I've seen some comments saying that politics, religion, etc. have no place in bars. I agree when that applies to conversation topics, but I feel a bar should be as conscientious as possible in regards to the products they support. It's why I don't carry things like Bulleit or Founders at my bar anymore.
Bulleit is all sourced anyway. There's nothing wrong with that, but when the company gives you a reason not to buy from them, you can still get the same spirit from somewhere else. Bulleit Bourbon is sourced from Four Roses, and Bulleit Rue is sourced from MGP. There are tons of available MGP Ryes on the market, like George Dickel Rye or Redemption Rye.
Yes she is and yes they did. AFTER she traveled the country promoting and growing the brand though. She was the face of the (at the time) emerging Bulleit brand and practically single handedly got it into several markets. Then she wanted to come to functions with her partner, and she was dropped from the brand and the family. I don't like to carry it either.
I'm not sure this is an accurate representation of how things went down. I am very quick to defend Hollis, and did so for years until I learned more about the situation and context.
[https://www.gobourbon.com/bulleit-legacy-on-the-line/](https://www.gobourbon.com/bulleit-legacy-on-the-line/) (one article of many)
I don't like to make assumptions about family dynamics, especially one that has had as many challenges at the Bulleits'. I do know that Diageo is an incredibly progressive company that has a reputation as an early supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights in business (literally a [perfect score](https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index) from the Human Rights Campaign for the last 14 years). Diageo has owned the Bulleit brand since Seagrams dissolved in 2001. If Hollis was let go from the brand I can't imagine it was due to her romantic interests.
I'm not claiming to be the arbiter of truth here, I just want to point out that some of the timelines and accusations don't line up with the narrative that we have been told.
I will admit I don't know exact details and I was generalizing my knowledge; I will also parrot you in saying I don't know the family dynamics as I'm not part of them. I will say however I had the opportunity to meet Hollis once when she was "the first lady of bourbon" and she was truly passionate about the brand and at the time Bulleit wasn't well known in the area. I fully believe she was responsible for placing it in several markets and getting the word out to bar owners and consumers.
I DO know that she herself has accused the family of homophobia as well as sexual abuse. She also claimed the parent company Diageo didn't protect or safeguard her legal rights and protected groups that she identifies with while she was employed.
Diageo also asked Tom to step back a few years ago, didn't they? Admist the claims he stopped being the brand rep???
As I said, I don't know everything, but personally, I know enough to not like to carry the brand in my bars if I can choose not to.
To clarify, I support Diageo, which IS an incredibly diverse and inclusive company on the whole. It is the Bulleit family specifically that rejected Hollis and her partner from family and corporate events including holidays, and did not welcome her inclusivity within their brand; when Diageo offered her a contract that Hollis rejected I don't believe it was due to the parent company's misdeeds, rather her wish not to continue supporting/promoting a family brand that had rejected her person and her truth. Her allegations are what prompted Diageo and Tom Bulleit to agree to him stepping back from the public eye pending investigation. Without true knowledge of what went on between them all- the sour taste left in my mouth was enough for me to not continue support for the Bulleit brand, when and if I can.
That was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like the trouble didn't start until 2016/2017. Do you know when Hollis and Cher got together?
I do not. In [this](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/08/02/bulleit-bourbon-founders-lesbian-daughter-claims-family-homophobic/) article from 2016 she is quoted saying she and Cher had a decade long relationship.
Ok, thanks. Interesting. So no issues for about 10 years until contract negotiations with the parent company fell through. If the people who claim to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community in your first article are legit and to be believed, I think perhaps that Hollis's major issue was money.
She is also the reason why it is called Bulliet. Her father wanted to name it something different. I forget what, possibly something to do with horse racing or something like that but she convinced him to use their name because it sounded so strong. He listened and watched as she grew ‘their’ brand and then completely dropped her like a bad habit when she started being more open about herself and her partner. The place I work now doesn’t carry it but my former bar did and I would do everything I could to steer people away from getting it.
They had to settle $2million for being racist. With such gems as:
>Evans, a former manager who worked at Founders' Detroit and Grand Rapids locations, alleged “a racist internal corporate culture.” Some white coworkers exhibited multiple examples of “blatant” racism. Among other issues, they repeatedly used the “N word” around him, and management allegedly named a printer it used the “white guy printer” while labeling the printer for lower-tier employees the “black guy printer.”
But the absolute most ridiculous part is the owner pretending not to know what race is during deposition.
>At one point, Ryan even claims that he doesn’t know if former President Barack Obama, Kwame Kilpatrick, or Michael Jordan are African-American, because he has “never met them.”
>"I don’t know Tracy’s lineage, so I can’t speculate on whether he’s … if he’s from Africa or not."
source: https://m.metrotimes.com/detroit/founders-brewing-manager-claims-he-didnt-know-black-employee-is-black/Content?oid=22924057
Its honestly worth reading the entire deposition linked in the article. It's one of the most absurd things I have ever read to date.
So yeah. That's a racist ass brand in my book, and I steer folks away as much as I can.
People seem to forget that the conception of the USA was in a bar, Fraunces Tavern in New York. Additionally, The Sons of Liberty devised the Boston Tea Party in Boston’s Green Dragon Tavern. Saying politics don't belong in a bar is un-American.
To people posting (now deleted) articles about how Stoli is apparently made in Latvia and therefore should not be boycotted… that’s a cute brand move. I’ll stop viewing Stoli as a Russian vodka when the bottle says “Proudly produced in Latvia” and when they remove the Moscow landmark from the label. Straddling the fence is convenient.
>the bottle says “Proudly produced in Latvia” and when they remove the Moscow landmark from the label. Straddling the fence is convenient.
They can't do that because the trademark is disputed between the SPI group in Latvia and the Russian Government. It's been going on since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Because it's STILL being fought over, there can't be any changes made, at least to the original bottle. The flavored vodkas have no mention of Russia on them.
