WE MADE A CUSTOM SPICED PINEAPPLE RUM WITH C3 (AND, YEAH, IT'S AWESOME)

Avocado and toast. 

Coach and Tami Taylor.

The two dancing girls emoji.

We can agree that these are some all-time favorite pairs, right? Fantastic on their own, and something pretty special when they're together. 

Let's add one more: Cardinal Spirits and C3 Bloomington, a craft cocktail bar and restaurant here in town.

We collaborated on a one-of-a-kind custom spirit — C3 Pineapple Spiced Tiki Rum. It's available exclusively at C3, where it will be used in cocktails and sold by the bottle ($25). It launches on Thursday, 4-10pm, at C3, with special cocktails and bottle sales. 

A PINEAPPLE RUM, YOU SAY? 

Using our light Tiki Rum as the base, we steeped a ton of fresh pineapple, orange zest, ancho chiles and other spices to infuse this spirit with incredible flavor. It's a small batch, and it won't be around forever, so get yourself to C3 on Thursday.

MMM. WHAT'S IT TASTE LIKE?

Here's how Nick Matio, C3's bar manager, describes it: beautifully fruit-forward, with growing spice and smokiness on the back. Also: Light, balanced, approachable.

Let's hear from our head distiller, Justin Hughey:

"Some fruit rums are super fruity up front, but have nothing at the back," Justin says. "This one has more depth and flavor than most. You get the whole spectrum of flavors."

SO, HOW'D THE COLLABORATION WORK? WHO DID WHAT?

We went to Nick at C3 with the idea of bespoke booze. Nick picked rum, his favorite spirit, and narrowed in on a subtly spiced pineapple variety. We went back and forth on more than a dozen test batches to dial in the right spices for a gentle heat. Halfway through the test batches, Nick thought to use ancho chiles as the heat source and C3's chef suggested roasting them to get the right depth of flavor. After several weeks of tinkering with samples, we found a winner and scaled up the recipe.

"To have it come to you in bottle form, and it tastes just like you pictured it — that's the coolest part," Nick says. 

WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DRINK IT?

It's meant to be both a sipping and cocktailing rum. C3 will feature it in two cocktails on launch day:

1. A Daiquiri. "That's the best test of any rum," Nick says.

2. A Rum Old Fashioned. "A big, boozy, stirred cocktail highlights the rum in a different way," Nick says.

C3 MADE A CUSTOM SPIRIT, AND YOU CAN, TOO.

Yes, we mean it! We distill and brand custom spirits for bars, restaurants, liquor stores and more. 

You might think you'd need to put in a giant order, but all we ask is a 10 case minimum (that's 60 bottles). We've distilled spirits exclusively for Big Red Liquors, Crown Liquors and The Exchange Pub + Kitchen in New Albany, Ind.

"You don't need to know anything about making liquor — just an idea of what you want to do," says Doug Lingo, sales director and a distiller here at Cardinal. "We can take your idea and distill it ourselves, or you can be part of the whole process." 

RSVP for the launch of C3 Spiced Pineapple Tiki Rum

Three Tips for Graduates

Here are three pieces of advice for those of you graduating this year. One thing you should buy, and two things you should do.

1. Buy A Watch.

This Shinola Argonite 708 is the best watch I’ve ever owned. My wife gave it to me for our five year anniversary. By the way, my wife is the author of a blog called What I Wore and is the most incredible person I've ever met, period. You should all follow her on the social medias.

It’s made in Detroit, and it’s got the phases of the moon built into the dial. I’m a huge fan of the moon. I’ve always thought that eventually I will make it there one day. You youngin's have a better chance.

It has a second hand which ticks away the moments, but also the moon moves very slowly across the dial over the month. So it keeps me thinking about how time is relative.

I only started wearing a watch maybe four years ago, but I think wearing a watch is very important because it keeps you from pulling your phone out all the time. When you pull your phone out to check the time, you inevitably check other crap that you shouldn’t be looking at when you’re in the middle of a conversation with someone.

