Best of
the Twin Cities
You’d have a hard time finding three more unlikely candidates to start their own distillery than Kyle Kettering, Chris Palmisano, and Brian Idelkope. Two engineers (Kettering and Palmisano) and a family physician (Idelkope) hatched an idea for the first microdistillery and cocktail room in St. Louis Park in 2014, and opened Copperwing last March. The warm, intimate room specializes in custom cocktails that take advantage of their distinctive spirits: whiskey, vodka, gin, and vodskey—a clear bourbon mash distilled like a vodka instead of being aged in a barrel. Nearly all ingredients are locally sourced, even the Minnesota white oak for the barrels. And the appeal extends beyond the delectable cocktails crafted behind the bar. They have live local music every Wednesday, distillery tours that provide a glimpse into their creative process, and free mixology classes. Copperwing Distillery has already put plenty of spirit into St. Louis Park, and it should only get better with age.
Readers’ Choice: Tattersall Distilling
