Get in the spirit

THE PARADIGM

SHIFT Story by Jill Ellis-Worthington Photos by Dudek Photography LOCAL DISTILLERY SEEKS TO CHANGE COCKTAIL CULTURE

Two determined women have been counting on two of their good friends – Max and Lili – to turn out their products since December 2020. Michelle Debus and Irma Joeveer founded Paradigm Distillery after touring wineries, breweries and distilleries in the eastern provinces on a road trip. After touring a distillery in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, the two agreed that they could do a better job, so they set off on a new business venture with a third partner as an invester, Archie Leach (who is also part owner of neighbouring Powerhouse Brewing Co.)

Debus and Joeveer set out to learn all they could about making spirits. They attended Moonshine University in Kentucky (a learning centre offering education on all aspects of the business of spirits) and sought other professional development opportunities to hone their craft.

The two met in 2013 while working in the tech sector in Waterloo, Ontario. Their road trip came as a result of Debus taking a year off, having quit her job, and Joeveer recovering from cancer treatment.

Making great spirits is their goal but an important part of their mission is to give people a more diverse appreciation for those spirits. “We want to educate people about cocktail culture, especially women. We want to help women enjoy brown spirits (bourbon and whisky) since they traditionally don’t drink those as much,” says Debus, of their effort to shift attitudes about how to enjoy a variety of cocktails.

The duo started producing vodka and two kinds of gins in very small still. Now they depend on two stills, both imported from Italy. The smaller one is named

Senior bartender Alex Destounis and his colleagues will be using spirits produced especially for the holiday season, spruce tip gin and peppermint white chocolate vodka, to make festive cocktails.

Lili, which has a basket that holds herbs and essences to make vodka and gin and holds 500 gallons. The bigger one, named Max, holds 2,000 gallons to make moonshine and other spirits. Moonshine becomes whisky when it has been aged in a barrel for three years. All distilling is done onsite at 100 Kellogg Lane, but aging takes place elsewhere, due to space limitations and safety requirements.

Opening a business during the pandemic that is now a thriving enterprise hasn’t been an easy journey, and the difficulties started right at the beginning. “The Merry Market was to be our opening and it started on December 3 (2020). We didn’t get our liquor permit until December 2,” explains Debus, chuckling at how lucky they were. Success has followed this close call, going from five staff (including Debus and Joeveer) in 2020 to 35 in 2022. Debus estimates that they’ve increased production by 550 per cent since then. This success has also resulted in their winning the London Chamber of Commerce’s Agribusiness award in September. “We are very blessed to be recognized at this stage in our business lifecycle, but it’s only the beginning.”

Though Debus and Joeveer are hands-on with every aspect of the business, they are aided by two distillers: Melissa Bernais and Chris Patterson. The latter was formerly the brew master at Powerhouse. The staff participates in product tastings and naming new offerings. “They are a creative bunch,” says Debus, “so you never know what they will come up with.”

With the duo’s thirst to expand and add value to London’s entertainment scene, they have added a stage upstairs that features musicians every week. “We want to offer a jazz and blues scene, like the Bluebird Café in Nashville (made famous by the show Nashville),” says Debus. In October, they kicked off the acoustic music series with Juno award winner Steve Strongman. Watch the website for the music schedule.

To facilitate their goal of educating Londoners about cocktail culture and widening guests’ perspectives, Paradigm offers ‘experiences.’ These include tours and tastings, whisky and chocolate pairings, cocktail classes and food and cocktail pairing evenings spent tasting with a group of six friends around a bonfire, called Spirited Fire. Until January, the distillery is hosting Café Van Gogh to parallel Imagine Van Gogh, an immersive art show featuring his masterpieces at 100 Kellogg. Check the website for full descriptions of offered experiences.

The restaurant has been a big part of Paradigm’s growth. From serving sharable plates at the beginning to currently offering full and changing menus for lunch and dinner, Paradigm Spirits Co. has widened its audience, too. The restaurant seats 50, with additional tables on the covered patio in the summer and overflow seating in the upstairs event space.

New products are always being developed. For instance, since canned cocktails were so popular last summer, they formulated and canned their own Hibiscus Lemonade, a gin-based beverage perfect for sultry evenings. Debus says they also seek local collaborations, like the one they have with Heeman’s to make strawberry lemonade.

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Paradigm’s award-winning products can be purchased at the in-house store. This new entity has hit the ground running entering competitions across North America and bringing home three awards about which they are especially proud.

FIRST EDITION WHISKY – 2021 Double Platinum – ASCOT (American Spirits Council of Tasters) Awards – Best Canadian whisky and in 2022 Gold – SIP Awards (International Consumer Tasting) in the Blended Whisky category

2020 HERITAGE COLLECTION

CANADIAN WHISKY – 2021 Platinum – ASCOT Canadian Whisky category, Silver – 2021 IWSC Awards, 2022 Gold – SIP Awards in the Single grain whisky category and 2022 Double Platinum – ASCOT Awards again for Single grain whisky

2022 HERITAGE COLLECTION CANADIAN WHISKY WITH OLOROSO

SHERRY – 2022 Double Platinum – ASCOT (American Spirits Council of Tasters) Awards – Best Canadian whisky and 2022 Double Gold – SIP Awards for Blended Whisky

The paradigm moniker not only represents the shift they want to make in broadening appreciation of cocktail culture but also the shifts that have happened in their own lives. “It (paradigm) started out as a word we used to describe our own personal situation. We’d made the biggest decision of our lives to leave lucrative and stable careers in tech after a major health scare and realized we wanted to shift our careers,” explains Debus.

“It’s become more about what we do, and how we approach spirit-making. The methods we’ve used and profiles we created challenge distillation convention and the provenance that has long been established, particularly as it pertains to Canadian whisky. Our team is challenged to defy conventional thinking in favour of ‘what if.’ It’s become part of our ethos, and a big part of how we approach product development.” 

Myles Davis, brand ambassador, is part of the team fulfilling Paradigm's mandate to educate Londoners about cocktail culture.

● FOR MORE INFORMATION PARADIGM SPIRITS CO. • 100 Kellogg Lane, 519-659-6060 • www.paradigmspirits.com

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