Sun-powered distillery makes bold bet on Tri-Cities cocktail lounge and bottle shop
Solar Spirits, Richland’s sun-powered distillery, is making a bold bet on its future with its newly open cocktail lounge, restaurant and bottle shop.
The Solar Spirits Cocktail Lounge is open at 702 Suite B The Parkway, between The Social and Ethos Bakery & Cafe.
It took over part of the space freed up when the former Wine Social reinvented itself as the smaller The Social Restaurant & Bar about year ago.
Solar Spirits’ owners saw The Parkway as the perfect place to reinvent the way it serves the public. Its old license limited it to straight pours in a utilitarian tasting room at Horn Rapids.
Thanks to a unique and little-used state license, the new Solar Spirits lounge offers cocktail and bar service along with food and bottle sales.
“This is totally unique,” said Dan Watt, master distiller and part owner.
The team never considered a different location.
“If Richland had a downtown, it would be The Parkway,” Watt said.
Watt became Solar Spirits’ master distiller and operations manager in 2017 and is a part of an ownership team that includes Brett Spooner, Todd Coleman, Patrick McKennon and Khurshed Sharifov, among others.
The new license changed everything.. The busienss is free to be as creative as it wants when it comes to creating a new menu.
“The creative handcuffs are off,” said McKennon, who serves as sales and distribution manager.
Jonathan Heintz is the face of the new venture, serving as tasting room manager.
The owners designed and built the new lounge themselves. The result is a comfortable, moody spot with seating for about 70 in a relaxed space dominated by a library packed with tidy and well-lit law books.
Solar Spirits opened to family and friends in early August.
After the shakedown period, it held its official grand opening shortly before Labor Day. The slow rollout ensured it is ready for the public once word started getting out.
What to expect
The entrance to Solar Spirits Cocktail Lounge is somewhat obscure. Guests walk down a hall past Ethos Bakery and restrooms before they enter the the bar. The lounge is tucked behind.
“We’re kind of out of the way,” Watt said.
Watt and Heintz see its entrance as an advantage. It strikes a speakeasy note and gives guests a sense of discovery when they find the business.
Inside, cocktails and the bar are the stars of the show.
Solar Spirits line anchors its offerings, but other brands are readily available to ensure customers can order their favorite drinks.
There also is a no-alcohol menu. Heintz said the team is working on recipes to ensure it has intriguing options for guests who aren’t consuming alcohol.
The menu is serviceable and is limited to what it can produce in the small kitchen — formerly a closet for The Social.
The menu is designed to serve guests in 10 minutes or less and incudes non-meat and gluten-free options.
Watt calls it a “concise” menu that can be produced in the miniscule kitchen.
For its debut, Solar Spirits’ menu featured mac and cheese based entrées plus chicken skewers on the appetizer menu, salads and desserts.
Agricultural product
Solar Spirits is proud to call itself a product of Washington’s agriculture industry.
It turns Washington-grown cranberries into vodka and Washington-grown barley to make a distinctly American single malt whiskey.
McKennon said it is the only distillery that uses Washington cranberries to produce vodka, more traditionally from corn or potatoes.
Watt also loves to experiment with brandies made from fermented Washington-grown fruits, including a recent endeavor with apricots.
“Solar” refers to the solar array the business uses to power most of its operations at Horn Rapids.
Unlike better-known photovoltaic systems, Solar Spirits uses mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy on an oil-based thermal system that generates the energy to run distilling equipment.
Solar Spirits is largely self distributed, though it hopes to find a deal.
Fans can support Solar Spirits by buying its award-winning products directly at The Parkway.
About Solar Spirits
Solar Spirits distills spirits at 2409 Robertson Drive in Richland. The tasting room, restaurant and bottle shop is at 702 Suite B, The Parkway and is open 3-8 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday.
Go to solarspirits.com or follow it on Facebook
