Elise Coulter Burnette

Elise is the VP of Marketing & Design for Coulter & Payne Farm Distillery, and owner of Shawnee Bend Farms, her family's farm, in Union, Missouri. She handles all design, photography, marketing, advertising, website, and events for the Distillery. Beyond that, she is also a brewer and distiller for the company. She may very well be the first female distiller in the State of Missouri and is only one of a handful nationwide. She also consults with other distilleries on marketing issues and branding. She loves moonshine, whiskey, and bourbon and can identify off flavors, and the probable reason, from the smell alone; before she ever takes a drink. Elise holds Bachelors of Science Degrees in Secondary Technology Education specializing in Industrial Technology and Electronic Media with a minor in Photography from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Arts in Multimedia Design and Communications from Lindenwood University. She learned the art of distillation by working side by side with her family at the distillery and with her grandpa on the family farm. Her family has long lived connections with the production of alcohol, starting in Jamestown Colony also, including great-grandparents who were farm distillers, a grandfather who was a home brewer and home winemaker, and even a law man who made money on the side bootlegging during Prohibition. Her family also owned a grain and seed company in Kirkwood, Missouri, and she has brought that back to the family by turning their farm into a non-GMO grain producer. It is one of the first small farms in Missouri to be completely non-GMO, outside the Amish Community. Spirits are a passion for both Elise and Chris, her husband. It's fitting that they now own and operate a small farm distillery on their family farm. Outside of their own companies, they are also members of the Missouri Farmer’s Union, the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club, the American Distilling Institute, the American Craft Spirits Association, Slow Food USA, and support countless others.