Camper English's Blog, page 49

A Visit to MGP's Lawrenceburg Distillery

As most of you nerds already know, most of the rye whiskey produced in the US is made at MGP Ingredients, aka Midwest Grain Products. They also make a ton of bourbon and neutral spirit used for vodka and gin. These products are fermented and distilled on site, aged on site or elsewhere, and bottled up as a zillion different brands on the marketplace. 

Now in the past few years, MGP has begun to release a range of their own products. Interestingly they're not all under MGP as a brand name but under various names including George Remus bourbon, Till vodka, and Rossville Union rye whiskey. The press trip I took to the distillery was more about introducing these products to the world than the various client brands made here, but naturally that was of interest too. 

 

History and Products

The distillery was officially founded in 1847 by George Ross as Rossville Distillery, though they've found evidence that there has been distilling on the site going back to at least 1808. In 1933 at the end of Prohibition, the distillery was purchased by Seagram and run by the company until 2001. The company was sold to Pernod-Ricard and owned by them until 2007, when it was purchased by MGP. 

MGP itself is a company founded in 1941 to make high-test alcohol for torpedos to support the war effort. They actually own two distilleries though we only hear about this one.

At the Lawrenceburg distillery (outside Cincinnati but on the border of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana) they mostly produce the aged products - whiskies- though they also do some gin and neutral spirits. The other distillery, located in Atchison, Kansas (the site of the company headquarters where it was founded) distills neutral spirits and makes gin.  

 

(The Lawrenceburg distillery, pics from MGP)

(The Atchison distillery that I did not visit. Pic from MGP.)

 

 

Of all the products (listed here), the most well-known and popular that they sell to various brands are the:

95% rye whiskey (a mashbill of 95% rye, 5% malted barley)

51% rye whiskey (51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley)

bourbon 36% rye (60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malted barley)

bourbon 21% rye (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley)

So when you see those mashbills listed on products with various names (particular the 95% rye), there is a super good chance they were distilled at MGP. 

Since they're dealing with lots and lots of grain, they also make grain products (list here), including raw ingredients for everything from pastries to pizza crust to imitation cheese. 

I asked them how many mashbills they make in total. "We make a lot," came the definitive reply. 

 

MGP Spirits

I was a bit worried that the MGP brands were just going to be the regular MGP products as all the various other brands with a different label and not have anything to say about them. Luckily there is a clear point of differentiation. When it comes to the vodka, theirs is made from wheat, when most of their clients' vodka is made from corn. But more importantly, the whiskies:

While nearly all their clients bottle whiskey that's of a single mashbill, MGP brand whiskies are all combinations of multiple mashbills. So George Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey is a mix of the 21 and 36 percent high rye bourbons, and Rossville Union is a blend of the 95 and 51 percent rye mashbills.

This gives these products a point of differentiation from their many clients' products. 

 

A Look Around the Distillery

The facility is a bunch of brick buildings located on one site, like a campus with no student lawns or a really big depressing orphanage. Different buildings house different parts of the operation - the grain store, fermentation room, distillery, grain dryer, barrel warehouses, etc. 

The facility is not set up for tourists or photography, and basically we were able to see what we could see. 

 

The water for the distillery comes from an aquifer, and it remains a constant 56 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. That's very convenient as in the hot summers the water is still cool to run through the condensers. 

The fermentation room (there are 14, 27,000 gallon vats in this room; there is another room but I'm not sure if it's the same size). Fermentation takes about 3 days. 

 

 

We were unable to take pictures in the distillery room, but as it passes through several floors of a building we could really only see one section of the column still and a part of the squareish gin stills anyway. In this facility there are three gin stills and two continuous column stills.

We visited one warehouse - there are seven on-site and I think 5 more elsewhere (though I'm not confident in those numbers). 

This warehouse has six floors with six tiers per floor, with each floor separate from those above and below it acting as a "horizontal aging chamber." This is unlike the "vertical aging chamber" rickhouses in Kentucky where it's an open model (there's a frame on the outside but it acts as one big room) and the bottom level is cool while the top floor is super hot. The Kentucky rickhouses lose more water, as opposed to the humid ones here. They say that makes for a mellower whiskey. 

Their standard barrel entry proof for whiskey is 120. We visited just the one warehouse that was racked. I inquired if their others might be palletized and the person I spoke to was evasive enough about answering that we can assume some are. 

 

 

Product Specifics

So far, most of the line of MGP spirits is available in about 13 states. They're moving systematically rather than hitting the whole country at once. 

 

Tanner's Creek whiskey, a blended bourbon, is only available in Indiana. 

Eight & Sand blended whiskey is the newest product. It contains no GNS (grain neutral spirits), and no coloring.  It's more than 51% bourbon bottled at 44% ABV. It's a blend of bourbon, rye, light whiskey, and corn whiskey. 

"Eight and Sand" refers to a train going full-throttle (the eight) with added traction (sand on the tracks). 

George Remus Bourbon is a blend of 21 and 36% rye bourbons, aged 5-6 years and bottled at 47%. 

George Remus, the person, was a pharmacist turned attorney and the first person to attempt to use the insanity defense to get a client off (it didn't work). He  wrote prescriptions for medicinal whiskey during Prohibition and had his own brand of medicinal whiskey. Not only that, but he had his own medicinal whiskey trucks "hijacked" so that he could report the whiskey stolen and sell it illegally. He was known as "King of the Bootleggers" and may have been the inspiration for Jay Gatsby.  More about his life here.

