“William Faulkner said, "Civilization begins with distillation," but I'd push even further - to wine, beer, mead, sake... all of it. Booze is civilization in a glass.”
- Adam Rogers, Proof: The Science of Booze
Marfa is a place that grew out of the intersection of a north-south trade route along an ephemeral creek dating back a thousand years, and the recent east-west trade route of the Pacific Railroad. It’s early history was tied to the frontier, including ranching, forts, later an airfield, and a P.O.W camp for German soldiers. It is a small town of 2000 people with an international community, which we try to honor in our inventory.
Alcohol is the gift of civilization, the making and the imbibing… a warm blur between the imagination and the real. Our little liquor store isn’t just the supplier for your nightcap needs, but also a peak into the culture created around the art of distillation. We carry crafted spirits, unique beers and wines, and a good share of the mainstream liquor store fare you're used to. There’s more in store than we could ever represent here… so what you discover should be worth the journey.
“Native plants give us a sense of where we are in this great land of ours. I want Texas to look like Texas and Vermont to look like Vermont.”
-Lady Bird Johnson
“Selling alcohol supports my plant problem.”
-Faith Gay, Owner
When I was growing up in East Texas, Nannie and Pa Baynard had a five acre garden scratched out of the Big Thicket that fed the whole family. Grandpa and Grandma Gay propagated a beautiful greenhouse full of any southern ornamental you can imagine. My mother grew amazing herbs and vegetables and my father hybridized orchids in the backyard of my childhood home. He now owns one of the best flower shops in Texas, Austin Flower Company. I have been tending gardens and planting flowers all my life. These connections showed me how much my green thumb could contribute to a family, a community, and eventually a business.
Cactus Liquors began as a 100% decommissioned gas station and has turned into a green space on the side of Route 67, filled with desert natives, showy annuals, veggies and garden supplies. But this was not the master plan. Covid hit when our store was barely one year old and we needed to pivot hard as every restaurant, bar, and hotel shut their doors and tourism disappeared. It was spring and everyone was home. One day a customer pulled up to the drive thru window for a bottle of vodka and jokingly asked if we also stocked potting soil… two weeks later we received our Nursery License and first shipment of mulch, potting soil and compost.
It was unimaginable at the time how much that simple shift would change the trajectory of Cactus Liquors. The connections between civilization, agriculture and alcohol are inseparable, and that combo makes a beautiful store.
Whether you’re looking for a little piece of local flora to remember your visit to the Chihuahuan Desert or you’re a Master Gardener who needs to replace a Penstemon or Chamisa, our nursery has an ever evolving selection of beloved plants for you to explore.