedly told us that all you really need to make spirits was really good grain and really good water. That a spirit, in fact, cannot be better than the water you use to make it. Instantly the idea sprang forth like Athena from the forehead of Zeus. “You know, Lake Superior actually has the best water in the world. Why isn’t anyone distilling in Duluth?” As soon as those words had been spoken, the decision was made. Vikre distillery had been spoken into existence. Like the ancient Greek conception of the Muse who works of his own accord through an artist, we were overcome by a sense that this idea had chosen us—and that it was our job to do its bidding. Lake Superior had called us.
As a general rule, I wouldn’t recommend taking career advice from a Lake. But, Lake Superior is no ordinary lake.
When you live in Duluth, everything is oriented around the Lake. She is the largest body of freshwater in the world: as large as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries for good measure; 10 percent of the world’s freshwater; enough water to cover all of North and South America in a foot of water. If you look out at Lake Superior, she is as vast and incomprehensible as an ocean—yet she has the life-giving intimacy of fresh water. As a friend of mine once described it, “the Lake makes mystics out of all of us, despite the mundane lives we lead.” The Lake is there to give us a sense of constancy, meaning, and direction.
We had no background in distilling or business. Joel had successfully started a nonprofit that worked on water sanitation and AIDS prevention in Kenya and had transitioned to working for a global health NGO. I was finishing up a Ph.D. in food policy and nutrition, working on a community-based participatory research project studying power and health impacts with Haitian and Brazilian women and children in the Somerville area. If it had been an option for yearbooks, probably both of our high school yearbooks would have voted us “least likely to start a distillery.” I had studied wine for a number of years, but the only spirits I liked were Campari and aquavit. (A super normal place to start from). Joel didn’t know anything at all about spirits except that he had had a whiskey and ginger beer at Drink in South Boston and it was good. NONETHELESS! It had been decided for us by the Lake that we were starting a distillery, so we had to get our shit together and start learning and figuring it out.
In Boston, we connected with a guy who had recently started a rum distillery up in Ipswich, MA and we visited several times to learn about the equipment and the process. Having backgrounds in biochem, we realized quickly that the chemical process of distilling was quite simple, the magic lies in the artistry of cuts and botanicals and such. Also, we totally didn’t have a tiny still that we tried out on our kitchen stovetop, why are you asking? Anywho, that spring we packed up our dog and our u-haul and moved to Duluth to start a distillery! At the time we were starting, it wasn’t even legal to give visitors samples. We knew we would have to work entirely through the three-tier system. So, we built out the distillery to operate at a scale for distribution. But, even though we wouldn’t be able to serve or sell anything directly, we wanted to be rooted in the community, visible, and transparent, so we looked for a location where we could have foot traffic and tours. We found a space in the Paulucci building, divided by tons of walls and filled with taxidermy and broken espresso machines. It didn’t look promising, but the location by the bridge couldn’t be beaten, so we started to build out.
Another funny thing about distilling (that’s different from brewing or wine making) – besides the three-tier system and not being allowed to learn through home distilling – is that you have to have your entire facility built, with the blueprints and VIN numbers for equipment all inspected by the Federal Government before you can even get your permit to distill. So, we had to raise money to build a distillery with no proof of concept or product samples other than our vision. But, we raised investment from family and friends, and we got an equipment loan from the bank (because the equipment is its own collateral, but we also had to sign away our life insurance policies, house, and literally everything we own as collateral. So fun. Yay entrepreneurship).
We got our small still used from an organic distillery on Bainbridge Island, WA. We went and visited them and worked with them for a week in February of 2013, then helped them disassemble the still piece by piece Joel and his brother drove it in a UHaul back to MN where we reassembled it, and Joel plumbed it in himself, teaching himself plumbing and copper soldering by watching youtube. Our big still was made by Vendome, in Kentucky. We also ordered the vodka column and realized that our ceiling wasn’t high enough for a column. So, we punched out a window well that was on the roof to make a spot that was high enough for it. At this point, I was newly pregnant with our older son, and not feeling good at all! But, we were doing it by hand, so I was up on the roof trying to help while Joel went apeshit with a sledgehammer opening up the space. The column was lowered in from overhead by a crane (super fun to watch), and then the roof was built over it. In the fall of 2013 we received our Federal DSP license (we were actually on the bus leaving the State Fair when we got the email), and we had our first baby. So, then I could start product development.
