Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

“Things that are good don’t come easy.”

The powerful history behind peanut butter whiskey

Peanut Butter Whiskey was born in Ocean Beach.
Peanut Butter Whiskey was born in Ocean Beach.

A new spirit concept debuted in San Diego this July, and it’s just oddball enough to have originated in Ocean Beach. Called Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, it’s pretty much what it sounds like: American corn whiskey flavored with the creamy smoothness of peanut butter.

Skrewball is the brainchild of restaurateur Steven Yeng and his wife, Brittany Merrill Yeng. “We’ve been working on this for five years,” Steven tells me over a table of peanut butter whiskey cocktails at one of his three Ocean Beach businesses. On his phone, he shows me pictures of well-known American entertainers and pro athletes drinking the stuff. However, so far, it’s exclusively distributed within San Diego.

It’s made in San Marcos, working on an alternating proprietor license with craft booze maker
California Spirit Company, the spirit distilled by Justin Wilkinson, who works for California Spirits and is a founding partner of Pier View Gin. However, the label pays specific homage to “OB, CA,” where the Yeng couple grew up, met in high school, and still call home.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Steven is known around Ocean Beach for his businesses, OB Noodle House, Bar 1502, and The Holding Company music venue. When he and his brother opened the first Noodle House in 2008, they served a sake and peanut butter cocktail. The second, 1502 location opened in 2013 with a full liquor license, allowing Yeng to upgrade the cocktail to peanut butter whiskey, a muddy, almost chewy, peanut buttery drink that has proven immensely popular. People usually drink it quickly, because peanut oils don’t dissolve in whiskey.

Brittany has a masters in chemistry, which proved useful in developing the proprietary formula that allows Skrewball to remain both clear and shelf stable. “When we first started,” she explains, “we thought we could take [the original cocktail] recipe and bottle it.” That was five years ago. “It ended up being a longer process than we thought,” she laughs.

“We weren’t satisfied until we hit it,” says Steven, adding “Things that are good don’t come easy.” So why such determination? “I have a special bond with peanut butter,” he offers, then tells me the remarkable story that explains why.

Steven Yeng’s family emigrated from China to Cambodia before he was born, his parents giving up everything to get the family out from under the violence of the Khmer Rouge. But first, they wound up in a Thai refugee camp, where they would spend the next five years as virtual prisoners: guarded, contained, and fed on light rations. The Yengs finally had a turn of good luck in 1992. “We got sponsored to the U.S.,” Steven recounts, “by an Obecian couple.”

It’s when they moved to Ocean Beach that these harrowing early life experiences heightened Steven’s appreciation of that most universal staple of American childhood: the peanut butter sandwich. The couple who sponsored his family would bring by gift baskets including jars of peanut butter, and its deceptively simple pleasure — the combination of sweet and savory, light saltiness and creaminess. In other words, it was one of his first tastes of America, and its opportunities and freedoms.

It’s a taste he still cherishes. “It brings back that forgotten taste of childhood,” he tells me fondly, “where your mom makes you a peanut butter sandwich and cuts off the crust for you… it brings back that happy memory.”

Named Skrewball to reflect the quirky nature of their home neighborhood of OB, and its historically misfit residents, peanut butter whiskey is distributed to 200 bars and shops around San Diego County, but the Yengs hope to eventually scale up the operation to distribute nationwide.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Dim Sum Tour, Warwick’s Holiday Open House

Events November 24-November 27, 2024
Next Article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Peanut Butter Whiskey was born in Ocean Beach.
Peanut Butter Whiskey was born in Ocean Beach.

A new spirit concept debuted in San Diego this July, and it’s just oddball enough to have originated in Ocean Beach. Called Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, it’s pretty much what it sounds like: American corn whiskey flavored with the creamy smoothness of peanut butter.

Skrewball is the brainchild of restaurateur Steven Yeng and his wife, Brittany Merrill Yeng. “We’ve been working on this for five years,” Steven tells me over a table of peanut butter whiskey cocktails at one of his three Ocean Beach businesses. On his phone, he shows me pictures of well-known American entertainers and pro athletes drinking the stuff. However, so far, it’s exclusively distributed within San Diego.

It’s made in San Marcos, working on an alternating proprietor license with craft booze maker
California Spirit Company, the spirit distilled by Justin Wilkinson, who works for California Spirits and is a founding partner of Pier View Gin. However, the label pays specific homage to “OB, CA,” where the Yeng couple grew up, met in high school, and still call home.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Steven is known around Ocean Beach for his businesses, OB Noodle House, Bar 1502, and The Holding Company music venue. When he and his brother opened the first Noodle House in 2008, they served a sake and peanut butter cocktail. The second, 1502 location opened in 2013 with a full liquor license, allowing Yeng to upgrade the cocktail to peanut butter whiskey, a muddy, almost chewy, peanut buttery drink that has proven immensely popular. People usually drink it quickly, because peanut oils don’t dissolve in whiskey.

Brittany has a masters in chemistry, which proved useful in developing the proprietary formula that allows Skrewball to remain both clear and shelf stable. “When we first started,” she explains, “we thought we could take [the original cocktail] recipe and bottle it.” That was five years ago. “It ended up being a longer process than we thought,” she laughs.

“We weren’t satisfied until we hit it,” says Steven, adding “Things that are good don’t come easy.” So why such determination? “I have a special bond with peanut butter,” he offers, then tells me the remarkable story that explains why.

Steven Yeng’s family emigrated from China to Cambodia before he was born, his parents giving up everything to get the family out from under the violence of the Khmer Rouge. But first, they wound up in a Thai refugee camp, where they would spend the next five years as virtual prisoners: guarded, contained, and fed on light rations. The Yengs finally had a turn of good luck in 1992. “We got sponsored to the U.S.,” Steven recounts, “by an Obecian couple.”

It’s when they moved to Ocean Beach that these harrowing early life experiences heightened Steven’s appreciation of that most universal staple of American childhood: the peanut butter sandwich. The couple who sponsored his family would bring by gift baskets including jars of peanut butter, and its deceptively simple pleasure — the combination of sweet and savory, light saltiness and creaminess. In other words, it was one of his first tastes of America, and its opportunities and freedoms.

It’s a taste he still cherishes. “It brings back that forgotten taste of childhood,” he tells me fondly, “where your mom makes you a peanut butter sandwich and cuts off the crust for you… it brings back that happy memory.”

Named Skrewball to reflect the quirky nature of their home neighborhood of OB, and its historically misfit residents, peanut butter whiskey is distributed to 200 bars and shops around San Diego County, but the Yengs hope to eventually scale up the operation to distribute nationwide.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Spa-Like Facial Treatment From Home - This Red Light Therapy Mask Makes It Possible

Next Article

Last plane out of Seoul, 1950

Memories of a daring escape at the start of a war
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader