August 18, 2026 • 7 mins
Shawn Herbig, co-founder of Bluegrass Bitters, chats up Terry Meiners on WHAS Radio after winning MIXER OF THE YEAR honors at the New Orleans Spirits Competition.
Shawn makes a few suggestions for clever drink creations to do at home.
Shawn makes a few suggestions for clever drink creations to do at home.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know what else has legs sometimes is a good drink.
I want to tell you about Bluegrass Bitters, founded by
a local couple. They are They create the Kentucky Proud
Arteasonal cocktail brand, Bluegrass Bitters, handcrafted bitters and syrups offerings
including newly launched dark Cherry Bitters and much more. And
(00:24):
recently they won an award at the twenty twenty six
New Orleans Spirits Competition. The co founder, Sean Herbig, joins
me now, Seawan, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Garry, how are you ser good to be here, good
to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We love when our local companies are recognized for their greatness.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We kind of like it too. We're kind of proud
to be kind of proud to be a fourth generation
Kentuckian and a brand new Kentucky proud company and uh
and tied in with Bourbon and then here we go
off to New Orleans and win this big old award
Mixer of the Year. We're pretty excited.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
And that's your five Spice Orange Bitters.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That is that is correct? Yeah, We've got a few
different bitterers out there, and our five Spice Orange Bitters
has done really well in the competition. Category, but quite frankly,
it does even better in a drink. But yes, it's
our five spice Orange Bitters one double Golden Mixer of
the Year in the New Orleans Spirits competent.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Are you like Colonel Sanders and you you won't tell
anybody any of the ingredients of something you've got. You're
just gonna die with that information.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I will. I'll give you two of them though, all right,
So if you think about think about that orange, right,
So it's that nice citrus forward, and then we balance
that out with some notes of green cardamom like your
chi tea, yeah, and caraway seed carraway seeds like you
got in rye bread. So you think about those earthy
spices coming in and then you you take that with
the citrus, and then you mix that with the good
(01:50):
Kentucky rye. You can do a Kentucky bourbon, but if
you do it with a good Kentucky rye, you mix
that with a little bit of our smoky simple syrup.
We call it our burnt Orange. It's a flagship conct
to play out an old fashioned. Since we've launched, we've
served a few thousand of them. Haven't gotten any complaints. Yet,
but we think we got a bit of a hit.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Here's the thing. I've got a college age daughter, she's
twenty one. Her friends come over now and making drinks.
Is this whole thing? Now? They love all this stuff
like your product's popular, and so they love the whole
thing like they're running a laboratory on my kitchen counter.
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That is the thing that the on ramp to the
bourbon culture. We've got to think about this one. I
love the fact that you said twenty one. Let's be honest,
that's important. Oh yeah, gotta be twenty one and older. Right,
But we do see a lot of these younger people
come in. They've got a sophisticated palette. They're not drinking
that bathtub hooch, you know, jungle juice.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Hey, like idiots like us did.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah exactly, we're not admitting any guilt. But you know,
sometimes but they're coming in with these sophisticated palettes and
they're going, hey, I want a good cocktail and in
very old that they're leaning into bourbon. And if that's
the case, and you're gonna be talking about an old
fashioned or you're gonna be talking about a Manhattan and
Terry here's how I view it. We've already got a
(03:09):
lot of great Kentucky bourbon, right, We're blessed in that regard.
It's everything else in the glass though, that we got
to be intentional about. And we want products that are
made with just as much intentionality as our great Kentucky bourbon.
And Yeah, a lot of young drinkers they're getting it.
They're going, hey, this is if I'm gonna have a cocktail.
I may not have three or four of them, but
(03:30):
I'm gonna have one, maybe two, and I want it
to be a great cocktail exactly. And we think that's
part of where we come in.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, and Sean, part of this the success is something
like TikTok, where they're all like kind of in competition
with each other. Here's what I do. Then they show
the whole creation and then somebody else says, let me
up you there, and so that can't hurt you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
No, it's not doesn't hurt us at all. I mean,
in addition having great flavors, we're really big fans of
the home bartender. Right, we want to make you a
hero of your home bar, and whether that means serving
it to friends or you're serving it to yourself. We're
one of the biggest believers that says, Look, the most
important guest in your home is you. And if it's
Tuesday night and you're tired and you had a long day,
(04:12):
don't shortcut yourself and just drink a neat, poor of whatever.
Just make yourself that good cocktail if that's what you're
interested in. I mean, shoot, when you're tired of more now,
isn't that the time that you deserve it the most.
So we want to make it easy to make great cocktails.
Whether you're a home bartender or you're a professional mixologist,
either one, but certainly the hero of your home bar.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
We're all about, no doubt, a matam. My wife and
I are both are like, you know, we'll grab something fast.
But then since she's been home all summer she just
went back to college. But I mean, it was like
we were getting all these great drinks because of the
creativity that goes into that. All right, So put us off.
