Homosassa Distillery: From Hummingbird Juice to an 800-Gallon Still

A 32-year cardiology veteran who wasn't allowed to retire and a cop who made hummingbird juice in his garage built Homosassa Distillery by hand on Florida's Nature Coast. Marc Dossey and Karl Lounge talk about chicken-coop tin, an 800-gallon still with no computer on it, rum named for mangrove trees, and why the whole business runs on getting you to come back.

Marc spent 32 years in cardiology. He was going to retire, and his wife said he couldn't stay home. He owned the building. The tasting room used to be his garage, with a lift right where the tables are now. Karl was an avionics technician, then 28 years in law enforcement in St. Pete. At home he was making what his wife called hummingbird juice, on a five-gallon milk jug still, then an eight, then a thirteen. Marc asked him what if we opened a distillery. Karl said he was in. They both say he should have said no.

They built the room themselves. Marc designed every inch of it and Karl made it work. The tin on the walls is 70 years old and came off a chicken coop in Zephyrhills, because the man selling it wouldn't part with two pieces: you had to tear down the whole coop. The wood is old pallet boards, sawn down so there's not a nail hole in it. The ceiling is the work of Marc's friend Kevin Jenkins, an artist who walked in, saw all those straight lines, and said you've got to do something with the roof. Karl made sure every one of those hanging lights can come down so he can change a bulb. Sitting under them, it looks like rain at sunset.

The plan was a 90-gallon still. Marc doesn't do things small, so they drove to southern Missouri and came back with an 800-gallon one. There's no computer on it. Karl runs it by heat, steam, and cooling water, the way it has been done for a few hundred years, because that gives him control of the flavor. Out of a 500-gallon batch they keep 35 to 45 gallons. The first time they ran a batch in Karl's garage, Marc asked where the rest was. There isn't any rest. They only keep the best.

Every spirit is named for the Nature Coast. Bald Cypress Bourbon is named for the tannin-dark creeks Marc used to canoe with his dad. The Mangrove Bay rums are named for the mangrove species, white, red, and black, and Karl only found that out about six months ago. I don't like black rum. I like theirs. It starts as silver cane-and-molasses rum and takes about nine months to become the Black: rested with water, oak chips and brown sugar for the gold, then a syrup with about ten ingredients, cooked all day in a crab cooker. It lives on my shelf.

The Florida Shine is more than 1,200 pounds of corn in every batch. They add a couple hundred pounds of sugar only so it isn't legally a whiskey. It rests a year before it's bottled, mostly around 62 proof, because nobody comes back for a bottle that knocked them off a barstool. Karl credits Matthew at FishHawk Distillery for a lot of it. The biggest thing Matthew taught him was patience.

Then there's the part Marc really loves: getting people to come back. There's the bottle punch card with a bald-dude punch that cost them $70. There's the Florida Spirit Quest, where you try every cocktail on the menu and earn the concert-style shirt, and Free Punch Sunday for the one you swear you'll never drink. There's the whiskey thief, where you plunge a copper tube into a cask-strength barrel and fill your own bottle, black snow and all. Marc will even pick your cocktail for you, and if you don't like it he buys it back. In two years he has bought back four.

Now they brew too: a three-barrel system and four beers on tap, all named for the neighborhood, like Salt River Red and Ozello's Pirate's Cove Pilsner. Getting licensed was a nine-month fight. Karl used to be a union president, and they rattled some cages in Tallahassee.

It's a veteran-owned place. Marc is an Air Force Gulf War vet and Karl was a Marine. They have classic vinyl on the speakers and a small crew (Andre, Miss Laurie, Travis) who can talk cocktails. It's a long episode. We were having too much fun to stop.

This is also where Hearts 'n Tales started. My son and I sat in that tasting room nursing a cocktail for an hour while Marc told stories from behind the bar. Those are the stories you don't get on a tour.

Interior of a rustic tasting room with a long wooden counter faced with barrel staves displaying numerous bottles of spirits with pour spouts, shelves of liquor and a chalkboard menu on yellow and wood-paneled walls. Pendant lights hang above, an American flag and a large mirror reflect the room (including a person), and a wooden barrel serves as a side table on a tiled floor.

A rustic wooden shelving unit displays numerous bottles of liquor arranged in rows, small chalkboard price signs, antler decorations and a large gorilla statue holding a bottle in the central cubby. The bottles include varieties labeled vodka, rum and whiskey, with multiple identical bottles grouped together.

A warmly lit wooden bar interior features a central illuminated "Homosassa Distillery Co" sign flanked by two angled black shelving units filled with bottles, jars, and glassware, with a row of illuminated spirit bottles and taps on the countertop. Wicker bar stools sit in front of the polished wooden bar and decorative items like a rooster figure, potted plants, and wall-mounted air conditioners are visible above the shelves.

A framed wooden sign titled "The Local Thief" with an illustration of a heron pecking at a barrel lists four entries (B1–B4) showing year, mash bill, and proof values. The sign is mounted on a wooden post amid stainless-steel pipes and tanks in an industrial space, with a white hard hat on top and two hanging lantern-style lights visible in the background.

