Mike Green, along with his wife Andrea Zaradic, are the proud owners of the Tumbleweed Distillery in Osoyoos. They are hosting an open house at their facility and tasting room on Lakeshore Drive on Saturday. (Keith Lacey photo)

Mike Green and his wife Andrea Zaradic would like to raise a glass of their finest craft whiskey, vodka, gin and maple moonshine as the proud new owners of the first craft distillery operation to open in Osoyoos.

Green and Zaradic are inviting everyone from the community to say hello and share a sample or two of their premium craft spirits at Tumbleweed Distillery’s official grand opening this Saturday, June 10 from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.

“We’ve been dreaming of owning a place like this for several years now … this is our passion,” said Green. “We’ve only lived here a couple of years now, but we love this community. We’ve made a lot of good friends here and we’re very excited to have members of the community see our business. We’re really looking forward to the future.”

Even though his wife has a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and he has a degree in Industrial Education, owning their own business has been a passion since they met several years ago, said Green.

After a long and successful career in sales in the Lower Mainland, Green and Zaradic met through mutual friends and their life changed when she purchased 10 acres of property on Anarchist Mountain a decade ago and built their dream home, said Green.

“We wanted to relocate here ever since because of the new house and the quieter lifestyle,” he said. “The drive here was always so exciting, but the drive back to Vancouver became a drag.

“We knew our hearts were here and we knew we wanted to start a business together … something we thought would be a lot of fun.”

Like so many before them, Green and Zaradic looked into purchasing their own winery after she took a viticulture course at the University of California Davis.

“We both had a passion for Okanagan wines and we looked seriously at buying a winery, but we looked at all the numbers and realized that wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “We looked at what else we could do.”

About three years ago, they first discussed the possibility of owning and operating their own craft distillery, said Green.

“We both started taking courses and doing research into the craft distillery industry,” he said. “Then we brought in a well-known distillery consultant named Malcolm Bucholz and he convinced us we could make this happen.

“He helped immensely and we’ve been pushing towards this dream ever since.”

Osoyoos was an obvious choice as there are no other distilleries in town and the booming wine and craft beer industry fits in well with what they’re offering through Tumbleweed Distillery, said Green.

The support from Town of Osoyoos council and the local business community at large has been incredible and very encouraging, he said.

Mayor Sue McKortoff and all members of council are expected to attend Saturday’s grand opening, he said proudly.

They called their new business Tumbleweed Distillery for many reasons, he said.

“We both love horses and country music and the country lifestyle,” he said. “Osoyoos also has a long history of rum running during the Prohibition era and we’re in the middle of Canada’s only desert and Tumbleweed checked all the boxes when it came to picking a name. It’s also catchy and sounds good.’

Tumbleweed will offer five premium products to members of the public.

They include Tumbleweed vodka, gin, Rock Creek Rye, Firewood Whiskey and Maple Moonshine, said Green.

The vodka is “very smooth … twice distilled, while the gin is dry and touched with lavender, dry juniper, a variety of citrus and desert sage.

“I predict our gin will be our biggest seller by far and will fly out the door.”

The Rock Creek Rye is produced using grain exclusively from Rock Creek farmer Jamie Haynes.

“It’s 100 per cent rye, unlike most Canadian rye that features 51 per cent rye and a blend of other barley and wheat,” he said. “It has an oakey, caramel flavor that is perfect on the rocks. I’m a rye drinker and it has to taste great on the rocks and this sure does.’

The Maple Moonshine was developed to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, he said.

“What’s more Canadian than quality moonshine mixed with Canadian maple syrup,” he asked rhetorically. “We love Canada and we expect this to be very popular considering this is our country’s 150th birthday.”

The vast majority of products used in the distilling process are from the Okanagan Valley, said Green.

Some of his friends “thought we were insane” to offer five different products, but Green said he and his wife are proud of all five and believes they will all sell well.

“Not everyone has the same palette, so we wanted to make great products that have something for everyone,” he said.

As a former housing contractor, Green and some friends did all the construction work to finish the impressive tasting room, including walls, flooring, bricks, shelving, ceilings and lights.

The majority of product will be sold from the tasting room, but Dolce Social House on Main Street has signed a deal to use their products as The Owl Pub will also be using their products and selling all five spirits in the adjacent liquor store, he said.

Tumbleweed Distillery is located at 6001 Lakeshore Drive. You can find out more at www.tumbleweedspirits.com or visit their Facebook page.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times