Richardo’s is a coffee liqueur company based in Lyons. (Richardo’s Liqueur/The Denver Post)
A spirited dispute between coffee liqueur makers in Lyons has ended with a whimper.
Richardo’s Liqueur, a niche company whose only product is a decaf coffee liqueur, sued Spirit Hound Distillers last April, and was then countersued by it six months later. Their small-town tiff included allegations of incompetence and theft of a closely guarded formula.
From 2020 to 2022, Richardo’s and Spirit Hound had an agreement in which Spirit Hound would bottle and sell Richardo’s liqueur at its tasting rooms and Richardo’s would pay Spirit Hound $7 per bottle. Richardo’s has said that Spirit Hound signed a confidentiality agreement, promising to keep the Richardo’s formula a secret; Spirit Hound has denied that.
In its lawsuit, Richardo’s accused Spirit Hound of stealing its secret formula and using that formula to create a coffee liqueur that Spirit Hound markets as Café Colorado.
Spirit Hound denied doing any such thing and, in a countersuit, accused Richardo’s of breaching their agreement through incompetence. Richardo’s couldn’t timely supply ingredients for its coffee liqueur, skipped meetings and lied about having government permits for distilling and selling booze, according to Spirit Hound. Richardo’s denied those allegations.
A Spirit Hound whiskey and Richardo’s Decaf Coffee Liqueur appear together in this promotional photo from 2021. (Richardo’s Liqueur)
Before a jury could decide which liqueur maker was right, the case came to a close.
On Jan. 25, attorneys for Spirit Hound and Richardo’s informed a judge in Boulder that they had resolved their dispute. The terms of the settlement are confidential but don’t include a ban on the sale of Café Colorado, a chief aim of Richardo’s, according to Spirit Hound.
“Café Colorado continues to be available and popular throughout Colorado and in all existing Spirit Hound markets,” Spirit Hound CEO Brad Stephenson told BusinessDen.
“We are very proud of the gold medal we earned at the 2023 New York International Spirits Competition for Café Colorado and we were especially honored to be named Colorado Coffee Liqueur Distiller of the Year at the same show,” Stephenson added.
Richardo’s founder Rick England, owner Jodi Scott and company attorney Lawrence Katz of Foster Graham Milstein & Calisher declined to discuss the settlement.
Richardo’s warned in last year’s lawsuit that it would “be forced out of business” if Café Colorado was allowed to come to market but Richardo’s remains on shelves across the state and signed a new distribution agreement to expand its reach last year.
Spirit Hound’s attorneys were Ted and Michael Laszlo with LaszloLaw in Boulder.
Richardo’s is a coffee liqueur company based in Lyons. (Richardo’s Liqueur/The Denver Post)
A spirited dispute between coffee liqueur makers in Lyons has ended with a whimper.
Richardo’s Liqueur, a niche company whose only product is a decaf coffee liqueur, sued Spirit Hound Distillers last April, and was then countersued by it six months later. Their small-town tiff included allegations of incompetence and theft of a closely guarded formula.
From 2020 to 2022, Richardo’s and Spirit Hound had an agreement in which Spirit Hound would bottle and sell Richardo’s liqueur at its tasting rooms and Richardo’s would pay Spirit Hound $7 per bottle. Richardo’s has said that Spirit Hound signed a confidentiality agreement, promising to keep the Richardo’s formula a secret; Spirit Hound has denied that.
In its lawsuit, Richardo’s accused Spirit Hound of stealing its secret formula and using that formula to create a coffee liqueur that Spirit Hound markets as Café Colorado.
Spirit Hound denied doing any such thing and, in a countersuit, accused Richardo’s of breaching their agreement through incompetence. Richardo’s couldn’t timely supply ingredients for its coffee liqueur, skipped meetings and lied about having government permits for distilling and selling booze, according to Spirit Hound. Richardo’s denied those allegations.
A Spirit Hound whiskey and Richardo’s Decaf Coffee Liqueur appear together in this promotional photo from 2021. (Richardo’s Liqueur)
Before a jury could decide which liqueur maker was right, the case came to a close.
On Jan. 25, attorneys for Spirit Hound and Richardo’s informed a judge in Boulder that they had resolved their dispute. The terms of the settlement are confidential but don’t include a ban on the sale of Café Colorado, a chief aim of Richardo’s, according to Spirit Hound.
“Café Colorado continues to be available and popular throughout Colorado and in all existing Spirit Hound markets,” Spirit Hound CEO Brad Stephenson told BusinessDen.
“We are very proud of the gold medal we earned at the 2023 New York International Spirits Competition for Café Colorado and we were especially honored to be named Colorado Coffee Liqueur Distiller of the Year at the same show,” Stephenson added.
Richardo’s founder Rick England, owner Jodi Scott and company attorney Lawrence Katz of Foster Graham Milstein & Calisher declined to discuss the settlement.
Richardo’s warned in last year’s lawsuit that it would “be forced out of business” if Café Colorado was allowed to come to market but Richardo’s remains on shelves across the state and signed a new distribution agreement to expand its reach last year.
Spirit Hound’s attorneys were Ted and Michael Laszlo with LaszloLaw in Boulder.
