Killer Kocktails

How a tippling social club evolved into a members-only deal ticket.

By Ross Boissoneau | Sept. 14, 2019

What makes a great cocktail? Well, many things, but among them are premium ingredients, complementary flavor profiles, and a pleasing appearance.
 
Then what makes a Killer Kocktail? That’s easy. Partnering with local entrepreneur Spencer Joseph and his burgeoning business, which combines social media, merchandise, and, most recently, a bonus card offering cardholders discounts and other perks.
 
“It’s like Two on the Town,” said Joseph of the Killer Kocktail Club card’s likeness to the longtime (35 years and counting) program that enables its card holders to take advantage of special deals and discounts at participating eateries, golf courses, and entertainment venues. Launched earlier this year, the Killer Kocktail Club offers its cardholders exclusive deals and discounts on drinks at participating restaurants and bars.
 
Joseph said the Kocktail Club Card allows 12 months access to the best drink specials in town. Participating establishments include The Grand Traverse Distillery, 123 Speakeasy, Silver Spruce Brewing Company, McGee’s 72, McGee’s 31, Ram’s, Slate, Bon Vin beer and wine, Sorellina, Harrington’s by the Bay, and Red Mesa.The card retails for $29.99, though it’s now on sale for $19.99.
 
Killer Kocktails started off as a Facebook-based social club with just a handful of members in the Traverse City area. Joseph said it now boasts over 13,000 members from across the country and abroad, including Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Mexico. “

It’s a brand I’ve built,” said Joseph. When family members suggested he look at a means to make it more than just a social club, he came up with the idea of the card and ran with it.
 
“We’re really new to it,” said Ram’s owner Chelsie McDonald of the card. She said interest and use is building, and she expects that to continue as business from summer visitors slackens and more local customers turn to it.
 
“It’s now picking up,” said Badaweyah Kareem, general manager at Grand Traverse Distillery. “It’s a great way to showcase the variety of bars we have in Traverse City.”
 
Joseph said the club and the card are both geared toward local establishments, not chains. “Some of them reached out, and I said no,” he said. While it is and will probably remain centered on Traverse City, he said he’s not averse to reaching out to nearby locations, from Leelanau to Elk Rapids, even Cadillac.

Learn more and get your card via www.killerkocktails.com, or search "Killer Kocktails" on Facebook.
 
Three to Try
We asked three of the participating libation stations to share their most Killer Kocktail. Here’s what they recommended:
 
Grand Traverse Distillery
Kareem recommends the Drupe 75. It uses Grand Traverse Distillery Cherry Whiskey, along with house-made amaretto liqueur, brown sugar syrup, and Shady Lane Cellars Sparkling Riesling.
 
“It really pops,” said Kareem. Key to the pop is the distillery’s proprietary Cherry Whiskey foundation, with the other ingredients setting it off.
 
Why the name? A drupe is defined as “a fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone containing the seed, e.g., a plum, cherry, almond, or olive.” No plums or olives here, but the cherry (whiskey), almond (amaretto) and grape (sparkling Riesling) are 75 percent of the beverage. Thus, Drupe 75.
 
123 Speakeasy
With its ambience harkening back to Prohibition days, perhaps it’s only appropriate that 123 Speakeasy’s bestseller of late has been the Father Dougherty Old Fashioned. “It’s blown up,” said 123 Speakeasy owner Taylor Keefe of the drink.
 
It melds house bourbon, orange and cherry bitters, and local Montmorency cherries. The secret ingredient? “It’s infused with cherry smoke,” said Keefe. That’s right, before serving, the drink goes into the smoke box, where it’s infused with smoke from cherry wood.
 
Keefe said a number of the drinks there are named for historical references. This one pays tribute toRev. Peter Dougherty, a missionary whowas sent to the Grand Traverse Region by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions to establish a church and school for the Native Americans who inhabited the area.
 
Ram’s
McDonald said she is offering a variety of drinks made with Wheatley Vodka, a craft vodka made at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. “It’s something we use a lot,” she said.
 
She said it’s partly in response to the local demand for vodka-based drinks, as well as a way to broaden the establishment’s appeal, though she notes that Ram’s is probably better known for its variety of whiskeys, including bourbons and Scotches. “We have 128, with more coming in,” said McDonald.