Vineyard VIEW Middleburg’s Colony Cocktails Offers a Unique Blend

By Peter Leonard-Morgan

Middleburg is renowned as the nation’s foxchasing capital, for its beautiful horse farms and as an idyllic country getaway. And now it has added another signature asset in the form of Colony Cocktails.

The brainchild of Middleburg residents Jessica and Philip Miller (Philip also is the town’s vice mayor), the nascent Colony Cocktails brand brings a whole new Photos by Peter Leonard-Morgan beverage segment to select stores, restaurants and bars in Colony Cocktails’ Virginia, formulated around wine rather than spirits. “The Tangier”

The Millers have long been traditional cocktail enthusiasts, and saw an opportunity to develop a business around that enjoyment. They’ve created recipes, designed a brand and introduced a different option to wine and cocktail aficionados everywhere.

The spark was none other than the “Soixante Quinze,” or 75 Cocktail, a French delight consisting of Champagne, lemon juice and syrup (and a dash of gin), which Jessica and Philip enjoy making. The couple also recognized that making individual wine cocktails at home can be tedious—particularly after a long day at work—not to mention wasteful. Cracking open a bottle of good Champagne in order to use just a few ounces for a couple of cocktails, while seeing the remainder go flat, is simply unacceptable. So why not simplify the process, and offer delicious cocktails in cans. Jessica and Philip also saw that in a strict alcohol control state like Virginia, a winebased, cocktail-in-a-can would provide Philip and Jessica Miller with their three Colony Cocktails wine based blends in Middleburg greater distribution opportunities than liquorbased variants, allowing them to market through grocery stores, gourmet markets and wine shops.

During 2016, with the ready-made beverage in a can category in its infancy, together with 20-plus years of brand marketing expertise, Jessica set about designing an attractive brand identity around an initial series of cocktail recipes, and brought in a design firm to help develop their logo and visuals.

They tested out various mixtures on friends at home, before the coronavirus pandemic put an end to such social get-togethers, resulting in three distinct cocktails. They’re infused with various herbs and spices for different tastes, from a fruity to a spicy, and finally more of a bitter, Negroni-esque concoction.

They view their cocktails as natural complements to cheese and charcuterie gatherings, tailgate parties and no end of social get togethers, once coronavirus is fully in the rearview mirror.

Their journey has had its hurdles. Developing a business in the alcoholic beverage arena is, as Jessica said, “not for the weak of heart…Some of the rules and regulations haven’t been rewritten since the end of prohibition, so navigating that can be a frustrating experience.”

During their first formula production, the U.S. government decided to shut down, including the very agency which oversees alcohol production and sales. This resulted in long backlogs for all beverage businesses needing approvals, with correspondingly lengthy production delays.

Jessica and Philip partnered with a specialist company with the experience needed to make their recipes scalable to production volumes, while maneuvering through all the required legal hoops. They are now licensed to distribute at the wholesale level to retailers, restaurants and bars in Virginia, with plans for organic expansion farther afield.

Locally, Colony Cocktails selections are available at retailers across Hunt Country as well as in Reston and Alexandria, with more to come.