Irish award-winning craft spirit Black Twist was created by Conor Coughlan after two years in the making. Coughlan, whose background is in chemistry and food science, wanted to create something that would combine his love of artisan coffee and interest in brewing techniques. Over €130,000 was invested to bring the product to market, featuring a combination of personal funding and support from Waterford LEO and Enterprise Ireland. Coughlan is a graduate of the New Frontiers programme for start-ups and previously participated in Bord Bia’s Foodworks initiative for new product development.