Brittany Merrill Yeng, co-founder and owner of Skrewball Whiskey, says her husband Steve has always had an affinity for two things: peanut butter and whiskey.
“He also has a gift for flavor profiles and mixology,” said Brittany, born and raised in OB. “His favorite thing to do is create unexpected combinations. And peanut butter is like his ketchup. He puts it on everything.”
That’s how Steve Yeng first came up with Ocean Beach’s trendy new drink – peanut butter whiskey. Brittany says she was actually sitting at the OB Noodle House Bar 1502, a restaurant started by Steve, when her husband first mixed the sweet and smooth drink. “The peanut butter whiskey was something he created in house to really push whiskey at the restaurant and make it accessible to people,” said Brittany. “And it’s hard to find people who like whiskey who don’t also like peanut butter. That’s what I noticed was unique about this drink, that it draws all sorts of people to it. I saw an opportunity there.”
In July of 2018, Brittany began to build the Skrewball brand, designing the signature black sheep logo –representing peanut butter whiskey as an “endearing outlier” in the whiskey world – and sorting through all the legal “nuts and bolts.”
“The Skrewball name is one of our favorite parts about the business,” said Brittany. “It has the word ‘krew’ in it, albeit technically spelled wrong. Friendship and coming together is something that’s at the heart of the product itself. It’s about creating a ‘krew’ of both whiskey drinkers and wannabe whiskey drinkers.”
Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey is a 70-proof, vegan and gluten free beverage that smells like praline pecan caramel swirl ice cream and tastes like a liquid peanut butter cup. The drink was recently awarded a double gold medal for “Best Flavored Whiskey” at the 2018 New York World Wine and Spirits Competition, and won gold for “Best in Class” at the same year’s Los Angeles Spirits Competition. On their website, Skrewball gives recipes for Peanut Butter Whiskey cocktails, such as Salted Caramel Pretzel and Peanut Colada.
“We didn’t just slap a peanut butter label on a bottle, it really does taste like peanut butter,” said Brittany. “When people hear the name, eyes roll because they assume we’re following a trend. But once they smell it and try it, they really start to believe in the product.”
Now, whiskey fans from all over the U.S. are going to get the chance to taste and believe in peanut butter-flavored whiskey. Skrewball has partnered with Infinium Spirits to distribute their nutty nectar bottles nationwide. While before it was impossible to purchase Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey outside the Golden State, in just two months the brand has expanded to 30 U.S. states and counting. Brittany says Skrewball plans to be available in liquor stores across all 50 states by the fall. “We fully committed ourselves knowing Skrewball wouldn’t be an overnight success,” said Brittany. “But we’ve moved along faster than expected. It’s even been faster that what’s usually advised. Alcohol is primarily a local business but, as soon as we launched, people from all over the country reached out, thrilled that we had figured out a way to put their two favorite things together — whiskey and peanut butter.”
Because alcohol is regulated at a state level, Brittany says the process to expand Skrewball throughout the U.S. has been a trial. But local approval has been abounding. Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey can be found at 50 locations in San Diego, including the OB Noodle House, Mothers Ocean Beach, Surf Lodge, and Wonderland Ocean Pub. More locations can be found on skrewballwhiskey.com.