For Bendt
Distilling Co., it’s not just a public service but a way to keep some staff
employed.
By Marc
Ramirez 7:57 AM on Mar 18, 2020 Updated at 7:44 p.m. Wednesday: Revised
to mention other distilleries that have since announced plans to produce hand
sanitizer.
Like many
distilleries, Bendt Distilling Co. in Lewisville finds the first-run batch of
alcohol too powerful and pungent for consumption. So co-owner Natasha DeHart
saved the high-proof mix to clean the floor.
But in recent days,
as the distillery shut down tours and its tasting bar amid coronavirus
concerns, the mixture has taken on a more important role. They repurposed it as
hand sanitizer that the distillery is offering for free at a time when such
products are hard to find on store shelves.
“This is a scary
situation for everyone right now,” said DeHart, who co-owns the whiskey
operation with husband Ryan. “We’re all thinking, ‘What can we do?’ And in the
last week, it became clear that this was really needed.”
A woman in her 60s
rushed in while she spoke.
“My husband said I
should come down and get some of that sanitizer you have here,” she said.
A staffer fished a
white plastic bottle from a box behind the counter and sent her away happy.
The project began as
a service for Bendt employees, who DeHart said were finding it more and more
difficult to find hand sanitizer several weeks ago.
It also puts Bendt —
which produces Bendt No 5 American blended whiskey and Witherspoon Bourbon — in
the company of other distilleries nationally, including in Houston and Portland, that are pursuing similar efforts. Not all of
them are free.
On Wednesday, Fort
Worth’s Blackland Distillery and Austin-area whiskey producer Milam &
Greene announced that they too would begin producing hand sanitizer. Blackland
said it would donate supply to hospitals and medical communities and offer
8-ounce bottles for sale to the public, while Milam & Greene will offer
their “Heads & Hearts” sanitizer for free.
Fort Worth’s
Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co. also said it plans to begin producing
sanitizer within a few weeks that will also be free of charge.
As American
Distilling Institute spokesman Brad Plummer told NBC News, the spirits industry is keen to pump
life back into the bar and restaurant community on which it relies by promoting
healthy practices and seeing the virus disappear as soon as possible.
“The hospitality
industry is going to be decimated by this and they are our primary
clients," said Plummer, adding that he’s heard increasing talk among
distillers about making hand sanitizer part of their operations. We’re looking
for ways to help in the response to this, but also to find other ways to look
for revenue streams."
At Bendt, as at other
distilleries, the site’s first-run liquid was already a byproduct of the
distillation process.
“It’s not necessarily
something you’d want to consume,” DeHart said. “It’s high proof. And it’s
smelly.”
But it is perfectly
usable as hand sanitizer.
DeHart researched
recipes and found one she liked that used xanthan gum. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommends a mix of at least 60% alcohol; DeHart’s is
70% mixed with heavily filtered water thickened with xanthan gum from Walmart,
plus a dash of scented essential oils — lavender or rosemary, for instance —
for fragrance.
She placed a pair of
bottles with her homemade sanitizer around the distillery for her workers’ use,
but in the last week, distillery visitors took notice.
“They saw it there
and were, like, ‘Can we have some? We’re running out at home,'” she said.
That’s when the need
became clear, and with the shuttering of restaurants, bars and other businesses
throughout the metroplex, producing and bottling hand sanitizer was also a way
to keep some of her workers employed — even if she has to shell out her own
money for the bottles.
“We’re keeping hands
and minds busy,” she said.
So far, Bendt has
given away about a thousand 4-ounce bottles of the stuff, which still packs a
grassy, funky aroma that may nonetheless please practiced whiskey and tequila
drinkers.
The only thing
holding back the effort is a shortage of bottles. DeHart’s initial supplier is
out. But she hopes to find another soon.
“We’ll keep doing
this however long it’s needed,” she said. “However long we can.”
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