Interview with Devin Mills, president
Q: How did you get involved in this business?
A: The University of Colorado MBA program requires students to start a business on paper in order to graduate. I had been kicking around starting a distillery since looking into buying an apple orchard in 2009 and pitched it to several of my classmates. The idea seemed to have merit and we won several business plan competitions. In 2014, we decided to incorporate Rado.
Q: What distinguishes you from other businesses in your category?
A: We are the only distillery in the U.S. making rum from sugar beets. At Rado we believe that a local distillery should distill local products, and since Colorado doesn’t have commercial sugar cane production, we developed a way to make a rum-like product from sugar beets. Rum is federally required to be made from sugar cane, so despite using a rum fermentation, distillation and aging process, we do not make rum — we make a Colorado beet spirit. Also, we make draft cocktails for our tasting room and for sale to select local restaurants and bars.
Q: What do you like best about your line of work?
A: I enjoy being able to talk to a variety of people about our spirits and what makes them different. To show someone what the process is that goes into making their favorite beverage, while they are drinking it, and then show them how little changes can make a big difference in flavor is by far the favorite part of my day.
Q: What is your business’ biggest challenge?
A: Our biggest challenge is letting people know that quality rum is being made in the Denver-metro area, especially since we can’t call it rum. Getting people to try a beet spirit so that they can realize that it tastes just like other high quality rums can be quite the challenge.
Q: Something people might be surprised to learn about you or your business:
A: We have built all of our production equipment in our distillery. Our master distiller is also a master fabricator who has been able to turn my designs for the best way to make our Colorado spirits into a reality. We are in the process of building our second still, which should be ready by the end of summer.
Profile
Business: Rado Distilling
Address: 5405 W. 56th Ave., Unit C, Arvada
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Founded: 2014
Contact: 720-767-2360,
Employees: 3
