Locals and owners of Island Airways, Paul and Angel Welke, offered the wide field behind their house for the crew to look at. In 2015, VanStrien and O’Connor took their first trip to Beaver Island, the 56-square-mile island surrounded by the blue waters of Lake Michigan, to scout for the wild juniper. “It took no time at all for Jon and me to set up a trip to go see for ourselves.” “We were camping with family one weekend, and my wife’s cousin told me about the juniper bushes all over Beaver Island,” said VanStrien. So, how do you keep your promise to source locally? Most juniper for U.S.-based gin is sourced from the Pacific Northwest, where the weather and soil are perfect for the piney/woodsy-flavored berries. It has been redistilled with a variety of Michigan botanicals, including sumac, white pine, and goldenrod wild-foraged in Byron Center and Greenville, Galena hops from the Michigan Hop Alliance in Northport, apples from Peach Ridge Farms in Alpine Township, sunflower seeds from Paulson’s Pumpkin Patch in Belding, and perhaps the most elusive ingredient from a location stand point-juniper. The gin’s base spirit is distilled from red winter wheat from Heffron Farms in Belding, Michigan, that was milled on-site at the distillery on Grand Rapids’ West Side. ![]() This gin is not only distilled and bottled in the Great Lakes State, but each and every ingredient is sourced here. It’s a clever name and, again, could be a nice gimmick, but not to this company. O’Connor and co-owner Kyle VanStrien took that simple premise into creating their line of spirits. There’s always a faster, cheaper, or easier way to do things, but that’s not why we started Long Road.” “When Kyle and I started, we knew we wanted to make a product we could be proud of. “Michiganders have a long history as makers,” said Jon O’Connor, co-founder of Long Road. But that’s what makes Long Road a special breed of business. It’s a nice sentiment and looks good on t-shirts, but it can be harder to commit to with invoices, payroll, and then for good measure-a pandemic staring you in the eye. ![]() Long Road Distillers, the first distillery in Grand Rapids, has built its brand around its own moniker- No Shortcuts. If Emerson’s ethos holds true and life really is about the journey and not the destination, then the folks at Long Road Distillers are taking the scenic route for sure.
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