Mr. Mike Jakle and Mr. Willis “Miles” Ponder IV
Owners of South Congress Distillery in Manor, Texas, producers of White Hat Rum
Q: How did you get started in the rum industry?
A: Mike- In 2008, I had a chance to get into a new venture and I spoke to my wife, Stacie, about opening our own distillery. She thought I would be good at creating and selling spirits (go f igure) and so we star ted looking for a business partner.
I knew Miles through my son, Adam. Our sons played soccer on the same club team. Miles and I would usually tag along on the out of state tournaments and spend time together. I told him I was interested in opening a distillery and he said he was interested as well. We became par tners. Miles owns a building on South Congress near Riverside Dr ive and we planned to build a distillery on that location….hence the name “South Congress Distillery”. When we started to talk to the city of Austin, it became apparent that the location was going to be too restrictive for a commercial distillery….so we started looking around Austin for a location. We had bought a 50 gallon pot still to practice distilling with and needed a place to store it until we found our location. Miles suggested we store the still in his dad’s donkey barn out in Manor. While we were dropping off the equipment, I started looking around…. the barn was small and packed full of stuff, but there was water and electricity….I said, “Miles, ask your dad if we can use the barn”...
A: Miles- I wish I could say that we began our mission to create the absolute best rum known to man. The truth is we stumbled on the idea because of a barrel of blackstrap molasses in our barn. Our original idea was to make Tequila from Agave grown in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Unfortunately, due to the current drug wars we put that idea on permanent hold.
Armed with our new licenses and a great desire to distill, a barrel of blackstrap molasses that lay waiting in my Dads barn seemed to be the ticket. It had been sitting there for years. Learning that blackstrap had a high concent ration of sugar, we decided to experiment. We added blackstrap to water, threw in some yeast and a week later we had a rum wash. We fired up our small still for the first time. Although our initial rum was bad our curiosity and desire to produce rum peaked. With our new direction and a desire to learn we were off on a new endeavor — Rum.
A: Mike- At that point I was so naive I didn’t even realize there were already two Texas rums on the market. Once we realized we weren’t going to be the f irst Texas rum, the obsession became to try and be the best… so about a year was spent trying different distilling methods, yeast, techniques, processes, etc…tasting and smelling as many other rums as possible. It was a lot harder and took a lot more time than I initially thought it would.
A: Miles- You would think that acquir ing sugar in a state once so connected to the sugar industry would be easy. Not so! Only one major sugar mill remains in Texas. Our molasses comes f rom cane grown by the Santa Rosa Sugar Cane Growers Association. The cane is then processed in the only remaining sugar mill — Rio Grande Valley, Sugar Growers, Inc. in Santa Rosa, Texas.
A: Mike- And developing the package….that was as difficult as coming up with the product. We owe a lot to Ray Longoria, Mike Thomas, Matthew Bailey and Stacie for creating our package. A lot of hard work, indeed…but in the end, it was all worth it.
Knowing nothing about the spirits business, I called my friend Mike Whiteley. He introduced me to Henry Mathis, a sales rep for Glazer’s. Henry was very patient as I bombarded him with questions for about an hour before he finally said, “ I gotta go…give me your card”. About three weeks later, Henry called, said he was out near our distillery and asked if he could stop by along with Dale Strickland of Glazer ’s. They thought the product and package were great…and, low and behold, a few weeks later we were part of the Glazer ’s family.
Q: What product(s) do you currently produce?
A: Currently we produce White Hat Premium Texas Rum.
Q: What has been the market’s response to your product?
A: We have been very fortunate….the rum is selling well. Even folks who are non- rum drinkers like the product. The mission now is to get as many people as possible to taste our rum and try to convert them to loyal White Hat Rum drinkers.
Q: Do you have any plans for developing additional rums in the near future?
A: We are interested in developing other products…we’ve talked about some options for different rum products including a high quality well rum. But, the growth in rum right now is in the “premium” products and we would love to craft a very nice aged rum. Maybe we’ll do both.
