Steven Grasse


Steven Grasse is an American advertising executive, distillery owner and the founder of Quaker City Mercantile. Throughout his career, Grasse has cultivated an avant-garde image, and he was called the "punk rock prince of small-batch spirits" by Alex Halberstadt.

Early life and career

Steven Grasse grew up in Souderton, Pennsylvania, as part of a Pennsylvania Dutch family. As a teenager, he worked for Indian Valley Printing, his father's company, while attending Souderton Area High School. Grasse was inspired by the work of English music promoter Malcolm McLaren, and decided to study marketing and advertising at Syracuse University. He went on to intern at several advertising agencies before being hired by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Career

1989–2006

Grasse founded Quaker City Mercantile, a Philadelphia-based advertising agency, in 1989. In 1999, Grasse partnered with William Grant & Sons to create Hendrick's Gin. Beginning in 1999, Grasse began producing Bikini Bandits, a series of short films. A feature film based on the franchise was planned to be produced by StudioCanal but was later cancelled.

2007–present

In February 2007, Grasse founded the Coalition for British Reparations, and started a petition for the British government to pay US$58 trillion in reparations for damages he alleged the British Empire had done to the world at large. He described the petition as "performance art", stating that "It's very serious, but very cheeky". Grasse authored the controversial book which was published on April 23, 2007.
In 2009, Gyro Worldwide was renamed as Quaker City Mercantile. During this time, Grasse also began marketing his own brands, and founded Art in the Age of Reproduction, a retail store in Philadelphia. Grasse cited Walter Benjamin's 1935 essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" with inspiring the idea behind the company.
In 2016, Grasse authored Colonial Spirits: A Toast to Our Drunken History, explored the history of alcohol in Colonial America. The illustrated book included historical recipes and trivia about the history of alcohol in the United States. Grasse founded Tamworth Distillery, a New Hampshire based craft distillery, in 2018.

Publications