There is also a George Remus Reserve bottling and so far there have been two of these.

Rossville Union rye whiskey is a blend of their 51% and 95% rye whiskey mashbill whiskeys aged about 5-6 years. The standard bottling is 47% ABV. 

They also sell a barrel-proof Rossville Union rye, and it's my favorite of their products. It's about the same age as their standard rye, but with a different ratio of rye mashbills. It has all that lovely pickle brine flavor but bottled at 56.3% ABV. 

 

 

Three Great Bars in San Diego

I visited San Diego for a quick 30 hour trip this week to give a talk about CocktailSafe topics to a regional meeting of the US Bartenders' Guild, and had the chance to run out to three bars. The last time I was in town was about 7 years ago before Polite Provisions was open, so I was long overdue for a visit. 

San Diego loves a bar inside a bar. They have Noble Experiment inside Neighborhood (which I hear may be closing), False Idol inside Craft & Commerce, and two that I visited - Realm of the 52 Remedies inside the pub-like Common Theory and Raised by Wolves inside a liquor store in a shopping mall.  

 

Polite Provisions

With a design theme somewhere between a spacious apothecary and a private gentleman's club lobby, Polite Provisions features lots of heavy ironwork and a marble bar top. The image I always see of this bar is of the row of beer and draft cocktail handles, but I had no idea the room has skylights and a wall of windows facing to the street. It is a delightful place for daylight drinking- and that's just what I did. I had bartender Dylan, a recent San Francisco transplant to ease my transition into the exotic land of San Diego. 

I had a Dreadlock Holiday [menu here] with Jamaican rum, suze, blanc vermouth, and pineapple liqueur, plus a quick selection of draft cocktails that were each delightful. 

Of the three bars I visited, this was the most casual and low-pressure, with a no-reservations policy. 

(pro photos from Brogan Jessup photography)

 

Realm of the 52 Remedies

Both this bar and Raised By Wolves are further afield than I'd probably get in San Diego if I wasn't a bar nerd. Realm of the 52 Remedies is a bar inside another bar, Common Theory Public House. The big square beer-centric pub in a plaza has a couple of couches stowed off in a corner, which serves as the waiting room to Realm. 

The host brings you through an entrance into a disorienting white foyer with shelves lined with herbal medicines. They introduce the concept, that the bar is based on an ancient Chinese scroll of 52 remedies. They have you place your hand on a place on a wall and the door pops open. You follow a short path into the actual bar, which is as much a movie set as it is a lounge. There are several seating areas and one main bar with a stunning backbar to it. The lounge is mostly seated-only, with a small place for a few people to stand in front of one bartender. 

I ordered the baijiu cocktail on the menu (of course) a drink made with baijiu, rhum agricole, green tea, banana liqueur, and lemon; topped with salted cream cheese. It was fantastic, the tannins in the tea and the grassiness of the agricole a nice balance against the fruitiness of the baijiu and banana. At Lead Bartender Chris Lee's suggestion, I followed that drink up with their take on the Boulevardier,  a pleasantly bitter and dry balance to the first cocktail. 

(photos provided by Realm of the 52 Remedies)

 

 

Raised By Wolves

This venue is not so much hidden as it is a bar with a hidden entrance. Raised By Wolves is located in a super fancy outdoor shopping mall and has very visible blue outdoor walls that look like they belong on a British gin palace. The entrance is a small liquor store with a great but not huge selection of high-end spirits and barware.

To enter, you sit on a chair on one side of a fireplace- the whole thing rotates through the wall to take you into the main bar. Inside, the room is circular with a central bar and fountain atop it. Most of the seating is at outer plush sofas and chairs; the attention of the room directed inward toward the bar. Ludicrous! I loved it. was sitting at the bar in front of bartender Laura who was hauling butt the whole time. 

They set me up with a selection of cocktails. A very large selection, so I won't be able to name the half of them. Some I liked (menu on the site):

The Painted Lady: vodka, lime, aloe liqueur, snap peas, bianco vermouth & pinch of sea salt

Rattlesnake Venom: jamaican rum, dark rum, lime, medjool dates, pineapple & amaro nonino

Hideaway Honey: aquavit, lemon, yellow chartreuse, honey syrup, indian yogurt & seltzer

Island Old Fashioned: coconut-washed irish whiskey, banana liqueur, peruvian bitters & angostura bitters

Among many, many others. 

It's well worth a special trip should you find yourself in town. I'm sure I'll find myself back in town for another visit shortly. 

(photos by Zack Benson for Raised By Wolves)

 

What I like about these bars is that in the cocktail renaissance there have been two dominant design styles and themes: speakeasy for the first ten years and tiki ever since. San Diego is showing that theme bars are still very much in vogue, but the themes can vary from the old standards. 

 

 

A Visit to the Worthy Park Distillery and Sugar Refinery on Jamaica

In 2016 I took a trip organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. As this was a few years ago, this blog post is somewhat of a photo-and-data dump for you to enjoy photos and for me to refer to as notes for the future.

I would start this write-up with "I visited a very special distillery in Jamaica" but I visited 6 of them and they were all very unique and amazing! At this one, however, there was a working sugar refinery.

You might know Worthy Park for their Rum Bar brand, probably the main competitor to the ever-present Wray and Nephew on the island. 

