Fremont Mischief

The mischief is in the details

Sometimes you walk into a place and everything feels just right. It's rarely a case of random luck. More likely, it's the result of a lot of hard work and serious attention to detail. That's certainly the case at Fremont Mischief, a local craft distillery in Fremont. You see and feel it in the buildings and surroundings, and you taste it in the spirits.

A great example is the story of Mischief Gin. Owners Patti Bishop and Mike Sherlock researched and studied. "We came up with what we thought was a good recipe for the gin. On a Friday afternoon, we invited people from the surrounding businesses to a blind tasting. We used Tanqueray, Bombay, Hendrick's, and ours, and asked them to vote on aroma and taste and tell us why they liked what they liked. We did not win. But we took their cards and ideas and came up with a new recipe. At our 18^th permutation and about 600 people tasting over those Fridays, we started to win. By the 22^nd time, we had our gin."

Mike and Patti in rye field

When deciding on grains, they purchased from Eastern Washington as well as locally, and did a comparison to see how different varieties tasted. "We chose to go with grain from the west side of the state. We like the small farmers here and the taste we get from their grain. Originally, we were certified organic, but as we grew, we couldn't get enough of the organic for the whiskey. We're no longer certified, but we do buy organic when we can find it." They also make gluten-free apple vodka, apple gin, and apple brandy.

Due to the length of time it takes to barrel whiskey, most start-up distilleries begin with vodka and gin so they have something to sell while waiting. Patti and Mike were in the fortunate position of having time and money. They made their whiskey in 2009, put it in barrels, then started building the distillery and their inventory of spirits. They opened in 2011 with the main building and all their spirits ready to go. At that time, the State was in control of spirits. Mischief had a full media kit, advertising copy, six-packs, glasses: they were ready to roll. The people at the Liquor Control Board said "You are the craft distillery we are looking for" and put them everywhere. Then on May 12, 2012, liquor was privatized and everyone had to get redistributed. "Anyone in craft had this problem," recalls Patti. "You had income, and then you had nothing." They went with a large distributor which had a guy at the top who loved them. Even so, it took four months for the distributor to get past selling spirits from all the big companies. "They built us up, but they had 12,000 skews. With the guy at the top loving us, it was fine. When he moved on, we weren't getting sold. In 2015, we switched to Click Distributing, which is local and smaller."

The Mischief still

Two things are core to the Mischief team. One is their relationship with farms and farmers. "When the craft law went into place, a goal was to create a better market for small family farms. There are now a variety of grains grown here, and prices have increased, which means farms are becoming economically sustainable. We also now have Skagit Valley Malting where 30 different kinds of barley are malted. They have 12 acres of silos of different types of grain. Because of this, we feel this area is the most exciting place for whiskey and beer in the U.S." The second critical thing is to give meaning to what they do. "We make great spirits, yes. But it needs to mean more than that. Almost all our spirits are tied to a certain foundation: a percentage of vodka and gin sales go to Mary's Place, whiskey to veteran's associations, John Jacob Rye Whiskey to Behind the Badge, and Worker's No. 9 for Washington State Council of Fire Fighters."

Mike's and Patti's backgrounds don't seem to lend themselves to a distillery, but their work ethic and attention to detail have created a special place. Mike grew up on Whidbey Island and spent 29 years in commercial fishing. He owned two shipyards: at one he would modify boats, like the time he added five processing plants to a 300-foot ship. Once the distillery got going, he sold the shipyard in 2012. His second shipyard is where he builds house boats, which he's still doing. Patti grew up on a ranch in eastern Oregon, and got her degree in nutrition. Her job had her traveling 10 weeks out of the year and as a single mom, it wasn't working for her. She started a company, Anzus Technology. She hired expert coders and handled complex, large projects for Starbucks, Getty Images, Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, the Navy and more. Mike and Patti hit a point where they wanted to keep working, but not like they had been.

Distillers Mike Sherlock and Armando Gonzales

In August 2016, they completed their new tasting room. The original tasting room has become the tour room. Guests can do self-guided tours or have a private tour. Always part of their master plan, the next challenge is building a restaurant on the distillery site. "Due to recent changes, we'll be the only restaurant on the canal. We'll build it slowly. The software we created for the new tasting room will also support the restaurant. The restaurant will have two floors with both indoor and rooftop dining. Doors will open onto the courtyard. Food will be reasonably priced, beautiful, local, and healthy." They'll offer appetizers, small plates, salads, spent-grain bread, tartines (open faced sandwiches), soup and more.

John Jacob whiskey

A restaurant and fun marketing ideas will keep Mischief happening in Fremont. Come along for the ride.

Fremont Mischief
132 N Canal Street
Seattle, WA 98103
206-632-0957

fremontmischief.com  

Dark Northern Rye

Connie Adams/October 2016