Creative Colorado venture marries craft libations with cryptocurrency

By Jay McKinney

Just say the word cryptocurrency and people will chime in with their predictions, doubts or questions regarding the digital currencies that seem so hard to grasp. Like it or not, blockchain technology (the decentralized database on which crypto currency is powered) seems to be here to stay.

One Colorado family has launched a company that is diving headfirst into this new era of the internet, while bringing two separate industries together in doing so. The Weakland family’s latest venture is called Liquid Craft, which is in the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) sector in the world of blockchains. The Weaklands aim to partner with craft wineries, distilleries and breweries to bring collectible liquor to the blockchain.

The family sees this as a tremendous opportunity to help smaller independent crafters, something they are very familiar with. They founded High Hops Brewery and The Heart Distillery in Windsor and understand the struggles that independent crafters face.

Crafters who choose to partner with Liquid Craft will be able to create NFTs that will correspond to releases of their spirits and can be redeemed for the physical bottle at any point. And with that, it will bring liquor collecting to a global audience that may have not been able to participate in the past.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for all types and sizes of crafters to showcase their product to larger audiences across the world with fewer intermediaries,” says co-founder Rachel Weakland.

So, what exactly is a non-fungible token? Plain and simple, NFTs are essentially a proof of ownership (like a receipt) recorded on a blockchain, and each one coincides with a particular item that is completely unique. Let's break it down further.

If something is fungible, it means it can be exchanged with an identical copy and the value remains the same. Think money: every $20 bill is worth the same amount no matter what. Non-fungible suggests that there are no identical copies of each NFT, creating rarity with each sale. The third word, token, is a broad term that in this case refers to the unique digital asset that is being recorded on the blockchain.

The thing that is game-changing about NFTs within the Liquid Craft Marketplace is the company’s ability to create passive income for independent crafters. If a crafter chooses to partner with Liquid Craft, it can write in a commission percentage into the contract for every time its NFT gets resold. After the initial sale of a Liquid Craft NFT, collectors can either choose to hold onto it and build out their collection in a crypto wallet, or resell the NFT to another prospective buyer. If the NFT is resold, the crafter will receive a commission payment transferred to its own wallet.

“The point of Liquid Craft was to bring more power to the crafter essentially,” says CEO Zach Weakland. “We really want to showcase independent craft distilleries, wineries and breweries around the world, starting locally. We’re all in a global market right now, so we’re trying to make that global market work for locals.”

Maybe it can be chalked up to the pandemic and people being confined in their homes with increased screen time, but NFTs became a multi-billion-dollar market in 2021, and emerged as a new way to show off online. However, Liquid Craft is bringing tangibility to NFTs.

Those confined to small apartments can now build out extensive collections of wine with no need for an elaborate cellar, just a crypto wallet. And of course any Liquid Craft NFT can be redeemed for the physical bottle at any time.

Given the Weaklands’ ventures with The Heart Distillery and High Hops Brewery, they can’t wait to move forward with the Liquid Craft NFT collections.

"We’re excited to be able to get our unique product(s) out there on a global market using blockchain technology,” says co-owner of High Hops Brewery and The Heart Distillery, Pat Weakland. “It will allow everyone the opportunity to buy our spirits."