Meet Shawn and Kathy Herbig, the husband and wife team behind Bluegrass Bitters™. Shawn, a proud Kentucky Colonel, was born and raised in Kentucky and never lived anywhere else. He met Kathy back in middle school, and though she wasn’t born in Kentucky, her family moved here when she was four. Don’t let her roots fool you, though—Kathy’s one of those “don’t-tell-me-I-can’t” Southern women, through and through. Both are passionate about their careers—Kathy is a CPA and partner at one of the nation's largest certified public accounting firms and Shawn has owned and run a research firm since 1999.
But the two share another passion: helping you elevate your at-home cocktails. Whether you simply enjoy drinking a craft cocktail or delight in creating your own, Bluegrass Bitters™ is the key to making every drink a little more memorable.
Meet Shawn and Kathy Herbig, the husband and wife team behind Bluegrass Bitters™. Shawn, a proud Kentucky Colonel, was born and raised in Kentucky and never lived anywhere else. He met Kathy back in middle school, and though she wasn’t born in Kentucky, her family moved here when she was four. Don’t let her roots fool you, though—Kathy’s one of those “don’t-tell-me-I-can’t” Southern women, through and through. Both are passionate about their careers—Kathy is a CPA and partner at one of the nation's largest certified public accounting firms and Shawn has owned and run a research firm since 1999.
But the two share another passion: helping you elevate your at-home cocktails. Whether you simply enjoy drinking a craft cocktail or delight in creating your own, Bluegrass Bitters™ is the key to making every drink a little more memorable.
Shawn’s bourbon journey started simple—just neat or on the rocks, like any good Kentuckian. Then he got a taste for mixing it up with a splash of ginger ale. But the real game-changer was when he stumbled upon Old Fashioneds. He tried them at all sorts of places—some were good, others, not so good. That’s when he figured, why not try making them at home?
So, Shawn found a recipe, gathered his ingredients, and gave it a shot. Like most folks just starting out, the results were decent, but nothing to write home about. But decent wasn’t good enough. He knew there had to be a way to make an Old Fashioned that was just right.
At its heart, the Old Fashioned is a simple cocktail with just a handful of ingredients. But that’s where the challenge comes in. How do you take something so straightforward and make it the best it can be? Shawn would say you have to understand the nuance first. Basically, you have to understand complexity before you can create simplicity.
Shawn took it upon himself to figure that out. He realized that the bourbon was fine—everything else was the problem. He needed better ingredients to highlight the complexity of the bourbon. That’s when his wife, Kathy, became an essential part of the journey. As his taste tester and compatriot, Kathy was there for all the highs and lows of recipe development. Like any good partner, she wasn’t afraid to dish out some honest feedback either. “You know, Sarah’s Old Fashioneds have a better orange flavor than yours,” she’d quip, pushing Shawn to refine the flavors even further.
Shawn’s inquisitive nature and research background made him realize that he needed to not only deconstruct the drink but also break down almost all the ingredients in it. Knowing that if he could crack the code for the bitters and the sweetness, he could create the excellence and consistency he sought—not just for bourbon drinks but for all types of cocktails.
So, he went on a quest, creating and testing different bitters, sugars, simple syrups, and combinations. Some recipes, like the 5-Spice Orange, came together quickly. Others, like the Black Walnut, took over a dozen trials and almost two years to perfect. All the while, Kathy remained his greatest supporter, offering encouragement and the occasional nudge to keep the quest for perfection alive.
Before long, folks started to notice—in his circle, Shawn had become the Old Fashioned guy. And word started to spread.
After a few years of perfecting his craft and with a little nudge from friends, family, and of course, Kathy, Bluegrass Bitters™ was born. Now, Shawn and Kathy are sharing their love for elevated cocktails—including a great Old Fashioned—with the world, one drop of bitters at a time.
