Cocktail Collaboration: Chatham & Wigle Whiskey

Part of Chatham’s Master of Arts in Food Studies, the New Product Development course isn’t just about theory. Students apply the methodologies and practices of product development to create something tangible… and tasty. Watch the video below to see how MAFS students helped develop Afterglow, a ginger-infused whiskey distributed by local Pittsburgh distillery Wigle Whiskey.

The key ingredient of Afterglow has a special relationship to Chatham: it’s grown right here at Eden Hall Campus. Wigle had expressed interest in creating a spirit infused with ginger, but ran into a sustainable stumbling block: how does a company that strives to source locally-grown ingredients utilize a product not commonly grown in Pennsylvania? The students of the New Product Development Course, along with Farm Manger Tony Miga, decided to try their hand at growing baby ginger not in the fields of Eden Hall Campus, but in the climate-controlled high tunnels. Now, that ginger adds a pleasant warmth to Afterglow, and students in the New Product Development class found the experience so helpful, many have gone on to work for Wigle Whiskey and their sister company Threadbare Cider House.

Sustainable solutions, community collaborations, and alumni success? We’ll drink to that!

Click here for more information about the Master of Arts in Food Studies at Chatham University, and our award-winning Eden Hall Campus.