Echo Spirits Distilling Co.

Joe Bidinger and Nikhil Sharoff say that a shared interest in the art of craft libations has kept their friendship kindled through the years. Columbus natives who met as teens at Bishop Watterson High School, the duo is now turning their hobby into a business with the launch of Echo Spirits Distilling Co., a craft distillery and bar on West 6th Avenue in Grandview.

“I graduated from college in 2008, which was the middle of the recession,” Joe says. “I didn’t have a job, but I had gotten used to good beer and wasn’t going to give it up. It was cheaper to make it than buy it,” he notes with a laugh.

Joe began brewing at home and soon discovered that Nikhil shared this interest, too. The two analytical minds—Joe has a degree in finance and Nikhil in engineering—say they found the creative outlet of beer making to be nourishing.

In 2012, the friends started to consider turning their hobby into a business. However, with a craft beer boom under way in the region, they were unsure how their concept fit in. On the lookout for what Joe calls “the next big thing,” the pair attempted a host of other home-brewed beverages, including wine, sake and mead. It was at this point that Joe and Nikhil became captivated with the craft spirits movement they saw taking root in communities across the country. “A wave of craft distilleries opened in California, Oregon and Washington,” Joe explains. “We went to Gig Harbor, Washington, and took a week-long distilling class. It was intense, but that was when we started taking the idea of opening our own business seriously.”

In 2019, after several years of research and engagement with craft makers in town, namely Watershed Distillery and Middle West Spirits, Joe and Nikhil launched Echo Spirits in the space formerly occupied by Four String Brewing. In October, their alcohol was approved for sale and by December, it could be found on the shelves of stores in the city. This spring, the craft cocktail bar attached to the distillery officially opened for business.

The company produces a white rum, which Nikhil says is unique in its reliance on molasses and sugar. “Most people make it with one or the other, but we make it with both,” he explains. “It gives it a sweetness and body,” which Nikhil says allows it to pair well but also enables it to be enjoyed alone.

This summer, Echo Spirits will launch their Genever, a Dutch grain-based liquor rich in botanicals. Though the juniper-heavy beverage resembles gin, it also features whiskey-like malt tones, the makers explain. Later this year, the company will offer a rye whiskey, which is currently maturing. Additionally, an aged rum— already crafted but perfecting offsite—will be bottled soon.

In conversation, Joe and Nikhil note their brand’s pre-Prohibition- era undertones. The company’s name is a throwback, or what they call an “echo in time,” to when individuals knew the makers in their community. “You’d go to a butcher or baker,” Joe says. Echo Spirits leans heavy on their “Know Your Distiller” tagline. “You can come in and shake the hand of the person who makes your rum, and he’ll personally give you a tour,” the duo wrote in a Kickstarter campaign that helped to fund their company.

Additionally, many of the Echo Spirits products have pre-Prohibition- era influences in the ingredients used or the way they have been concocted. “Rye whiskey was more popular than bourbon before Prohibition,” Nikhil says. “Genever was more popular than gin.”

Derek Reno, beverage director for the bar, says that Joe and Nikhil’s devotion to creativity drew him to the company. “I’ve deeply followed all of the distilleries in Columbus from the beginning and I’ve never quite seen anything like what they’re doing with the Genever,” the craft cocktail veteran says. In perfecting the recipe, the founders have sought involvement from the local craft bartending community to get their buy-in regarding the liquor’s ideal composition.

Joe and Nikhil say they’re excited about the new endeavor. However, it has been the community’s embrace—from other craft makers who have offered time and expertise to neighbors who pop in regularly to check on progress—that has made their decision to launch Echo Spirits feel like the right one.

“Columbus is really great,” Joe says about the outpouring of interest from the residents of his hometown. “Everyone is so excited and supportive.”

• Learn more about the company and where to buy their products at echospirits.com.