SANTA ANA, Calif. – Owls are probably best known for their excellent vision, and Robin Christenson, who is co-owner and the chief financial officer at Blinking Owl Distillery in Santa Ana is living up to that as the coronavirus has forced many businesses to shut down she has kept her distillery open amid the pandemic.

“I was up in the middle of the night, just thinking, ‘What’s going to happen here?’ And I saw there was a Purell shortage and went the very next day to my distiller and say him down and I’m like, ‘We make hand sanitizer. Could we make it like legally and sell it to the public?’ And so that’s what kind of got the ball rolling,” Christenson says.

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Having always made some version of a cleaning product with their byproducts, it was a natural transition from spirits like vodka, gin, whiskey, and bourbon to make hand sanitizer.

Ryan Friesen, Blinking Owl’s Head Distiller, demonstrates the blending process for sanitizer. Distilleries across the U.S. are making the transition following World Health Organization ingredient guidelines using glycerin, hydrogen peroxide, and of course what distilleries have plenty of ethanol.

“It’s the kind of alcohol we drink. It’s also the main ingredient, the active ingredient in hand sanitizer. So because of that, we already have a lot of the equipment and knowledge of how to work with high strength alcohol,” says Friesen.

The orders have been overwhelming. Christenson can’t get enough bottles and packaging to fulfill the 100,000 gallons in request they have received.

“The other night I was emailing until five in the morning to get back to people and keep up because I’m really trying to make sure that we don honor everybody’s requests,” said Christenson.

While they’re happy to be in business, they are most proud of using their 6,000-square-foot facility to help their community. Their product is priced at a small margin to cost, and so far they have donated $4,000 worth of sanitizer, prioritizing the organizations, and people who need it most hospitals, seniors and first responders.

“There’s such a dire need, and we need to be doing this. People need it, and the orders are just flooding in. And it has been very impactful as to the difference we can make,” Christenson said.

You can order from Blinking Owl Distillery here.

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