Syntax Spirits expanding, gears up to spread its cheer

Heather Bean is quickly becoming a force behind what she imagines might be a second wave of craft alcohol in Northern Colorado.

Two years ago, Bean and her business partner Jeff Copeland moved into an industrial space in a tucked-away corner of downtown Greeley, began distilling their own wheat vodka and dubbed it Syntax Spirits.

Today, Syntax Spirits vodka can be found in restaurants and liquor stores from Estes Park to Eaton, and two new product lines, white whiskey and white rum, will be available to Syntax fans by the holiday season.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

Before starting the business, Bean worked as a chemical-mechanical engineer for Hewlett Packard in Greeley. Her knowledge of mechanics served her well when she and Copeland set to building their stills and installing them in their rented, 3,000-square-foot space at 625 Third St.

“We’re very proud of our equipment because we did that,” Bean said. “We didn’t go spend $100,000 on a fancy still. We built them, and because of that, we have a very good understanding of how they work.”

That in-depth understanding of the equipment enabled the partners to make better vodka, Bean asserts.

A taste test by a visitor reveals that the finished product is, indeed, smooth. Syntax Spirits bills its vodka as perfect for any cocktail on its bar menu, whether patrons are ordering a “Jefe Caliente” – a coffee-chocolate-chili concoction – or the classic, “Martini Bond-style,” which is, of course, shaken, not stirred.

In addition to traditional vodka, Syntax also offers a revolving selection of infused vodkas, made with seasonal fruits, hot peppers (good for a Jefe Caliente) and in one case, bacon.

“Northern Colorado has been very supportive of us, and we’re encouraged to see sales in our area on a steady climb as we’ve entered our second year,” Bean said. “So far this year, we’ve roughly doubled sales from the same time last year. We hope to sell 1,000 cases this year by expanding distribution outside of Northern Colorado and into larger population areas like Denver and Boulder.”

A bottle of Syntax vodka sells for $24.99, and the new products the company is planning will likely come at a price point a bit higher than that.

The folks at Syntax keep it local as much they can, Bean said, using grain from an elevator a few blocks away, and local fruit for their infusions wherever possible.

Keeping it local also keeps things environmentally friendly, according to Bean. Sourcing produce from close-by growers keeps shipping costs low and the company’s carbon footprint small. Taking care of the environment plays right into another of Bean’s passions: the outdoors.

Bean is a cyclist who occasionally makes the trek to Greeley from her Fort Collins home by bike, but also has a serious passion for kayaking. Kayaks, some of which she built herself, hang from the ceiling in the distillery. She manages a kayak polo league in Fort Collins in her spare time.

Anyone who purchases a bottle of Syntax vodka can pick up on Bean’s love of kayaking just by looking at the label. On every bottle of vodka is the “female kayaking superhero,” as Bean calls her, a drawing for which Bean herself posed.

This superhero wields a kayak paddle, is symbolic of the “Colorado attitude” of the distillery and represents a strong female character, Bean said.

Most vodka labels, in Bean’s opinion, are “boring,” and she figured the country’s most popular spirit deserves something a bit more interesting. When her whiskey and rum lines launch later this year, they will also feature two more of superheroes.

Labels, somewhat ironically, also are the source of one of Bean’s biggest headaches.

Getting a label approved by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a months-long ordeal, Bean said. Every word on the labels must meet stringent specifications set forth by the government. The process entails a lot of back-and-forth communication until every part of the label is accepted, sometimes taking as long as six months.

In addition to Bean and her partner Copeland, who still has a “real job,” as an atmospheric scientist in Boulder, one full-time employee helps run the distillery, which can distill a batch of vodka from start to finish in about a week. A batch of vodka translates to roughly four cases.

The batch can be moved from one part of the process to another daily, meaning that a new batch of vodka is ready every day.

Duties at Syntax also include bartending in the tasting room, which draws a wide variety of clientele, according to Bean. Students from nearby UNC, especially graduate students, come to the tasting room to take study breaks, and retired farmers and avid motorcyclists also stop in.

Like many businesses in Greeley, Syntax is benefiting from the presence of oil and gas workers, who come in to spend some of their disposable income.

In the beginning, a lot of crossover existed between Syntax and Crabtree Brewing Co., located next door, with customers drifting between the two tasting rooms. Syntax has developed a large enough following of its own that Crabtree’s impending move to a larger facility on 29th Street doesn’t worry Bean, who expects that a new tenant will move into Crabtree’s space soon.

“Downtown (Greeley) is in a really exciting phase,” Bean said.

With business growing, Syntax might even establish a remote tasting room within the newly created Go-Cup district on the Ninth Street Plaza, she said.

The current tasting room is too far from the rest of downtown to take advantage of the program, which allows patrons to take alcoholic beverages outside of participating restaurants in portable cups.

In its second year, Syntax, which got its name as a “bad pun” based on Bean’s former jobs in both computers and writing, has offered up a series of rewards and challenges for the “Still Mistress,” as Bean has titled herself.

“The hardest part has been the shift from being a worker to being a business owner,” she said. “Wearing so many hats is challenging, but there’s a reward in seeing things work. It’s a feeling of ‘We did that. And it does work.’

“Craft beer is huge here, but spirits are the second wave of craft alcohol.”