New Distillery/Cocktail Lounge Opening
The North Loop’s first distillery and cocktail lounge, Stilheart, will have its grand opening on Wednesday, March 4th. But it’s doing previews for the next few nights for a limited number of guests who sign up here.
The “Improved Old Fashioned”
Stilheart is a two-story lounge with a distillery in the basement making rum, vodka, whiskey, aquavit, gin and liqueurs, all served from a system of taps at bars on both levels.
“Based off of that system, we’re able to deliver consistent delicious cocktails,” said owner Kirsten Karnitz. “If you come in and I make the drink or if other people make the drink, it should be very similar every time you come and it’s very focused on consistency and quality.”
16 taps
At least 51% of the spirits served at the new lounge are required to be distilled on the premises. Stilheart is partnering with Lawless Distilling in south Minneapolis, which Karnitz co-founded, to provide other spirits that it can’t produce with its limited space in the North Loop.
Distillery on the lower level
“I just think this concept is right for this neighborhood,” said Karnitz. “There’s a lot of people here putting out really amazing things too and we think this system that we’ve developed with Bittercube is right for this location.”
Stilheart is located between Fairgrounds Coffee and Lululemon on 3rd Avenue North. For now, it’s not serving any food, although Karnitz said their may be some snack options in the future. “We’re just looking to perfect one thing at a time,” she said.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop Neighborhood Association