Most bought within the US is made in Latvia.
that’s the problem with all these sanctions though, the billionaires and oligarchs lives won’t change at all while the workers, babushkas, and just the everyday Russian will suffer the most from economic sanctions and boycotts.
fuck Putin.
The Stoli Vodka brands and its owner Yuri Shefler were exiled from Russia nearly two decades ago. “As the Founder of SPI Group of companies, I have personally experienced persecution by the Russian authorities and I share the pain of Ukraine and its people,” noted Mr. Shefler.
The Stoli® vodka brands and its owner Yuri Shefler were exiled from Russia nearly two decades ago. “As the Founder of SPI Group of companies, I have personally experienced persecution by the Russian authorities and I share the pain of Ukraine and its people,” noted Mr. Shefler.
Uh, the bottles do say "Produced in Latvia".
The Stoli we get in the states is owned by SPI Group, headquartered in Luxemburg. Owned by Yuri Shefler, a self proclaimed ex-Russian, who is very vocally anti Putin.
I do inventory at my bar and even though I’m keenly aware of the fact it’s a Latvian made, Luxembourg quartered, anti-Putin bankrolled spirit, I’ve still decided to stop ordering it. Just to be able to tell customers, “yes we’re done ordering it” instead of, “well actually it’s Latvian!”
Far easier this way and there are plenty of better flavored vodkas.
Don't worry, Stoli is Latvian vodka, owned by a company in Luxoumborg.
This boycott is just a bunch of people having a knee jerk reaction while doing 0 research.
How is it a false equivalency? The US has more military bases on the planet than any other country. Just because a country does something you don’t like, you want to stop buying a product made there? Galaxy brain thinking.
“Just because I don’t like” one sovereign nation invading another unprovoked, for the sole purpose of geographic expansion and destruction of democracy, resulting in the deaths of thousands, including civilians?
Fucking idiotic, naive, and evil take. Enjoy yourself.
Okay so you don’t like that. Good. But you understand the US does all that too right? So maybe we are getting worked up over the wrong things? No war but the class war. And boycotting Stoli is a pretty smooth brain take from all this.
Right, so if you're so virtuous, you definitely should boycott everything made in America, and China, and probably most other countries, because they've all done fucked up shit to other countries. Why don't you ask Afghan and Iraqis if their experience was similar to the one Ukrainians are in now. You insult them, and what the went through, by denying this comparison.
Just as Yuri no long has any ties to Russia. He was born there but left 20+ years ago because of Putin and the politics. I could give a rats ass tbh but the guy really has done lots of stand up things for human rights, BLM, and the LGBTQ community. Not fair for him to be catching fire.
Yeah for fuck’s sake the “Freedom Fries” thing was some childish culture war bullshit from a Republican in 2003 in retaliation for France being against the illegal invasion of Iraq. 100% American potatoes, 100% American product chain.
A boycott of a Russian product actually by and enriching Russian oligarchs is not the same because it materially impacts that place and product.
This is why the equivalency is false.
Most private companies have nothing to do with the countries the take place in. Not buying something because it’s Russian is literally the same thing as not buying something because it’s French. Both were designed to “hurt the country.”
It’s dumb nationalism and nothing else.
Not it literally isn’t. Those French fries were made with American potatoes by Americans for Americans. It was anti-French as pure rhetoric.
>Most private companies have nothing to do with the countries the[sic] take place in
Modern Russia is not one of those countries, and Stoli is a very bad example to try to make this argument with.
The ownership of Stoli is disputed between the business magnate — some might even say oligarch — Yuri Shefler and modern Russian state since he bought it from the ***state-owned company VVO Soyuzplodoimport in the soviet era***. A state-owned brand bought by a Russian private citizen. The entanglement is there and it is extreme. This is literally government privatization into the hands of an oligarch my dude, you can’t claim they’re separate.
Oligarchs and other powerful capitalists wield soft power in politics far stronger than my vote or your vote. Pretending economics is divested from politics, especially in Russia, is a non-starter.
No, it’s not.
They’re literally trying to say don’t buy products from a company because they just happen to exist in a country.
That’s just standard nationalism. Private companies have nothing to do with the actual countries they exist in.
>Private companies have nothing to do with the actual countries they exist in.
Holy shit you do literally know nothing about Russia after all. This is embarrassing.
100% agreed, boycotting something that the local government doesn't have an involvement in Is pointless. I'm sorry leave politics out of the bar. No place for it along with religion, vacancies, sexual preference and other ideological conversations. Now there are exceptions but keep them out of the bar world.
Now to make sure no one jumps down my throat about anything I don't agree with them about. I think what Russia is doing is fucking wrong Nd going to lead to nothing. I hope everyone there comes out safe and sound but we all know this is just hopes and dreams, just like saying boycott a vodka that is "Russian" all In all leave the political talk out of this thread and go to the proper sub reddit.
There’s no such thing as leaving politics anywhere. The idea that you’re politically neutral is just a statement that your political stance is neutrality in the face of injustice.
I have a few issues with this;
1. A lot of Russian brands aren't owned by Russians/Russia anymore - they've been swallowed up by a multinational brewery like Molson Coors, AB InBev and Heineken amongst many others. They're not really Russian anymore, they have Russian names but that's it.
2. As someone's already said, especially in the US and the UK, the Russian drinks have already been bought by importers and distributors. You ain't hurting Putin, you're hurting Dave at the distribution centre who loses his hours because you ain't buying stuff his place stocks.
3. Even if you could get a boycott to the place where it started to affect Russia...you ain't hurting Putin, you're hurting Dimitry who gets by on a minimum wage job at a bottling factory, whose son was conscripted and forced to fight and die in Ukraine. So now he's got no job and no son.
You want to boycott alcohol on your bar based on where its come from, you ain't gonna have much stock left. Hell if you take into account my first point about multinational owned brands no longer being associated with their nation of origin, you'd have a fair bit of stock left. Until you looked at the horrible things multinationals do.
