BTS with Esoteric- Cincy’s First Black & Asian Owned Brewery
Are you looking for something different in the city? Or perhaps looking for a place to listen to live music (yes, safely during covid)? Or maybe looking for a location for weeknight trivia? We have just the spot for you! And it’s minority owned too! Introducing ESOTERIC! For anyone who hasn’t heard the name, it is the first Black owned and Asian owned brewery in Cincinnati. But it isn’t your typical brewery that feels like you’re in a well made over warehouse. You get much more of a lounge experience here.
Let’s talk about their name and space first:
The name means “it’s understood by a select few”. And in this case, that means craft beer. Less than 15% of the industry craft their beer. The thought is still growing (and somewhat fast right now!) But once you know craft beer, you love it. In the space, you’ll notice many locust flowers throughout. This is their metaphor for fighting through adversity. It represents a rising out of the Phoenix (ashes) and helping make Walnut Hills a thriving neighborhood again. What’s super cool is they employ a lot of people from the neighborhood and people of color to broaden equality.
You will also see lots of art all around you. The decor is an ode to Art Deco and the design of the precious city. All of the characters are all from period pieces from the 40s and 50s. The brand is to bring back the golden age. And guess who made all of the art? One of the owner’s (Brian) uncles!
Speaking of the owners…
When we did our behind the scenes, we met with one of the owners, Marvin Abrinica, CFO and CMO. Marvin co-owns the brewery with Brian Jackson, CEO Head brewer and developer and Patrick klesmith, COO.
It seems like their partnership was truly meant to be. Brian was working at Chipotle, but had a passion for beer. While working at Mad Tree, he started exploring the brewing process at home. This eventually led to him being in the first class of Mortar, which is a well known entrepreneurship hub in Cincinnati that focuses on diverse dreamers. Marvin happened to be a mentor with Mortar, which is how they met. After many chats, with Patrick included, they decided to pursue the business and raise the capital. 4 years later, in August of 2020, Esoteric was opened to the public!
Now 2020= Covid. But these business owners still managed to launch and sustain successfully. They are operating at 50% capacity which has of course been a challenge and forced them to pivot. To help with their sustainability, they also focus on digital sales, purchasing online, and pulled forward their canning distribution line which launches next month.
What I really love about them is they have a social mission as a company. Out of the 8k breweries across the nation, only 250 are owned from people of color. And out of over 8k. And less than 50 are black owned. I love that this statistic did not stop them from going after their dreams and also talking about this important fact!
Now what about food and entertainment?
For all of you Taste of Belgium lovers out there, there’s a food truck right in the back! And if that’s not your thing, you can pick up or have food delivered from any of the surrounding restaurants- like Gomez Salsa. Yum!
For entertainment, they have live music on Fridays and Saturdays. A few ladies and I came back for this and it was awesome!! It was also very safely done with lots of space between us and the performer. They also do an 80s/90s open mic night on Wednesdays with various artists and trivia on Thursday.
Kudos to Esoteric for bringing such an experience to Cincinnati. I will be supporting and spreading the word about them as much as possible. I really could go on and on about how great this place is, but I think YOU should check it out. We’d love to hear if you enjoyed your experience as much as we did. Leave us a note when you do!
Bye for now!
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For those wondering about the weather, of course we are now in the heat of summer and it is HOT, but don’t let this deter you from visiting. There are plenty of shaded areas to choose from. We went when the temperature was 90 degrees, but were not overwhelmed with heat due to the shade. Once the sun went down, it was even better. Speaking of, when you go, pleaseee try to stay and watch the sun set. The colors in the sky are simply beautiful and will make you have a newfound appreciation of the city.
