The Free Spirits
The Free Spirits
Freeland Free Spirits program celebrates female-identifying, transgender, and gender-nonconforming Oregonians who are busting through the glass ceilings and soaring. These are people who think and act in an uninhibited way without worrying about so-called rules or norms. We might call them non-conformists, rule-benders, iconoclasts, mavericks, or bohemians. We might say they march to their own beat, to their own muse. We appreciate them for their abilities to help their community, to create beauty, to be original, to blaze trails, and to celebrate unabashedly.
Know a good candidate for our next Free Spirit? Nominate them today!
Grace Hennessey McMickens, Brown girl rise
Grace Hennessey McMickens is this month’s virtual Free Spirit! Grace is the Program Coordinator for @browngirlrise focusing on empowerment-based educational models for young femmes of color. She also volunteers time with Voz Worker’s Rights Education Project and the Portland African American Leadership Forum. Grace loves our Rosemary Ginger Whiskey Sour cocktail kit- a portion of the proceeds will benefit Brown Girl Rise for the next month. Thank you, Grace, for the inspirational work you do!
***Grace has been such an inspiration for us that we've decided to support her and Brown Girl Rise for a second month.***
Maxine Dexter
Maxine Dexter is a critical care and pulmonary doc at Kaiser. She initiated and drafted a letter from 300 physicians to put pressure on the governor's office to act quickly to flatten the COVID-19 curve and has continued to provide leadership nationally with a letter to Mike Pence with now over 5000 physicians supporting her recommendations. In the midst of this, she has not removed her name from the ballot for state representative, but has said she will spend no more time on campaign events and is focused 100% on medical care for our community through this crisis. She is a huge advocate for equity and access to housing, education, and healthcare for all.
Proceeds from each Freeland Spirits Booze Thru cocktail kit will go to a COVID 19 recovery effort of Maxine’s choosing.
Eboni Brown, Rosehaven PDX
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Eboni Brown leaves everyone with a desire to improve their neighborhood. All she wants to do is better her community, whether that be through activism, volunteering, coaching, or just showing up. Social work and community involvement has been a major part of her life and she surrounds herself with amazing individuals who have made it part of theirs as well. Come to our tasting room for a Neighborhood Mom cocktail and brainstorm how you can show up more for your own neighborhood.
NEIGHBORHOOD MOM
1.5 oz Bourbon
1 oz Lemon
.5 oz Ancho Reyes
.5 oz Simple Syrup
2 dropfulls of. Hell Fire Bitters
Rim a rocks glass with Tajin
Shake all ingredients together.
Double strain using a Hawthrone strainer and a fine strainer.
Top with new ice and add a tamarind spoon.
Proceeds from this cocktail will go to the Rose Haven Shelter for Women and Children. According to Eboni, Rose Haven is not just a place of refuge for those seeking services, but a place that has provided community and support for all those involved in the organization. Rose Haven has given her a home away from home and continues to work to provide more opportunities and increased awareness for those who are often left voiceless and without access to basic needs.
Dayna Pinkham, Rosehaven PDX
Dayna Pinkham is a positive force within Portland’s maker community and is keeping often forgotten hat making techniques alive and well. In the 1980’s she began her millinery career in Seattle, where she apprenticed to the late John Eaton, venerable milliner and fashion designer. During four years with Eaton, she learned the time-honored methods of design conception: steaming and shaping felt, straw, and buckram over wood blocks; and finishing with fine hand stitching which she still carries on today. Currently she is renowned as one of the West Coast's top milliners, Dayna Pinkham's growing national and international clientele ranging between celebrities, politicians and everyday folk. Dayna Pinkham designs and constructs her exceptional hats in her downtown Portland design studio/boutique. The shop is a unique fixture within Portland, as it is the only operating millinery in the city. Her hats are frequently featured at fashion shows, fundraising auctions, and benefit events. Currently, Dayna is busy creating her own, original hat blocks with the aid of her new-found block makers, and is excited about the future, hoping to both explore environmental concerns and contribute to pushing the industry out of the past and into the future.
Mad Hatter
2 oz Freeland Bourbon
.75 oz amaro nonino
1 dropper full cubeb pepper bitters
Stir and strain into coupe glass. Garnish with lemon peel and a Luxardo maraschino cherry.
With the help from Freeland’s Bar Manager KaCee, Dayna’s Free Spirit Cocktail is the Madhatter. Proceeds from this cocktail went to the Rose Haven Shelter for Women and Children.
Crazy Aunt Lindsey, Rose's Fund
Lindsey is the award-winning creator + host of The Fab Lab With Crazy Aunt Lindsey, YouTube’s most beloved kids science web series that takes everyday science concepts and turns them into fabulous DIY projects children can do at home with their families.