Q: Could you describe to our readers your everyday activities? In other words, how much time do you dedicate to administrative, market ing and production?
A: We’re probably like every other start up micro distillery. Early on, all of our time was spent on acquiring and setting up the equipment. Then the mission became product development, making sure consistency was maintained. Now, the goal is to increase sales, getting our rum in liquor stores, working weekends, conducting tastings in liquor stores and sponsoring event s in the area.
Q: What have been some of the greatest challenges/obstacles you have encountered thus far as a micro distiller?
A: Mike- Lots of challenges…but lots of reward as well. Some of my greatest challenges: understanding federal reporting requirements (filling them out correctly and on time), understanding state/ federal rules and regulations, but most of all increasing demand and ensuring we can handle the increase on the production end.
A: Miles- Get ting consumers to select our rum. There are lots of labels in liquor stores. Making someone select ours is a challenge. And, getting bars and restaurants to pour White Hat is a major challenge. Although bar owners like to promote local /Texas products the key to product turnover is to create a price point that will allow bars to help promote it by consuming it. Otherwise it can sit on the shelf longer than you like.
Q: Do you have any advice for anyone who is considering starting his/her own distillery in the USA?
A: Mike- I thought I was pret ty smart when I got into this business….but af ter 3 ½ years I realized I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was. For some reason, I thought that once we were picked up by a major distributor, it would be raining money in the barn….not the case. This is just like any other star t up business so you must have staying power. Be prepared to spend a few years setting up and developing your product. Then, after you’re picked up by a distributor, another couple of years before you can actually pay yourself. My friend, Pat Prendergast of Mesa Winery, once told me, “Mike…congratulations… you guys have produced a great product and a wonderful package…you just completed step one of ten!” What?!?
This is a competitive business with a lot of great choices for consumers. There are ver y talented newcomers arriving into the fray. My advice would be to know what your niche is going to be and focus on the product. Make something that you would be proud to call your own. Also, make sure and scale your distillery so you have decent production capabilities. Bigger, in this case, is usually better.
A: Miles- Know your product and your audience. If you are planning to sell a retail product, discuss sales volumes with your local liquor stores and check to see how others in your category are doing. Then, do what you can to price yourself appropriately while creating a look that will stand out. Easy to say! Look, feel and price is a tough balance.
Q: If I came to a party at your house and ask for a rum-based cocktail, what are you likely to offer me?
A: Mike- I would serve you a Vesper #2 created by Jeremy Corn. Recipe: 1oz. White Hat Rum, 2oz. London Dry Gin, 1/2oz. Lillet Blanc, 2 dashes Lemon Bitters and a thick cut lemon twist….shake and serve straight up.
A: Miles- I would offer one of three: Gosling’s Ginger Beer and White Hat Rum on a hot day in the sun, Mexican Coke and White Hat Rum (TEXME X) anytime or for brunch or a Bloody Mary made with White Hat Rum.
Q: If people want to contact you or want to know how to get a hold of your rum, how may they reach you?
A: Send us an email at Mike@whitehatrum.com and Miles@whitehatrum.com.
Q: Is there a particular message or comment you would like to share with our readers?
A: Mike- I would just like to say how grateful I am to be in this business. It ’s in my blood now and I can’t see myself doing anything else. I ’ve met a lot of great people; including Matthew Bailey of St. Louis Litho, David Parker of Tr icor Braun, Dale Strickland of Glazer ’s, Brock Wagner of St. Arnold’s Brewery (I’m a beer nut) and, of course, Luis and Margaret Ayala. I have been able to get my son, Austin, involved in the business and he loves it. And I get to work with Stacie and Miles on building our own business. We’re still the new kids on the block and are far from “making it ”…. but with a little luck we’ll be around for a long time to come.
A: Miles- I would like to thank the Rio Grande valley Sugar Cane Growers Association, particularly Edward Mathers and Lance Swanburg. Without the Association’s effort to grow quality sugarcane our product would not be the same.