Media Spotlight: The Soap Distillery's Indiegogo Campaign Featured on Crave Local

Well here is some exciting news! The Soap Distillery's Indiegogo campaign is currently being featured on Crave Local! For those who are new to Crave Local, they are an online publication that predominately features  food, wine, and cocktails both local and nationwide, and they also focus on local events and businesses revolving around those ideas. Since The Soap Distillery is centered around cocktails, beer, and spirits, this is a natural fit! They hope to run an Indiegogo/ Kickstarter editorial following the anticipated success of The Soap Distillery's campaign, so go check get out the article! They did a great job featuring us, and their website has all sorts of interesting information and reviews of all of our favorite things in life :) I think you'll feel the same way.

Indiegogo Spotlight of the Week on Crave Local

Creamy, delicious, inedible goodness. Wait, what?

When I was in college, a friend of mine gave me a homemade recipe for eggnog. I had defintely sampled eggnog in my day, but it wasn't one of my favorite things in the whole world. I was actually more in love with the Edy's Ice Cream version of eggnog over the drink itself, but I gave him a chance to 'wow' me. He actually made the drink for me first, before he handed over the recipe. That's the day my whole world changed. Ever since then, I could not have store bought eggnog ever again. David, you spoiled me!

Flash forward to 2009, when I got a chance to make this recipe for my boyfriend for the first time. He LOVES eggnog, and I wanted to impress him. Remembering how delicious the eggnog was for me, I decided to make this for him and his friend. He couldn't even speak after the first sip. Partly because his mouth was full of eggnog, but mostly because he didn't want to stop tasting it. Now, at the time, I was unaware that it was such a big deal to add brandy to eggnog. My boyfriend says that, "this is the only way to have it!" so we added brandy. Since that night, that's what we do every year. It was only recently that I became curious about that particular smell...Eggnog is eggnog. But, eggnog with brandy is a whole 'nother level of awesome. That's the story of how I got the inspiration for my Eggnog soap.

Now, I know this looks like the top of some kind of deliciously creamy eggnog drink, but it's soap! And, we all know by now how much I love close up photos of soap...This was obviously a natural choice to make: an up close and personal shot of my Eggnog soap. I do have to say, the test batch has come out awesome. I even got away with adding sugar and an egg to this one without any trouble! The bubbles on this one are ridiculously creamy. I could go on and on about this one, but it's clear how pleased I am with the results. It's sad to know that I'll never actually be able to put this soap inside my belly, however, this does give me inspiration to make that college eggnog recipe that has treated me so well over the years. And I know, it's like 70 degrees outside for some reason. But, the nutmeg is off the shelf, and I won't dare put it back!

I've also added this pic to my Indiegogo page. If you like eggnog as much as I do, you should absolutely contribute to my Indiegogo campaign so you can get some of this soap!

www.indiegogo.com/soapcocktails

Research is hard work.

So this Friday, I decided to meet up with a couple of friends and head on over to The Violet Hour for happy hour cocktails. As six o'clock turned in to nine o'clock, I realized that I had spent most of my Friday night doing a lot of, um, er, research. I had three different delicious gin cocktails, and my favorite so far this season was the Thigh High. Oh. Boy.

One of the ingredients in this cocktail was new to me: Letherbee Gin. They are a small, local Chicago distillery, and, I'm hoping that one day I'll have a bottle of my own to have and hold. This season, they have released their first seasonal spirit, aptly named Autumnal Gin, and it is just that. Imagine all those McCormick spices you have to run out and buy at Jewel (the local grocery store) every season before you can really start your seasonal cooking. Well, take those favorites, and use them to impregnate some delicious gin, and you've got an Autumnal Gin.

Clove, nutmeg, all spice, and other favorites some together to create a spiraling vortex of flavor that has been skillfully blended with The Violet Hour's house malort and orange floral water. This gin is, honestly, my new favorite. I do love my bourbons, but I also love my gins, and it's great to have a gin that can carry me nicely into the fall. Check out this article in the Chicagoist about Letherbee spirits, and if you see this stuff on a drink menu in your favorite Chicago spot, try it out!

