Taste the Difference. Make a Difference.

From the outside, 1350 Distilling may look like any other bar, but it is much, much more than that. It’s a business that four friends built from the ground up: a family-friendly space where people can gather and share an experience. “We really wanted people to have a space where they could come in, share a story and have a genuine connection with somebody,” Abbie says “It’s meant for them to feel very comfortable and at home.” While acknowledging that alcohol, for a small portion of humans, is a deadly poison, Phillip adds, “It’s part of the human experience. It breaks down barriers between people and that’s what the world needs more of right now.”

When Phillip, Kandis, Jake, and Abbie decided that they would open a distillery together, they weren’t entirely sure how they would go about it. After all, none of them had any formal distilling experience to speak of. Only Phillip, the Marine of the group, had done some distilling as a hobby. However, one thing they all knew for sure is that they wanted to start a business that would serve the community, and, over the last five years, they’ve done exactly that.

The two couples became friends after Kandis and Abbie, who were both teachers at the time, met at work. Kandis and her husband, Phillip, had just moved to Colorado Springs and the two couples became fast friends. When Phillip’s retirement from the Marines was just around the corner, he realized he would finally have something he never got to have as an officer in the Marines—a hobby. “There I was in my mid-40s, and I had no hobbies. I was at a job where I had a lot of free time, which I’d never had before, and I picked up a book on distilling. I built a little distill, made some good stuff, and really enjoyed it,” Phillip said. “I started touring distilleries and I thought maybe I’ll open a distillery when I retire.” When asked what his wife thought of his new business idea, Phillip said, “Kandis thought I was crazy, but she supported me anyway.” Phillip then took a course called Boots to Business, which taught him how to bring life to his business plan, and what started as a hobby slowly became a legitimate business. All he needed was a partner.

At that time, Jake was working as a freelance graphic designer and Phillip approached him for his input on a logo design. Eventually, they decided they would become partners and the six month search for the perfect location began. Once they found it, they enlisted the help of their family and friends to gut the building and turn it into what customers see when they walk into 1350 today. “We’d work a full time job and then go after work and on weekends,” said Kandis. “We have a lot of great pictures to show from that time. It’s really special to see where we came from.” Those pictures actually don a large wall of the bar so customers can get a glimpse into the journey that brought the distillery to life.

When customers walk through the door of 1350, they enter a very open and inviting space. “When we were creating the space,” said Abbie, “It was really important to us that people felt comfortable, like they were coming into our home.” Abbie and Kandis spent months selecting just the right pieces of furniture to create the warm, homey ambiance that has become the signature of 1350. One area of the bar is furnished with couches and large, comfy seats surrounding a TV, complete with a coat rack that don’s a fireman’s uniform—a nod to the servant’s heart at the core of 1350.

The space is designed to evoke the kind of familiarity one feels when coming back to an old friend’s house after a long trip. It’s the same familiarity that makes you want to pour a drink, curl up in a chair, and share stories with your favorite people. For Jake, the setting is reminiscent of the night his brother came home from the military. They sat in their living room, had a couple of drinks, and shared stories. That is the vibe these four friends had in mind when they designed their space.

The back wall of the bar is made of floor-to-ceiling glass which gives customers a gorgeous view of the distillery where the spirits are made. As each of the founders says, there is a little bit of everything for everyone. At 1350, customers will find rums, gins, vodkas and bourbons—each one branded after a different branch of the armed forces. The idea to create a spirit that would represent the military was Phillip’s, but all four of the founders fully supported it. As Jake says, “80% of the US population has never served, like three-fourths of the owners—only Phil is our veteran—but most everyone knows someone who did. Someone they love—a neighbor, a family member, someone they went to school with.” That affiliation, that intentional nod to the brave men and women who serve our country, is what gives customers, and the owners, an emotional tie to 1350 Distilling.

Along with the desire to make sure each branch of the military was represented by the spirits they created, the four friends also knew from day one that giving back to the community would be a priority. 10% of the profits made are donated to charitable organizations through the business’ nonprofit arm, Angel Battalion, which Abbie leads. “Giving back to the community is really important to all four of us,” Abbie said, “We’re not just a bar.” Rather than try to create their own nonprofit organization, the four owners decided that they would use their resources to expose the hard work of existing organizations and provide a space where they would share their work with the community.

Each quarter, Abbie takes the resources that are available and funnels them into the different organizations that they support, which include Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, Honor Flight of Southern Colorado, Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership, and Project Angel Heart, to name just a few. In addition to the distillery, 1350 also has a small private event space that is available for reservations. They allow nonprofit organizations to use the space for their events, board meetings, and fundraisers completely free of charge.

Funnily enough, none of the four owners are native to Colorado Springs, but they chose to call it home because they fell in love with what they referred to as the big city with the small town feel. What they want more than anything is to give back to the city that has given them so much.

When asked about the future of the business, Phillip said he wants to see the distilling industry expand. While many people know about brewing, few know about distilling. As Phillip said, “It’s a very small craft.” He intends to change that, in part, by working with the SkillBridge program, which helps people transitioning out of the military find new careers. “People need to find something that’s going to be their future,” Phillip said, “The SkillBridge program is an opportunity to learn a specific trade or skill when you get out of the military.” Ideally, he’d like to help people who are transitioning out of the military learn the skill of distilling to either run their own distillery or work for him some day. In doing so, his hope is that he’ll create more opportunities for people in Colorado Springs.