Driving to Worthy Park is quite an experience - there are tons of hills and mountains in Jamaica, and you come over one of them and before you is a giant valley filled with growing sugar cane and the refinery in the middle.

The plantation was planted in 1670 and there used to be 5 sugar factories in the valley, while now there is only one. They have made rum on site since 1741, but not continuously. In 1960 they stopped distilling for a time, only to restart in 2005. They were exporting their rum in bulk until 2007 when they launched the 100% pot distilled Rum Bar brand. 

At Worthy Park they're able to use all of their own molasses from their refinery, and sell some of it to other distilleries. Worthy Park is the mopst efficient cane farm in the country they claim. It takes 9 tons of cane to make 1 ton of sugar here, while less efficient facilities take 11 tons for the same amount. Their cane is harvested both by machine and manually. 

 

Cane Sugar Production

Sugar cane is burned before hand-harvesting, but machine-harvested cane is not burnt first. 

Sugar cane is washed, shredded and juiced in a 5-stage mill.

The bagasse (solid bits) leftover are used to heat the boilers on-site, right after juice extraction. The leftovers are piled up in huge pile to be used later. 

The sugar cane juice is mixed with lime (assuming they meant calcium, not like.. limes) to assist with clarification. 

It then goes to he evaporator to remove 75% of the water, with the resulting juice at about 62 brix. 

The thick juice is then centrifuged to make crystallized sugar - there is a screen to which the crystals stick and the molasses passes through. 

 

Rum Production

Over in the distillery, the molasses is pumped underground from the sugar plant. 

The molasses is acid-adjusted before fermentation. They say their molasses has the least amount of residual sugar in it (on the island) because they're sugar production is so efficient. 

Here they don't use dunder in the process at all (though they do add some cane juice in fermentation). The highest ester rum they make is 900 ppm (while Hampden Estate goes all the way up to 1600)

Fermentation takes 2-3 weeks for their highest ester rums. The resulting beer is 8.5 - 9% ABV for light pot still rum, lower for heavier rum. (We learned on this trip that after regular fermentation happens, the additional fermentation actually eats up alcohol and lowers the ABV. So there may be good flavor reasons for long fermentations, but it's bad for yield.)

It is distilled in a Forsyth still- they had just one at the time of my visit. They did not have a column still.

The distillation time is about 1.5 to 1.75 hours in the actual rum extraction, but the total distillation time is 5-6 hours. The rest of the time is making the high and low wines that get redistilled. The rum comes out of the pot stills at 85-87%. 

The stillage at the end of the process is used as fertilizer for the cane fields. 

Most of the barrels they age in are ex-Jack Daniel's.  They have a 4-6% annual angel's share. The rum is diluted to 70% ABV before barrel aging. 

The rum is bottled at the distillery. They do carbon and paper filtration depending on the product. 

More Pictures, Just for Fun

Y'all know I can't resist a warning sign picture. 

 

13 Spring Booze Books: Flowers, Flora, France, Gin, Mezcal, Sake, and More

A new crew of drink books is out for your reading and drinking pleasure. 

What follows is information from the publishers (not reviews) and links to Amazon for purchasing. 

 

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Expanded: An Enthusiast's Guide to the Artisan Distilling of Whiskey, Vodka, Gin and other Potent Potables by Bill Owens, Alan Dikty, Andrew Faulkner

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated presents the techniques and inspirations of the most innovative micro-distillers working today and ties it together with incredible insider photography.

In this comprehensive guide to artisan distilling, American Distilling Institute founder Bill Owens will teach you how contemporary master distillers transform water and grain into the full range of exquisite, timeless spirits. The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated is your exclusive backstage pass into the world of small-scale distilling of whiskies, gins, vodkas, brandies, and many other spirits.

Like no other book on the subject, The Art of Distilling goes to lengths to explore the actual craft of distilling, in detail. Beginning with a brief history of distilling and introduction to the process itself, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the art of distilling today.

The revised and expanded edition includes even more practical tips, tricks, and instruction and has been updated to include growth and development in the artisan distilling space over the past decade.

The Art of Distilling, Revised and Updated is the consummate insider's guide to distilling and its techniques.

 

Bar Chef: Handcrafted Cocktails by Christiaan Rollich

An inviting handbook for cocktails rooted in classics and updated with a farm-to-glass ethos, from "one of LA’s most innovative mixologists" (Forbes).

Celebrated Los Angeles bartender Christiaan Röllich approaches a drink the way a master chef approaches a dish: he draws on high-quality seasonal ingredients to create cocktails for every occasion.

In Bar Chef, Röllich shares 100 original recipes for drinks that are as beautiful as they are delicious, including the Quixote (gin and grapefruit); a Kentucky Sour (bourbon and homemade cola syrup); Eggnog for the holidays; and Röllich’s signature drink, the Green Goddess (green tea vodka and cucumber with arugula, jalapeno, and absinthe), which has become a part of the language of LA.

Featuring easy-to-follow recipes for syrups, tinctures, liqueurs, and bitters with herbs, spices, and seasonal fruit, Röllich guides you through his creative process, demystifying the craft of cocktail making. With stunning color photography and the suave storytelling of your favorite bartender, Bar Chef will become a go-to bar book for home cooks and cocktail enthusiasts, inspiring and pleasing readers with every drink.

