Husband-wife team, Jesse Spaulding and Hannah Weinert, own and operate FireRoot Spirits. "FireRoot" comes from the beauty that surrounds us. The distillery sits between the Sapphire and Bitterroot mountain ranges in Florence, MT. With a background in cider making, they have taken their knowledge and passion one step further to craft unique spirits distilled from apples.

Jesse and Hannah are very hands-on, involved in every step from sourcing apples, pressing, fermenting, distilling, blending, designing labels to bottling. Adjacent to their manufacturing facility they’ve planted an orchard of 500 trees to create high quality, farm distilled spirits.  As their trees grow and mature, they also source apples from other Bitterroot orchards and around the Northwest.

 

Their journey into craft alcohol began as a hobby amidst other endeavors. They pursued their hobby aside from work and education for nearly a decade, creating beers, wines, and ciders.

 

Jesse and Hannah met at the University of Montana where they each pursued a craft of another sort. Jesse studied Film and Media Arts, while Hannah studied Creative Writing and Literature. Jesse worked as a firefighter with the forest service for four years. He then became a freelance videographer, traveling around the globe filming for different television shows and documentaries. Jesse also filmed many of his own projects, often requiring an assistant, a position Hannah was happy to fill. As they grew together, they launched a couple different mini ventures in film, camera manufacturing, and other sorts. 

 

Eventually, Jesse and Hannah knew that whatever they did, they wanted to do together as a team. And when they considered craft alcohol as more than a hobby, they found a venture that combined art and science, passion and craft, and a path that could harness their talents and joys. Beyond their own explorations, Jesse and Hannah also studied the production of hard cider under renown English cidermaker, Peter Mitchell. They also studied under world renowned brandy distiller and blender Hubert Germain-Robin. Through their education and experimentation, Jesse and Hannah have learned how to carefully craft the apple into amazing, quality spirits.

 

As passionate outdoor enthusiasts, when they are not in the manufacturing room you can find them outside skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking, hunting, or apple picking. 

 

Fun Facts:

 

Hannah’s Great Grandpa Warren Martin from Missouri had an orchard and made hard cider during the prohibition era.

 

Hannah’s Great Grandma Minnie Madsen grew up in the orphanage in Butte - an original Butte Orphan Girl.

 

Jesse grew up in Papua New Guinea, moving to the United States when he was 9 years old. His parents were linguists, developing a written language for the natives they lived amongst.