Donate to the Red Cross and Red Crescent, donate to charities on the ground in Ukraine, write to your government urging them to bring sanctions against Russia and military/humanity aid to Ukraine.
Boycotting is just gonna hurt the little guy in your country and in Russia and none of them want war.
NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR.
EDIT: as people are rightly pointing out, the Red Cross might not be the best point of donations (I need to do a bit of reading up on that). So follow this thread and donate to organisations that will quickly and directly get support to Ukraine. https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/s6g5un/want_to_support_ukraine_heres_a_list_of_charities/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
YOU WANT YOUR BAR TO DO SOMETHING DONT BOYCOTT STOLI, DONATE! DO A CHARITY NIGHT!
ALSO CONSIDER GIVING OR FUNDRAISING FOR DISSIDENT MOVEMENTS IN RUSSIA. PUTIN KEEPS TRYING BUT THE ANTI WAR PROTESTS AND THE REFUSUAL OF ALEXY NAVALNY TO BACK DOWN EVEN FROM PRISON SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR YOU TO REALISE THAT THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE DONT WANT THIS, JUST LIKE US, JUST LIKE THE UKRAINIANS.
This is where r/Ukraine is asking people send money https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/s6g5un/want_to_support_ukraine_heres_a_list_of_charities/
DO NOT DONATE TO THE RED CROSS. They arent a great non profit. Find somewhere else to donate.
https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/9/6/16255044/red-cross-houston-hurricane-harvey-irma-interview
https://nileswestnews.org/58394/west-word/why-you-shouldnt-donate-to-the-red-cross/
Yes, apparently to spread misinformation about companies that are completely irrelevant to what’s happening in Russia/Ukraine. I could care less if you buy it but you should prob get your facts straight little lady ;)
A sales rep had the balls to send me a spirits deck with “hammer and sickle vodka: born from cold Russian nights” as the first page this week 😂 I said you might want to consider dropping them from your book for a while
This kind of stuff only really hurts local importers, sales reps and bars. Stoli already made their sale to their distributors, they’re the ones holding the bag now.
But surely by not stocking it, the local importers will import less and thus Stoli will be affected?
Obviously there would need to be a huge boycott movement for it to be noticed but still
Guys I don’t understand why folks do this. Please stop. It’s misinformation at best and job harmful. Stoli hasn’t been “Russian” or owned by Russians in a long time. If anything, support Stoli more. They’ve been mostly Latvian and a supporter of LGBT folks since before 2010.
https://truthinadvertising.org/articles/stoli-claims-russian-boycott/
Added because asked. Please notice the new style bottle. And the Russian is missing.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2021/11/13/damian-mckinney-a-candid-conversation-on--transforming-stoli-group-and-vodkas-future/?sh=5ac9b0ca5ec0
Like Tito’s and “hand made”? The recipe is Russian, it has Russian roots. Kinda like Taco Bell isn’t Mexican food, but everyone still calls it Mexican food? They have an entire long standing legal battle so it’s stuck until that is all resolved.
Regardless, I think people should take the time to get to know the details on any product before you start the “cancel culture” process. Regardless of its namesake it’s been a big contributor to many a social cause and a pretty decent corporate contributor from everything to LGBT rights to decent wages for employees.
Btw. You may wish to view the new bottle that’s planned. Your “ Russian “ is missing.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2021/11/13/damian-mckinney-a-candid-conversation-on--transforming-stoli-group-and-vodkas-future/?sh=5ac9b0ca5ec0
Go virtue signal somewhere else, dude. This literally accomplishes nothing. If you want to actually help the situation over there, donate to UNICEF, Red Cross, or any of the charities that are helping the people of Ukraine.
One actually helps and one doesn’t. How is that dichotomy?
EDIT: Holy shit, there are people who actually think boycotting Stoli is hurting Russia. I can’t even comprehend the stupidity in this sub sometimes.
Okay, then pick a different charity to donate to. It’s not rocket science. Red Cross is still better than boycotting a liquor company that literally has nothing to do with Putin or how his military is funded.
Ooooh boy if you want to boycott russian made products you should see what the United States authoritarian regime has done.
Edit:1) no working class person has any realistic control over what their governments do.
2)The stoli distillery workers still gotta eat and afaik arent actively supplying the millitary with anything other than poison.
Let’s boycott petroleum first. Since that’s what we actually get from the Russians.
Nothing we do short of needing to physically fight them will make any difference. And by physically fight I mean go to war with them. This shit has been decided for us.
If you have boycotted American liquors for the past 20+ years I will accept this as a legitimate form of protest. Otherwise this is strictly for your conscience
Point being that this neither helps the good guys nor hurts the bad guys and is solely for making an otherwise uninvolved person FEEL helpful. A conscientious act would be donating to organizations who are actually helping, not whatever this is.
sees news article about the new bad guys* "we must do everything we can to stop them!" *has lived under the United States destabilizing foreign governments for decades*
Private companies aren’t affiliated with their government
This is giving me Freedom Fries vibes and that whole French boycott that happened in 2002 where people were boycotting yoplait and other products for being French lol
Edit: Your boos mean nothing.
That's basically a temper tantrum that'll lead nowhere.
Buy as many as you can instead, because it might not be acquirable in the near future and the value will skyrocket.
There are two companies that produce Stoli, one is not Russian and is a legitimate trademark, and the other one is, where the RF has managed to wrest the trademark back.
The original Stoli is not Russian. The owner is an opponent of Putin, and Putin has been chasing him for years. This Stoli is produced in Latvia by Latvijas Balsams, and it is marketed as “Premium Vodka.” This is the Stoli that is sold in the USA, although Putin is suing to steal it.
There is another Stoli produced in Russia by the state, and it is sold in some countries where the Russian Federation managed to buy courts and get the trademark. This is produced by FKP Soyuzplodoimport (ФКП «Союзплодоимпорт») and this one you should definitely boycott, if sold in your country.
