The celebration began at 11 a.m. and continued until 10 p.m. with food and live music on the patio space.

Black Frost operates out of the former New Ulm Wholesale Inc. building at 201 1st North St and is run by co-owners Jace Marti and Nate Gieseke.

Black Frost officially opened its cocktail lounge on Saturday, Aug. 27. The event was intended as a soft opening weekend. On the first day, the distillery ran out of spirits, having served over 600 drinks.

Black Frost cocktail lounge has been open every weekend in September, but the grand opening was a chance to show off the tasting room in the back of the building. Marti said once the distillery opens for tours, the back room will serve as the tasting room. It can also be rented out for private events and host live music.

Staff photos by Clay Schuldt Black Frost servers Mandi Breu, Colin Krueger, Tessa Wenner and Haley Martin work the tasting room bar on the back side of Black Frost Distillery. For the grand opening, Black Frost served cocktails from two locations.

For the grand opening, the patio hosted live bands. Random Characters played open in the early afternoon followed by Drake Water’s Band in the evening.

A steady stream of customers visited the distillery throughout the day. Some went directly to the back patio, while others gravitated to the cocktail lounge. Customers could order the same cocktails on either side of the building.

Asked which cocktail was most popular, staff said it changed every week but most people tried the “Old Fashioned”. On Saturday, the hard cider was selling well. The Ruby Collins and Sallie’s Raspberry Smash were popular starting drinks.

Black Frost operates on the concept of “terrorir” a French term used to describe the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate combining to create the characteristic flavor of the wine. Black Frost’s mission is to apply the terrorir concept to whiskey and showcase what the north can do for whiskey.

The whiskey is distilled and aged on-site. Whiskey needs to age for two years before it is ready, so for the next two years, whiskey sold in Black Frost’s cocktail lounge will be imported from other sources until their whiskey is ready.

The Old Fashioned is the old stand-by for cocktail drinks at Black Frost. Staff said every week a different drink is popular, but everyone comes back to the Old Fashioned.

Black Frost will also produce rum, which does not need to age. The rum should be available within a few months.

Following the grand opening, Black Frost will operate on regular hours: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.