How we got here

The draft2go concept started for us in Alaska while on vacation visiting my dad.  He took us to our first craft beer brewery.  We enjoyed it so much that we started to wonder if we could take some of the beer back to our hotel room.(you have to remember we  had  never seen anything like this before) The employee  over-heard  Marti and I talking and informed us that they had growlers that could be filled and taken home. He must have looked at us like what rock did you guys crawl out from under.  At 51 years old (I had considered my self well-traveled), yet this was the first I had heard of this thing called a "Growler".  This new discovery was absolutely genius. Leaving the brewery my father informed me this our awesome experience was now common practice.  In fact, they have growler filling stations all over Alaska.  Marti and I start discussing the notion that,  if they have these growler filling stations in these remote areas, why can't Ozark Cigar Co.have one. Well the vacation ended and weren't able to bring beer on the plane however we were able to bring back a bunch of halibut. (Great fishing in Alaska)

  We talked about the trip for the next several weeks but regardless of our seeing the largest mountain in the US, the great fishing, the spectacular views of open wilderness, the numerous moose, bears and other wildlife, our conversation kept returning to the growler and how cool was that!

  For Marti and I "good draft beer " is something we enjoy occasionally, but is hard to find unless you are dining out or hanging out at an establishment that serves mainly alcohol.  Not a bad thing in itself,  just not always having to go to so much trouble to enjoy a decent craft on tap

  The wheels are spinning in our minds, the research begins, and the rationale takes hold. But reality wins out (I have more than a full plate) no way can I take on something as big as opening a Draft2go in our cigar shop. Then the thoughts start coming (you know the "what if I am looking back at a future point in time and regret I didn't"). The nagging subsides and we plug on along with me working my regular job 10 to 12 hours a night, sleep a couple hours, come down to the cigar shop for a few hours....then Repeat.

  August 2019 Ozark On Tap happened, and then I saw how many people were interested in what I just only discovered.  We felt we needed to make a decision to move forward (with all the research we'd garnered or Drop the notion of Ozark having a top notch, great quality Draft2go filling station.

The pictures show what direction we chose. Stay tuned for the pics along our journey to beerdom.

April 10, 2020

It has been a little while since I have posted. Alot has been happening. Covid-19 for example. This virus has changed the way small business conducts business. We here at Ozark Cigars have adapted pretty well. One of the biggest concerns is being essential or not. With the sales of alcohol and tobacco we ARE according to the directive. Next step is how do we insure the safety of anyone coming into the store or overall consuming our products. There wasn't much adapting that need to be done on that front. We just allow 1 person in at a time and offer full curbside service. The sanitizing was never a issue with us as it is standard practice with or with the virus. We have been pretty creative in the marketing dept. Sales are steady and thanks to you I think we as a business will be fine with these uncertain times. 

 We are blessed