Photo via Facebook / Soul Boxer
Soul Boxer Whiskey & Sour
When Jason Neu had worked in the spirits industry and as a bartender, he often thought about what kinds of cocktails he would serve if he had opened an old-school supper club. That vision led to SoulBoxer Cocktail Co., a line of six ready-to-drink cocktails crafted and bottled in Milwaukee. The cocktail ingredients include signature Wisconsin specialties including Door County cherries.
SoulBoxer partners with Central Standard Distillery to blend and bottle all six cocktail varieties: Bourbon Old Fashioned, Brandy Old Fashioned, and Manhattan, along with their newer releases, Negroni, Whiskey & Sour and Lakehouse Punch.
Neu and his business partner, Doug MacKenzie, founded SoulBoxer in 2015. Neu had always been intrigued by the growth of craft spirits, but noticed a disconnect among people interested in spirits and cocktails yet didn’t make multi-step or multi-ingredient cocktails at home. “Spirits were losing sales to beer and wine, which are much easier and approachable to drink at home,” Neu says.
“I researched ingredients and made a pre-batched Brandy Old Fashioned, substituting muddled maraschino cherries for Door County cherries,” Neu says. “The real fruit supplies some natural acid to help balance the cocktail. People love and respect Door County cherries, so it was a natural fit for what we’re doing.”
Having a bartender’s perspective allows Neu to craft genuine cocktails and without focusing on industry trends. “A multinational spirits brand might decide to give bottled cocktails a try and consult with food scientists to determine how to make a drink taste like a cocktail,” he observes. “Our intention was to make real cocktails. Our Manhattan doesn’t just taste like a Manhattan; it is a Manhattan.”
Classics With a Midwestern Twist
Photo via Facebook / SoulBoxer
SoulBoxer Cocktails
Neu notes he’s not trying to reinvent the wheel; recipes for cocktails in the SoulBoxer line have been part of Americana for a hundred years. Yet he strives to offer approachable cocktails that invoke nostalgia, while using fresher, flavorful ingredients.
The Negroni is made with gin, a custom-blended sweet vermouth, and a bitter orange aperitif made by Central Standard Distillery specifically for the cocktail. It’s bottled at 64 proof.
“A classic negroni consists of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari (red Italian bitter), but we’re not interested in using a name brand aperitif. We use gin that we enjoy from Central Standard, along with a higher-proof sweet vermouth that I formulated.” The creative substitutes produce a complex flavor profile that is both bitter and sweet.
The 56-proof Whiskey Sour is made with whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup and a hint of grapefruit peel. For a Whiskey Sour, most Wisconsin taverns use rail whiskey with a splash of Squirt from a soda gun. Neu based SoulBoxer’s Whiskey Sour on bourbon, lemon and sugar, but added a hint of real grapefruit.
Lakehouse Punch, an original creation and not based off of a classic drink, is a colonial style punch “with Midwestern roots,” Neu describes. It contains rum, Door County cherries, orange and lemon, and a spice blend.
The name SoulBoxer embodies the conundrum many Wisconsinites face when waiting for a table at their favorite restraint for a fish fry: should I have another while we wait? And one Brandy Old Fashioned quickly leads to two. Or how many of us really wait until five o-clock to meet friends for a drink?
“What does it mean to go out and have a cocktail, especially here in Wisconsin, where it can be a different experience?’” Neu inquires. “It can sometimes be an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.”
SoulBoxer can be found in approximately 500 retail locations throughout Wisconsin. They’ve got a presence in Illinois and Minnesota. Locally, it’s at Discount Liquor, Consumer Beverage, Ray’s and Sendik’s. SoulBoxer is the official cocktail of Milwaukee Admirals. Neu plans to eventually introduce SoulBoxer to bars and restaurants that don’t have the infrastructure to make their own cocktails.
“I’m always in a place of gratitude. We’re a company that started with a couple hundred cases and not much of a business plan,” Neu concludes. “Thanks to our dedicated SoulBoxer fans.”
For more information, visit soulboxer.com.
