“The Bootlegger’s Grandson” from Bad Bear Enterprises
This week, Ira spoke with Heath Schneider, “The Bootlegger’s Grandson” from Bad Bear Enterprises. In this distilled episode of Ira’s Everything Bagel, Heath talks about his grandmother, Lorine Sextro, who created the recipe for Iowa Legendary Rye; why he has dedicated himself to taking back the history of his grandmother; how Whiskey Rich (a 5th generation bootlegger whose family got the recipe from Grandma Sextro) continues to inspire the company; how a small town dedicated itself to moonshine during prohibition; why Al Capone considered it “the good stuff”; and why the recipe deserves to be preserved.
The liquor business found Heath Schneider in March 2017. A small distillery in Carroll, Iowa was telling a story about an original bootlegger out of Templeton, Iowa showing them how to make an historically accurate recipe for Templeton Rye (circa 1932). To his surprise, it happened to be his grandmother, Lorine Sextro’s recipe. This world famous prohibition era recipe came from hard working German Catholic immigrants, not a huge Indiana distillery. Since that date, taking back this history is his mission.
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