Letherbee Gin Enters Chicago On A Cloudy High

Scotch. Smoky delicious Scotch.

Here's another peek at a soap that will be offered through my Indiegogo campaign. This is the Scotch soap. It's a balanced mix of earth, smoke, wood, and sweet vanilla, with some added hints of pine. I've been trying REALLY hard not to take a bite out of this one. So far, so good (for now).

Mmmm...smoky.

The great thing about contributing to this campaign is that you actually get something in return! Not only does your contribution help me out, I also get a chance to share these soaps with you. Most of what you'll be seeing over the next 30 days will be sneak peeks of what you can take home! Don't forget, holiday shopping is right around the corner. Make this year easier for yourself, and contribute to a handmade soap maker as well. It's a win-win (win)! Go check it out, and I'll keep the pics coming!

http://www.indiegogo.com/soapcocktails

You TEASE.

Here are some teaser pics of the soaps I am making right now. Most of them are for my Indiegogo campaign, so if you like what you see, click on the link and contribute! Time for super close up pictures of YUM.

 Coffee with cream, Gin Thyme, Scotch

 Gin Thyme topped with juniper berries and lavender buds.

Delightfully smoky Scotch.

The Dish

This is going to be an informational post about making sure your new handmade soap lasts as long as it possibly can. If done correctly, your soap can last weeks with day to day use. Many people don't realize it, but a good, natural, handmade soap needs good drainage in order to to last long. Commercial soaps have lots of additives in them to make them harder, and last longer. Most of the time these additives are what makes that bar of soap so harsh on your skin. You may notice that bar of grocery store soap sitting in a pool of water in your shower starting to break apart in layers. That has to do with two things:

One, many commercial soaps are actually detergents pressed together, instead of being a poured mix of oil and lye water. The lye in handmade soap is a necessary ingredient, and this mixed with water is what turns oil into soap. But that's for another post...

Two, because it is pressed together, the layers start to break apart as those additives are broken down.

With handmade soap, because often it does not have these additives, if it sits in water over a long period of time it can begin to dissolve. But, don't worry! This can be eliminated with a good soap dish. It can be cheap, and it doesn't have to be pretty, it just needs to work! I have a cheap, wire shower caddy that works perfectly. The key is to get a dish that touches the soap as little as possible after you've used it. That's why my wire rack works so well.

Here's a good example of an Etsy seller's version of a good soap dish. It's got great drainage, and it minimally touches the soap which is great because then you don't have to worry about the soap getting stuck to it. PERFECT.

Andrew's Reclaimed

But again, this is just one example. Most people have a great soap dish and don't even know it!

Indiegogo campaign!

Yes, that's right! I just launched an Indiegogo campaign, just in time for the season! My main goal right now is to collect funding so that I can branch out, and gain the ability to bring these soaps to customers across the united states. Most of you know that right now I am local to Chicago, but it's time to spread my wings and flyyyyyyy! As a contributor to this campaign, most of the rewards that will be offered to you are, you guessed it, bars of soap! The more you contribute, the more you get. That means, that's less shopping you are going to have to worry about this year! Go check out the campaign, contribute, and share share share! Every little bit counts, and if you can't contribute, sharing with your friends is the next best thing! Go check it out! Exclamation point!

The Soap Distillery: Making cocktail influenced soap

Summa, summa, summatime!...is over.

Well, it happened. After a few months of awesome, the inevitable has happened: it's fall. While, this does mean that The Violet Hour has released their delicious fall menu, what this means for me is that the few summer scented soaps I have left will soon be undesirable. I know...as if a margarita soap could be undesirable, right? GAH! In any case, I do have them, and I need to get rid of them. You should help out! The funds will go to helping me get insurance so I can make this thing legit. YEAAA BOOOIIII. Hit me up and make these things disappear! Here's a shot of the first icy looking Margarita salt soap I made. That was fun!