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Rebecca Stine has learned to roll with the punches.
The Erie entrepreneur co-founded Room 33 Speakeasy on State Street, where he creates and operates Blind Tiger Spirit-Free Cocktails.
Businesses suffered some damage. And each time, Steen got back on his feet and continued the fight.
She recently posted two photos of Ivan Drago’s “I have to destroy you” stare from Rocky IV, adding, “Sometimes[being an entrepreneur]feels like the image on the left.” I added a caption. “But sometimes I feel like that’s the right image,” she said of the victorious but battered Rocky.
“The important thing is that as an entrepreneur you always get beat down, but sometimes you win. You just get through everything and outlast everyone else,” said Stine, 47. “It won’t be an easy journey, but we have to believe we can make it.”
Stine and her husband, Rob Maart, opened the Prohibition-themed Room 33 Speakeasy at 1033 State Street on New Year’s Eve 2017. The entrance, behind a movable bookshelf, dim lighting, 1930s decor, and cigar room offer a place to hide from the law. atmosphere.
Signature cocktails, fine dining, and live music attracted the crowd. Then, just over two years after opening, not only the speakeasy but most of the business was closed due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection.
“That’s where Blind Tiger came in. I started it because we couldn’t legally sell to-go alcohol because it was initially limited to take-out only,” Stine said. “His 90% of our sales were from bars, so we had to come up with other options.
“One of them was to create non-alcoholic versions of cocktails using all-natural ingredients.”
Stine took the idea to Room 33 mixologist Elizabeth Heffernan. Heffernan developed her original recipes for four different spirit-free cocktails named after their alcohol-based counterparts. Sidecar has a sweet and sour balance of orange, lemon, brandy and bitters flavors. Southside is a blend of mint and lime with juniper. and Ward 8, a smoky citrus drink with notes of apple, orange, and cherry.
“We were making them without alcohol, so we were trying to find an alternative. We use juniper in our gin,” Stine said.
The beverage engineer ultimately helped ensure the recipe was a top-of-the-line recipe with an appropriate shelf life. Investors provided the money for Styn to make and sell cocktails.
Room 33 reopened after the height of the pandemic and regained its customer base. In 2022, Stine and Maart sold a majority interest in the business to Heffernan and bootlegger general manager Sean McCall.
Steen is currently focusing on Blind Tiger.
Her non-alcoholic cocktails are available at many local establishments, including Luminary Distillery, Altered State Distillery, and Room 33. It’s also sold at about 100 Wegmans stores, including Giant Eagle in Yorktown and both stores in Erie.
Distribution is also progressing nationwide. Blind His Tiger drinks are sold by his Arizona-based supermarket chain Sprouts, whose 400 stores specialize in natural and organic foods. The mocktail is also available at wine, spirits and beer retailers throughout Michigan and Massachusetts.
Continuing to grow your business will be a process that includes building your management team. We’ve introduced more flavors, including Lavender French 75, which was developed last summer. And to overcome new challenges.
As an entrepreneur, Styn anticipates challenges and continues to build on the foundation of his graduate degrees in public administration, marketing and leadership, as well as his past experience as vice president of the Erie Innovation District and part-time project manager for Erie County Redevelopment. I learned. authority. She also teaches graduate-level courses in innovation and entrepreneurship at Mercyhurst University.
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“Being an entrepreneur is less about having all the answers and more about being a doer. It takes guts. It takes determination. You have to be willing to take risks and know that it’s okay to fail. You have to know, it’s never a good feeling, but it’s part of life’s process,” Stine said. “Just because something isn’t working out the way you want it to at the moment doesn’t mean it won’t work out eventually or that things won’t change.”
Even though he has many strikeouts, he always returns to the plate.
“In baseball, if you fail to get on base seven out of 10 times, you have a good chance of being a Hall of Fame hitter,” Stine said.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timenews.com.
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