ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Get into the spirit of giving with Ann Arbor Distilling Company’s new canned cocktails.
Made in partnership with three Ann Arbor nonprofits and one not-for-profit organization, each of the four special cocktails helps them to acquire much-need donations this holiday season.
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Here’s how it works:
Humane Society of Huron Valley, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ele’s Place and Ann Arbor Film Festival each have their own unique drink.
Community members can purchase a four-pack of their preferred drink or a mixed four-pack.
For every four-pack sold, the spirits company will give $5 of the purchase to the corresponding organization. For each mixed four-pack, $1.25 is given to each collaborator.
Ann Arbor Distilling Company sales and distribution director Michael Fox said the idea was a spin-off from the distillery’s Revival Gin project, which has already led to thousands of dollars in donations to local organizations.
Each drink was created collaboratively with the individual organizations who gave the distillery direction on what they wanted to be included. Each collaborator also designed its own label and gave its cocktail a name.
Fox said that every year the spirits distillery works with each of the partnering organizations during fundraisers, many of which were either canceled or moved online this year.
“It was really a way to continue what we do every year, and help these organizations out,” Fox said.
Although the cocktails are only in their second week of production, they’ve already sold out a few times. Fox said the distillery has had to can new batches a few times every week since the donation campaign started.
“I think it shows that people, even our supporters, know they are supporting us, but they are also able to support somebody else,” Fox said.
The new cocktails are a win-win-win. The distillery gets to show off its spirits, partnering organizations receive donations and community members know that their purchases are directly supporting local causes.
As of now, Ann Arbor Distilling Company plans to offer the cocktails through the holiday season, according to Fox.
“It’s been hectic, but it’s been fun. We’ve supported these organizations for years so it’s fun to do something a little bit different.”
Fox said that, ideally, fans of the cocktails would take ten minutes to pull up an organization’s website and look at their impact on the Ann Arbor area.
Here are our suggestions:
Check out Ann Arbor Film Festival’s mind-bending history with Mindbender in hand.
Drinking Mixed Media? Scroll through the Ann Arbor Art Center’s social media feed.
While chilling out with a can of Something Wild, go wild liking photos on the Humane Society of Huron Valley Instagram page.
Lastly, know your purchase of the Red Hearted Julep has an impact as you read about how Ele’s Place Ann Arbor is helping grieving youth.
Order a four-pack (or two) of the new cocktails on the Ann Arbor Distilling Company website.