T’Naus Nieto
The Chronicle-News
Monica and David Kowalski, from Trinidad and Raton, respectively, recently launched their coffee liqueur brand, Lebowski’s Kool-Luah Coffee Liqueur, which was Monica’s father’s recipe, earning them a silver medal at the 2024 San Diego International Spirits Festival, a silver medal at the Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards and more.
When asked if she wanted to say something to the local community, Monica told The Chronicle-News, “I want to give my hometown that recognition. That’s where my story began, my roots… I’m from Trinidad, he’s from Raton, and want to share that flavor (coffee liqueur), that profile, that bit of nostalgia, with our hometowns.”
“Both of us have those small-town roots,” David said. “Even what we do with the restaurant in Colorado Springs, we try to bring it back to sort of those small-town community roots. When people come into our restaurant, it doesn’t feel like a chain restaurant. It feels like a community.”
The Kowalskis are co-owners of Lebowski’s Taproom in Colorado Springs, with their coffee liqueur set to be available nationwide, with the product for sale now in Trinadad at the Tire Shop Wine & Spirits.
The couple also recently appeared as contestants for the 14th season of The Blox, thanks to what they referred to as their entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach to craft spirits.
David said, referring to their television appearance, “We did really well… we finished in the top three out of the 113 companies. So, we got a prize, and we’ll have a trophy. We’re super excited about the additional exposure it gave to the restaurant and the coffee liqueur. We’re getting ready to launch it nationwide.”
The couple’s story
Before discovering the award-winning recipe, Monica and David met in college while attending The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque despite only living around 24 minutes away from each other growing up in Trinidad and Raton.
The two married in 1994, just two years after meeting, and often dreamed of opening their own restaurant or taproom for many years.
David said, “We’ve been talking about opening restaurants and a pub-style bar for years and years, just slowly wheeling it into existence, trying to come up with that European style, appeal, from a menu perspective, from a gathering perspective of a local community.”
When Monica’s career ended when her position was eliminated, the couple finally used her severance money to make their dream a reality. In August of 2023, they opened Lebowski’s Taproom, and soon after, Monica stumbled upon her dad’s coffee liqueur recipe.
The discovery of the coffee liqueur recipe
The discovery of Monica’s father’s coffee liqueur started when she began searching for a tribute to her late mother, Anna Valdez-Duran who was once a nurse for the infamous Dr. Stanley Biber. Her father, Donald (Donny) Valdez, was a local coal miner who had passed away in a mining accident back in 1989.
“My mom passed away, and we were looking for her handwriting since my daughter wanted to do a tattoo tribute to her. So, I was looking through an old recipe book to find her handwriting, and I found my dad’s coffee liqueur, and I thought, ‘Oh, this would be fun. I own a white Russian bar.’”
Although Monica’s first attempt at the recipe didn’t go too well, she eventually perfected it, leading to customer demand that would send their drink into retail stores and earn recognition.
“So, I didn’t exactly follow the directions that were clearly made,” Monica said jokingly about her first attempt at the recipe. “But then I did, and it turned out perfect. We were just using it as our homemade coffee liqueur, and I had so many different customers [who] kept asking, ‘Can I buy it? It’d really like to buy it.’ and without having anything commercially made, I couldn’t sell it to them.”
Soon, the demand was too great, and the couple teamed up with Blackhat Distillery for bottling and were able to sell their product commercially, setting them up for a successful drink that people raved about and landing them two silver medals.
