Waterbird Spirits – C-VILLE Weekly

Out & about: Food, fun, and philanthropy

Ready to take a breather after the holiday bustle? Sorry—no rest for the weary. Besides, you’ll feel better if you get up and go, go, go with so many good things on tap.

That’s alotta gelato

Forget resolutions, there’s endless gelato to be had. Continuing a tradition started in 2007, Splendora’s Gelato offers all you can eat for $10 a person every Wednesday in January and February, starting Wednesday, January 8. There are a few rules (no re-entry, no sharing, and only one scoop at a time!) but this is still a solid deal. The record for one person is 36 scoops in two hours. Can you say “froze brain”? 317 E. Main St., 296-8555, splendoras.com

Buy one, give one

Eat well and give back at the same time at Great Harvest Bread Company. For every loaf of honey whole wheat bread you buy this month, owners Aileen and Michael Magnotto will donate one to The Haven. Also in January, sign up for one of the bakery’s Knead & Sip events (beer, wine, and bread—nice combo), and 20 percent of the $35 class fee will support The Salvation Army’s Soup Kitchen. 1701 Allied Ln., 202-7813, greatharvestcville.com

What the Belle?

Opened last April, Belmont’s Belle endeared itself to customers with its bright digs, luscious lattes, wine happy hours, and short-but-solid casual menu. But owner Andy McClure is aiming higher, partnering with brothers John and Scott Shanesy to add dinner to the mix, increase bread and pastry options, and revamp the breakfast and lunch menu. The Shanesy duo brings experience from restaurants in Charlottesville, Charleston, and New York City. Now closed for renovation, Belle is due to reopen January 15.

Two words: rare mezcal

Mezcal, tequila’s trendy cousin, has been rising in popularity on bar menus in recent years. Whether you’ve never tried it before or just want to keep trying more, head to the The Bebedero at 6pm, Wednesday, January 15, when barkeeps will pull the rarest mezcal off the shelf (like, normally $50 a shot rare) and serve samples to all who pony up the $50 entry fee. Email thebebedero@gmail.com for tickets. 225 W. Main St., Downtown Mall, 234-3763, thebebedero.com

Waterbird hits the bottle

In other booze news, Waterbird Spirits recently announced that the premium potato vodka used to make its canned cocktails will be available in liquor stores early this year. Sounds like a perfect addition for your bar cart.

Editor’s Pick: Self-care

Common Ground Healing Arts kicked off its New Year Class Series on January 6, offering a prime opportunity to jump-start your resolutions to take better care of yourself and engage more with the community in 2020. Held once a week for six weeks, the sessions operate on a pay-what-you-can basis, inviting participation in any of 16 classes, from gentle to “radically restorative” yoga, and mental exercises such as Mindful Communication Toward Racial Justice. Carver Recreation Center at The Jefferson School City Center, 233 Fourth St. NW, 218-7677, commongroundcville.org

Looking ahead

Just announced: Celebrated local chef Ian Redshaw (formerly of Lampo and Prime 109) returns to the kitchen at The Happy Cook’s newly expanded cooking school on Wednesday, March 11, 6-8pm, sharing his secrets for making fresh filled pasta (ramp agnolotti with beurre blanc) from scratch. This is a hot ticket, so book fast for a spot at the table. $75 per person. Barracks Road Shopping Center, 977-2665, thehappycook.com • Feeling crafty? Expand your repertoire with a workshop at The Hive. The brush-lettering basics class takes place 7-9pm Thursday, January 23, and hand-knitted pillow instruction will be offered 2-4pm Saturday, January 25. $65 and $50 per person, respectively. 1747 Allied St. Suite K, 253-0906, thehivecville.com • Get your steps in with a Ragged Mountain Reservoir Hike hosted by Wild Virginia. Starting at 10am Sunday, January 26, the seven-mile loop should take approximately five hours, including a break for BYO lunch. Free, but registration is required at bit.ly/ragged-hike. 1730 Reservoir Rd., contact Dave Carey (dcarey@his.com) for more info

Testing the waters: Wilson Craig bets on canned cocktails as the next big thing

Under normal circumstances, having your jaw broken and reset in order to correct an underbite—and then being laid-up in recovery for two months—would be a bummer. But Wilson Craig was happy for the time on the couch. It gave him an opportunity to think. He took his meals through a straw, and wasn’t able to talk, so he spent a lot of time in his own head.

This was about a year ago, and he was living in Manhattan, where he worked in real-estate finance. In this regard, he was following in his father’s rather large footsteps. Hunter E. Craig is one of the biggest landowners and developers in town, a co-founder of Virginia National Bank, and a member of the board at UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

But the younger Craig didn’t necessarily want to pick up the paternal mantle. Not long before the operation, he told his dad that he had an idea to create a canned-cocktail brand. He wanted to return from New York, settle down in Charlottesville, and launch the business in the city he knows and loves. His father liked the idea. He liked it so much that he helped his son get started. And now, after a whirlwind startup, Waterbird Spirits is cranking out tens of thousands of 12-ounce canned vodka-and-sodas and Moscow Mules from a sharp-looking shop on the corner of Water and West Second streets. If all goes as planned, four-packs of Waterbird cocktails priced at $13.99 will appear in local supermarkets by the end of September, and the space on Water Street will open for tours in 2020. (Waterbird does not have a license to offer tastings on-site.)

On a blistering-hot day in August, Craig tilts back in a chair in the Waterbird office and crosses his long legs. A woman knocks on the door. Craig uncrosses his legs, bolts upright, and hurries over to greet her.

“Hi,” says the woman.

“Hello,” Craig says, or rather, almost shouts.

“When are you guys opening?” she asks.

“Not for awhile, but we’re in production now,” Craig says.

“Great!” says the woman.

“Thanks so much for your interest,” Craig says. “Really—thank you!”

This is not an act. Craig relishes telling people about Waterbird. “We get a lot of that,” he says, bounding back to his chair. “I love it. People are curious, and we want them to see what’s going on here.”

He also wants you to know that the building, once The Clock Shop of Virginia, actually started as a Sears auto service center. “Sears used to be one of the biggest companies in the United States,” Craig says. “But what happens to a company when they don’t pay attention to their customers? They end up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.”

His point: Waterbird will succeed by focusing relentlessly on what consumers want. In his opinion—shaped by months of conversations with his father and local winemakers, distillers, and brewers, including his official consultant, Hunter Smith of Champion Brewing Company, and some work with focus groups and taste-testers—consumers want high-quality canned cocktails. “We’re going to use potato vodka because it’s so much better than corn vodka” Craig says. “And we’re going to use cane sugar, because it’s infinitely better than high-fructose corn syrup.”

With many alternative canned beverages entering the market, including the aforementioned hard seltzer and non-alcoholic euphorics, some using CBD, Craig might have reason to temper his enthusiasm for his own product. But, um—not a chance.

“When I was living in New York, all my friends were drinking Bud Light, but not for the taste or any other redeeming factor—it was just convenient,” he says. “Convenience is king. So I thought, why isn’t there a better alternative for portable cocktails?”

As for marketing and branding, Craig sees Charlottesville, Virginia—which is clearly stamped on Waterbird’s label—as an asset.

“Charlottesville has received a lot of bad publicity,” he says. “But I just want to embrace the good. We want to be a product that people see and feel happy and proud that it’s made in Charlottesville. Excited, happy, upbeat, positive—that’s what this brand is.”