Named one of Portland Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 for 2019, Lindsey E. Murphy has been called a “visionary,” “ force of nature,” “breath of fresh air,” and is said to “light up the darkest corners of any room.” This may be because she believes in and strived toward a world full of joy, fun, healed hearts, and people empowered and released to truly live out the fullness of their lives. These are the values that inform every single thing she does.
Come to the tasting room and celebrate Crazy Aunt Lindsey with her custom drink, The Fab Lab. Lindsey chose Rose's Fund as her non-profit in honor of the anniversary of a beloved pets passing. Rose’s Fund made sure that her cat's last days were comfortable. Come into the tasting room today and taste this delicious creation!
The Fab Lab
2 oz Freeland Bourbon
1 oz fresh lemon juice
.75 oz ginger honey syrup
Shake all ingredients
Double strain over a large ice cube - frozen with a little lavender.
And to really honor Lindsey and her love of science, we're burning a small amount of cherry wood and snuffing out the flame in the glass the cocktail will be served in. The smoke collects in the glass, giving a beautiful smoky aroma. Come to the tasting room for a little Fab Lab drink-making science show and ask the Freeland bartenders how to make the ginger honey syrup and lavender ice cubes.
Leslie Lee, The Soul Box Project
Meet Leslie Lee, a true Free Spirit. Leslie founded The Soul Box Project to raise awareness of the US gunfire epidemic through art. In less than 2 years, 66,000 Soul Boxes, hand folded origami boxes, have been collected from all over the country. Soul Boxes, representing 2 months of US gunfire deaths and injuries, are on display at @hatchlabpdx through mid-October. The Tasting Room featured Leslie’s cocktail, The Soul Shine, benefiting The Soul Box Project.
The Soul Shine
1 oz Freeland Geneva
1 oz @portlandsyrups Root Beer syrup
.75 oz lemon
.5 oz Bonal
Shake all ingredients and double strain over a large ice cube into a rocks glass. Top with sparkling water. We use a ginger/lemon/orange ice cube. Want to learn how? Come to the Tasting Room and ask for a demo.
Heather Rose Otto, See You at the Summit
Congrats to Heather Rose Otto, August’s Free Spirit. After 16 years of building See You at the Summit, she is taking her first group of teens affected by cancer into the mountains. Using wilderness therapy, the medically supported trips are 100% free and help youths reclaim their lives and personal sense of power.
Heather worked with @littlehands to design the Junko, in honor of Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest and all Seven Summits, in spite of being considered too frail and weak.
JUNKO
1.5 oz Freeland Gin
.75 oz Giffards Peach liqueur
.75 oz Ancho Reyes
.75 oz Lemon Juice
4 Drops Hellfire Bitters
Shake and double strain into a Collins glass. Top with sparkling water and a slice of peach.
Tana Ross, Opal
Cheers to Tana Ross, a true Free Spirit. Tana is the owner of Bleeding Hearts Kettlebell Club, a space for strength of body and spirit that also supports underserved community members with free or low-cost membership. Tana’s cocktail supported OPAL, an environmental justice and civil rights organization in Oregon.
BLEEDING HEART
1.5 oz Freeland Gin
.75 oz Giffards Peach liqueur
1 oz lemon juice
.5 oz simple syrup
1 bar spoon vanilla syrup
Muddle 6-7 raspberry add all ingredients in a shaker and shake. Double strain into a rocks glass and top with ice. Garnish with a raspberry and lemon.
Free Spirit: Guadalupe Guajardo, LACE
Our second Free Spirit was awarded to Guadalupe Guajardo. Guadalupe has served for 30 years as a consultant to the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, specializing in multi-cultural training. With NAO, she recently launched Latina Associates for Collaborative Endeavors (LACE), providing support to nonprofits with bi-cultural and bi-lingual consultants. Guadalupe is a practicing nun, which inspired the name of her cocktail - Sisterhood.
SISTERHOOD
1.5 oz Freeland Gin
1 oz hibiscus liqueur
.75 oz lime juice
Sprinkled with chili salt
Free Spirit: Dr. Shweta Moorthy, Coalition for Communities of Color
Congratulations to Dr. Shweta Moorthy for receiving Freeland Spirits' 1st Free Spirit Award! Dr. Moorthy works for Coalition for Communities of Color, dismantling institutional racism in Oregon. She worked with Tasting Room Manager, @littlehands to design the "Shweta Old Fashioned, which was on the menu from April 17 - May 14. All proceeds went to the Coalition of Communities of Color. Join us in thanking Shweta for the bold and inspiring work she does for our community.
SHWETA’S OLD FASHIONED
1.75 oz Freeland Gin
1 bar spoon simple syrup
1 bar spoon St. Germain liqueur
4-5 dashes cardamom bitters
2-3 dashes grapefruit bitters