Fast Penny Spirits sends Italian tradition to new heights
IMAGES BY JASON HUNT
Sometimes, it takes a woman to make things happen.
It’s not a cliché for Fast Penny Spirits, a woman-owned and -operated amaro distillery, not when so much grit and determination is required to launch any independent business. Combine with that the desire to honor family heritage, a deep belief in giving back and supporting women—and it’s no wonder that Fast Penny stands out for its enlightened direction as well as its award-winning amaro liqueurs.
For Jamie Hunt, founder and CEO of Fast Penny Spirits, producing her own version of amaro (the word means “bitter” in Italian), the classic Italian digestif, proved a captivating business concept. Hunt launched Fast Penny in 2020, in Seattle’s Ship Canal neighborhood. This was following 20-plus years in the tech world managing user experience design. While it seems like a sharp turn, Hunt links her amaro love affair to her travels in Italy, where she reconnected with her family heritage.
Her grandparents emigrated from Sicily in the 1920s, and Hunt grew up watching relatives make homemade Italian liqueurs. But were there any American-made commercial amari on the market?
Only a handful, it turned out—and fewer still made in the more complex Italian style, which opened the door wide for her new venture. The project took two and a half years of research and development to settle on the recipes.
Distilled from foraged and organic botanicals, then blended with other ingredients in a neutral grape spirit, amaro’s origins and variations can be traced to medieval centuries when monks first formulated the liqueur as a medicinal cure-all. With its presumed healthful benefits, the bittersweet, invigorating spirit eventually was sold in apothecaries, and then splashed into modernized cocktails in the 1940s and ‘50s, becoming a classic afterdinner drink in Italy and other European countries. Now with the cocktail renaissance happening, amari variations are being rediscovered.
While most Americans aren’t keen on the bitter flavors of standalone digestifs, when exposed to amari in mixed cocktails, they are often surprised. Classic cocktails such as the Negroni and the Black Manhattan are inviting amaro explorations. Even a dash mixed with sparkling water or prosecco proves intriguing.
Knowing she wanted to forge an organic, “better for you” top-quality alcohol, beginning in 2017, Hunt followed this traditional production path for amaro, choosing botanicals to develop a recipe creating her own signature version of the classic. Combining various sustainable, locally sourced and wild-crafted herbs growing in the Pacific Northwest, along with other sustainably-sourced botanicals from around the world, she infused them in various proportions using grape spirits from West Coast vineyards as the base.
Recalling this testing period, Jamie remembers testing 200 individual botanicals sourced from local herbal shops, World Spice and Pike Place Market vendors.
“I wanted low sugar levels, and I also looked at what was grown in the Pacific Northwest,” she says, “including hazelnuts, saffron and black truffles.”
Another flavor ingredient was coffee berry husks from Costa Rica, which gave coffee farmers an additional income source since cascara often goes to waste. A most cherished ingredient turned out to be black truffles, foraged locally. As planned, Fast Penny Spirits’ first amaro versions were appropriately named Amaricano, a darker classic amaro, and Amaricano Bianca, a delicately bitter, golden-hued amaro. Both are described as “luxurious and indulgently refined Italian-style amari.”
Accomplishing this period of investigation and experimentation, in July 2020, Fast Penny Spirits opened its tasting room on the doorstep of its production facility in a warehouse beside Seattle’s bustling Ship Canal industrial district. In the beginning, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all tastings and direct purchases happened outside on the sloping deck entrance to the main distillery. Inside, the distillery warehouse space features an almost laboratory-like arrangement of three towering stainless steel vats, two wooden foeders where the amari variations age, shipping crates of bottles both filled and waiting to be labeled and filled, and a desk resembling a chemist’s workbench. Sustainability underlies all company operations, from its recycled glass bottles and reclaimed corks, to partnerships with like-minded businesses.
At one side of the space, a tasting bar is ready for pours. The seating area, a repurposed shipping ramp, provides a welcoming space for tastings and special gatherings, and is typically open to the public from Friday through Sunday afternoons.
Proving a standout from the beginning, the American-distilled amari of Fast Penny Spirits have achieved multiple awards and industry recognition. Both Amaricano and Amaricano Bianca won gold medals at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Denver International Spirits
“We are committed to stirring up change,” says Hunt. “With our Pretty Penny give back program, three percent of our earned bottle revenue goes to elevate women in business, local communities and the spirits industry.”
Competition, and again at the Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition where they competed with spirits from 56 countries around the world. They were named one of the Top Spirits of 2021 by the editors of Wine Enthusiast magazine, and, also in 2021, Washington State’s Liqueur Distillery of the Year. Most recently, Fast Penny’s spirits won the 2023 Bartender Seattle of Approval for Best in the Amaro Category. Also in 2023, Fast Penny’s seasonal liqueur, Amaricano Rossa, was named a top pick for Food & Beverage Magazine’s 2023 Editor’s Summer Trending Products.
All things considered, entering the retail liquor marketplace has proven challenging, Hunt notes.
“It’s a many-layered industry, which is tricky, from the retail alcohol/ spirits segment, to restaurants,” she says. “And overall, wine and beer drinking are down.”
Given this trend, direct and website sales are a win. To date, under Hunt’s impetus, the company’s sales perseverance has proven successful. Its liqueurs are shipped directly to 30 states, and it currently sells in bars and restaurants in nine states: Washington, Oregon, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, New York, Michigan and Minnesota, with additional locations being pursued.
Along with its significant product awards, the distillery’s operating philosophy conveys a special distinction. From the beginning, Hunt knew she wanted her business to give back. In March 2022, Fast Penny Spirits earned its Certified B Corporation™ standing, becoming one of only five distilleries in the country and 14th in the world to achieve the status.
Underscoring the company’s B Corp™ designation and qualifying it for acceptance was its commitment as a for-profit business to give back to other female-owned businesses. The Pretty Penny initiative provides financial resources and in-kind donations to a variety of organizations including: Black Girl Ventures, Emerge Washington, Jubilee Women’s Center, WA Women’s Foundation, the Independent Restaurant Coalition, Les Dames d’Escoffier Seattle and Ladies Who Launch.
“We are committed to stirring up change,” says Hunt. “With our Pretty Penny give back program, three percent of our earned bottle revenue goes to elevate women in business, local communities and the spirits industry.”
Fast Penny also hosts fun events at its bottle shop and tasting deck featuring food trucks, specialty cocktails, live music, hip hop classes and more. For Hunt, and for Seattle, it’s a total win-win.
AN UNEXPECTED ORIGIN STORY
Would you guess an adventure exploring the world of burlesque inspired the name “Fast Penny”? It’s true! A happy hour stop at the DeLille Wine Bar in Kirkland several years ago offered sign-ups for a burlesque class. Thinking it was an exercise class, Hunt and a friend signed up. Much to their surprise when they arrived, it was the real thing—all about becoming a bone fide burlesque performer! They ended up performing on stage: Hunt as Veloce Von Perla and her partner as Centime Bijou, in a duet as Fast Penny. Their act and the blending of Italian and French words—veloce means “fast” in Italian, and centime means “penny” in French—led to inspiring “Fast Penny” for the company’s name. Glasses of amaro were soon poured—with delight. (There are still lots of feathers in their wardrobes.)
Fast Penny Spirits
1138 West Ewing St., Suite B
Seattle, WA 98119
fastpennyspirits.com