A wooden rack holding multiple small oak barrels with white labels, centered by a wooden sign reading "Homosassa Distillery Co. Barrel Club."

Five rectangular glass bottles with pour spouts and varying small amounts of amber liquid sit on a wooden counter, the center bottle bearing a white label with a bird illustration. A metal funnel lies on its side on the counter and a mirror behind reflects shelving and indistinct figures.

A rustic wooden display unit labeled "Homosassa Distillery Co." at the top contains a central bottle of liquor on the middle shelf. Surrounding it are several small tasting glasses, black lids or coasters, boxed packaging, a metal pourer or opener, and a wood-paneled backing lit with warm yellow lighting.

Three men sit on tall stools in a wooden distillery tasting room, two wearing matching orange shirts and the third in a light-colored shirt holding a microphone and a laptop. Professional softbox lights frame the scene while shelves of liquor bottles, wooden barrels, and rustic decor fill the background.

Clear glass vodka bottles on a wooden shelf, including three "Pink Spoonbill Vodka" bottles with labels depicting a pink spoonbill bird and tropical foliage, and a "250 Vodka" bottle with a red-white-blue American flag-style label.

Interior view of a rustic distillery tasting room framed by hat racks and shelves of bottles, with wooden barrels and signage overhead. Three people sit on stools at the back behind a softbox light and camera equipment, surrounded by shelves of spirits and display items.

A wooden barrel serves as a display table holding a gold bag of "Cattle Dog" coffee labeled Bark & Barrel in front of a standing sign that reads "Bark & Barrel Bourbon-Aged Coffee" with an illustration of a dog and a barrel. The scene is indoors against wood-paneled walls with a light switch and a window shelf holding cups visible in the background.

A room containing stainless-steel distillation and brewing equipment, including two large polished cylindrical tanks and a pot still with a copper swan-neck, connected by multiple pipes, valves and gauges mounted against a wood-paneled wall. The concrete floor has a central drain grate, hoses and tools scattered around, and an exposed insulated ceiling with additional metal tanks visible at right.

Four large stainless-steel fermentation tanks with rounded dome lids are lined up beneath a corrugated metal sign reading "HOMOSASSA DISTILLERY VETERAN OWNED." The industrial interior shows exposed insulated ceiling panels, pipes, and a vertical columnar still on the right.

A large wooden American flag made from painted planks and cut-out stars is mounted on a metal grid and covered with numerous handwritten signatures across the blue field and red and white stripes. A row of circular military emblems runs along the top of the flag, and the scene shows a warehouse-like interior with a red fire extinguisher visible on the right.

A bald, bearded man in an orange shirt uses a long wooden rod to draw amber liquid from a barrel into a glass set on a small wooden table. Several wooden barrels labeled "Homosassa Distillery" occupy the foreground and shelves of bottles, wooden paneling, and pendant lights are visible through a windowed bar area behind him.

Multiple polished stainless steel brewing tanks and vessels with clamps, valves, and attached red and white hoses sit on a black rubberized floor mat. Behind them are exposed wooden studs and a gray wall with black insulated pipes, a small shelf holding white buckets, and a wall-mounted control panel.

A sunlit outdoor patio area shows a concrete walkway bordered by ornamental grasses on the left and a fenced seating deck on the right with wooden Adirondack chairs under large beige triangular shade sails. A notice sign on the fence reads "NO SMOKING NO OPEN FLAMES NO SPARKS," and the scene includes a patterned metal wall, potted plants, and overhead power lines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are Marc Dossey and Karl Lounge and what is Homosassa Distillery?

Marc Dossey and Karl Lounge are the partners who built and run Homosassa Distillery in Homosassa Springs, Florida; Marc handles much of the design and front-of-house experience while Karl manages the technical distilling work and recipes.

Why are Homosassa Distillery’s products named after local places like Mangrove Bay and Bald Cypress?

The names come from the Nature Coast and Marc’s personal connection to the area—he drew on local trees, birds, and waterways to create a product line rooted in the place where they live and work.

What is distinctive about Homosassa Distillery’s production and equipment?

They use an old-school, largely non-automated 800-gallon still to keep close manual control of flavor and quality, supplemented by smaller test stills for experimentation and careful cutting and conditioning practices.

How do Marc and Karl make their Mangrove Bay Black rum?

They start with a silver rum base, condition and blend it with RO water, convert batches into a gold stage with toasted oak chips and brown sugar, infuse spices in drums for a spiced profile, and add a house-made flavoring syrup that macerates for weeks to create the Black rum while then cleaning the product to avoid cloudiness.

Can I visit Homosassa Distillery and what experiences do Marc and Karl offer visitors?

Yes—there’s a tasting room, tours, a whiskey-thief cask-filling experience, bottling events, a cocktail punch-card program (including Free Punch Sunday) and in-house beers on tap, all designed to be repeatable, hands-on experiences rather than one-off transactions.