In 2022, Charles Everett saw an ad for a Black-owned distillery. That discovery sent him down a rabbit hole to seek out more Black-owned wine and spirits producers. Today he manages UrFriendCharles.com, an online platform that exclusively sells Black-owned spirits, wine, beer and zero-proof beverages. His website features more than 350 products—including 60 Black-owned wine labels, from well-known producers like McBride Sisters, Theopolis and Longevity to newcomers.
Everett has expanded the collection to include bar essentials, hand-blown glassware and even Black-owned card games. He has also created filters for brands founded by women, veterans, graduates of HBCUs, or members of the Divine 9 fraternities and sororities, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Everett also highlights charitable efforts of brands like Lovejoy’s cocktail mixers, which supports at-risk youth and homelessness initiatives.
The goal, he says, is to empower consumers to shop consciously while uplifting Black-owned brands and communities. Wine Spectator spoke with Everett about his inspirations—and how people can diversify their cellars and liquor cabinets.
Wine Spectator: Tell us how this journey started for you.
Charles Everett: Around 2022 I saw this online advertisement for Brough Brothers, a Black-owned distillery in Kentucky. I wanted to check it out. It was listed on their store locator in D.C., so I went to a Black-owned liquor store called Chat’s, on Capitol Hill.
The owner, Bernie, was sold out of Brough Brothers, but he introduced me to a lot of other Black-owned spirits I had never heard of before. He started telling me the stories about their owners. Seeing all that stuff available just kind of blew my mind. Like, hey, you know, we actually make this stuff, and it’s not just celebrity brands, right?
There are a lot of folks who have small businesses, and they are trying to make a name for themselves. I started looking up different Black-owned brands and going to the Internet, and then I just started collecting and buying stuff.
Eventually I ended up having a bar full of these spirits. People would come over and be like, “Hey, I’ve never heard of any of these before. I’ve never seen these bottles before.” So then I’d tell them the stories about how this is a Black woman–owned brand. This person went to Bowie [State University], this person was a Navy veteran, this one donates to charity. People loved all those stories and learning about those spirits.
Then I started making TikTok videos about some of the spirits I had and telling the founders’ stories. I also started doing tastings. I realized I’m actually helping these small businesses. Eventually I was thinking, man, it’s great people are enjoying the content. But how can I help people actually buy this stuff, right?
In November of last year, I had this vision of my own storefront to be able to curate all these different brands and be able to tell their stories and help people actually make the purchase. I went through a lot of different interviews. How do I make this all legal? Then I found some great partners, and then I started learning how to build a website. It was starting from scratch, and it took a lot of late nights and a lot of caffeine.
What obstacles do new Black-owned wine and spirits brands face?
I think in the spirits and wine industries there are a lot of really big players that dominate shelf spaces. They have been around for so long that they own the distribution. It’s not advantageous for them to let someone else come and take some of their sales space, right?
So if I’m a grocer, why am I taking a risk on small brands? I think especially when it comes to African American brands. I mean, there are a lot of African American wine brands out there. My inbox is flooded with them. There’s a ton of them. But getting that shelf space and getting that distribution and getting that push from the greater industry is just so difficult.
There are some that are pretty successful, like the McBride Sisters, They’re great. Love Cork Screw out of Chicago, she’s been doing a lot of great things. Longevity Wines. But even though these are probably the largest African American brands, they are just a drop in a bucket compared to the larger players that have been there and been pushed by their district distributors.
So it’s one of those things where it takes a lot of knowledge. It takes companies wanting to do more thoughtful buying, and then also, just getting the products into people’s mouths. Some people might try a brand for Black History Month, but maybe after that, they’ll go back to their regular thing. It really has to be like, hey, you’re going to be on this menu.
On my platform, I really love pushing these niche brands, or celebrating these founders and who they are. Maybe I give people a reason to try something.
Your spirits section is robust. Do you get the sense that the entry into the wine business is any more prohibitive or expensive than getting into another sector of the market?
I think wine is actually a little bit easier than spirits. In spirits, there are a lot more regulations. I also think wine—depending on what you’re going for—is easier for folks to get into. It’s lower in alcohol; sometimes it has a lower price point. Of course, it depends on where you are, but founders can actually sell it themselves, self-distribute, whereas in liquor it’s really hard. I know beer is also pretty hard. I think wine is just a little bit easier.
Before you got into this space, did you feel welcome walking into a liquor store or a wine shop?
I wouldn’t say I felt unwelcome. I just think that maybe I didn’t know the questions to ask. I think some people go in with a brand they’re looking for on their phone, and they’re just like, hey, give me this.
And then there’s a customer who’s just browsing, looking at everything. And then there are some customers who might know more than the worker does, right?
I started UrFriendCharles with this point of view—I’m not telling you not to drink certain things. But you can diversify. You could support your community. Go look for certain brands. You can ask certain questions. There’s stuff on my website that some stores have never heard of before, right? Someone can go to a local store and ask for it.
I’m trying to be mindful. Shop with intention. A lot of people talk about voting with their dollar in so many different ways. But there are so many African Americans, and we make so many different things. It’s not just hair and nails and barber shops. I helped launch a Black woman–owned glassware brand on my site.
What advice would you give others to help them feel more comfortable in asking those questions?
I feel like on my platform, a lot of people don’t ask me questions because I’m answering questions they didn’t know to ask. I’m showing them things they didn’t even know existed. A lot of what I do on my site is just so granular. I have sororities and fraternities up there. People are like, oh, man, I’m going to support my sisters or brothers because that’s just what they do.
But they didn’t know to even ask that question, or even Google that because they didn’t know it was something to think about. That information exists—it’s just sometimes not easy to get or it might be at the bottom of a page, but you can find it.
How did you choose your wine selections?
There are about 60 Black-owned wine brands on my website. Everything that I do ships from authorized retailers. I’ve partnered with—at this point—five different retailers. I curated their selection so it ships to you nationwide. I’m always adding on more brands and trying to tell the stories of these founders, and then hopefully in the future, I’m going to have some really great tools to help match people up with different flavor and taste categories. I’m actually working on this really cool AI feature where if you type in something that you know you like, I’ll find those tasting notes and match you up with a Black-owned brand with similar tasting notes.
A lot of what I do is like, hey, drink whatever you want. I’m not judging. Diversify your liquor cabinet. Just know that other things are out there; things exist that aren’t made by celebrities.
I’m just trying to be a positive force in the community. I sell a lot of products, but there are products on my site that I don’t even sell. Some of them are links to Amazon, or some of these are just profiles that go to that company’s website because I thought they had a great story that I wanted to share.
I also have a Black-owned liquor store finder, where you could go find a local liquor store or wine shop. Even if people aren’t buying stuff from me, I want to be able to showcase these products, and then maybe they’ll feel more comfortable going to their local store and requesting them.
UrFriendCharles is telling people you can shop with intention. You can diversify your liquor cabinet. And just because it’s not at your local store now doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, right? For so many people, if it’s not at their local store, it doesn’t exist anywhere.
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