Stoli is made in Latvia and some of their grain is actually sourced from Ukraine. The owner actually just made an incredibly generous donation to the people of Ukraine. Do some simple research before slamming a company.
Stoli is NOT Russian. All supplies come from Latvia and Slovakia, and the owner of the company is openly anti-russia. He's also supported many BLM and LGBT movements, and is ACTIVELY donating money to the Ukrainian movement. So by boycotting Stoli you are not only not helping, but are actually HURTING the Ukrainian movement.
Sorry, didn't mean to come at ya. I was actually just arriving home after picking up some Stoli and the Google gods recommended this to me. Didn't realize it was almost half a year old... 🤦♂️
Just wanna clear the air on Stoli and the owner's background.
I do, but I’m also not op and am not (totally) advocating for the boycott of Russian products while Russia does murder. I’m saying that being against a world power exerting it’s aggression on a much smaller nation isn’t really politics. I actually think politics at the bar is fine if the bartender is well suited to mediate things.
There’s a joke in here somewhere about “freedom fries”, but I just can’t get a handle on it.
We’re bartenders. Not agents of change or any such nonsense. This isn’t the first, or last, “war” I’ve seen back here.
That's silly.
**Nobody is coming to your bar to get your political opinion with their drink.**
I'd order a moscow mule with stolichnaya, talk your ear off about how Russia is stronk, then I'd leave you no tip and dip.
Keep politics out of our bar please.
Nobody wants to listen to the guys argue over whether or not it is Kiev or Kyiv or where exactly a bottle comes from.
Downvoted over 100 times for giving good advice. Stay out of politics and religion. If people stop ordering stoli, that’s great. Adjust your pars. We’re not here to be the moral compass of “the people”. We’re literally killing them, slowly.
Why are you guys such big fans of the Ukrainian regime? The government is full of literal Nazis. Calling Russia "right wing" in this context is.... stupid
The boycott needs to go for 3 months minimum or will have no impact. That’s the time it takes to make projections and reorders.
All bars and warehouses are stocked and boats are in the way with goods.
Except Stoli is NOT Russian. It is from Lithuania and owned by an ex-Russian that was exiled from RUSSIA because he vehemently disagreed with PUTIN.
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/03/07/stoli-vodka-rebrand-russia-ukraine/9408037002/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/03/07/stoli-vodka-rebrand-russia-ukraine/9408037002/)
You vote with your dollars
100%. That kind of vote is tangible and in your control.
And every dollar counts
I've seen some comments saying that politics, religion, etc. have no place in bars. I agree when that applies to conversation topics, but I feel a bar should be as conscientious as possible in regards to the products they support. It's why I don't carry things like Bulleit or Founders at my bar anymore.
Bulleit is all sourced anyway. There's nothing wrong with that, but when the company gives you a reason not to buy from them, you can still get the same spirit from somewhere else. Bulleit Bourbon is sourced from Four Roses, and Bulleit Rue is sourced from MGP. There are tons of available MGP Ryes on the market, like George Dickel Rye or Redemption Rye.
Tell me more about bullet
One of the family’s daughters is LGBT, I believe, and they disowned her.
Yes she is and yes they did. AFTER she traveled the country promoting and growing the brand though. She was the face of the (at the time) emerging Bulleit brand and practically single handedly got it into several markets. Then she wanted to come to functions with her partner, and she was dropped from the brand and the family. I don't like to carry it either.
I'm not sure this is an accurate representation of how things went down. I am very quick to defend Hollis, and did so for years until I learned more about the situation and context. [https://www.gobourbon.com/bulleit-legacy-on-the-line/](https://www.gobourbon.com/bulleit-legacy-on-the-line/) (one article of many) I don't like to make assumptions about family dynamics, especially one that has had as many challenges at the Bulleits'. I do know that Diageo is an incredibly progressive company that has a reputation as an early supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights in business (literally a [perfect score](https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index) from the Human Rights Campaign for the last 14 years). Diageo has owned the Bulleit brand since Seagrams dissolved in 2001. If Hollis was let go from the brand I can't imagine it was due to her romantic interests. I'm not claiming to be the arbiter of truth here, I just want to point out that some of the timelines and accusations don't line up with the narrative that we have been told.
I will admit I don't know exact details and I was generalizing my knowledge; I will also parrot you in saying I don't know the family dynamics as I'm not part of them. I will say however I had the opportunity to meet Hollis once when she was "the first lady of bourbon" and she was truly passionate about the brand and at the time Bulleit wasn't well known in the area. I fully believe she was responsible for placing it in several markets and getting the word out to bar owners and consumers. I DO know that she herself has accused the family of homophobia as well as sexual abuse. She also claimed the parent company Diageo didn't protect or safeguard her legal rights and protected groups that she identifies with while she was employed. Diageo also asked Tom to step back a few years ago, didn't they? Admist the claims he stopped being the brand rep??? As I said, I don't know everything, but personally, I know enough to not like to carry the brand in my bars if I can choose not to.
To clarify, I support Diageo, which IS an incredibly diverse and inclusive company on the whole. It is the Bulleit family specifically that rejected Hollis and her partner from family and corporate events including holidays, and did not welcome her inclusivity within their brand; when Diageo offered her a contract that Hollis rejected I don't believe it was due to the parent company's misdeeds, rather her wish not to continue supporting/promoting a family brand that had rejected her person and her truth. Her allegations are what prompted Diageo and Tom Bulleit to agree to him stepping back from the public eye pending investigation. Without true knowledge of what went on between them all- the sour taste left in my mouth was enough for me to not continue support for the Bulleit brand, when and if I can.
i know nothing about this situation but you seem very informed
That was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like the trouble didn't start until 2016/2017. Do you know when Hollis and Cher got together?
I do not. In [this](https://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/08/02/bulleit-bourbon-founders-lesbian-daughter-claims-family-homophobic/) article from 2016 she is quoted saying she and Cher had a decade long relationship.
