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If you wanted to drink a different beer every day, it would take you at least a year to get through the inventory at Olive-or-Twist, a new liquor store that opened Wednesday, Nov. 24, in Liberty.

But building your own six-pack from unique beers from around the world as well as domestic and local micro brews is not the only items from which customers can select. There are wines, bourbons, scotches, tequilas, champagnes, flavored vodkas and almost every alcoholic beverage imaginable stacked in racks, lined up on shelves, stored in coolers and waiting in boxes to be displayed at the new store.

Karen Backues and her husband, Bryan Keil, also own an Olive-or-Twist in Platte City. She said the stores are “liquor resorts, not just liquor stores.”

Gail Potter, president of the Liberty Area Chamber of Commerce, said they were pleased to see a destination-business open here.

“It’s a nice complement to the Liberty area, and I just know it’s going to be a big success,” Potter said. “People love to try different beers and wines.”

Backues said the store would offer wine tasting from 5 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays.

Racks of wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Germany, South Africa, Chili and even Missouri take up a big chunk in the middle of the nearly 5,000-square-foot store at 826 S. Missouri Highway 291. Hollywood Video formerly occupied the space.

A walk-in humidor constructed from Spanish cedar offers high-end cigars where customers can also store their cigars in temperature and humidity controlled lockers and choose from a higher-priced selection of fine wines.

But the liquor store doesn’t just cater to the hoity-toity crowd. There is a $3,000 bottle of 1982 Lafite-Rothschild for the well-heeled wine collector, but there are plenty of affordable brands, too.

Backues said, for example, they carry Crane Lake, a popular wine known affectionately as Two-Buck Chuck, as well as many other modestly priced wines.

“Many of them are very good,” said.

Not much of a drinker, Backues said before she went into the business, she didn’t know anything about wine.

“I didn’t know wine from Kool-Aid,” Backues said. “But I like wine now.”

Backues, a mother of five, started the business after completing her master’s degree in finance from Baker University about five years ago. As part of the graduation requirements, she wrote a business plan for a liquor store after noting that there was no such business in Platte City, where she lives.

“I got an A and my instructor said ‘you need to implement this,’” Backues said.

So she did.

“It was a success from the beginning,” she said. “It’s been crazy.”

The cigars have been particularly popular with the military personnel stationed at the base in Leavenworth, Kan., she said.

Knowing that she wanted to open a second location, Backues said Liberty seemed to be a good fit.

“Liberty’s a great place and it’s bigger than Platte City,” she said.

Backues said she planned to add cheeses and build an outdoor patio, where people can smoke their cigars. Unlike Platte City, Liberty does not allow smoking in enclosed public places.

As part of their customer service, Backues said they are always willing to order anything special a customer might request.

“Our catch phrase is ‘special orders are an everyday occurrence,’” Backues said.

THE DETAILS

- What: Olive-or-Twist liquor resort

- Where: 826 S. Missouri Highway 291

- Owner: Karen Backues

- Hours: 9 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday

- More information: Call 429-7774 or visit www.oliveortwistliquor.com.

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Comments (1)

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underwhelmed...
written by Joe Gonino, December 24, 2009

I thought I'd stop by this Liberty business last night.....but I was disappointed. The store looked dirty; there was a large trash can up front, full of garbage; and no one bothered to help me, even after bing in the store nearly 15 minutes. The two people working talked at the register with each other. Lots of junk piled at the back of the store and some beer needed restocking. I was going to spend about $60 there but ended up going up the road and leaving there without spending a dime.

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