Get yourself a watch. Doesn't have to be expensive. Timex is great. Use it keep an eye on your time. Spend Time With People You Love. How you spend your hours is how you spend your life. Make sure you are doing the right thing with those hours.

2. Write Helpful Emails

This is very tactical, but I really hope you take this advice. Include a link to a google search of your name in any introductory email. It’s the first thing I do when a student emails me. I’ve talked to many other founders and this is true across the board. Right before you sign "Thank you", at the end of the last paragraph (and there should only be two brief paragraphs in any business email, trust me on that) say something like: I hope to hear from you soon, in the meantime, I've taken the liberty of googling myself for you. Hope you like what you find.

If you have a common name, you can joke that you are not the australian rugby player John Smith, you’re the IU student John Smith. If you have a LinkedIn profile, you can link to that too. But linking to the Google search will show the person you're talking to that you are interested in helping them.

This also means that you should control your own Google search results, which should probably be an entire course in college, if not a minor.

3. Never Take the First Offer.

If someone wants to sell you something, they have a reason. If she wants to hire you, she has a reason. Never take the first offer. Consider the ideal outcome for yourself, and negotiate yourself closer to that outcome. Whether that's more money, a better desk, anything.

In Closing

That's about it, kids. This world is too great a mystery for there to be only one approach to it. This is true of world religions, political parties, and everything in between. You are here to be curious, to explore, and to create. 

Have fun, do your best, and always be learning. Repeat those three things over and over, and you'll be fine.

LAKE HOUSE SPICED RUM IS OUR NEWEST SPIRIT

Lake House Spiced Rum will be available at the distillery starting Friday, 4/29, at noon.

It's almost lake time.

Yes, that glorious time of year when us landlocked people of the Midwest start thinking about water. We flock to lakes and rivers, rent cabins and pitch tents, and some of us get invited to a lake house. The fortunate few actually own one (Hi, we’d like to come over. We will bring the booze.).

Our newest spirit is a celebration of all things landlocked - namely lakes and the people who frequent them.

Introducing: Lake House Spiced Rum.

Lake House Spiced Rum is made in small batches from natural, whole botanical ingredients like orange peel, vanilla and cardamom — no flavoring extracts, no coloring. It is fermented and distilled from cane juice, light molasses, sweet hefeweizen yeast and a yeast found on wild sugarcane. It's pleasantly sweet, with a warming, earthy spice.

Maybe the last time you drank spiced rum was from a red Solo cup in college.

And maybe you poured it from a big bottle with a handle at every house party you ever went to, and maybe you've sworn it off since then.

If so, let us be the first to welcome you back to spiced rum.

Lake House Spiced Rum is entirely different, and here's why: Most mass-produced rums are made with a lot of sugar and flavor extracts and coloring. They're made to taste just shy of sickeningly sweet.

We avoided all of that, and still made an incredibly flavorful and fun-to-drink spiced rum. Lake House Spiced Rum is made with orange peel, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper and a secret botanical ingredient that ties everything together, and balances this rum like nothing else on the market.

We repeat: no flavor extracts and no caramel coloring. Both the beautiful hue and flavor comes entirely from the natural, whole spices and botanicals that steep in the rum.

Land dwellers, this new spirit goes out to you.

The coming months are all about tall glasses filled with something fizzy and ice-cold to sip on, like a rum-and-Coke or a Dark and Stormy with rum, ginger beer and lime.

Lake House Spiced Rum hits the spot when you're grilling out. It's the perfect boat cocktail for a Saturday on the water. It's what you bring to your neighbor's pool party. It's your reward after cutting the grass. It's meant for nights spent around a campfire.

Lake House Spiced Rum is also a perfect match for tropical drinks and even classic cocktails (try it in an Old Fashioned).

But, back to rum-and-Cokes for a minute. Did we mention that Lake House makes a damn good one? Like, the best. Our distiller Justin Hughey says a lot of spiced rums don't punch through Coke, but ours definitely does. The cardamom especially comes through. Join us on release day to find out just how refreshing it is.