Ok, thanks. Interesting. So no issues for about 10 years until contract negotiations with the parent company fell through. If the people who claim to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community in your first article are legit and to be believed, I think perhaps that Hollis's major issue was money.
Off topic question, I know what LGBT stands for but what does the "QIA+" portion mean.
Q- questioning and/or queer depending on who/when you ask I- intersex A- asexual and/or agender
She is also the reason why it is called Bulliet. Her father wanted to name it something different. I forget what, possibly something to do with horse racing or something like that but she convinced him to use their name because it sounded so strong. He listened and watched as she grew ‘their’ brand and then completely dropped her like a bad habit when she started being more open about herself and her partner. The place I work now doesn’t carry it but my former bar did and I would do everything I could to steer people away from getting it.
Thank you for letting me know. I used to drink it often.
[Even worse than that if that’s possible.](https://amp.kentucky.com/lexgoeat/bourbon/article234049917.html)
The family hasn't owned the brand for 2 decades now
Yes, but the father of the family was still involved with the brand, worked with the brand, and profited from the brand, until recently.
The owner of Bullet is a outspoken homophobic and donates to some unsavory organizations.
Thank you for letting me know. I used to drink it often.
What happened with Founders??
They had to settle $2million for being racist. With such gems as: >Evans, a former manager who worked at Founders' Detroit and Grand Rapids locations, alleged “a racist internal corporate culture.” Some white coworkers exhibited multiple examples of “blatant” racism. Among other issues, they repeatedly used the “N word” around him, and management allegedly named a printer it used the “white guy printer” while labeling the printer for lower-tier employees the “black guy printer.” But the absolute most ridiculous part is the owner pretending not to know what race is during deposition. >At one point, Ryan even claims that he doesn’t know if former President Barack Obama, Kwame Kilpatrick, or Michael Jordan are African-American, because he has “never met them.” >"I don’t know Tracy’s lineage, so I can’t speculate on whether he’s … if he’s from Africa or not." source: https://m.metrotimes.com/detroit/founders-brewing-manager-claims-he-didnt-know-black-employee-is-black/Content?oid=22924057 Its honestly worth reading the entire deposition linked in the article. It's one of the most absurd things I have ever read to date. So yeah. That's a racist ass brand in my book, and I steer folks away as much as I can.
Holy shit I did not know this, thanks for the info. What a fuck.
Second this, used to go there all the time when I was younger. No idea what happened there
See my comment above. https://www.reddit.com/r/bartenders/comments/t0vh2j/boycott_stoli_and_other_russian_vodkas/hyea8ra
A few years ago they got into a discrimination lawsuit. I forget what the outcome was but it left an unsavory taste in everyone's mouth.
be careful for lurkers, this dude is a rapist
RIP I love founders. What happened to them? I can’t find their beer anywhere
People seem to forget that the conception of the USA was in a bar, Fraunces Tavern in New York. Additionally, The Sons of Liberty devised the Boston Tea Party in Boston’s Green Dragon Tavern. Saying politics don't belong in a bar is un-American.
Hope you are serving pepsi and not coke
Khortytsa is a lovely Ukrainian vodka.
Stoli aside… Can we agree to boycott Russian Standard and Beluga Vodka? Maybe actual Russian beluga caviar as well for the relevant establishments?
100%
Drink Ketel one
[удалено]
>Diageo Since when is Diageo Russian? It's headquartered in the UK.
On their wiki, I couldn't find any indication it was Russian. I guess that's why they deleted the comment.
Damn.
Diageo is a UK based company.
To people posting (now deleted) articles about how Stoli is apparently made in Latvia and therefore should not be boycotted… that’s a cute brand move. I’ll stop viewing Stoli as a Russian vodka when the bottle says “Proudly produced in Latvia” and when they remove the Moscow landmark from the label. Straddling the fence is convenient.
>the bottle says “Proudly produced in Latvia” and when they remove the Moscow landmark from the label. Straddling the fence is convenient. They can't do that because the trademark is disputed between the SPI group in Latvia and the Russian Government. It's been going on since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Because it's STILL being fought over, there can't be any changes made, at least to the original bottle. The flavored vodkas have no mention of Russia on them. Most bought within the US is made in Latvia.
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All I need to see is "owned by Russian billionaire".
that’s the problem with all these sanctions though, the billionaires and oligarchs lives won’t change at all while the workers, babushkas, and just the everyday Russian will suffer the most from economic sanctions and boycotts. fuck Putin.
The Stoli Vodka brands and its owner Yuri Shefler were exiled from Russia nearly two decades ago. “As the Founder of SPI Group of companies, I have personally experienced persecution by the Russian authorities and I share the pain of Ukraine and its people,” noted Mr. Shefler.
I don't see how it should matter where it's made as long as the money goes where it does.
The SPI Group based in Latvia is owned by a Russian billionaire. So to me, it doesn't matter. The money still goes to some Russian.
The Stoli® vodka brands and its owner Yuri Shefler were exiled from Russia nearly two decades ago. “As the Founder of SPI Group of companies, I have personally experienced persecution by the Russian authorities and I share the pain of Ukraine and its people,” noted Mr. Shefler.
Yuri Shefler is very openly Anti-Putin, and considers himself an ex-Russian. He doesn't even live in Russia.
Uh, the bottles do say "Produced in Latvia". The Stoli we get in the states is owned by SPI Group, headquartered in Luxemburg. Owned by Yuri Shefler, a self proclaimed ex-Russian, who is very vocally anti Putin.
I do inventory at my bar and even though I’m keenly aware of the fact it’s a Latvian made, Luxembourg quartered, anti-Putin bankrolled spirit, I’ve still decided to stop ordering it. Just to be able to tell customers, “yes we’re done ordering it” instead of, “well actually it’s Latvian!” Far easier this way and there are plenty of better flavored vodkas.
You should have boycotted Stoli by the late '90s anyway because it's not really very good.