Give people who are listening to us a moment, Just
(04:52):
give them an idea about something they could do when
they get home tonight other than popping a beer or
like you said, just pouring a neat bourbon. It's just
something simple.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I'm gonna tell you if three ingredients will make you
the best old fashioned start with a really good Kentucky
bourbon or rye. Doesn't have to be expensive, but you
want something good, moderate quality. Maybe you know, thirty to
fifty dollars a bottle. Think about that pair that with
In this case, we're going to talk about blue grass bitters. Right,
So you want in an old fashion. You got the bourbon,
you got the sweetener, and you got the bitters. So
(05:23):
start with that bourbon. Take about two ounces. Right, that's
your good, solid, poor that's your base for your syrup.
We've got a great smoky, simple syrup one hundred percent
Toterbnado with a natural oak confusion, so you get a
real subtle smoke and a nice sweetness that accentuates the
caramel and butterscotch and vanilla notes that are in that bourbon.
If you want to take that, go between about a
quarter of an ounce, maybe up to half of an ounce, right,
(05:45):
depending on how much bite your bourbon at. If you're
doing rhyme, maybe go with like a half an ounce.
If you're doing like a small batch bourbon, maybe go
more for like a quarter of an ounce. And then
in terms of your bidders, you want two good hard
dashes or too drop as it works out to be
about a quarter of a teaspoon. That's it. Put it together,
stir it with some ice, Strain it over a fresh
block of ice. And here's the thing. And even if
(06:06):
you don't have the fancy block ice, just pull some
ice out of your freezer for goodnessake. So we got
good water here, it makes good ice. Just strain it
over some fresh ice, garnish it with a single cherry
dip back, put your feet up and enjoy three ingredients.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
I love that. That's a good simple start for everybody. Well,
congratulations again on your twenty twenty six New Orleans Spirits
Competition Mixer of the Year award for Bluegrass Bitters, and
thank you continued success. That's the website bluegrass Bitters dot
net where you can learn it.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yes, sir, absolutely, Sean.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Congratulations to you and your wife. I know the two
of you created these products, and we're excited for you.
We're Kentucky proud when something gets a national notoriety like that.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, thank you very much for recognizing that We sure
do appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Okay, bro, talk to you down the road. See you
see you fight. That's Sean Herbig, co creator with his
wife Kathy of Bluegrass Bitters. That's where you find him.
That's their website, bluegrassbitters dot net. And he's exactly right.
Don't be lazy and just say, oh, I don't feel
like take a minute. My daughter taught me this. This
summer is just like enjoy a real drink where some
(07:15):
creativity went in there, and you'll sit there and just
gaze at it and like, this is the treat I've
been dreaming about. I'm coming back to Sports Update and
a few year on news radio. Wait forty whas
You know what else has legs sometimes is a good drink.
I want to tell you about Bluegrass Bitters, founded by
a local couple. They are They create the Kentucky Proud
Arteasonal cocktail brand, Bluegrass Bitters, handcrafted bitters and syrups offerings
including newly launched dark Cherry Bitters and much more. And
(00:24):
recently they won an award at the twenty twenty six
New Orleans Spirits Competition. The co founder, Sean Herbig, joins
me now, Seawan, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Garry, how are you ser good to be here, good
to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
We love when our local companies are recognized for their greatness.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We kind of like it too. We're kind of proud
to be kind of proud to be a fourth generation
Kentuckian and a brand new Kentucky proud company and uh
and tied in with Bourbon and then here we go
off to New Orleans and win this big old award
Mixer of the Year. We're pretty excited.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
And that's your five Spice Orange Bitters.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That is that is correct? Yeah, We've got a few
different bitterers out there, and our five Spice Orange Bitters
has done really well in the competition. Category, but quite frankly,
it does even better in a drink. But yes, it's
our five spice Orange Bitters one double Golden Mixer of
the Year in the New Orleans Spirits competent.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Are you like Colonel Sanders and you you won't tell
anybody any of the ingredients of something you've got. You're
just gonna die with that information.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I will. I'll give you two of them though, all right,
So if you think about think about that orange, right,
So it's that nice citrus forward, and then we balance
that out with some notes of green cardamom like your
chi tea, yeah, and caraway seed carraway seeds like you
got in rye bread. So you think about those earthy
spices coming in and then you you take that with
the citrus, and then you mix that with the good
(01:50):
Kentucky rye. You can do a Kentucky bourbon, but if
you do it with a good Kentucky rye, you mix
that with a little bit of our smoky simple syrup.
We call it our burnt Orange. It's a flagship conct
to play out an old fashioned. Since we've launched, we've
served a few thousand of them. Haven't gotten any complaints. Yet,
but we think we got a bit of a hit.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Here's the thing. I've got a college age daughter, she's
twenty one. Her friends come over now and making drinks.
Is this whole thing? Now? They love all this stuff
like your product's popular, and so they love the whole
thing like they're running a laboratory on my kitchen counter.
