We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Forman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Experimentation in a garage was the beginning of it all. My husband Nate started with kombucha, infusions, bitters, tinctures and then eventually whiskey. Being artists we love to create and experiment and also share those creations with others. After a lot of practice and research we finally decided to go for it and share our spirits with everyone. It was a long road to where we are today. We established in 2019, found an old firehouse in Seguin, TX and began our plans. It took several years through covid to renovate the building and develop the property. But finally in the summer of 2022 we began production and then a year later opened our cocktail bar to the public. Today we have 6 spirits in the bottle and distribute 5 of them through out Texas.

We are a grain to glass distillery specializing in using small casks and specialty wood finishes. We were hoping that strategy would set us apart from the competition. But the alcohol industry is very competitive and at the time we started there were only about a quarter of the distilleries in the US as there are today. The demand for aged spirits is high, but supply has also increased to meet that demand. So, we continue to strive for quality small batch spirits and always make unique spirits that enthusiasts are looking for. It’s a tough industry which definitely pushes our limits as small business owners. But we are proud of our spirits and beginning to win awards and that’s what keeps us going week after week.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a small craft distillery, we love to experiment! One of our most recent releases was one of the first experiments, Red Stinger Hibiscus Whiskey. We have the freedom to try new things and create tiny batch releases that are truly one of kind.

We produce in our small old firehouse in Seguin and have a cocktail bar open on Fridays and Saturdays. We offered a big list of cocktails and spirits and give tours on Saturdays.

Awards:
*Winner, Silver medal, 93 Points at the 2025 NY Internaonal Spirits Competition, Red Stinger Hibiscus Whiskey
**Winner, Gold Medal, Best Flavored Whiskey, 2025 Miami Global Spirits Competition, Red Stinger Hibiscus Whiskey
***Winner, Gold Medal, Texas Flavored Whiskey Distillery of the Year, 2025
****Winner, Bronze Medal, Breakfast Whiskey, American Distilling Institute 2024
*****Winner, Bronze Medal, Jubilee Whiskey, American Distilling Institute 2024

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We purchased the old Seguin firehouse in 2020. We were met with constant challenges to renovate and develop the property over several years. Our process began with challenges to get our plans approved by the city, negotiations over landscaping and other developing properties near by. Obtaining contractors was an immense challenge since our property is one acre of land, it falls into the small size, so most commercial contractors are looking for larger jobs, while residential contractors aren’t skilled at the commercial regulations. We went through dozens of attempts to gain a contractor to do the ground work, paving and gravel work. Securing contractors for the renovations took months, plumbers, electricians, drywall, landscapers, pipe layers, painters, metal workers, and concrete workers. I also did most of the interior finishing myself. So I had physical challenges on top of managing all the subcontractors was stressful. I had a very interesting day when our boiler was delivered in the middle of the highway in front of our building. I wasn’t very skilled at driving a forklift at this point yet. It was about 35 degrees that day, with winds blowing. I had to unload our 2000 lb, very epensive, boiler from the back of a truck in the middle lane of the road with traffic going by. I had to keep the top heavy pallet level while hitting the gas to make it up an incline into the building, petrifing! We had equipment delays and had the wrong equipment show up, forklift failures, contractor delays.. I could go on and on.. ! But, I’m still here, many years later. I think back I wonder it I could do it all again, I’m not sure!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my husband and business partner at a poker game in Austin in 2006. He likes to joke that I’ve never played poker again because I had already won him :) We’ve been married for 17 years now and it’s been a crazy, wonderful time. We had some advice in the beginning from other husband and wife teams, to clearly define roles. But, over the years of owning a small business, as others may know, when you own a business, you have do every job, whenever necessary. So, a lot of those roles have been merged or blended. I was worried that the business would stress our marriage. It definitely has pushed our limits and tested us financially, mentally, physically and emotionally. We’ve had to make very difficult decisions and sacrifices. And we’ve each had to ask one another to do things we didn’t want to have to ask of a spouse. But each year we get stronger and this experience has actually brought us closer together. I’m incredibly grateful for my husband, our relationship and our partnership.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.johnnypicklesdistillery.com
• Instagram: johnnypicklestx
• Facebook: Johnny Pickles Distillery
• Other: https://redstinger.johnnypicklesdistillery.com/