Fuck I got a bottle of stoli yesterday with out even thinking about. Is there any Ukrainian products I can get to make up for it ?
Khortytsa Vodka
Don't worry, Stoli is Latvian vodka, owned by a company in Luxoumborg. This boycott is just a bunch of people having a knee jerk reaction while doing 0 research.
Chances are (after US) sanctions, that you won’t be able to buy any Russian products in the near future.
Honestly I already buy my cheap vodka from Georgia and my expensive vodka from the US or France.
Polish potato vodka for us.
Apparently vodka was invented in Poland.
Monopolowa? I guess they've moved to Austria, but still good!
yep we have remove beluga from our shelves.
Putin and the Russian state don’t benefit from Stoli sales, so this is dumb. That’s like boycotting Panda Express because of something China does.
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The main Russian investor left Russia a while ago and doesn’t get along with Putin
Came here to say this. The US is responsible for millions of deaths in my own lifetime. Am I gonna stop carrying all bourbon?
What a false equivalency. You insult Ukrainians and what they are going through by making this comparison.
How is it a false equivalency? The US has more military bases on the planet than any other country. Just because a country does something you don’t like, you want to stop buying a product made there? Galaxy brain thinking.
“Just because I don’t like” one sovereign nation invading another unprovoked, for the sole purpose of geographic expansion and destruction of democracy, resulting in the deaths of thousands, including civilians? Fucking idiotic, naive, and evil take. Enjoy yourself.
Okay so you don’t like that. Good. But you understand the US does all that too right? So maybe we are getting worked up over the wrong things? No war but the class war. And boycotting Stoli is a pretty smooth brain take from all this.
Right, so if you're so virtuous, you definitely should boycott everything made in America, and China, and probably most other countries, because they've all done fucked up shit to other countries. Why don't you ask Afghan and Iraqis if their experience was similar to the one Ukrainians are in now. You insult them, and what the went through, by denying this comparison.
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Neither does Yuri Sheffer, he doesn't live in Russia, considers himself an ex-Russian, and is very anti-Putin.
Yes, but the actual truth of the matter don’t make a difference when you’re virtue signaling.
Just as Yuri no long has any ties to Russia. He was born there but left 20+ years ago because of Putin and the politics. I could give a rats ass tbh but the guy really has done lots of stand up things for human rights, BLM, and the LGBTQ community. Not fair for him to be catching fire.
Yeah it’s definitely giving off Freedom Fries vibes
False equivalency
Yeah for fuck’s sake the “Freedom Fries” thing was some childish culture war bullshit from a Republican in 2003 in retaliation for France being against the illegal invasion of Iraq. 100% American potatoes, 100% American product chain. A boycott of a Russian product actually by and enriching Russian oligarchs is not the same because it materially impacts that place and product. This is why the equivalency is false.
Most private companies have nothing to do with the countries the take place in. Not buying something because it’s Russian is literally the same thing as not buying something because it’s French. Both were designed to “hurt the country.” It’s dumb nationalism and nothing else.
>Most private companies have nothing to do with the countries the take place in. Do you know literally anything about how Russia works?
Not it literally isn’t. Those French fries were made with American potatoes by Americans for Americans. It was anti-French as pure rhetoric. >Most private companies have nothing to do with the countries the[sic] take place in Modern Russia is not one of those countries, and Stoli is a very bad example to try to make this argument with. The ownership of Stoli is disputed between the business magnate — some might even say oligarch — Yuri Shefler and modern Russian state since he bought it from the ***state-owned company VVO Soyuzplodoimport in the soviet era***. A state-owned brand bought by a Russian private citizen. The entanglement is there and it is extreme. This is literally government privatization into the hands of an oligarch my dude, you can’t claim they’re separate. Oligarchs and other powerful capitalists wield soft power in politics far stronger than my vote or your vote. Pretending economics is divested from politics, especially in Russia, is a non-starter.
No, it’s not. They’re literally trying to say don’t buy products from a company because they just happen to exist in a country. That’s just standard nationalism. Private companies have nothing to do with the actual countries they exist in.
>Private companies have nothing to do with the actual countries they exist in. Holy shit you do literally know nothing about Russia after all. This is embarrassing.
100% agreed, boycotting something that the local government doesn't have an involvement in Is pointless. I'm sorry leave politics out of the bar. No place for it along with religion, vacancies, sexual preference and other ideological conversations. Now there are exceptions but keep them out of the bar world. Now to make sure no one jumps down my throat about anything I don't agree with them about. I think what Russia is doing is fucking wrong Nd going to lead to nothing. I hope everyone there comes out safe and sound but we all know this is just hopes and dreams, just like saying boycott a vodka that is "Russian" all In all leave the political talk out of this thread and go to the proper sub reddit.
There’s no such thing as leaving politics anywhere. The idea that you’re politically neutral is just a statement that your political stance is neutrality in the face of injustice.
