active between bells, everyone.
A bourbon made for the moment, in between the slogan to bourbon brand.
Off house bourbon ahead of world whiskey day,
our next desk brand is aiming to be more than just a drink brand.
It's aiming to be a modern approach that breaks the stereotypes of
the current modern bourbon drinker and to celebrate the moments in between sips
joining us.
Now to discuss is the Ceo and founder of Off Hours Berman jake Ireland jake,
welcome to the show.
So I have to ask what makes your bourbon
so different compared to your competitors out there.
Thank you. Well, thank you for having me on first.
And uh, yeah,
I'm excited to tell you guys a little bit about off hours about bourbon and really,
you know, hopefully enjoy a little cocktail here for,
before we get started with World whiskey day here in a couple of days.
But uh, you know, off hours was really something that created um, a few years ago,
just based on the fact that I had grown up around uh,
the bourbon industry in indiana for, for years
and at an early age, I started to realize that, you know, a lot of the brands that were,
that were coming about,
both new and old were really kind of using the same strategy
and a lot of that was sort of these outdated approaches to,
you know, who they thought the bourbon drinker was and I think that, you know,
the goal with off hours was really to kind of create a
brand that resonated more with my lifestyle and what I thought would be
um you know more relatable to people in today's world.
So you know, there's a lot more of our phone,
there's a lot more computer type of stuff going on.
So you know, I wanted to create something that was,
wasn't based on the stuffy stereotypes,
so you know really about creating a brand that
it wasn't about dimly lit bars or cigars or you know,
brown other couches and or made up rules about how you're supposed to drink it.
That's so funny.
That is the image I typically used to get when you thought of whiskey or bourbon.
What's so interesting about you here jake is you started your career in health care,
what made you pivot to this
ah you know, yeah, so I started in sports medicine, I had, you know,
I got my doctorate in physical therapy and honestly
by the time I had gotten done I was really just kind
of craving a different experience and I had an opportunity to,
you know,
really kind of figure things out on the fly with with some startups
and and really kind of took an entrepreneurial role and um you know,
I had had an experience in the alcohol industry
and really kind of learned a lot of the
ropes and and sort of took those lessons learned
and wanted to uh to apply them to a new brand that I felt that uh you know,
I could fill a gap in the market.
So a lot of people when they think of bourbon, they think it's a boys club,
how is your company off hours bourbon hoping to break those barriers,
You know, if you're exactly right,
I think a lot of people always think of this as an older man's drink and and you know,
in in all reality it's not um you know,
we target a younger demographic with our marketing, with our branding,
with our partnerships um which actually ties to a
lot of the consumer data that that shows that
a younger generation and really kind of the millennials
are the ones that are pushing these bourbon trends.
So for me it was like, why not create a brand,
why not push something that fits along with, you know, someone that's in my age,
you know, category for that matter?
And really, you know, we have
very highly engaged female audience, which wasn't always the case for bourbon,
so we're starting to see some trends that,
you know, that are sort of creating a little bit more inclusivity and, and
I think that just
fits really well with, you know, our overall strategy with, with off hours,
are there any challenges that you,
you and your company have faced with such a saturated
space when it comes to alcohol and whiskey and bourbon?
Yeah, you know, I think just in an alcohol in general, it's super, super saturated,
um you know, highly competitive and and you know, you're, you're fighting for that,
that shelf space, but I think for us,
our biggest strategy has been to kind of try to break those stereotypes, you know,
to really kind of get away from those preconceived notions about, you know,
about bourbon and I think if you, you know,
if you look on your shelf on your bar cart or at the bar the next time you're out,
you know,
you'll see that a lot of bourbon brands they look and
they feel the same and there's a lot of similarity between,
you know, all these brands and you know,
it's a lot of package design that's the same or a lot of long winded backstories that,
you know, we're pretty highly embellished if not completely made up,
and I think for us it was like,
let's break the mold of that and let's just create something that is transparent,
it's simple, it's to the point and you know, create a quality product that, you know,
if you're a bourbon enthusiast and you know,
you really know what you're talking about, we think, you know,
that's perfect for you or if you're,
if you're new to the category, you never had bourbon before,
we want to introduce it in a way that's less intimidating and you know, hopefully
a little bit more approachable than some of these other brands, so jake,
I know you and I are going to make a drink together, I have everything I need,
you have everything you need to take the lead and
I'm going to follow what you're doing and if you
can explain to me and the viewers what you are doing so I can take it step by step.
Beautiful. This is the best part.
So we're gonna start so we did a collaboration with health aide cam bucha.
So you know they're all about
we got that, so they're all about gut health, you know,
and you know for us we felt like it was a
creative way to create a sort of healthier for your cocktail.
So without all the sugar and really that's
something that we wanted to do in general with
our cocktails as you're using ingredients that hopefully
you already have in your kitchen or at home
and you know using ingredients that hopefully you can pronounce.
So we're going to start with, you can start with the bourbon but you already feel
sorry.
Okay, alright, sorry about that. Okay, Okay, no worries.
Okay, so we're going to start with an ounce of announced
hours bourbon
and we're gonna put that over the one large ice cube you got there.
Yes, it's very large,
very large. Yes, it takes a little while to melt.
So then we're gonna add our health aide which is about three ounces of that
three of the bigger end of
of the shot glass you got there. So I had three of those.
All right
and then next up we're going to add the aperol, which I believe is in the little
little
right right here, okay and how much of this am I using?
We're gonna add one ounce of that. So one shot of that as well.
Okay,
throw that in.
And then the last little bit is the soda water or I think you have parents.
Yeah,
so we will do basically an ounce of that
or just kind of whatever you're feeling there,
so nothing, nothing too crazy.
And then
so pretty simple.
And then the last bit will stir it up and we'll add our lemon twist twist and our sprig
rosemary. So pretty by the way
and now you have a very spring ish summary wish
cocktail and it looks so pretty during your off hours.
Well jake cheers to you. I'm going to taste this.
I'm not a bourbon drinker but I can't wait to try this.
We got to convert you,
cheers, cheers this is delicious.
Thank you so much Ceo and founder of Off hours bourbon jake Ireland,
we appreciate this, we appreciate the recipe.
I can't wait to become a bourbon drinker. Thank you so much, jake