Cary Bonnecaze likens launching his business, Bonnecaze Absinthe & Home Wholesale, to starting a band.
As the co-founding drummer for Better Than Ezra, Bonnecaze knows a little something about the hard work it takes to turn a passion into something much bigger—but he still believes there’s always a degree of luck at play, he tells Business Report in its new Entrepreneur feature.
“I always thought it would be neat to settle down and try something I’ve never done before,” Bonnecaze says of his decision to leave the band he helped form while at LSU after eight years—during which they found mainstream success in the mid-1990s with the hit single “Good.”
For his next venture, Bonnecaze tapped into his French roots and turned to his passion for collecting antique absinthe spoons and glasses. In 1998, Bonnecaze opened Vive la France, a gift shop in the French Quarter that he later transformed into Maison d’Absinthe when absinthe was legalized.
He eventually decided to close the brick-and-mortar store, and in 2013—after spending a few years outside Louisiana—returned to his native Baton Rouge to launch Bonnecaze Absinthe & Home Wholesale.
A self-described “people person,” Bonnecaze loves sharing the storied history of absinthe and his products—which still include period decor from 19th century France—with customers. With plans to travel to Paris to scout European distributors, Bonnecaze has his sights set on taking on other parts of the world with his absinthe products.
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