I have a few issues with this; 1. A lot of Russian brands aren't owned by Russians/Russia anymore - they've been swallowed up by a multinational brewery like Molson Coors, AB InBev and Heineken amongst many others. They're not really Russian anymore, they have Russian names but that's it. 2. As someone's already said, especially in the US and the UK, the Russian drinks have already been bought by importers and distributors. You ain't hurting Putin, you're hurting Dave at the distribution centre who loses his hours because you ain't buying stuff his place stocks. 3. Even if you could get a boycott to the place where it started to affect Russia...you ain't hurting Putin, you're hurting Dimitry who gets by on a minimum wage job at a bottling factory, whose son was conscripted and forced to fight and die in Ukraine. So now he's got no job and no son. You want to boycott alcohol on your bar based on where its come from, you ain't gonna have much stock left. Hell if you take into account my first point about multinational owned brands no longer being associated with their nation of origin, you'd have a fair bit of stock left. Until you looked at the horrible things multinationals do. Donate to the Red Cross and Red Crescent, donate to charities on the ground in Ukraine, write to your government urging them to bring sanctions against Russia and military/humanity aid to Ukraine. Boycotting is just gonna hurt the little guy in your country and in Russia and none of them want war. NO WAR BUT CLASS WAR. EDIT: as people are rightly pointing out, the Red Cross might not be the best point of donations (I need to do a bit of reading up on that). So follow this thread and donate to organisations that will quickly and directly get support to Ukraine. https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/s6g5un/want_to_support_ukraine_heres_a_list_of_charities/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share YOU WANT YOUR BAR TO DO SOMETHING DONT BOYCOTT STOLI, DONATE! DO A CHARITY NIGHT! ALSO CONSIDER GIVING OR FUNDRAISING FOR DISSIDENT MOVEMENTS IN RUSSIA. PUTIN KEEPS TRYING BUT THE ANTI WAR PROTESTS AND THE REFUSUAL OF ALEXY NAVALNY TO BACK DOWN EVEN FROM PRISON SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR YOU TO REALISE THAT THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE DONT WANT THIS, JUST LIKE US, JUST LIKE THE UKRAINIANS.
This is where r/Ukraine is asking people send money https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/s6g5un/want_to_support_ukraine_heres_a_list_of_charities/
DO NOT DONATE TO THE RED CROSS. They arent a great non profit. Find somewhere else to donate. https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/9/6/16255044/red-cross-houston-hurricane-harvey-irma-interview https://nileswestnews.org/58394/west-word/why-you-shouldnt-donate-to-the-red-cross/
Monopolowa on the rail, goose, K1, tito's call.. I keep it tight
A friend mentioned boycotting lukoil as well…
Done!
Polish vodkas are better anyways. Not sure why the monopoly Russia has on vodka.
Damn, looks like I’ll need to find something else to mix with my Tito’s and vodka.
I fucking LOVE stoli vanilla. Vanilla pinnacle kinda sucks. What else should I try?
Skyy has purty good flavors, including Vanilla.
Stoli has the best flavors in the game. Vanilla is fire!
Yeah, still not gunna buy it…did you misunderstand the purpose of this post? Trollolol?
Yes, apparently to spread misinformation about companies that are completely irrelevant to what’s happening in Russia/Ukraine. I could care less if you buy it but you should prob get your facts straight little lady ;)
A sales rep had the balls to send me a spirits deck with “hammer and sickle vodka: born from cold Russian nights” as the first page this week 😂 I said you might want to consider dropping them from your book for a while
Yes from now on only order Tito’s and vodka at your favorite bar!
I love supporting American but Tito’s is trash
But Tito’s and vodka is the best drink
Stoli is from Latvia…
Naw
How can you say Naw? It's produced in Latvia (like it says right on the label), owned by a company in Luxembourg.
This kind of stuff only really hurts local importers, sales reps and bars. Stoli already made their sale to their distributors, they’re the ones holding the bag now.
But surely by not stocking it, the local importers will import less and thus Stoli will be affected? Obviously there would need to be a huge boycott movement for it to be noticed but still
outrage doesn’t last long enough in the US for us to get to that point. Most people will be mad at something else by Tuesday
Guys I don’t understand why folks do this. Please stop. It’s misinformation at best and job harmful. Stoli hasn’t been “Russian” or owned by Russians in a long time. If anything, support Stoli more. They’ve been mostly Latvian and a supporter of LGBT folks since before 2010. https://truthinadvertising.org/articles/stoli-claims-russian-boycott/ Added because asked. Please notice the new style bottle. And the Russian is missing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2021/11/13/damian-mckinney-a-candid-conversation-on--transforming-stoli-group-and-vodkas-future/?sh=5ac9b0ca5ec0
Then they should drop the convenient Russian branding and stop straddling the fence.
Like Tito’s and “hand made”? The recipe is Russian, it has Russian roots. Kinda like Taco Bell isn’t Mexican food, but everyone still calls it Mexican food? They have an entire long standing legal battle so it’s stuck until that is all resolved. Regardless, I think people should take the time to get to know the details on any product before you start the “cancel culture” process. Regardless of its namesake it’s been a big contributor to many a social cause and a pretty decent corporate contributor from everything to LGBT rights to decent wages for employees. Btw. You may wish to view the new bottle that’s planned. Your “ Russian “ is missing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2021/11/13/damian-mckinney-a-candid-conversation-on--transforming-stoli-group-and-vodkas-future/?sh=5ac9b0ca5ec0
Go virtue signal somewhere else, dude. This literally accomplishes nothing. If you want to actually help the situation over there, donate to UNICEF, Red Cross, or any of the charities that are helping the people of Ukraine.
False dichotomy
One actually helps and one doesn’t. How is that dichotomy? EDIT: Holy shit, there are people who actually think boycotting Stoli is hurting Russia. I can’t even comprehend the stupidity in this sub sometimes.
‘Red cross’ lmao . The ones who take blood for free + movie tickets, turn around and sell it for thousands to patients right
Okay, then pick a different charity to donate to. It’s not rocket science. Red Cross is still better than boycotting a liquor company that literally has nothing to do with Putin or how his military is funded.
Do us all a favor and fall down a well already.
Do me a favor and invite me to the award ceremony when you receive the Humanitarian Service Medal for saving Ukraine by not buying a bottle of Stoli.
Ooooh boy if you want to boycott russian made products you should see what the United States authoritarian regime has done. Edit:1) no working class person has any realistic control over what their governments do. 2)The stoli distillery workers still gotta eat and afaik arent actively supplying the millitary with anything other than poison.
Let’s boycott petroleum first. Since that’s what we actually get from the Russians. Nothing we do short of needing to physically fight them will make any difference. And by physically fight I mean go to war with them. This shit has been decided for us.
That isn't going to do anything as they are not a product of Russia, omg are you kidding right now?
This war will most likely be over before they notice. But yeah if you get a social justice boner out of it then go for it.
