Eating and Drinking with Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl: New Liquor Laws and 'The 375'
June 03, 2015
Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine's Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl brings her extensive knowledge of the Midwest dining scene to Eating and Drinking.
Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl stops by The Current's Morning Show to talk about a liquor law that slipped through during the whole Sunday liquor-sales debate. It's still not possible to purchase off-sale alcohol on Sunday in Minnesota, but there were some compromises that did pass the legislature.
"Here's the big news: Do you like tiny bottles of liquor, Minnesota?" Dara asks. "Well, you better start liking them, because they're coming your way."
Many micro-distilleries are popping up all over Minnesota (such as Norseman Distillery, Eleven Wells and Du Nord Craft Spirits), but they haven't been able to sell any of their product from their premises. Brewing taprooms, by contrast, have been able to sell growlers and pints on site.
Cocktail rooms have been permitted to date, but the distilleries had not been able to sell off-sale amounts of their product — until now. "The compromise is they are now going to be able to sell one 375 mL bottle, that's like half the size of a wine bottle, so every person who goes to a cocktail room can buy one, and only one, and take them home."
"Part two of this is that the distributors and the liquor stores have to have access to anything that is sold in the cocktail rooms, so all of a sudden, all of the liquor stores are going to be able to — if they wish to — sell these little tiny 375s."
Listen to the complete interview to hear how these laws will affect sellers and consumers alike. And if you have a better name for "the 375", please share your ideas below.
Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl, veteran Twin Cities food and dining authority, is a five-time James Beard Award-Winning food writer who is also at Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine and author of Drink This: Wine Made Simple.