In this week’s print edition of the Scene, I write about how local sports teams have partnered with smaller beverage brands to help accelerate the growth of new products to the market. All four of Nashville’s major teams feature local products at their venues, but the focus of this week’s story was Nashville SC at Geodis Park and their relationship with two new start-ups, Lo Siento Tequila and Spirited Hive ready-to-drink cocktails.
Both beverage companies are run by visionary entrepreneurs who don’t live in Nashville, but who have strong connections with Music City and are actively working to expand their presence in town.
I often say that start-up beverage brands need four things to succeed: good liquid, a good story, great marketing and authenticity. Lo Siento founder Ryan Tierney seems to be of a like mind. The young entrepreneur was born in Northern California and now lives in Venice, Calif. In his past career, he ran a media company that created a hugely successful Instagram channel with millions of followers interested in travel and adventure. His clients were primarily tourism and hospitality outlets, and after the company was acquired, Tierney looked for a way to leverage his experience into a new business.
“I saw consumers migrating from vodka to tequila, and I trademarked Lo Siento [Spanish for “I’m sorry”] in 2019 while I was still in the media company,” says Tierney. He assembled a group of spirits pros around him and began to look for a product. He discovered a family that had been making tequila for generations, but who didn’t produce for more than a couple of brands unlike some of the mega-distilleries in Jalisco, Mexico.
“We were looking for the sweet spot," Tierney says. "We didn’t want it to come from a huge plant. We wanted a unique flavor profile, and of all the plants we visited over 2 to 3 years, this was our favorite. They also have the capability to grow with us as we expand.”
After releasing Lo Siento in Southern California, Tierney turned his eyes to Nashville. He’s looking for a space for a local headquarters with the hopes of adding a tasting room. He also made a major investment in a sponsorship of a premium club at Nashville SC’s Geodis Park.
Why Nashville? “I think the brand tone fits with the Nashville consumer,” Tierney explains. “Ultimately, we sell fun!”
So he’s got the story, the marketing and the authenticity covered. How’s the spirit in the bottle? In a word, excellent. “We wanted a very clean blanco," Tierney says. "We didn’t want to blend agave from 10 different farms or a distiller that used a bunch of additives. This is a single-family estate with deep well water. We wanted something that would be good neat and also work well in cocktails.”
Lo Siento Blanco is indeed a very clean tequila, without the harshness or hints of creosote you might find in other products in a similar price range. I tried it in a snifter and also as part of a margarita and found it quite good.
But it was Lo Siento’s Reposado that really impressed me. After distillation, the tequila is placed in used Virginia oak whiskey barrels for six months, and it really benefits from the contact with the char and the whiskey. I’d describe Lo Siento Reposado as a bourbon lover’s tequila. The fruity notes and caramel from the barrel add a nice bit of color and nuance to the agave, and I really enjoyed it neat. Tierney says, “For $40 a bottle, I think it’s the best reposado on the market.” He may just be right!
The second beverage entrepreneur featured in this week’s print edition is Jack Espy. He grew up in Denver, but his father moved to Nashville in 2009, so Espy has been visiting Music City since he was 5 years old and still has many close friends here. Still in his mid-20s, Espy was looking for a change in career from his background in real estate, and monthly visits to Nashville showed him that there was a market here that might be open to his new idea.
“During lockdown, I became the designated home bartender for my group of friends,” he recalls. “My favorite cocktail is a Moscow mule, and people loved my recipe that uses honey as a sweetener. That encouraged me to start looking at the canned cocktail market.”
After a little research, he dropped out of grad school at NYU and aimed his sights at Nashville. The result of his efforts is Spirited Hive, a line of honey-infused ready-to-drink cocktails. Espy liked the idea of including “hive” in the name of his company, not just because of the honey, but also because of the connotation of your hive of close friends that you hang around with.
Working with beverage scientists, Espy developed a formulation that uses organic honey from Lancaster, Pa., as the only sweetening agent and which is shelf-stable without the use of synthetic gums as an additive. Other fresh ingredients like real ginger add a bite to his version of the mule and a subtle carbonation helps to brighten the flavors.
The launch of Spirited Hive in Nashville has been a bit of a whirlwind for Espy, striking up partnerships with the Titans, Sounds and Nashville SC to sell his RTD cans in their respective venues and partnering with Empire as a distributor for retail and on-premise. “It’s been great to see the progress here in Nashville,” Espy says. “We’re already in more than 50 accounts. We’ve put a lot of money into Nashville and getting a lot of traction. We’re looking forward to expanding to other markets, but Nashville will always be home for Spirited Hive.”
Here are the three Spirited Hive products currently available in the market:
Bourbon Whiskey Infused with Rosemary, Lemon & Honey
7% ABV
"Out of respect to all bourbon lovers, Spirited Hive uses only real bourbon with 100 percent all-natural ingredients including 21 percent rye bourbon sourced from Green River Distilling Co. in Owensboro, Kentucky, an iconic distillery dating back to the late 1800s."
Tequila Infused with Ginger, Lime & Honey
7% ABV
"Made using a Blanco tequila sourced from Jalisco, Mexico, home to Casamigos. Other ingredients include filtered water, organic wildflower honey, natural and organic flavors, lime juice concentrate, and organic ginger juice."
Vodka Infused with Cranberry, Lime & Honey
7% ABV
"Spirited Hive’s six-times distilled corn vodka comes from St. Louis, Missouri, and follows the same distilling process as Tito’s Handmade Vodka to deliver the smooth taste that everyone loves."