 

Understanding Mezcal by James Schroeder

Understanding Mezcal is a life's-work by renowned agave expert Jay Schroeder that, for the first time in print, puts all the pieces of the mezcal puzzle in one place. The groundbreaking book aims to serve as an encyclopedia of the mezcal world, examining the spirit from every angle including tradition, science, economics and biology. The snappy book, which Chef Rick Bayless calls a "must", will put readers in the head of Schroeder as he dives deep into the world of the spirit while delivering reams of information in a light and humorous tone.

Sections include: Mezcal as a Term, Agave, Agave & Humans, Making Mezcal, Distillation, Agave Types, Economic Realities, On Tradition, The State of Tequila, and The Future. Understanding Mezcal is work that will set the bar for spirits writing moving forward. Much of the book, which features more than 70 hand-drawn illustrations by Mexico City-based illustrator Polly Jiménez, contains source material that has never before been published on the topic.

This is a bookshelf mainstay for any bartender who has a bottle of mezcal on the back bar.

 

 

Batch Cocktails: Make-Ahead Pitcher Drinks for Every Occasion by Maggie Hoffman

A hip, accessible guide to batch cocktail-making for entertaining, with 65 recipes that can be made hours--or weeks!--ahead of time so that hosts and hostesses have one less thing to worry about as the doorbell rings.

As anyone who has hosted a dinner party knows, cocktail hour is the most fun part of the evening for guests--but the most stressful for whomever is in charge of keeping the drinks flowing. The solution, though, is simple: batch it! In this fun collection, Maggie Hoffman offers 65 delicious and creative cocktails that you don't have to stir or shake to order; rather, they are designed to stay fresh when made ahead and served out of a pitcher. Recipes such as Tongue in Cheek (gin, Meyer lemon, thyme, Cocchi Rosa), Friendly Fires (mezcal, chile vodka, watermelon, lime), Birds & Bees Punch (rum, cucumber, green tea, lemon), and even alcohol-free options are organized by flavor profile--herbal, boozy, bitter, fruity and tart, and so on--to make choosing and whipping up a perfect pitcher of cocktails a total breeze.

 

Floral Libations: 41 Fragrant Drinks + Ingredients by Cassie Winslow

Explore the unique flavors of flowers. Elegant, edible flowers are becoming more accessible every day—and they taste as good as they look. This curated collection of 41 delightful recipes combine the playful creativity of fashion, the deliciousness of food, and the beauty of flowers in one gorgeous glass. Whether you're throwing a baby shower, hosting a Mother's Day brunch, celebrating a wedding, or simply entertaining guests, there's something for everyone, with our without alcohol, including:

• Iced Lavender Café au Lait
• Rose Petal Almond Milk
• Dandelion Tea Cinnamon Cappuccino
• Hibiscus Old Fashioned
• Plum Rosewater Gin and Tonic
• Orange Blossom Moscow Mule

Learn how to create floral pantry item staples to create a scrumptious and sophisticated cocktail of your own, and embark on a new culinary adventure. This garden-party eye candy also includes practical tips on where to buy edible flowers, whether to choose fresh or dried flowers, how to grow edible flowers at home, and how to use florals in other recipes.

 

Cheese Beer Wine Cider: A Field Guide to 75 Perfect Pairings by Steve Jones and Adam Lindsley

A field guide to cheese-and-drink combinations that go beyond Parmigiano and Prosecco

Cheese and wine are a classic combination, but many cheeses taste even better with beer or cider. Steve Jones, proprietor of the Portland- based Cheese Bar and Chizu (cheese served sushi- style), has been successfully matching cheeses with alcoholic beverages for more than two decades. Here he shares his knowledge by introducing 75 different cheeses and pairing each with the beverage that brings out the best in both. Jones provides a treasure trove of delectable, often surprising pairings, as well as simple steps for successful experimentation.

This guide will function as a crash course for beginners on buying, storing, and serving cheese and alcohol, while offering more seasoned aficionados page after page of cheese-and-beverage combinations to replicate at home. With gorgeous photographs, this book captures the allure, approachability, and, most importantly, the sheer joy of pairing cheese with beer, wine, or cider.

 

From Garden to Glass: 80 Botanical Beverages Made from the Finest Fruits, Cordials, and Infusions by David Hurst

"Garden to glass" recipes for nutrient-packed non-alcoholic infusions and cordials based on fresh from the garden or farmstand fruits, berries, herbs, and spices used as restorative tonics or as the basis for healthy cocktails.

For the legions of readers who enjoyed The Drunken Botanist: The Plants that Create the World's Best Drinks, here is a new health and nutrition conscious take on making infusions, cordials, and cocktails mixers with garden fresh herbs, fruits, and spices. The Drinking Garden is a unique collection of over 70 delicious botanically inspired recipes based on what is available fresh from the garden or farm stand. These "garden to glass" recipes are for non-alcoholic infusions and cordials based on fresh fruits, garden herbs, and spices which can be consumed as restorative tonics in their own right or can be used as the basis for mouthwatering cocktails - cocktails filled with garden fresh nutrients and antioxidants, making them far healthier than ordinary bar drinks.

Organized according to main ingredient, the recipes are created with an eye toward both health and taste. All recipes include fresh from the garden botanicals such as elderberries, strawberries, tomato, mints, and other herbs. Thus, an ordinary Bloody Mary is transformed into a healthy power drink by using freshly crushed garden tomatoes, chilies, and other spices. Many recipes also use "superfood" ingredients, from açai berry and avocado to papaya and pomegranate.

