Our Name

Stilleven (pronounced Still-LAY-vuh) is a Dutch word meaning still life, and it's where we get the English term for the painting genre popularized by Dutch and Flemish Golden Age painters. The paintings could be rich with symbolism, often celebrating the beauty and fullness of life. Stilleven Spirits embraces still life as an ethos, both for what the paintings represent as well as the concept of stillness. Lemons, and peeled lemons in particular, were a common element within still life paintings, and our logo is inspired by that imagery. As fate would have it, lemon juice and peels also feature prominently in cocktails.

Our Story

Stilleven Spirit's founder and owner, Joel, has for years had a love for cooking and baking at home. His interest in food is because it's so multifaceted, combining art, history, science, culture, traditions and rituals, and community. It also makes use of all of our physical senses, and it tastes great. That interest in food evolved to also include a passion for spirits, which features everything that food does, but with some magic sprinkled on top. A seed was planted to start a micro-distillery, with the goal of locating it in a historic downtown. The building where we're located became available in 2024, and the seed took root.

Our Building

Located in historic downtown Jordan, Minnesota, Stilleven Spirits for fifty years was the home of the Jordan Independent, published by John Casey, an early leading figure in Jordan. The location then operated as hair salons for another forty years. Stilleven Spirits completely renovated the building for use as a micro-distillery, with design features inspired by the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, including black and white tile floors, ceiling beams, and custom imported Delft tiles featuring still life imagery.

Our Community

Stilleven Spirits is grateful for the support of Jordan, and it endeavors to be a good member of the community in return. One service-minded way we do that is that we have an Adopt-a-Highway segment of Highway 169 going north out of Jordan. If you are interested in potentially helping to pick up trash along the highway, please reach out through the form on our home page, and we'll let you know about upcoming planned events. Clean ups are planned for once in the spring and once in late summer/early fall.