Editor’s note: This month’s Business Beacon is a spotlight on Palm Folly Hard Seltzer, an upscale taproom inspired by the beauty of the Emerald Coast’s sugar-sand beaches and clear blue-green waters. Owner Meaghan Rowan Easterhaus talks to us about what makes the best hard seltzers and what it means to her to be a female-owned and operated business in a traditionally male-dominated space. Find Palm Folly on Facebook and Instagram.
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1. How Did You Get the Idea or Concept for Your Business?
ME: I lived in Colorado for six years, where I fell in love with breweries and brewing culture. I wanted to open a “Colorado-style” brewery in Santa Rosa Beach that is focused on building community. The concept was a brewery from “a female perspective” so “elevated atmosphere” and “elevated beverage.”
2. Let’s Discuss Numbers: What Year Did You Open? How Many Locations Do You Have? How Many People Do You Employ?
ME: The taproom and brewery opened on April 6, 2023, with one location and one employee — our head brewer, Tristan Wolff. I do everything else (lol) from designing the taproom to leading the construction to social media, licensing, bills, ordering, working the taproom, and everything.
3. What Do You Sell or What Service Do You Provide? What’s Your Best Seller?
ME: “Lucky catch,” our 7% pineapple mango hard seltzer is our best seller and on draft at 50+ restaurants from Appalacicola to Pensacola. We craft brew fruit-based hard seltzers and a couple of beers.
4. What’s Unique About What You Do or Offer?
ME: We are the first craft seltzer brewery in Florida and the fifth in the country. We craft brew hard seltzers and are at the forefront of this up-and-coming direction that the alcohol beverage community is moving toward.
5. How Would You Describe Your Business to a Potential Customer?
ME: A craft hard seltzer brewery with a beautiful taproom. Female-owned and operated!
6. What Do You Love Most About Your Line of Work?
ME: I love our unique branding and that the taproom is a community-centered (family and dog-friendly) space where friends and family can gather or take a class and just have fun! Breweries are just such a positive space. They’re not a bar and they’re not a restaurant. I love how most brewery owners are collaborative and encouraging.
7. What Sorts of Trends Are You Seeing in Your Industry?
ME: Hard seltzer has been the fastest-growing category in the alcohol beverage space for six years running. People are tired of the over-carbonated, flavorless seltzers, though.
8. Tell Me in Just a Sentence or Two What You Feel Sets You Apart From Your Competitors.
ME: Most breweries keep cranking out another IPA. We are brewing a truly never-before-seen beverage that is delicious, gluten-free, low in sugar, and free of preservatives. But, it easily goes on draft lines as a beer alternative. Also, our branding is pretty special.
9. Who or What Inspires You? This Could Be a Family Member or Celebrity, a Particular Quote, or Even a Book/movie/podcast. The Sky’s the Limit!
ME: It’s always my goal to leave every interaction making the person I was spending time with feel seen, heard, and loved. I listen to Ed Mylett’s podcast, and he makes everyone he interviews feel so special. I’m super inspired by him!
10. What’s the Best Thing About Being a Part of the Emerald Coast, Personally and/or Professionally?
ME: I love that the community feels so small. I always expect to see someone I know when I pop into Publix! It is a community of dreamers, and that is so unique and inspiring!
11. Are You/your Business Involved in the Community in Any Way? Volunteering or Giving Back? If So, How?
ME: Palm Folly partners with Caring and Sharing of South Walton! They support families in our very own community. I’m so grateful for the work that they do and how they love so generously!
12. What Does a Typical Day in Your Business Look Like? (Pretend It’s Monday (or Friday!) and Take Me Through the Highlights of Your Day.)
ME: I get all my kiddos off to school by 8:30 a.m., hit the gym where I get through emails, and then either work from home on Palm Folly or head to the brewery for various meetings or to clean. I open the doors at either 1 or 2 p.m. depending on the day and keep working on my laptop until folks come in! I love chatting with customers and getting to know our locals and people coming through on vacation!
13. What’s Your Best “Insider Tip?” (This Could Be a Community Tip for Vacationers or Homeowners or Even a Tip for Customers Related to Your Business.)
ME: Pop into Palm Folly on your way to your rental and stock up on Palm Folly crawlers to take to the beach all week!
14. How Do You Recharge or Relax When the Day is Done?
ME: I love to hang out with my four sons as much as possible and I never miss the gym on a weekday! I try to never let a week go by without spending even a little bit of time on the beach!
15. Just the Deets, Please! Where Are You Located? Business Hours? Social Media Profiles and/or Website Links We Need to Know About? (Please Feel Free to Add Social Media Handles or Direct Links!)
ME: Palm Folly is located at 2668 Highway 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. They are open 2 to 8 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; 1 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and are closed on Mondays. Find them online at palmfolly.com or @palmfolly on social media platforms.
16. One Final Question: If There Was Just One Thing You Wish the Public Knew About Your Business, What Would It Be?
ME: Palm Folly hard seltzers are expensive to brew, but I refuse to cut corners on making the most delicious, good-for-you product that I can! They’re brewed with real fruit purees and peels, actual spices, and coconut. So much thought and detail goes into everything that’s done in the brewery. I also think people would be so surprised to know that the whole operation is run by myself and one brewer. I am most proud that I started Palm Folly as a 42-year-old woman all on my own.
My husband is so supportive, but he works full-time as the regional director of a nonprofit. He wasn’t involved in the building of Palm Folly in any way other than my sounding board, not because he wasn’t willing to help, but because I wouldn’t let him! I love that I’m bringing a new perspective to a traditionally male-dominated space.