Each creation is expertly crafted and inspired by some of the most exciting trends in bartending and mixology. The book also explains how to make professional-quality mixed drinks in your home, listing essential bar kit, fancy glassware, party planning, and finishing touches that can transform an ordinary drink into an exceptional cocktail.

 

French Moderne: Cocktails from the Twenties and Thirties with recipes by Franck Audoux

A fresh take on the classics, from Sazerac to the humble Highball: the adventurous recipes invented when America was dry and Paris was a refuge from Prohibition.

Following Prohibition, Paris, much like London, became known for serving up original and innovative mixed drinks. Although cocktails were present in the late nineteenth century, it was the interwar period, and particularly les années folles that transformed the culture of the cocktail consumption. This fertile time, both intellectually and artistically, was nourished by a growing influx of expatriates from across the Atlantic who made way for an age of experimentation and creation. The new ambassadors of cocktails made alcohols and aperitifs that were specifically French stars of the show. Alongside classic French Vermouth, locally produced spirits including Byrrh, Dubonnet, Suze, and Picon were mixed into distinctly unique cocktails.

With beautiful archival photographs, illustrations, and advertisements, as well as new photography, Franck Audoux, partner at Le Dauphin and Le Chateaubriand in Paris, brings life back to these forgotten French spirits and aperitifs, by giving them a modern twist. He provides recipes for more than forty classic French cocktails, from the Sazerac to the Highball, and provides contemporary tips and tricks that make them easy to re-create at home. Perfect for lovers of history and French culture, this book captures the spirit and culture of one of the richest periods in the City of Light and is a must-have for the aspiring and experienced home mixologist alike.

 

The Home Bar Guide to Tropical Cocktails: A Spirited Journey Through Suburbia’s Hidden Tiki Temples by Tom Morgan and Kelly Reilly 

Come and explore suburbia’s hidden tiki temples with Kelly and Tom. Sample over 150 of their original tropical cocktails!

These drinks chronicle their time spent bartending at home tiki bars during the rise of the craft cocktail revolution, among them Kirby's Rumpus Room, which hosted weekly parties for many years. Included are riffs on tropical classics and original concoctions crowd-tested at home bars across the U.S. You’ll also find recipes for home-made syrups, including ancho chilli, lemongrass, sesame, hibiscus, and more.

Sven Kirsten—the authority behind The Book of Tiki—provides the Foreword. The book features full-page cocktail photos and glamour shots of some of the coolest home tiki bars around. Additionally, you’ll find lavish illustrations by Tiki Tony, chapter heading illustrations by Jake Geiger—a tiki aficionado and game designer for such hits as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty—and select featured art by Doug Horne, who is a true lowbrow Leonardo familiar to the tiki scene.

This guide is proof that you don't have to go very far to sample the best tropical drinks in town. Belly up to your basement Bali Hai or backyard Bora-Bora and mix yourself a tropical vacation!

 

How To Get U.S. Market-Ready: Wine and Spirits by Steve Raye

Steve Raye is the author of the new book “How to Get U.S. Market-Ready.” It is a strategic toolkit to help export wine and spirit brands break into the U.S. market. He is also President of Bevology, Inc. a consulting company which works with individual brands and regional promotional boards to develop strategies for the American market. Steve is also Managing Partner at Bevology Imports, a boutique wine and spirit import company.

With over 30 years of industry experience beginning with Diageo predecessor Heublein/Palace brands, Steve is an inspiring and engaging speaker and has presented at Vinitaly, Vinexpo NY and Bordeaux and the London Wine Fair and many other international trade fairs and conferences. He also lectures at Bologna Business School and Cornell University on the issues affecting the U.S. wine and spirits market.

 

Gin Austen: 50 Cocktails to Celebrate the Novels of Jane Austen by Colleen Mullaney 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of this good book must be in want of a drink.

In six enduring novels, Jane Austen captured the fancies and foibles of Regency England, and every delightful page of this book celebrates the picnics, luncheons, dinner parties, and glamorous balls of Austen’s world. At these social engagements, gossip reigned, love flourished, and drinks flowed. Discover an exotic world of cobblers, crustas, flips, punches, shrubs, slings, sours, and toddies, with recipes that evoke the past but suit today’s tastes. Raise your glass to Sense and Sensibility with a Brandon Old-Fashioned, Elinorange Blossom, Hot Barton Rum, or Just a Dashwood. Toast Pride and Prejudice with a Cousin Collins, Fizzy Miss Lizzie, Gin & Bennet, or Salt & Pemberley. Brimming with enlightening quotes from the novels and Austen’s letters, beautiful photographs, and period design, this intoxicating volume is a must-have for any devoted Janeite.

 

Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails by Shannon Mustipher

Shannon Mustipher's exotic cocktails offer a refreshingly modern take on tiki. With original recipes, techniques, tasting notes and recommendations, and tips on style and music, Tiki is an inspirational resource for cocktail lovers ready to explore fine Caribbean rums.

Tiki is the endless summer, an instant vacation, a sweet and colorful ticket to paradise with no baggage fees. Romanticized since midcentury but too long overlooked as the province of suburban lodges and family resorts, the tiki cocktail is stepping into its moment with sophisticated spirits lovers, skilled mixologists, and intrepid foodies. In Tiki, Brooklyn-based rum expert Shannon Mustipher brings focus on refreshing flavors, fine spirits, and high-impact easy-to-execute presentation.

