Founded in 2015, CEO Alan Henderson created Henderson Spirit Group to honor the contributions African Americans have made to the world of spirits.
“Back in 2014, I was in the liquor store and was surprised I couldn’t find one bottle that had a label displaying someone that looked like me,” Henderson states on the website. “And none told the story of someone that looked like me. That feeling of knowing our stories are overlooked, but our dollars are courted led me to start buying barrels of bourbon in 2015 with the dream of building my own spirits company.”
The names, faces and stories of significant but often overlooked Black industry contributors are showcased front and center on every bottle, including Henderson Spirit Group’s original brands Birdie Brown and Tom Bullock.
One of the world’s most influential bartenders was a Black man named Tom Bullock. Bullock tended bar for the St. Louis Country Club in the 1910s and later published his cocktail book “The Ideal Bartender” in 1917. Tom Bullock’s Burnt Orange Bourbon is a four-year-old Kentucky bourbon based on Bullock’s signature orange peel accent on bourbon cocktails.
Tom Bullock’s Old Tom Gin W/ Sweet Lime comes from a two-centuries old London distiller and infused with “Sweet Lime” as a nod to Bullock’s crafting distinctive cocktails infused with exotic fruit.
Birdie Brown, who was one of few African American women homesteaders, was recognized as the “unsung legend of prohibition.” Brown gained notoriety in the early 1900s for her home-distilled hooch made from homegrown grains, that was not only known for being safe but smooth sipping, according to birdiebrown.com.
Henderson Spirits Group recreated Brown’s recipe in their original Plain Hooch and Straight Wheat Whiskey based on research of ingredients and the distillation methods available to her at the time.
For more information or to shop Henderson Spirits Group, visit tombullocks.com.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx. If you would like your business highlighted by the Indiana Minority Business Magazine, click here.