Just like mead and its derivative spirits start with honey, RevSpirits and BeeLine Meadery begins with the beekeepers. Philip Potak and Bill Parker were beekeeping hobbyists for decades before venturing into mead production and distilling here in Jefferson, New York.
Potak and Parker will tell you bees are very important, not only to their process but to the food we eat in general.
“About 30 percent of what we consume in this country comes from honeybees pollinating something,” Potak said. “It’s amazing what they do.
“I think that’s a really important aspect of what we do – bringing it all back to the bee and letting people know the importance of bees,” he said.
The practice of beekeeping has fascinated Potak and Parker for many years. And in all those years, they accumulated a lot of honey. You could only sell so much of it, so they began thinking about other products they could make from honey.
“We had buckets and buckets and buckets of honey, so I started to do some research,” Parker said. “Mead came up and I said well I like to drink cocktails and things, so let’s make some.”
Mead is the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man, probably due to its ultra-simple ingredients of honey, water and yeast. Potak and Parker along with a couple other hunting/fishing/beekeeping buddies found it to be delicious, so that’s how it began – as something the four friends could drink around the campfire or just enjoy while hanging out.
“So, the idea was if someone can take grapes, ferment them, make wine then distill the wine into brandies and cognacs, why couldn’t we use honey as a source? We’d make the mead and then distill it,” Potak said. “Then we knew we were onto something.”
What was originally named Revolutionary Spirits as a tribute to their Schoharie County surroundings being called the “Breadbasket of the American Revolution” began to take shape in 2015. The RevSpirits brand was launched about four years later, mainly making appearances at farmers markets, festivals and other community events. People liked it – a lot.
“On the craft beverage scene, there are ciders, there are beers, and I think mead and spirits made from mead fit in well,” Potak said. “It’s something that not everyone knows and no one else is doing what we do.
“It’s very drinkable and it’s very different,” he said. “One of the great things about mead is it can be dry to syrupy sweet. We lean toward the dry side.”
And that tends to surprise people. The distilled versions cannot be classified as vodka, rum and honey liqueur because of their ingredients, but they mimic those styles both straight and in the litany of traditional and original cocktails they serve.
Each bottle of spirits is hand-labeled with the exact batch and bottle number personally written by the co-owners on it. It shows the craft and care behind each proudly presented product. Yes, they held on to batch 1, bottle 1 much like a small business preserves its first dollar.
The two partners have created an idyllic environment to enjoy these uncommon and exclusive beverages. The BeeYard features some beautiful views of the countryside complete with lush fields and majestic hills. The layout, which features a growing series of pavilions was carefully considered.
“We thought of the pavilion concept to give people the option to separate or come together,” Potak said. “One of the things that resonated with us when we visited various places, be it breweries or whatnot was that people like to be outside.
“One of the things that is important to us is that we enjoy being here. And I think that resonates,” he said.
What Potak and Parker created was a destination for people looking to spend time with family and friends or just take in the gorgeous scenery by themselves. It’s been a great success that’s incredibly satisfying for these two who spent so many years gradually building a business founded on and fueled by the bees.
“Honeybees are so important in terms of pollination, in terms of making honey,” Parker said. “I think that importance is where RevSpirits came from. Let’s take these bees and showcase them. And that’s what we’re trying to do and hopefully doing it well.”