Dozens of easy-to-follow recipes present new versions of classic tiki drinks along with original cocktails using quality rums, infused and fat-washed spirits, liqueurs, fresh fruit juices, and homemade syrups. Tastemakers in the contemporary tiki boom, including Nathan Hazard, Brother Cleve, Laura Bishop, and Ean Bancroft, contribute their recipes. As a true aficionado, Mustipher breaks down Caribbean rums and spirits with practical tasting notes. Fans of classic tiki bibles such as Smuggler's Cove and Potions of the Caribbean can embrace Tiki's modern style and spirit
while new tiki fans learn from Mustipher's expertise, accessible recipes, and clear instruction.

 

Sakepedia: A Non-Traditional Guide to Japan’s Traditional Beverage by Jeff Cioletti

As modern palates get progressively more adventurous, sake is having its moment. But as beloved as the beverage is in its native Japan, it’s frequently misunderstood in the rest of the world. Author Jeff Cioletti, a certified international Kikisake-shi―a fancy term for “sake sommelier”―presents a comprehensive guide to sake that both celebrates and demystifies the traditional Japanese drink.

Jeff takes readers from the United States to Japan and back, exploring sake’s role through centuries of history, as well as the artisanal process and natural ingredients necessary for crafting this venerable beverage. And, the author presents his own unpretentious, uncomplicated tasting notes on a wide range of world-class brands―appealing to beer, wine and cocktail drinkers looking for new flavor experiences.

Whether you’re mildly curious, a connoisseur or somewhere in between, SakePedia is the no-nonsense companion you need on your sake journey.

 

Gin Rummy: Gin Lovers Playing Cards by Emma Stokes and Jean Andre

This beautifully illustrated deck of playing cards is perfect for round after round of gin or Gin Rummy—or any other card game. Featuring illustrations of 40 gins from around the world, plus 12 gin-based cocktails, the cards are accompanied by a booklet giving detailed background to the world's favorite juniper-based spirit, the 40 gins themselves, and recipes for all the cocktails. Perfect for a hand of cards or a handy refresher on how to mix a Tom Collins or Twisted Gin Fizz.

 

 

A Visit to the Hampden Estate Rum Distillery on Jamaica

In 2016 I took a trip organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. As this was a few years ago, this blog post is somewhat of a photo-and-data dump for you to enjoy photos and for me to refer to as notes for the future. If you'd like to read a detailed narrative write up from the visit, please check out CocktailWonk's blog post. 

Here are some notes, and then some pretty pictures. 

Hampden Estate dates back to 1753.

They've obviously been making rum the whole time, but have only been aging rum since 2010. 

They estimate 60% of the Jamaican rum purchased by Europe doesn't go into actual bottles of rum, but into cosmetics. tobacco, and confectionaries.

The maximum allowed ester count from Jamaica is 1600 ppm by law. This was established in a law in 1934. (I don't know how they counted esters in 1934.) They say they could get up to about 1700-1800 ppm if they tried. 

There is a claim that the use of dunder may have begun at Hampden, and everyone copied their method. 

They have four pot stills on site

We learned that what we thought of as "dunder" is actually "muck." Dunder is stillage - waste from the still after distillation. Muck is a combination of cane juice, dunder, cane solids, molasses, and water. A bunch of muck is added to the just-fermented molasses of a new batch and distilled together to create the super-flavorful, high-ester rums. 

They add 11 parts fermented molasses to 7 parts dunder before distilling. 

They generally don't need to add yeast to their fermentation - there is a lot of it around the distillery. 

They ferment for about 2 weeks.

Their highest ester mark is called D.O.K. that has 1500-1600 ppm esters

Rum Fire, which is spreading around the US like... a rum fire, has abotu 500-570 ppm esters, where Hampden Estate Gold has 80-100. 

 

The fermentation room we visited was the only time I've had to wear a hard hat a distillery where I really felt happy to be wearing one: The room was full of wooden fermentation vats in a wooden room with wood floors, covered in spider webs, and smelling like a deep level of hell from the muck. I almost threw up it was so powerful (was actually looking for a place to vomit but barely managed to hold it in). It was amazing and the type of old-school rum-making that nobody gets to see.

They embrace the stank and that's what makes their rums so special. We weren't supposed to take any pictures in there but pictures wouldn't do it justice. You'd have had to smell it to believe it. 

 

A Look at the Once-Closed Long Pond Distillery on Jamaica

In 2016 I took a trip organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. 

At the time, the Long Pond distillery was closed, but our group was soooo nerdy and adorable we were able to convince the owners to let us sneak a peek. The best write-up on this visit comes from CocktailWonk.com, so I encourage you to visit that site for good details. 

Since the time of our sneak peek, the distillery was partially acquired by Maison Ferrand, maker of Plantation Rums. (I'll skip the details of the sale as it would take me a lot of research to figure out the ownership structure.) The distillery caught fire in 2018. It was a big setback, according to the brand, but luckily not a total loss. 

This post is just to show some pictures of a spooky amazing closed distillery. It had only been closed for about five years but with its super old technology and knobs and dials instead of computers, it looked like it had been sitting dormant since about 1964. 

