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Release Date: April 24, 2020

Downtown #Strongmont Business of the Day - Dry Land Distillers

Downtown #Strongmont Business of the Day

Dry Land Distillers - 471 Main St., Unit B

Dry Land Distillers joined the Downtown community in 2018 and produces unique spirits influenced and inspired by Colorado’s landscapes. With a focus on heirloom wheat whiskeys, prickly pear spirits, spruce gin and cane sugar rum, Dry Land spirits represent the authentic flavors of the American West. They produce every spirit they sell, down to the bitters in the cocktails served in their cozy tasting room.

Join Dry Land Distillers each Friday at 5:30 PM for their Virtual Happy Hour streamed on their Facebook and Instagram pages. Tune in this Friday as they pair classic Dry Land Distillers cocktails with some takeout favorites from restaurants throughout Downtown Longmont!

Q&A with Dry Land Distiller Owners Nels and Teresa Wroe.

1. Why did you decide on making Downtown Longmont your own home base? 
Nels and Teresa Wroe have been in the old town area for more than 21 years, and wanted to do more to be a part of the downtown Longmont community. They enlisted the help of close friends, Amy and Aaron Main, to explore the creation of a craft distillery in the heart of downtown. Soon they teamed up with another family from old town Longmont, Marc and Sarah Staats to develop the idea into the first distillery in Colorado to focus primarily on Colorado native ingredients. It was a natural fit, harkening back to Longmont’s agricultural roots while building on the creative development expanding in Downtown Longmont.


2. How can your customers make Dry Land Distillers their own favorite place, and how can they take ownership of supporting you during this time? 
They can come by anytime Tues-Sat 11-5:30pm for bottle sales. We’ve also made some of our craft cocktail recipes into mixers that are available for free with any bottle purchase - we encourage customers to donate what they can as a tip - all tips go directly to our bar staff! If you’re interested in a ready-to-go premixed cocktail, some of our famous cocktails can be ordered to go at www.drylanddistillers.com. Our bar team is hosting a series of virtual events during our COVID-19 shutdown. Join us on Facebook and Instagram every Friday at 5:30 for a Live Virtual Happy Hour and Cocktail Webinar - and starting next weekend, we'll be hosting in-depth educational sessions to help you hone your skills as an at-home mixologist!


3. Why and how did you get into your line of business?
Nels and Aaron were both home brewers, which gave them the background and interest in the process. (In fact, to this day Aaron is one of Colorado’s leading home brewers.) Since breweries were so well established in Longmont, Aaron and Nels felt it was time to explore the latest craft trend - distilling. The team quickly decided to use native and indigenous grains and ingredients to showcase Colorado in the spirits, something that hadn’t been done in the state.

4. What do you enjoy most about doing business?

This is a phenomenally creative business that merges science, engineering, cooking, business skills, and the best customer base in the world into a gorgeous (but deliberate) mess! We’re proud that we’ve done things never done before - from distilling the oldest wheat in North America to creating a truly original spirit from native prickly pear cactus. Combine this with the fantastic support from the Longmont community, and it’s hard to find a better combination.


5. What differentiates you from other businesses?
Our spirits are made from native ingredients right here on site. Everything we produce is custom crafted, from our spirits to our house made bitters. We’ve been told (many times) that we do things the hard way - while that may be true, we firmly believe the care and attention we give at every step in the process creates a world-class spirit. I hope y’all will agree!

During the Stay at Home order, we'll be featuring a different Downtown Longmont business each day. These small  businesses are the heartbeat of our community, and are a big reason why this is such a great place to live, work, and play. This is a difficult time for everyone, and small businesses and their owners and employees are no exception.

There are many ways you can support them during this time, from liking, following, and sharing their content on social media, to making online or over-the-phone purchases of products or gift cards. We've created a LOCAL Incentive Program that rewards customers with Downtown Longmont Gift Cards for supporting small businesses directly.