We knew we wanted to start with gin. From the first, the idea was to make a trio of gins, each inspired by the boreal forest. We distilled test batch after test batch. I did a lot of hanging out on the couch (our one piece of furniture) nursing the baby while Joel monitored the still temperature and pressure. We would finish the batch, I would taste it, and notice what flavors I wished there were more or less of, we would throw it back in the still to redistill the flavor out of it, then try a new infusion run with the adjustments. Over and over again.
The very first time we made a batch that tasted enough like gin that we were happy was on the day before Thanksgiving in 2013. So, that only took 2.5 months. Not bad! From there we dialed in the three gin recipes over more months. A couple of other fun facts. We had gotten Johnson Brothers to agree to carry our products, without having any products yet. Who the hell knows how we did that? Big score for not knowing what you don’t know and therefore being stupid enough to think you’re relatively qualified to do something. In retrospect, I have no idea why Johnson Brothers agreed to pick up our products, but by the time we had our products developed, we were ready to launch with them. We released our gins for distribution in February 2014. They were ready before then, but the government shut down for more than a month, so there was no one working at the TTB to give us final approval on our labels until late January.
Anyway, we launched in MN with three gins, closely followed by our aquavit. We continued to grow our product line, our staffing, and our distribution from there.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For every fun and inspiring thing you see from a small business or an entrepreneur’s journey, there have been a hundred times more struggles, tears, and sleepless nights.
From massive financial struggles at the start, because we had outsourced bookkeeping that completely effed up our books, learning the hard way that getting a better per unit cost doesn’t mean you should order 10X the packaging you need, to lost shipments, supply chain struggles, not enough space, operating through a global pandemic, and more, there has been a never-ending opportunity to learn to reframe and try to grow from your challenges.
We’ve been impressed with Vikre Distillery, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Vikre Distillery is a premium craft distillery located in Duluth, MN.
WE CRAFT ELEVATED SPIRITS WITH DEEP ROOTS: Every sip of Vikre tips a vibrantly colored hat to the uncontainable eccentricities of the people who drink it, and the land that made it.
Distilled with the purifying water of Lake Superior and made with locally foraged botanicals, our spirits are imbued with the character of Duluth – and like its people, are not unaware of the natural elegance of their origin.
WE BELIEVE IN: A more conscious business model through our funny little business. Our vision for the future is made by the grounding action we take today—a world of alliterative progress where people and the planet are prioritized as much as profits, and how we do business really matters. A place that welcomes you in like an ice sauna and a place you want to stay awhile—making some assuredly good spirits in the process. We are woman-owned, certified organic, zero-waste, and triple bottom line in addition to being damn delicious.
WE MAKE: A range of handcrafted spirits each with a character all their own. We are best known for our three creative, organic gins: Juniper, Spruce, and Cedar. We also make vodka, aquavit, whiskey, liqueurs, and canned cocktails. We have a cocktail room in Canal Park where we serve carefully crafted cocktails with ingredients all made from scratch in-house. We were named the Best Cocktail Bar in Minnesota by the Star Tribune this last year.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think the industry will keep shifting toward more premium and thoughtfully crafted drinks. I think people will continue to become more conscious about what they are drinking. We are always pushing to drink less but drink better and I think more and more people are feeling the same way.
I think we will also continue to see more non-alcoholic beverage options, including beverages with adaptogens, and substances like THC. Since we are a company that is all about quality and creative flavors, not mind alteration, we are going to continue to push in the direction of celebrating flavors, botanicals, and really environmentally conscious production.
Contact Info:
- Website: vikredistillery.com frenchiecocktail.com
- Instagram: @vikredistillery
- Facebook: vikredistillery
- Youtube: vikredistillery
Image Credits
Riah Beth and Stephania Sayler
