Jackie Summers is an American microdistiller, writer and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Jack from Brooklyn. In 2012, he became the first Black person in the United States to be granted a license to make

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

post-

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

Early life

Summers is of

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

descent and is originally from

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

in the 1920s. According to Summers, "when I was growing up, there was always a pitcher of

sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...

, a type of

hibiscus tea Hibiscus tea, when served hot, or roselle juice, when served cold, is an infusion made from the crimson or deep magenta-colored calyces (sepals) of the roselle flower (''Hibiscus sabdariffa''). It is consumed both hot and cold and has a tart, st ...

, in the kitchen. After the kids were in bed, the adults would put a splash of rum in it". Jackie's father was a pianist (playing with Louie Armstrong,

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, and

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, among others) and his mother worked as a research scientist.

Career

Jack from Brooklyn

After a cancer diagnosis in 2010 resulting in the removal of a tumor near his spine, Summers resigned from his job as a publishing executive to start Jack from Brooklyn (a nickname of his) to make Sorel Liqueur, a modern version of the roselle-based Caribbean beverage. In 2012, he became the first Black person in the United States to be granted a license to make liquor. Summers' small-batch sorrel liqueur is a deep garnet color, and along with hibiscus, is also flavored with

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

s, cassia,

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

and

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

. After the Jack from Brooklyn distillery was damaged in

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

, Sorel relaunched in 2013, operating until Jack from Brooklyn paused production in 2015. In October 2021, the brand relaunched after an investment from the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund.

Other work

Before becoming a distiller, Summers worked in magazine publishing. Summers has also written for ''Edible Brooklyn'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

Wine Enthusiast Wine Enthusiast Companies is a New York based company that engages in the wine, e-commerce, information, education, events, media, and travel markets.Covel, Simona, ''The Wall Street Journal'' (October 2, 2008)Wine Enthusiast Looks to Win Over ...

'', and ''Plate''. In 2019, his essay "Rice is at the Intersection of Poverty" was awarded Best Food Essay by the

Association of Food Journalists The Association of Food Journalists (AFJ) was a US-based professional organization that operated from the early 1970s through 2024. It was created to promote high standards for journalists reporting and writing on food, the food industry, restaura ...

. In April 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he and Daniella Veras launched a Virtual Happy Hour on

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...

that became popular.

Recognition

In 2014 ''Brooklyn Magazine'' named him one of the 50 most influential people in Brooklyn food. He was named to ''Drinks International's'' list of the 100 most influential people in the bar world in 2019, 2020, and 2021. In 2019 he won an American Food Journalists award for Best Food Essay for his piece for ''Plate'' magazine, "Rice Is at the Overlap for Poverty and Comfort". In 2021 he was named to the ''

Imbibe ''Imbibe'' is a magazine published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is published six times a year. The magazine covers beverages of all kinds, including spirits, wine, beer, coffee, and tea. History The first issue of ''Imbibe'' was re ...

'' 75 People to Watch list. In 2022, Summers was named one of

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

's Drinks Innovators of the Year. His

Epicurious ''Epicurious'' is an American digital brand that focuses on food- and cooking-related topics. Created by Condé Nast in 1995, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, where it is part of the publisher's Fo ...

piece "All the Food You Can Eat and Only the Family You Can Stand" was nominated for a 2022 James Beard Foundation Award.

References

External links

Jack from Brooklyn website

Sorel Liqueur website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Jackie 1967 births Living people American people of Barbadian descent Businesspeople from Brooklyn People from Brooklyn American drink distillers American chief executives 21st-century American businesspeople