Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Bloom & Kurt Rogers.
Hi Michael & Kurt, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
As Bartenders with lengthy careers in the industry, we were looking to do something for ourselves and started The Luau Lads. We wanted to cater weddings with full pig roasts and cocktails to boot, but had some early setbacks & decided to move in a more cocktail-centric direction.
We hosted a few bar takeovers and had a really great event at the Secret Tiki Temple, with our 2020 calendar filling up fast when the pandemic hit. Realizing we were at a bit of a standstill we started researching RTD(ready to drink) cocktails, and how we might try our hand in that market. We locked down a solid recipe for a Pecan Orgeat, & began selling on our website, & have had a solid response, with a couple of local bars/coffee shops also using it in their recipes.
Our good friend David Cohen of Manifest Distilling reached out to find out more about our concept and offered to help. We landed on the Saturn Cocktail for our first project, as Manifest already had the Gin. With it being one of our favorite cocktails, it was an easy choice. Another important ingredient in Saturn is Falernum. Opting to make our own, we began R&D in late 2020 and had a finished product about 6 months later.
We decided we should also release the Falernum as an individual product, as well as using it in our Saturn RTD, and did so in June of 2021. We are currently available throughout Florida & being used by bars throughout the state. We have had some really great support from friends and strangers alike, and most recently became available in Total Wine Jacksonville.
We continue to research ways to bring our Saturn RTD to market, but for now, it is available in a 375 bottle on the shelf at Manifest. We are starting work on our second product, which we keeping a secret for now, but look forward to sharing with you in the future. 2022 starts off with a bang as we head to Atlanta for Inuhele(a tiki weekender) to host a class & falernum panel.
We are also working on distribution for a handful of other states, and look forward to what the new year will bring
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are always struggles and learning curves. But we have asked for help when needed and put in the time and effort to make sure we were getting the result we wanted
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are both career bartenders, but the Luau Lads is a partnership based on our love for RUM & all things tropical.
Our goal is to bring our spin on cocktails to everyone everywhere… Whether that be through bar takeovers in other cities, hosting educational events, private functions, or hosting seminars at larger events. Our goal is to let people know that R(h)um is AS delicious and diverse and any other spirit.
And that tropical drinks are for any occasion
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
It never hurts to ask for help or to get advice from someone who has been doing it longer than you.
Pricing:
- Based on the number of people/drinks
- 4 hrs Block $800 (2 bartenders)
- Custom Menu
- Travel, Prep, serving vessels as add ons
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: Luaulads.com
- Instagram: @Luau_lads
- Facebook: Luau Lads
Image Credits
Nick Hogan @boldcitybourbon