A Visit to the Monymusk Rum Distillery and the National Rums of Jamaica

In 2016 I took a trip organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. As this was a few years ago, this blog post is somewhat of a photo-and-data dump for you to enjoy photos and for me to refer to as notes for the future. (I end up searching my own website for information kind of a lot.) 

Two of our stops in Jamaica were with the National Rums of Jamaica Limited. At the time they owned three rum distilleries, with only one of them operating, but since that visit Long Pond was sold. Our first stop was to the old Innswood Distillery, which stopped producing rum about 1993, after opening in 1959 initially. 

At this Innswood location, they age rum in two warehouses but no longer distil. The distillery once belonged to Seagram's and then Diageo. There was an old abandoned still in one of the buildings we peeked into. 

 

 

Clarendon

We then drove to the Clarendon Distillery, which is owned by the National Rums of Jamaica and where they produce the Monymusk brand. Monymusk has only been around since 2012. All Monymusk is a blend of pot and column distilled rum. 

Our hosts told us they make more rum marques than most distilleries, about 5-6 column still marques and about 20 pot still marques. 

They receive their molasses from the sugar refinery next door. When it is not in production, they receive it via tanker ships. 

At one point, each sugar refinery had its own distillery. But with consolidation and sales of many sugar facilities to Chinese companies, the sugar producers and rum producers have separate entities. This seems to have great impacts on rum production: the rum distilleries rely on molasses from the sugar refineries (though they can purchase molasses from other countries if need be), and importantly the rum distilleries' waste products are treated and spread on sugar cane fields as fertilizer. So if a distillery doesn't have an active deal with a sugar cane farm, they have nowhere to dispose of their waste, and Jamaican laws seem pretty strict about not just dumping it into the ocean. The lack of waste treatment/management can and has closed distilleries. 

 

To the molasses, water and nutrients are added to help with good fermentation. Fermentation for their light rums takes 30-36 hours. It's longer for their heavier rums, as that long distillation allows flavors to build up. They can use the same fermented molasses (molasses beer) for their light marques distilled in pot and column stills, but use a different molasses beer for the heavy pot still rum. They have 24 open-top fermenters.

 

 

For the heavy pot still rum, fermentation takes place over 1 month: 2 weeks in wood (during which yeast are propagated) and 2 in stainless steel (with more molasses added).  

The column stills here looked shiny and modern, installed in 2009. The four columns are the wash still, aldehyde and fusel oils, rectifiers (where cuts are made), and methanol column that is only used when they make neutral spirit. The pot stills here are older. They distill for 300 days per year, and have a capacity of 9 million liters of absolute alcohol per year from the column stills alone; another 3 million from their pot stills.  Diageo at the time was purchasing 90% of the rum produced at Clarendon. 

They age their rum at 70% barrel proof. They don't rechar barrels.  At the time of my visit, they had recently started topping up barrels from the same batch. 

 

 

The third distillery, Long Pond, was closed at the time of my visit- but we visited that anyway. See the next post. 

 

 

A Revisit of the Appleton Rum Distillery in Jamaica

In 2016 I visited the Appleton rum distillery on Jamaica for the second time. It's possible some of the information in this blog post may have changed since then. 

This trip was organized by WIRSPA (West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers' Association Inc.) and their quality marque system ACR for Authentic Caribbean Rum. The attendees on the trip were the hugest bunch of rum nerds, so it was great. We were headquartered in Kingston and drove to a different distillery each day, often 3-5 hours drive in each direction. 

Much of this information is going to seem like random facts. First the facts that I found in my notes: 

We first visited a viewpoint looking down into the valley where Appleton is made. Then we visited a water source. The water source they say is the origin of the Black River. It filters through limestone and tastes very sweet. THey say 85% of Jamaica is limestone and all the rum distilleries on the island are located in limestone areas. This water is used in fermentation, not in barrel proofing nor bottling. 

 

Appleton does not irrigate their sugar cane. They grow more than 10 varieties of sugar cane, all of which are harvested together. 

Fifteen percent of their cane is hand-harvested due to the terrain. All of it is burned before harvesting, but they're slowly transitioning to non-burning where possible. 

Ten tons of sugar cane makes about 30 cases of rum. 

Molasses, after sugar extraction, still contains about 60% sugar. 

Appleton uses a cultured yeast and a 36 hour temperature-controlled fermentation of the molasses. At the end it's about 7% ABV before distillation. 

They say the signature orange peel top note of Appleton comes from the shape of their still. They have five 5,000 gallon pot stills. 

 

They age, blend, and bottle the product in Kingston, not here at the distillery. They have over 240,000 barrels aging. During aging, the rum loses ABV. Every three years, they combine the rum in a batch of barrels to minimize headspace and evaporation. 

After blending, they let the rum marry for about 6 weeks before bottling it. They do dilution in stages. 

Different marques of rum have different head and tails cuts. 

They have 16 warehouses. All the barrels are palletized. 

At Appleton's other distillery, New Yarmouth (the only distillery on the island we didn't see on this trip) they have smaller pot stills and column stills. Wray & Nephew is made there. 

Molasses used in Jamaican rum can come from outside of Jamaica. 

