HOLDING THEM TO IT
How Rocker Spirits created a liquor bottle that rocks. WRITTEN BY CARRIE DOW /// PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ROCKER SPIRITS
“It can be done.” — Michael J. Owens, Inventor /Founder, Owens Bottling Company, 1903
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hen Duston Evans, founder of Rocker Spirits of Littleton, Colorado, decided to enter the distilling industry several years ago, he didn’t start with a still or a recipe. He began with a bottle. He wanted his bottle to make an immediate impact on people before they even tried the liquid inside. “I make the joke that our whiskey bottle is the Volkswagen of whiskey bottles,” Evans explained with a chuckle. “Remember the game ‘slug bug?’ You can see a Volkswagen coming from miles away whereas if it’s a pickup or a car, they all look the same. That’s the way I looked at it. Those generational brands out there you recognized by its shape. Crown Royal. Patron. You can see it from across the room.” Rocker Spirits’ unique round bottle is designed so that after it’s poured, you can let go and the bottle will rock itself upright. Evans got the idea from a 1930s oil can he bought at an Arizona junk yard for only five dollars. A collector of vintage Americana, he knew this was no ordinary container. It was a giant five-gallon metal oil can with a rounded bottom, an off-center spout, and a counterweight handle. A mechanic would tip the can on the rounded edge instead of picking it up. After pouring oil into the engine, he could let go of the handle and the
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counterweight would roll it upright. Today these antique cans sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Evans’ can, which guests can view in the distillery’s cocktail bar, became the inspiration not just for his bottle, but his whole brand. “I’m a big fan of the industrial era of our country,” Evans stated. “I love the industrial look and feel of things. We used to make things here. It speaks to work ethic. It speaks to innovation. I wasn’t going to get into this business unless I could create a bottle that evoked what I wanted in a brand.” With innovation and generational branding in mind, Evans took his idea to the 2013 ADI Conference in Denver.
“I took some CAD drawings and some NDA (non-disclosure agreement) letters and met different glass manufacturers.” Several took one look and said no way will a round bottle survive the manufacturing process. Then he met an engineer from Owens-Illinois Glass (O-I) of Perrysburg, OH. “I happen to meet with their head design guy,” he explained. “He looked at the bottle, took his glasses off and slid them up on his forehead and said, ‘How can we do this?’ That’s what I wanted to hear!” “Once they said they could do this, I went out to Perrysburg,” Evans continued, “and when I walked in their facility, they had a big quote up on the wall from their founder that says, ‘It can be done.’ I said, ‘I’m goWWW.ART ISANSPI RI TMAG.CO M