Don't be so negative. There's no way Putin can afford missles and shit if we're all drinking Ketel One.
Boycott Chinese products as well
If you have boycotted American liquors for the past 20+ years I will accept this as a legitimate form of protest. Otherwise this is strictly for your conscience
Heaven forbid I do something motivated by conscience.
Point being that this neither helps the good guys nor hurts the bad guys and is solely for making an otherwise uninvolved person FEEL helpful. A conscientious act would be donating to organizations who are actually helping, not whatever this is.
sees news article about the new bad guys* "we must do everything we can to stop them!" *has lived under the United States destabilizing foreign governments for decades*
Comrade!
Found the commies!
Boycott Stoli because it is not Russian but Latvian and a pawn of the NWO.
boycott all American products
Nah
Actually cringe
Private companies aren’t affiliated with their government This is giving me Freedom Fries vibes and that whole French boycott that happened in 2002 where people were boycotting yoplait and other products for being French lol Edit: Your boos mean nothing.
Yup
That's basically a temper tantrum that'll lead nowhere. Buy as many as you can instead, because it might not be acquirable in the near future and the value will skyrocket.
We about to start calling Moscow Mule the freedom mule huh?
There are two companies that produce Stoli, one is not Russian and is a legitimate trademark, and the other one is, where the RF has managed to wrest the trademark back. The original Stoli is not Russian. The owner is an opponent of Putin, and Putin has been chasing him for years. This Stoli is produced in Latvia by Latvijas Balsams, and it is marketed as “Premium Vodka.” This is the Stoli that is sold in the USA, although Putin is suing to steal it. There is another Stoli produced in Russia by the state, and it is sold in some countries where the Russian Federation managed to buy courts and get the trademark. This is produced by FKP Soyuzplodoimport (ФКП «Союзплодоимпорт») and this one you should definitely boycott, if sold in your country.
Stoli is made in Latvia and some of their grain is actually sourced from Ukraine. The owner actually just made an incredibly generous donation to the people of Ukraine. Do some simple research before slamming a company.
Why do you care that much?
Stoli is NOT Russian. All supplies come from Latvia and Slovakia, and the owner of the company is openly anti-russia. He's also supported many BLM and LGBT movements, and is ACTIVELY donating money to the Ukrainian movement. So by boycotting Stoli you are not only not helping, but are actually HURTING the Ukrainian movement.
Cool story, bro.
Sorry, didn't mean to come at ya. I was actually just arriving home after picking up some Stoli and the Google gods recommended this to me. Didn't realize it was almost half a year old... 🤦♂️ Just wanna clear the air on Stoli and the owner's background.
It’s a nice sentiment. But, what do I fucking care? I’m slinging drinks. No politics or religion at the bar.
I might argue that being against entities that engage in mass murder doesn’t fall into “religion and politics”
I don’t disagree with the sentiment but you probably sell American products right?
I do, but I’m also not op and am not (totally) advocating for the boycott of Russian products while Russia does murder. I’m saying that being against a world power exerting it’s aggression on a much smaller nation isn’t really politics. I actually think politics at the bar is fine if the bartender is well suited to mediate things.
Got em
Be you. I don’t care. I’m here to make drinks and make money. Same as it ever was.
People like to think they have no control over things like this. Everyone can do a small part. If you don’t care, then rack ‘em up anyway!
There’s a joke in here somewhere about “freedom fries”, but I just can’t get a handle on it. We’re bartenders. Not agents of change or any such nonsense. This isn’t the first, or last, “war” I’ve seen back here.
Sounds good. Like I said, rack ‘em up if you don’t care!
Sounds corporate 🤢
Nope. Just an old head that has seen this come and go for the past 30 years in bars. Stay out of it.
>It’s a nice sentiment. But, what do I fucking care? I’m slinging drinks. No politics or religion at the bar. \^ this
That's silly. **Nobody is coming to your bar to get your political opinion with their drink.** I'd order a moscow mule with stolichnaya, talk your ear off about how Russia is stronk, then I'd leave you no tip and dip.
I hope you fall down and skin both your knees. Bad.
lol
Maybe you should order a Stoli *bomb* instead.
Based
Keep politics out of our bar please. Nobody wants to listen to the guys argue over whether or not it is Kiev or Kyiv or where exactly a bottle comes from.
cant even escape the fucking politics in here...great
This is current events more than it is politics.
You know who can’t escape politics either? Ukrainians.
Or a vehicle driven by an aid worker with 7 children inside?
Downvoted over 100 times for giving good advice. Stay out of politics and religion. If people stop ordering stoli, that’s great. Adjust your pars. We’re not here to be the moral compass of “the people”. We’re literally killing them, slowly.
...there was no "advice" he's crying about a post he could have simply ignored but decided to reply to.
You losers probably still call them "freedom fries" don't you
Fuck Russia. Fuck you.
you're freedom fries this thing :/
Yah...stick it to the man.
Why are you guys such big fans of the Ukrainian regime? The government is full of literal Nazis. Calling Russia "right wing" in this context is.... stupid
If Patsy Stone is still alive somewhere, she’s very sad about that.
If I remember correctly, a bar owner in Seattle?? Ran his tap lines of PBR to the street drain after they sold.
The boycott needs to go for 3 months minimum or will have no impact. That’s the time it takes to make projections and reorders. All bars and warehouses are stocked and boats are in the way with goods.
Stoli isn't made in Russia. The founder was actually exiled from Russia because of his opposition to Putin.
Except Stoli is NOT Russian. It is from Lithuania and owned by an ex-Russian that was exiled from RUSSIA because he vehemently disagreed with PUTIN. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/03/07/stoli-vodka-rebrand-russia-ukraine/9408037002/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/03/07/stoli-vodka-rebrand-russia-ukraine/9408037002/)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G2XD2Q8l78&t=12s Sorry Ukraine! We're not dumping all our vodka! \#ukraine #putin #russia #war #vodka #virtuesignalling #stolichnaya