Craft cocktail drinkers have a new spot to visit this summer.
View from the tasting room balcony
High Five Spirits—the creators of Gypsy Vodka—are renovating the Bay Harbor Equestrian Club into a brand new distillery and events venue.
“This is the most exciting build that I think the three of us have done to date,” said partner and Director of Operations Michael Kolkmeyer.
Soon to be known as Gypsy Farms—after Gypsy Vodka—the property sits on nearly 23 acres, overlooking Little Traverse Bay.
“Renovations are slated to begin, probably the early part of next week,” said Kolkmeyer. “There’s a lot of space here, it’s not all earmarked with what it’s going to be purposed for, but we think it will come in handy.”
Preserving the originality and feel of the former equestrian club was important to them.
The riding room will become the spot for a new beer-garden and the stables will turn into private bourbon rooms.
Even the tack room will serve as the new distillery and tasting room.
“They’ll see that, you know, there’s no other property like this, at least that I’ve ever been to, so it’s really important to keep as much as we can,” said High Five Spirits Co-Founder Michael Kazanowski. “A lot of what you’re going to see here, like the horse stalls and everything are original.”
From humble beginnings to now, this is a huge expansion for High Five Spirits.
“We started off as a small company out of Colorado, my twin brother and I self-funded this and lived out of a van, working at music festivals—so having the opportunity to move into a 42,000 square foot facility really allows us to upgrade our distilling capabilities,” said Kazanowski.
Gypsy Farms is set to officially open in June.
