Derek Kassebaum used to help people get new businesses off the ground; nowadays he’s finding his way through his own start-up. He still sits at a desk, but the onetime consultant is less likely to be typing out a business plan than using the surface to peel lemons.
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“It’s doing great,” says Phillip Patti, manager and liquor buyer for Wine Discount Center, on Elston. “When we’ve had a tasting we’ve been able to sell a case.” Their gin and vodka both retail at around $30 a bottle.
To make North Shore’s gin Derek combines grain-neutral spirits–also known as ethanol–in the still with the botanicals and water, then boils and condenses it, reducing the alcohol content from 95 percent to 65 percent and infusing it with oils from the flavorings. It’s then combined with more water to bring the alcohol level down to 45 percent, or 90 proof.
“It’s a big hill to climb,” says Sonja. “They need the serial numbers of every piece of equipment, you have to give a detailed map of your process, you have to describe everything you’re going to do in your application. You have to be really committed to it; it’s not something you can get into quickly.” Among other administrative tasks was securing bond insurance–which covers tax payments should a business fail or its proprietors fall behind–but since they’re the first small distillery in the state, insurers weren’t sure how to handle them. After Derek spent a month futilely trying to find an insurer in the state, he turned to a rum distiller in Hawaii, who connected him with a broker in California, and they were finally covered.
