Community Highlights: Meet Kurt Hernon of Speak of the Devil

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kurt Hernon.

Hi Kurt, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Speak of the Devil was born of a love for history. The history of how America drinks and what it drinks. A deep intrigue for vintage, long-forgotten cocktails led to years of seeking and discovering lost ingredients, classic cocktails and the techniques involved in creating them, and, moreover, a lost American drinking culture.

The advent of the internet allowed like-minded enthusiasts to connect, share ideas, find necessary ingredients, talk about recipes, and start recreating many forgotten drinks.

Sharing these cocktails with friends and family led to being asked if we could do them for parties or cater cocktails to events. This grew into doing “pop-up” cocktail bar events at local drinking establishments which, in turn, led to a 12-week residency on Friday nights at a bar in town doing our “classic” cocktails and modern takes on many other drinks.

In 2017, I, a retired air traffic controller of 25 years, and my wife Page Kieffer Hernon, an active community volunteer, decided to take a leap of faith, we sold our house, bought a vacant storefront in downtown Lorain, moved up upstairs and renovated the downstairs to become our new cocktail bar.

When we told people that we were bringing a neighborhood bar that focused on the craft of the cocktail we were met with bemused looks that in private turned into whispers that we were “crazy” for doing that in Lorain, Ohio. But to us, it seemed completely rational and utterly necessary. It was, as my wife put it, our love letter to Lorain.

We opened our doors on December 16, 2017, and the wild ride began. It took no time whatsoever to feel like we’d become downtown’s neighborhood bar and right from the start the amazing people of this city embraced the idea and the bar.

It’s been five years now and we feel like we have an amazing bar family here. With a focus on top-notch hospitality and just having fun, we look forward to the next five years and meeting more and more of you!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Clearly, not all roads are perfectly smooth and quite obviously Covid left its mark, but we have amazing guests, and support from them keeps us and has kept us sailing through thick and thin!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Speak of the Devil?
We are a neighborhood bar that focuses on craft cocktails. We are known for our quality drinks, depth of knowledge about the history behind the drinks and all of our spirits, and moreover – hospitality!

We are extremely proud of our team and how everyone works together to ensure that our guest experience is top-notch! At the end of the day, we realize that we are a bar and that people come to our place to have fun with us.

What do you think about luck?
Preparation, knowledge, and sincerity – those always place you in the position to succeed. You create your own “luck” in that sense.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.speakofthedevillorain.com
• Instagram: @speakofthedevillorain
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/speakofthedevilcocktails/