Local Chef Makes Push Into Bloody Mary Market

Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands. That’s kind of how Jeremy Diehl’s story has unfolded over the last year and change. “I was out with my wife for Mother’s Day and asked for a bloody mary”, he tells me during a recent conversation. “The bartender told me ‘we proudly serve Charleston Bloody Mary Mix’.” Well, alrighty then.

That got Jeremy’s attention. Why? Well, because he was sitting in the lobby of one of Savannah’s finest hotels. Yet, they were “proudly” serving a bloody mix from Charleston. “That made me so angry”, Jeremy says. “Our city, as great as it is, didn’t have anything.” So, he gave some thought to doing something about it. But exactly who is this guy anyway?

Jeremy Diehl is one of the head chefs at a restaurant you may have heard of in Savannah. It’s called Elizabeth on 37th. He and his wife, Kelly Yambor, are the driving forces in the kitchen at the Savannah icon. So, it’s fair to say they know their way around a kitchen. If he is going to whip something up, it more than likely is going to be good. But the story hardly begins or ends there. There was still one more cocktail to come before Jeremy was pushed over the edge.

“A few months later we went on vacation to the Dominican Republic”, he tells me. “I had a great bloody mary. They made it there. I watched them make it. We came back and I said ‘I’m gonna do that. No funny stuff, no preservatives’.”

The day after their plane landed from the Caribbean, Jeremy called his attorney. “We set up the LLC that week. September 26, 2014. The day before my wife’s birthday.” That’s when things got interesting inside their Tybee Island home.

“I was tinkering with recipes, brewing until 3:00am at home, after work at the restaurant. I think I went through 40 different versions”, he says. By late December, he had what he thought was something good enough to market. Kelly, for her part, says she sampled whatever he was making, but didn’t really offer any input on the direction he was taking the mix. “It was all Jeremy”, she says.

Once the product was done, he found a production facility to mass produce it in Lyons, Georgia. FDA approval was required before this could become an official product that could be taken to market. There were mass production facilities to deal with, legalities and formalities. “FDA approval took about four months. I’m not sure if I got lucky or what”, he says through a laugh. “I’m not exactly sure how it works, but I’ve heard the horror stories.” So have I, and I will just go ahead and call him lucky. Then came distribution.

Knowing that he couldn’t sell it until he got that FDA approval, he did what any smart businessman would do. He passed out bottles of the stuff to his friends.”I gave it to Tybee Social Club and Lili’s on Wilmington Island for free”, he says. “I kinda knew there was a market for it, but I didn’t know how successful it would be”. So far, so good.

Distribution has been grass roots. Jeremy hops in his pick-up truck and shops bottles and cases of Savannah Bloody Mary Mix to anyone and everyone who will have it. This before he goes to work at Elizabeth on 37th. Oh yeah, remember that? Yes, Jeremy and Kelly are still making magic in the kitchen at Elizabeth by night. “I’ve never been more busy in my life”, he tells me. “I’ve never been more satisfied either.”

He’s in over 40 spots city wide. The Bohemian Hotel and Live Oak Restaurant Group have come on board recently. The Distillery Ale House on Liberty Street, Tequila’s Town on Whitaker and many more. You can also buy the mix retail all over town and make your own drinks. Find it downtown at Smith Brothers, midtown and southside at Habersham Beverage.

So how’s it taste, Jesse? Guess what, I have no clue. I actually don’t like Bloody Marys. Never have. And, yes, I’ve tried all of those versions people say will hook me instantly once I try them. Just not a fan. But I did for the purpose of this dialogue solicit the opinions of a few restaurantuers that are carrying it and they all agree. Jeremy Diehl has a superior product on his hands. No preservatives, no fillers. All of them love the product and appreciate it even more that it is local. That’s your cue. I’ve seen some products out there that slap a “Savannah” name on it for marketing purposes. Not the case with Jeremy’s Bloody Mary mix. He’s jumped in head first to make a superior product right here in coastal Georgia. It’s pretty obvious nothing would make him happier next Mother’s Day than to hear a bartender say “We proudly serve  Savannah Bloody Mary Mix.”

See you on TV.

Jesse