Cheers! 3 Fine Beverage Makers with Sarasota Ties

By Ryan G. Van Cleave
April 2021

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Few things say “living the good life” like kicking back with a high-quality adult beverage in the Florida sun. And we’ve got local companies making some of the best high-quality adult beverages around. 

Drum Circle Distilling/Siesta Key Rum

Prior to 2007, Troy Roberts worked as Director of Product Management at a software company and then he ran automotive websites. While those experiences developed a lot of useful workplace skills, he laughs and says it’s his “background in drinking” that best prepared him for his current job as CEO and Head Distiller for Drum Circle Distilling, the first craft distillery in Florida to make rum.

Drum Circle Distilling is found in a curious location—they’re in an industrial park east of Washington Boulevard and just a bit south of DeSoto Road. But Troy says, “The moment people walk inside, it’s like Willy Wonka for adults.” I can confirm that. I went there for a rum tasting a few years back, and the ambiance was as sweet as the handcrafted drinks.

If a tasting room isn’t your thing, no worries. Nearly 2,000 locations carry Siesta Key Rum—their only product—with most of those being right here in Florida. “Siesta Spirits [out on Siesta Key] was the very first store to carry the rum, but now pretty much all the local guys carry it,” Troy says. 

And don’t look for anything else but rum on their menu. “If I see a 50-page menu at a restaurant, nothing’s going to be good,” he says. “Yet if I go to a falafel shop and they only make falafels, it’s going to be great—it’s what they live and breathe. That’s the mindset we have here. We live and breathe rum.”

What makes Siesta Key Rum special, he says, is that they don’t cut corners in any part of the process. More to the point, they’re not dumping in chemicals to flavor their rum. If they’re making toasted coconut rum (they do!), there’s a small mountain of actual coconut in the back. 

“People really love our beer-barrel spiced rum,” Troy adds. “It only comes out three or four times a year, and it usually sells out right away.” Their premium distiller’s reserve—which only arrives once per year—is a fan favorite, too, along with their delicious coffee rum. Plus, Troy’s son and colleague, Wyatt, has been working on a mango rum for some time now, but like anything else they offer, it’s not being released to the public until they get it exactly right, no matter how long that takes.

Troy invites you to come by and taste the difference for yourself. The behind-the-scenes tour is free, though register online in advance since groups need to stay small so long as COVID-19 remains an issue. Don’t worry, though—they’ve got a fun and safe way to show you why Siesta Key Rum is perhaps the best rum on the planet.

Loaded Cannon Distillery

Steve Milligan worked for Dow Chemicals for 35 years around the world. His last assignment was in Saudi Arabia, where there’s no alcohol, so for three years, he created it himself. He enjoyed the process so much that when he returned to the US, he decided to start a distillery. “You’re a loose cannon!” laughed his brother, which Steve loved. While Loose Cannon was already taken as a beer name, Steve embraced the pirate angle and created Loaded Cannon Distillery, which set sail in Lakewood Ranch in 2019. 

To ensure he got the pirate theme accurate, Steve and his marketing director, Michelle Russell, worked with a historian from the Bradenton Library. “Some of these pirate stories she sent me were real, and some weren’t,” Steve admits. “But those stories need to be retold. And we decided to tell them through our alcohol.”

Pirates and piracy run through this company, from the distillery itself (the Loaded Cannon “ship”) to their Anney’s Blade vodkas (named after the ferocious female pirate Anne Bonny) to Carlota’s Revenge Whiskey, named after a woman who was kidnapped by pirates and then got her revenge by sinking the pirate’s ship before taking her own life. While rumor has it that her ghost still plays dirges on a harp on the shores of the Manatee River, the whiskeys Steve’s team creates are designed to make her—or rather her restless spirit—proud.

“Our best sellers are jalape­ño vodka and strawberry vodka,” Steve says. But he points out that their dark rum has a lot of people-pleasing Yo Ho Ho, too. The reason he stands behind the quality of all of their liquor is that they use Florida materials almost exclusively. Corn, rye, sugar, rice, molasses, and more—they search long and hard to find the best-quality products here in the Sunshine State, because, as Steve says, “having the right ingredients makes a real difference in terms of taste and quality.” 

That’s why their liquor is “copper-kissed,” as he says. All of their stills are fully copper—the preferred material for distilling because it distributes heat so well and creates even distillation.

Another benefit of using copper is that it’s a great antimicrobial. It also improves the quality and aroma of the final product. 

“If enough people ask for a specific new flavor, I’ll make it,” Steve says. “I enjoy the challenge. For example, one time someone asked for a chocolate vodka. I went to my office for about thirty minutes, then came back out with chocolate vodka. Normally, blending up the right flavor can take six months.” But that’s where his three decades as a chemical engineer help out—he knows what happens with you mix this with that, as well as how to utilize temperature and pressure to good effect.

Loaded Cannon is getting ready to launch a whiskey-blending experience, where customers can sign up to come in and learn about blending, and then actually blend their own whiskey. It’s a rare hands-on experience for local thirsty pirates.

Domaine Chaudet Wines

Through family and close friends, Sarasota has been a very important location for the Chaudet-Briaux family for many years. Plus, the family appreciates the strong sense of similarity between Sarasota and Switzerland, where the Chaudet-Briaux vineyards are located in the French-speaking town of Rivaz, on the shores of Lake Geneva (a.k.a. Lac Léman) next to the town of Vevey (home to the famous “tramp” Charlie Chaplin for the last 25 years of his life).

The estate’s General Manager, fifth-generation family owner Titouan Chaudet-Briaux, was born and raised in the wine culture and hasn’t missed a single harvest since his earliest days. After completing his Swiss compulsory military service, Titouan attended a national winemaking institute where he obtained a Federal Certificate and went on to study economics at the University of Fribourg before joining the family business.

Erich Imhof, a head of international sales for Domaine Chaudet, reports that two things account for this wine’s exceptional existence. “First, there’s the variety of grapes which are indigenous to Switzerland—Chasselas for the white wine, and Gamaret-Garanoir for the reds,” he says. “For over a thousand years, only the Swiss have grown Chasselas, which must be worked by hand due to the extreme steepness of the terraces that were built by monks in the 13th century.”

A good Chasselas is dry and refreshing with a slight floral expression and lots of minerality. Imhof points out that a Chasselas is low in alcohol (11.5-12% ABV) and can easily be “enjoyed from the aperitif all the way to the cheese, with all kinds of dishes. It’s a very good all-around white wine that carries the imprint of its terroir beautifully.”

While Chasselas are traditionally drunk young—often before three years old—more and more are aging them, which gives them a golden robe that’s rich with the smell of honey and beeswax, and in the mouth, it can resemble a fine dry sherry.

Domaine Chaudet wine will only be available in select restaurants and wine boutiques in Sarasota this summer—for exact locations, watch for announcements on their website. They’ll also host a series of key wine-tasting events as well at some of the area hotels and restaurants.

Without a doubt, this is the type of wine that area enophiles will appreciate. Keep an eye out for Titouan’s delicious Chaudet-Briaux at your favorite wine venues toward the end of 2021.

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For more information on Siesta Key Rum, please visit www.siestakeyrum.com or call 941.702.8143.

For more information on Loaded Cannon Distillery, please visit www.loadedcannondistillery.com or call 941.900.1482.

For more information on Domaine Chaudet, please visit www.vins-chaudet.ch.