Iowa Spirits Volume 1 2018 - 18

happyswineandspirits.com
5925 University Avenue #5
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
319-277-1463
BEN HAGARTY

Wine, beer and spirits all
get good display at Happy's
Wine & Spirits.

BEN HAGARTY

BEN HAGARTY

Knudsen says. "We have also been printing recipes and trying to educate our customers about
liquors they may not have heard about."
To further enlighten customers, Happy's offers
three annual tasting events. "We have one in the
fall, one during the holidays to hit holiday gift-giving and holiday parties, and one in the spring for
graduations, weddings and seasonal spring
events," says Sylvia Amlie. "We have between
200 and 300 people attend, and we offer tastings
of beer, spirits and wine."
Besides serving individual customers, Happy's
works with on-premises bar and restaurant
accounts and sells products wholesale. "We work
with them to create craft cocktails and educate
folks on that end," she says.
The store also stocks products to help the
home bartender craft more perfect cocktails.
"We're trying to keep on track with the craft cocktail market," says Amlie. "We have brought in a
variety of simple syrups, vermouth, high-end tonic
waters, a lot of mixers that you'll see in higher-end
restaurants in big cities. We try to keep ahead of
and on top of the trends."
Over in the wine department, the selections
run from sweet to dry, white to red, with bubbly

18

IOWA SPIRITS

for those special occasions-and plenty of the
popular Rosé wines.
"We got on board with dry Rosé a couple
years ago," says Knudsen. "It was a gamble, but
it paid off for sure! We helped foster a small local
following for the often-overlooked wine, and now
we see the sales grow more and more every
season."
Though Happy's stocks plenty of domestic
beers, the craft selection is what sets the store
apart. "When we opened we knew craft beer was
up-and-coming in Iowa ... We upped our game
and got some of the best beers available,"
Knudsen says.
In addition to bottles and cans, customers can
take home favorite brews from the 18-tap growler
fill station, regularly rotated to ensure freshness
and diversity. The beers, meads and ciders on tap
include limited-release products that may not be
available in bottles or cans.
The taps include beers from Iowa craft breweries, including Pulpit Rock, Singlespeed, Iowa
and Lark, as well as popular U.S. breweries such
as Founders and Off Color, imported favorites
like Hitachino Nest and Lindemans, and mead
from East Grove Farms.
http://www.happyswineandspirits.com
Iowa Spirits Volume 1 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Iowa Spirits Volume 1 2018
