Every December on 18th & Vine, a man in a red suit tips his hat and the whole block lights up. You might think you know who he is. You don’t. He’s not Santa. He’s the Soul of Santa.
His name is Tucker Lott. He grew up in a big family without much money, in a house where Christmas meant lots of love and not many gifts. That feeling of being overlooked never left him. So in 1996 he created a Santa for kids who grew up the way he did. Red suit. Red hat. Salt-and-pepper beard. A twinkle in his eye that says you matter too. As Tucker has put it, “I’m not trying to change the meaning of Christmas, just the way we look at it.”
Then he brought that Santa home to Vine. Tucker put on the first official Christmas tree lighting in the 18th & Vine Jazz District, and he paid for it out of his own pocket, because the East Side deserved the same holiday glow as the Plaza and Crown Center. “Why not here?” he said. “The intent is to bring everybody over here.” That one tree turned into a tradition. Tree lightings. Benefit concerts. Free breakfasts, coats, and toys. And a whole lot of people who now show up every year to see the man in the red hat.
That tradition grew into a foundation. The TSOS “Do Good” Foundation, which you may still know as The Soul of Santa “Do Good” Foundation, works year-round to support people with disabilities and their caregivers with grants, mentorship, food distribution, and real resources, rooted right here on Kansas City’s East Side. Their motto is Do Good 365. Not just December. Every day. Executive Director Dennis Powell said it plainly: “After Christmas all the giving and things like that tend to go away, so we are trying to get people to keep that up all year round.”
That’s why we brew Soul Soothing Sonata. We’re Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery, in an 1870s limestone building a few steps from where that first tree went up. Tucker’s whole idea is that this neighborhood deserves its own celebration, made by its own people and looking like its own people. That’s the same reason we exist. When the Soul of Santa landed on our can, it didn’t feel like a sponsorship. It felt like two neighbors deciding to throw the same party.
Now, the remix. Same song, new key. Cranberry held the melody the first time around, with ginger and lime zest keeping time underneath. This year our Head Brewer, Elliott Ivory, handed the melody to cherry, and the whole tune shifted. The can got a new look to match: the Soul of Santa front and center, wrapped in cherries, holly, and lime.
It pours bright red with a pink foam that looks like it got dressed up for the holidays. Cherry and lime lead the way, tart and bright, and ginger rises out of the glass in layers before you even take a sip. American Sour Ale with cherry, lime, and ginger. 7%.
Soul Soothing Sonata is pouring now in 16 oz cans and on draft at the Vine Street Taproom. Grab a few cans for the house, grab a pour at the bar, and if you want to learn more about the foundation or find your own way to do some good, visit thesoulofsanta.org. And when you see the man in the red hat this season, tip yours back. Pull up.
Cheers,
Kemet Coleman