As with all of our new spirits, Lake House Spiced Rum will be available first at the distillery.
Bottle sales start Friday, 4/29, at noon, and we'll have free samples and special spiced rum-cocktails all weekend.

CARDINAL SPIRITS NOW AT MEIJER STORES

Here's a short list of things we’ve bought at Meijer: A cooler. Gummy bears. Pillows. Ball jars. Snow boots for our kids. A bottle of champagne. Snacks for a road trip.

Meijer sells just about everything, right?

Now, they really DO have everything, because Meijer stores are selling Cardinal Spirits products.

Yes!

Attention Meijer shoppers, Cardinal Spirits is new to the liquor department.

Our spirits will be sold throughout Meijer stores in Indiana starting April 13, and rolling out gradually to most of Meijer's 35 stores statewide.

Meijer will sell Cardinal Spirits Vodka, Standard Dry Gin and Bramble Vodka, made with black raspberries.

Cardinal Spirits is one of the first Indiana craft distilleries to sell its products at Meijer stores. It's a win for us, of course, but for you, too. We love seeing that Indiana-made craft spirits are easier than ever to come by. 

Next time you run in to buy batteries, you can buy our Bramble. too. On a milk run, snag a bottle of our Vodka. Grocery shopping for the week? Put Standard Dry Gin on your list. And if you need ideas on how to use any of it, we have a bunch of recipes right here. 

Did you know that our spirits are available in 200+ establishments in Indiana? We're in liquor stores, grocery stores, bars, restaurants and hotels. Major retailers include Kroger, Big Red Liquors, Schnucks, and Crown Liquors. And now, Meijer. Our growing list of retailers is right here.

CLOUD 9 COCKTAIL RECIPE

Our Standard Dry Gin and our Songbird Flora Liqueur make the perfect pair, and here they're shaken together into a lush cocktail with a light and lofty cap. This heavenly drink is aptly named Cloud 9, created by Cardinal Spirits bartender Stella Snyde.

CLOUD 9

By Stella Snyder of Cardinal Spirits

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Standard Dry Gin
1/2 ounce Cardinal Spirits Flora Liqueur
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
3-4 dashes lavender bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker without ice and shake vigorously, to emulsify the egg white. Then, add ice to the shaker and shake again, this time to chill and dilute the cocktail. Strain into a coupe glass. 

BEHIND THE BAR: UPTOWN CAFE

Bartenders hear our stories all the time. So let's hear theirs for a change. This is Behind the Bar: interviews with bartenders over a drink (or two). 
— by Kajal Singh
 

Today we're pulling up a bar stool at Michael’s Uptown Café in Bloomington to chat with bar manager Andrew Wind and bartender Micky Leonard. (Fun fact about Andrew: he used to tend bar at Cardinal Spirits!) 

Uptown is a comfortable bar that has a neighborhood feel, and in addition to classic and modern cocktails, it serves Cajun and Creole-inspired food and a killer weekend brunch. It's one of the wonderful Bloomington establishments that serves Cardinal Spirits, namely our Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur. You'll find it in the brunch cocktail called Caffe Uccello, made with Cardinal Spirits Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur, ginger liqueur, Amaro Averna and a shot of espresso.

Micky Leonard (left) and Andrew Wind (right) of Uptown.

Tell us about the very first time you had a cocktail.

Andrew: The first time I had a proper cocktail was in Pittsburgh at a bar called Tender. I had the Don Lockwood: Laphroaig Scotch, maple syrup and chocolate bitters. It’s named after a character in Singin’ in the Rain.
 
Micky: My first cocktail was a Sex on the Beach at a club in Spain. I was at this club and I was like, I’m going to get a Sex on the Beach for sure. It was real weird and gross. I guess my first proper cocktail was the Last Word at Uptown.
 
What’s your story? How’d you get to be a bartender?

