Broken Spirits Distillery sits right on The Promenade in Long Beach, bringing craft spirits to a city that hadn’t seen distilling in decades. Founded by entrepreneur Mike Boswell in 2019, this operation started as a dream to create premium spirits using traditional methods in a modern setting. The 3,000-square-foot facility houses a custom 500-gallon copper still imported from Germany, along with a tasting room that overlooks the production floor through floor-to-ceiling windows. They focus on small-batch bourbon, rye whiskey, and vodka, with plans to expand into gin and rum as their aging stock matures. Boswell’s journey into distilling began during his career in aerospace engineering, where precision and attention to detail became second nature. After years of home distilling as a hobby, he left his corporate job to pursue his passion full-time. The team includes master distiller Sarah Chen, who trained at several Kentucky distilleries before moving west to help establish Long Beach’s craft spirits scene. Their philosophy centers on using locally-sourced grains when possible and never rushing the aging process, even if it means smaller profit margins in the early years. Visitors get an intimate look at the entire process, from grain to glass, in a space that feels more like a working laboratory than a tourist attraction. The tasting room serves cocktails made exclusively with their spirits, and the atmosphere strikes a balance between industrial and welcoming. What makes this worth the trip is watching a genuine startup distillery figure things out in real-time—you might catch them experimenting with barrel char levels or testing new mash bills during your visit.