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
That is the thing that the on ramp to the
bourbon culture. We've got to think about this one. I
love the fact that you said twenty one. Let's be honest,
that's important. Oh yeah, gotta be twenty one and older. Right,
But we do see a lot of these younger people
come in. They've got a sophisticated palette. They're not drinking
that bathtub hooch, you know, jungle juice.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Hey, like idiots like us did.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah exactly, we're not admitting any guilt. But you know,
sometimes but they're coming in with these sophisticated palettes and
they're going, hey, I want a good cocktail and in
very old that they're leaning into bourbon. And if that's
the case, and you're gonna be talking about an old
fashioned or you're gonna be talking about a Manhattan and
Terry here's how I view it. We've already got a
(03:09):
lot of great Kentucky bourbon, right, We're blessed in that regard.
It's everything else in the glass though, that we got
to be intentional about. And we want products that are
made with just as much intentionality as our great Kentucky bourbon.
And Yeah, a lot of young drinkers they're getting it.
They're going, hey, this is if I'm gonna have a cocktail.
I may not have three or four of them, but
(03:30):
I'm gonna have one, maybe two, and I want it
to be a great cocktail exactly. And we think that's
part of where we come in.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, and Sean, part of this the success is something
like TikTok, where they're all like kind of in competition
with each other. Here's what I do. Then they show
the whole creation and then somebody else says, let me
up you there, and so that can't hurt you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
No, it's not doesn't hurt us at all. I mean,
in addition having great flavors, we're really big fans of
the home bartender. Right, we want to make you a
hero of your home bar, and whether that means serving
it to friends or you're serving it to yourself. We're
one of the biggest believers that says, Look, the most
important guest in your home is you. And if it's
Tuesday night and you're tired and you had a long day,
(04:12):
don't shortcut yourself and just drink a neat, poor of whatever.
Just make yourself that good cocktail if that's what you're
interested in. I mean, shoot, when you're tired of more now,
isn't that the time that you deserve it the most.
So we want to make it easy to make great cocktails.
Whether you're a home bartender or you're a professional mixologist,
either one, but certainly the hero of your home bar.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
We're all about, no doubt, a matam. My wife and
I are both are like, you know, we'll grab something fast.
But then since she's been home all summer she just
went back to college. But I mean, it was like
we were getting all these great drinks because of the
creativity that goes into that. All right, So put us off.
Give people who are listening to us a moment, Just
(04:52):
give them an idea about something they could do when
they get home tonight other than popping a beer or
like you said, just pouring a neat bourbon. It's just
something simple.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I'm gonna tell you if three ingredients will make you
the best old fashioned start with a really good Kentucky
bourbon or rye. Doesn't have to be expensive, but you
want something good, moderate quality. Maybe you know, thirty to
fifty dollars a bottle. Think about that pair that with
In this case, we're going to talk about blue grass bitters. Right,
So you want in an old fashion. You got the bourbon,
you got the sweetener, and you got the bitters. So
(05:23):
start with that bourbon. Take about two ounces. Right, that's
your good, solid, poor that's your base for your syrup.
We've got a great smoky, simple syrup one hundred percent
Toterbnado with a natural oak confusion, so you get a
real subtle smoke and a nice sweetness that accentuates the
caramel and butterscotch and vanilla notes that are in that bourbon.
If you want to take that, go between about a
quarter of an ounce, maybe up to half of an ounce, right,
(05:45):
depending on how much bite your bourbon at. If you're
doing rhyme, maybe go with like a half an ounce.
If you're doing like a small batch bourbon, maybe go
more for like a quarter of an ounce. And then
in terms of your bidders, you want two good hard
dashes or too drop as it works out to be
about a quarter of a teaspoon. That's it. Put it together,
stir it with some ice, Strain it over a fresh
block of ice. And here's the thing. And even if
(06:06):
you don't have the fancy block ice, just pull some
ice out of your freezer for goodnessake. So we got
good water here, it makes good ice. Just strain it
over some fresh ice, garnish it with a single cherry
dip back, put your feet up and enjoy three ingredients.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
I love that. That's a good simple start for everybody. Well,
congratulations again on your twenty twenty six New Orleans Spirits
Competition Mixer of the Year award for Bluegrass Bitters, and
thank you continued success. That's the website bluegrass Bitters dot
net where you can learn it.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yes, sir, absolutely, Sean.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Congratulations to you and your wife. I know the two
of you created these products, and we're excited for you.
We're Kentucky proud when something gets a national notoriety like that.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, thank you very much for recognizing that We sure
do appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Okay, bro, talk to you down the road. See you
see you fight. That's Sean Herbig, co creator with his
wife Kathy of Bluegrass Bitters. That's where you find him.
That's their website, bluegrassbitters dot net. And he's exactly right.
Don't be lazy and just say, oh, I don't feel
like take a minute. My daughter taught me this. This
summer is just like enjoy a real drink where some
(07:15):
creativity went in there, and you'll sit there and just
gaze at it and like, this is the treat I've
been dreaming about. I'm coming back to Sports Update and
a few year on news radio. Wait forty whas
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