Andrew: I’m an actor, both on stage and screen. I went to college for acting. After graduating college, I moved down to Florida. Had some TV gigs down in Miami. I wasn’t feeling the vibe in Florida though, so I moved to Pittsburgh and I started working at a beer bar to pay the bills while I was acting. I wanted to do something a bit more creative so I started looking into cocktail bartending. Fast forward a bit, and I met Logan Hunter (general manager at Cardinal Spirits and former Uptown bartender) and he gave me a couple of books to read. I love the fact that bartending is always new and you can interact with different people. It’s a great way to do character studies, in terms of acting. You can also be very creative and tap into something quite historical.
 
Micky: I am originally from Carmel, Indiana. I lived there until I was 17 and then moved to the Netherlands with my family. I finished up high school in the Netherlands and I came back to Indiana University for college and grad school. I started working at the Uptown during grad school. I started a band in 2012 with my brother; we’ve been rocking pretty hard. I really love bartending; it’s a really fun, creative and high paced job. I am done with school now but I decided to continue bartending for a while. 

A Caffe Uccello cocktail in the making at Uptown.

If you could have a drink with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you drink?

Micky: Kurt Cobain. Coffee and cigarettes.
 
Andrew: This is going to sound super pretentious but there’s this theatre practitioner named Antonin Artaud. His specialty is the theater of cruelty – which is not letting the audience rest on their laurels when they’re in the show. There’s this sense of comfort when you watch theater and he believed theater wasn’t really theater under that guise. I would like to drink with him. He was a really crazy guy and I’d love to pick his brain over a few drinks. It would be in Paris, France, and drinking absinthe. Maybe having a couple cigarettes.
 
What is your go-to hangover cure?

Andrew: Club soda and bitters, it works every time.
 
Micky: My magic hangover cure is ginger ale.

Uptown's Caffe Uccello, made with Cardinal Spirits Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur.

If you walked into Cardinal Spirits right now, what would you order?

Andrew: I really am a fan of the Red Bird Elixir (Cardinal's house-made riff on Campari that is typically used a negroni). So, a little bit of that with club soda and lemon. But my favorite spirit is your Standard Dry Gin.
 
Micky: Gin and tonic with the Standard Dry Gin.

What makes Cardinal Spirits different than other craft distilleries?

Andrew: They are really interested in giving the public what they want and listening to their feedback. They aren’t just in it for the money; they’ve really created a local business that families in Bloomington can be proud to bring their family to. Considering that Cardinal Spirits can’t purchase spirits from outside of the distillery, the fact the people keep coming back is saying something.
 
Micky: Cardinal molds new tastes, ideas and flavors with a classic retelling. It’s fun and interesting. 
 
 
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Andrew: For behind the bar: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. For life: keep moving forward.
 
Micky: My Dad always said, “Let it roll off, like water off of a duck’s back.” It’s a good image that’s very peaceful and it helps me collect myself.

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 24

Links that make you go Hmmm.

This rare 1960s yo-yo cocktails shaker is pretty magnificent. 

A week in the life of a traveling cocktail bar in a vintage Airstream (straight outta Pinterest, folks)

The best use of carrot juice is without a doubt in this fantastic punch recipe called 24 Carrot Gold by Cardinal bartender Baylee Pruitt — and, it is featured on Imbibe right now!

“It looks a bit strange, but we don’t care—it’s part of our strategy.” It's Spezi, the ugly German soda with a top-secret recipe. 

Backseat Freestyle isn't just a Kendrick Lamar song, it's also a tasty cocktail with Tiki Rum, blackberries and licorice root tea.

BACKSEAT FREESTYLE COCKTAIL RECIPE

Our Tiki Rum isn't just for tropical cocktails. Here, it hobnobs with blackberries, lime and a splash of licorice root tea, which gives the whole thing a little earthiness.

