When we started this whole Root Shoot Malting project, we knew that one of our most important priorities as a business would be developing strong relationships with our customers.
What we didn’t know was that some of those customers would become family.
Chosen family.
Yes, it’s a play on words, but no, we’re not really exaggerating.
The Family Jones is a Colorado-based distilling company that puts farmers first. At least, that’s how it seems on our end. With a spirit house in Denver and another production facility in Loveland, The Family Jones had the fortuitous(?) luck to have their Loveland location just a few miles from the malthouse during those early years when we were out pounding the pavement, trying to rustle up our first few customers.
Todd swung by with samples of grains. He swung by again to check in. Then again, with more grain. Essentially, The Family Jones couldn’t get rid of Todd, so they finally decided it would probably just be easier to start buying from us. Thus began a long…and spirited…relationship.
Perhaps The Family Jones wouldn’t tell the story in quite the same manner, (they’re always so nice!) but regardless - if you are looking to support a local business that supports local farmers, this distillery has agriculture and family farms at its core.
Led by head distiller and co-owner Rob Masters, The Family Jones produces a wide variety of spirits, including vodka, rum, whiskey, bourbon, and more. They also produce a line of Automatic Jones: ready to pour cocktails for those of us a little too lazy (or not very good) at mixing our own drinks.
In everything they create, they consider the origin. In Distiller Rob’s words, “Everything starts on the farm. Finding the farmer that makes the right decisions for the benefit of the farm and the whiskey is the important element of this step.” The Family Jones was the first organization we worked with that brought their entire team - everyone from bartenders to investors to distributors - to the farm to show them where their grain comes from. They wanted the entire team to meet their farmers and shake their hands.
The grain in the Family Jones spirits is not just from local farms, it’s a tangible manner of supporting crop diversity and food sovereignty. A quick, simplified history lesson: over the last few generations of farming, as technology and massive corporations have infiltrated the world of seed production, seeds have become patented property, a privately owned commodity. Farmers who use seeds belonging to private companies - which is the vast majority of the seeds available - are not allowed to save back their own seed year to year. They must purchase it new, every year, even if they’re capable of growing their own. Additionally, the reliance on large companies for seed sources has vastly reduced the variety of seeds available. The diversity of food crops in the U.S. and the world over, is entering a bottleneck. The variety is declining, which puts the world at greater risk of a food crisis. Think of the Irish potato famine: when your food source is too reliant on too few things, the risk of one mishap causing a catastrophe increases.
As our small part in trying to support crop diversity, we have begun experimenting with heritage seeds: seeds that are not patented, that anyone can grow, save back each season, and replant. A number of years ago, we began growing an heirloom wheat variety called Oland, and this past year, we planted our first experimental crop of an old, Native American corn variety called Abenaki.
However, planting heirloom seeds isn’t enough: we need to have buyers for them. It’s scary for brewers and especially distillers to try out new grain. They don’t know its flavor profile, or how it will perform. Using it takes time and experimentation and patience. An experimental barrel of spirits needs to sit for years before the distiller will even know if the choices (s)he made were good ones. New grain carries a very real element of risk.
Despite all of this, The Family Jones has been all-in on all our heritage grains. They’ve been making whiskey with our Oland wheat for years, and just last month, we got to “help” (let’s be honest, we weren’t much help) fill the first barrel of an experimental Abenaki/Oland bourbon. The importance of businesses willing to use these old grains cannot be overstated.
Still, working with The Family Jones is not all just serious business. It’s often simply…fun. When we asked them if they would like to be the first distillery to participate in our annual Field Day, they took the invitation to the next level. They mixed specialty cocktails for the event. Paul Tamburello, The Family Jones CEO and co-owner and, coincidentally the man behind Little Man Ice Cream, drove up a party bus in which he and Derek Guilin, Marketing Coordinator, stuffed - we kid you not - the entire Little Man bouncy castle so they could bring it to the event. It took them hours to load the castle through the tiny bus exit door and required bribing random passers-by on the Denver streets to help. We have no idea how they did it. At the farm after the event, it took seven people to accomplish the same task.
It is this sort of dedication, camaraderie, and, well, shenanigans, that makes The Family Jones feel, actually, like family.
Or perhaps it simply feels like community. Because in the end, that’s what community is, isn’t it? Multiple people, multiple organizations working together for mutual benefit. And maybe - just maybe - a little bit of spirit. Or spirits. This crew has both, in spades. We wish them nothing but success.
You can check out more about The Family Jones distilling process (and even get a glimpse of our farm) on this video made by Distiller Rob about the process. Or better yet, visit their Spirit House in the Denver Highlands district. Be sure to check out their mind-bogglingly beautiful still, a stunning centerpiece for their location.
Support local. Support farmers. Support good people and good community.
Cheers, Family Jones. This whiskey’s for…or rather, from…you!
