Today we’d like to introduce you to William Stuart.
William, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Colorado Sake Company three years ago after working in Japanese restaurants over the past five years. Working in this restaurant gave had the ability to try over 200 different types of sake which helped me understand the process and complexity of the beverage. The only issue I found in the sake market is that the diversity between products is very limiting for the American palate that wants variety (barrel aged sake, blueberry hibiscus sake) so I wanted to start making some for myself. I started with a homebrew book a bag of rice and some curiosity, my first batch was not great but it sparked my brain to problem solve how to make it better.
For the better part of a year, I did nothing but R&D for this project to my sake that I truly enjoyed. When I really wanted to take my product to the market the state of Colorado had some roadblocks for my dream, they said we were making beer and selling wine but wineries are not allowed to sell beer. So we were stuck on how to get past this hurdle of licensing so we called our local representative and she helped us draft a bill that later became a law which allows us to sell and produce sake in the state. Since we have opened our doors in September, the reception has been nothing but positive, so much that we are expanding into a new facility in less than a year from our opening day.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Yes dealing with creating a law in the state of Colorado was not something I had envisioned from the start.
Trying to create sake without books in English really made things difficult to understand this art but also helped us create a product that is truly for the American palate.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are trying to become the household name for sake in America. We are removing the Japanese verbiage off the label so that it is easier to understand and also less intimidating. We have a wide variety of products that make us stand out, Horchata Nigori, Blueberry Hibiscus, Pineapple habanero, and the list goes on. When you first drink whiskey you do not have it straight you usually have it in a cocktail and then progress to drinking it neat and we are trying to take the same approach with our flavored products
What were you like growing up?
I was an outgoing kid but did not care for school. After high school, I went to college but it just wasn’t for me, so I found myself working at restaurants all across the country from burger bars to fine dining restaurants. While in restaurants I always found myself trying to improve things in the locations I worked to make things more efficient but most places like things to be the same way so I always had an internal battle of wanted to change things but becoming frustrated when they wouldn’t. Since becoming a business owner, I have realized I have always needed to be my own boss and teach a team around me on how to be successful and how to grow a company.
Pricing:
- Our american standard is $12
- Our horchata nigori is $12
Contact Info:
- Address: 3559 Larimer St
- Phone: 7345364087
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloradosakeco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coloradosakeco/
Image Credit:
Bradford Kadow, Zachary Tilghman
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