BACKSEAT FREESTYLE

By Stella Snyder of Cardinal Spirits

3 blackberries
3/4 ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounce licorice root tea (prepare a cup of tea ahead)
1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

Add blackberries and simple syrup to a shaker and muddle to release juice from the berries. Add remaining ingredients to the shaker, then add ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with blackberries.

PALEO FLIP COCKTAIL RECIPE

This ultra smooth cocktail gets its luxurious texture from a whole egg - yep, whites and yolk.

PALEO FLIP

By Logan Hunter of Cardinal Spirits

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Standard Dry Gin
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 egg

Add all ingredients to a shaker without ice and shake vigorously. Add ice to the shaker and shake again. Strain into a Collins glass. Squeeze a lime peel over the cocktail to express the oil, then garnish with the peel.

MEET OUR CREW: ALISON ZOOK

We've got a spectacular crew here at Cardinal Spirits, and we'd like to introduce you to everybody one by one. Today, meet Alison Zook, our indispensable events director.
Here, she answers some Cardinal Qs.

ALISON ZOOK

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
Spencer, Ind.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN BLOOMINGTON?
18 years

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BLOOMINGTON?
Bloomington has some of the finest people that you will ever meet. We have a kind of community here that is very unique — it has the feel of a city but the heart of a small town. 

FAVORITE THING TO DRINK?
I love the bubbly! Champagne, cava, prosecco... bubbly cocktails are divine. French 75s are my favorite. 

GO-TO DRINK AT CARDINAL?
Right now it's a tie between the Laughing Buddha and Rosemary's Baby.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HIDDEN TALENTS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
I'm like MacGyver when it comes to crafts. Give me some fuzzy pipe cleaners and a few rubber bands and I can make you beautiful wedding decorations.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
My first job was working in the concession stands at IU's Assembly Hall when I was 14. All the free hot dogs I could eat! It was lot of fun and was my introduction to the service industry.

WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU DO AT CARDINAL?
Well, I often refer to myself as our Cat Herder. Running events means coordinating lots of people, dates, and details. It's a lot like herding cats sometimes... but I love cats! I have five at home so I'm really good at it. I practice all the time. 
I help set up and manage all of our in-house events as well as everything we do offsite with sampling, bartending, and partnering with bars and restaurants that carry Cardinal Spirits. I have a great events team and they help me spread the word about Cardinal all over the state. 
We are a small company though, so I help out wherever I'm needed. You'll often find me bussing tables, refilling water glasses, hosting, washing dishes, helping in production, merchandising displays, helping with marketing and sales, and weeding the flowerbeds. 
Never a dull day!

YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO SERVE TO A CROWD?
I love making punch with Cardinal Spirits American Gin. It blends so well with most fruit juices and you can add interesting syrups to make it super special.

FAVORITE BREAKFAST CEREAL?
Peanut Butter Puffins

IF YOU COULD HAVE A DRINK WITH ANYONE…
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She's a personal hero of mine and I'd love to buy her a drink and thank her for all that she's done for women's rights.

WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE BE DRINKING MORE OF?
Local. Local anything and everything.

TELL US A FUNNY STORY ABOUT YOUR PETS.
I mentioned before that I have a lot of cats, right? Well, a few years ago I came home from work and they are all in my kitchen, perched in different places, but all staring intently at the food bowl. Right away I know something is not right. I look down and there was a shrew (they look like a mouse crossed with a mole) sitting next to the dish eating their food. They all turn and look at me then turn back to the shrew. Not a single cat is moving to get it. 
Finally, because no one else is taking care of it, I get a tupperware bowl and set it over the shrew who just looks up at me and continues to eat the cat food. I take the shrew outside and it saunters off, unharmed and unfazed.
I went back inside and promptly fired all of my cats from being cats. To this day I like to remind them of it. 

MAKE A PREDICTION ABOUT THE FUTURE.
I predict that one day soon in a place undiscovered by modern humans scientists will find a healthy population of unicorns. The BBC will make a documentary about them and it will be narrated by Sir David Attenborough.