Townshend’s Distillery, the local company that made exclusively tea-based spirits, is halting production and closing shop by December 22. The company made the announcement on Instagram last night, explaining that Townshend’s couldn’t afford a necessary move into new facilities: “Our little old building in the Brooklyn neighborhood is no longer suitable for our operations and we are unable to sustain the exorbitant cost of relocating to a new facility,” the post reads.
Open in 2015 by Matt Thomas of Townshend’s Tea and Brew Dr., the distillery — originally called Thomas and Sons — made its spirits by distilling kombucha. Its line of amari and liquors continually changed and evolved, currently including a Pacific Northwest fernet, a gin, and an herbaceous Bluebird Alpine Liqueur. Despite popularity with Portland bartenders and local drinkers, its production stayed relatively small, with the size of its team never breaking into the double digits.
While the Instagram post reads: “We look forward to the future when we are able to reopen and once again continue to explore what could be, instead of what has always been,” head distiller Seth O’Malley says the closure is permanent. “We as individuals will come back and start something new,” he clarifies.
O’Malley feels optimistic and grateful as Townshend’s Distilling draws to a close, and plans to stay in the spirits world with a few undisclosed opportunities already available to him. “I am deeply, deeply grateful for the people of Portland,” he says. “I don’t think our distillery could have been possible anywhere else. Our devotees, by nature, embody many of my favorite qualities: They’re adventurous and voracious for new experiences, approaching the novel and unknown with curiosity and eagerness to understand rather than retreating to familiarity.”
The distillery’s Brooklyn neighborhood tasting room, located at 4211 SE Milwaukie Avenue, will be open from noon to 7 p.m. on the weekends until the distillery closes.