Final yr, I discovered myself sitting at a big wood desk exterior of a house in Oaxaca Metropolis, Mexico, sipping copita after copita of mezcal, every produced from a special kind of agave plant in a country distillation setup simply steps away, and poured for me by a household that has been creating the agave spirit for generations.
The colours, sights and tradition of Oaxaca are nothing in need of mesmerizing, made much more so for those who get the possibility to expertise the historic craftsmanship, exhausting work and fervour that goes into creating mezcal.
That have had a big impact on Nate and Briana Austin, the homeowners of Golden Liquors at 601 thirteenth Avenue in Golden, simply throughout the road from the Coors Brewery.
After working as a bartender within the service business for years, Nate determined he wanted a change of tempo. However he additionally wished to proceed working in an area the place he was educated. So 5 years in the past, he and his spouse, together with one other associate, bought the liquor retailer, which itself has a protracted historical past. (Its unique license dates again to 1902.)
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The entry to the brand new tasting room.
Briana Austin
However simply as the shop was hitting a pleasant stride, the pandemic got here alongside. Coors shut down brewery excursions and guests weren’t venturing to Golden. Enterprise dwindled to the few locals who would enterprise out, which was an enormous hit to the underside line for a small store.
Then final November, voters handed Proposition 125, permitting for the sale of wine in grocery and comfort shops, a transfer that many unbiased liquor shops fear will lower into their income deeply. “We all know spirits are subsequent,” Nate notes, explaining why he and Briana got here up with a plan: giving the shop a full makeover and relaunching as an agave spirits-focused retail vacation spot, full with a tasting room.
Nate’s ardour for agave spirits, which vary from tequila and mezcal to sotol and raicilla, was sparked whereas he was working within the Denver bar scene. He continued his schooling throughout a number of journeys to Mexico, together with a month-long go to to Oaxaca in February in preparation for the store’s relaunch as Destilados de Agave at Golden Liquors, which can have a good time its grand opening on Saturday, April 1.
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Artwork from Oaxaca fills the store.
Briana Austin
“Your complete surroundings is immersive in Oaxaca,” Briana says, noting that the refreshed, ethereal area has been utterly remodeled. Artwork from the birthplace of mezcal strains the partitions, and the world behind the money register is wrapped in {a photograph} of an agave area in Oaxaca, shot by Tony White (a good friend of the Austins and occasional Westword contributor), who now lives in Oaxaca Metropolis and runs a culturally immersive tour firm, Almas Viejas.
“We wish this to be a bit piece of Oaxaca,” Briana says.
“Sufficient to simply give folks a style, to allow them to go and get the actual factor,” Nate provides. That is his actual purpose with this new store. For him, it isn’t about leaping on the rising public curiosity in agave spirits or angling for extra earnings. That is really “only a labor of affection,” he explains. “What I actually need to get into is how essential it’s to go down there. There are such a lot of superb issues to see.”
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The revamped retailer gives a extra relaxed buying expertise.
Briana Austin
The shop additionally has a brand new tasting room, the place the Austins plan to host model tastings, cocktail courses and different occasions to additional spark curiosity within the historical past, tradition, folks and tales behind agave spirits.
Together with a big selection of agave spirit manufacturers, “a curated record constructed on relationships we have now down in Mexico,” based on Briana, most them small, family-owned labels, the shop will proceed to hold a choice of over 250 craft beers. “That is our bread and butter,” she notes, including that the favored build-your-own six-pack choice, will stay, too. And it nonetheless gives Coors, in fact.
However there’s a complete new power at Golden Liquors. “It makes it enjoyable to be at work,” Nate says. “I do not care if I am right here ten hours a day, as a result of I am lastly speaking about what I need to speak about. Now we’re actually capable of converse to one thing we love.”
Destilados de Agave at Golden Liquors is open from midday to eight p.m. Sunday by means of Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday by means of Sunday, with a grand opening celebration, together with tastings, set for Saturday, April 1. For extra data, go to golden-liquors.com.
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