 

 

A second set of facts: We had a slideshow and tasting. I took pictures of some of the interesting slides and here are more random facts from slides:

Appleton Estate accounts for 28* of all rum produced in Jamaica

J. Wray & Nephew Ltd accounts for over 60% of all rum produced on Jamaica 

Sugarcane is harvested every 12 months (though it matures between 10 months and 2 years generally)

10 tons of sugar cane is equivalent to 1 ton of sugar, .4 tons of molasses, or 30 cases of rum

Jamaican rum is used in blending around the world, and it is categorized and purchased in bulk according to the marques, which have names or codes and are associated ester counts - the amount of funk in the rum. The marques mentioned by Appleton are Common Clean (40-80 esters); Plummer (180 esters); Wedderburn (200 esters); Light continental (400-700 esters); Continental (900-1600 esters). 

Rum is barrel aged at 80% ABV here

There is up to a 6% evaporation loss (angel's share)

 

 

A Visit to the Cocchi Vermouthery in Asti, Italy

Cocchi wines and vermouths are made in Asti, in the heart of Piedmont region of northwest Italy. I had a chance to visit the facilities this fall. 

The company was founded in 1891 in Asti by Giulio Cocchi. He made flat, sparkling, and aromatized wines. Since 1978, the Cocchi company has been run by the Bava family. Our host was Roberto Bava, who is often seen around the global cocktail circuit at events like Tales of the Cocktail and Bar Convent Berlin. 

Bava is currently the president of the Vermouth di Torino Institute and was part of the coalition of vermouth makers to get legal recognition for the Vermouth di Torino geographical indication (GI) in 2017. In order to qualify, the production and bottling must be in Piedmont, with alcohol between 16-22%, with Italian wine, artemisia absinthium and/or pontica also from Piedmont.   

This is the entrance to the winery. 

 

Cocchi previously produced products like fernets, annisetts, and rababaros that were discontinued in the 1980s, along with vermouths I believe. But with the cocktail renaissance the vermouths came back into necessity. 

They only use macerated (rather than distilled) botanicals in their products. They do extractions in groups- a few botanicals at a time that can be used in various products. We visited the botanical room, where I would have stayed all day if I could have. 

 

 

We then went upstairs to the visitor's center where we did a tasting and I took pictures of the botanical descriptions, which I put in this post on A Guide to Botanicals Used in Cocchi Aromatized Wines & Vermouths.

When I got home, I found I also had this printed document with more botanical information:

 

Visitor's Center: 

 

 

Cocchi Products

Cocchi Americano is an aromatized wine with gentian, cinchona bark, bitter orange, and wormwood. It is used (and was probably designed) for drinking with ice and soda water. 

Cocchi Rosa is made from a red wine base with the same extracts as the bianco, but with additional ginger and rose petals. 

Cocchi Vermouth Di Torino is a sweet vermouth with wormwood, cinchona, bitter orange, and rhubarb.

They also make Dopoteatro Vermouth Amaro, an "evening vermouth" with wormwood, a double dose of cinchona, rhubarb, quassia, and chiretta (which is sometimes called Indian gentian and tastes very much like gentian). 

Barolo Chinato Cocchi contains barolo wine and cinchona bark (as you'd guess from the name), rhubarb, gentian, and cardamom.

In addition to their still and sparkling wines, they also make grappa and made one batch of brandy. 

 

A Visit to the Monkey 47 Distillery in Germany's Black Forest

About a year and a half ago I visited the Monkey 47 gin distillery in Germany's Black Forest area. Today I'm finally writing about it. 

 

The distillery is located in southwest Germany, with the closest city being Stuttgart. I pictured a distillery in the Black Forest to be a dark, densely forested area opening up to a house in the woods like Hansel and Gretel, but the distillery is really more of a farmhouse amongst fields. (It's a former dairy farm.) There is a bee house on the property and a small garden. It's very peaceful there. 

 

 

According to our hosts, there are about 28,000 microdistilleries in the region.  

Monkey 47 has 47 botanicals distilled into it. That's a lot. The base is a molasses-based alcohol from France.

Ingredient notes:

They use fresh peeled grapefruits and lemons- no pith. They eat the grapefruits and some of the lemons are used to make biogas. 

The juniper comes from Croatia or Tuscany. It is ground up before macerating.

Angelica seed is also ground up.

A 'pepper mix' of cardamom, cubeb, and grains of paradise are mixed and grinded in a secret ratio.

Ground botanicals are stored in plastic boxes until use. 

Other botanicals include lemongrass, corriander, angelica, orris root, spruce tips, raspberry leaves, acacia, and lots of lavender, which should be clear if you've tasted it. 

For maceration, the neutral 96.4% ABV spirit is diluted down to 70%.

Lingonberries go into the maceration barrel first, as they can stay a long time in the spirit without over-extracting. The rest of the botanicals macerate for 36 hours before being distilled. 

Each of the blue barrels makes 120, 500ml bottles of gin. Each barrel has about 25 liters of alcohol in the 60L bucket- they're not filled all the way. 

 

 

 

After maceration, one bucket is dumped into a still and then water is added to fill it to 100 liters. The system is pretty efficient: one bucket to one still to one batch. 

Additional botanicals are put in a botanical basket in the steam section of the still - fresh lavender and lemon peels, not sure if anything else.  

 

 

You may have seen a picture of the stills before - it's a gorgeous custom-made set-up with four stills. 

They can make 6 distillation runs per day per still, or 24 total distillation runs per day. It takes a little over an hour to distil. Each distillation run produces 25-30 liters of 88% ABV spirit. After distillation, only water is added, no additional neutral alcohol (making this a "single-shot" gin). 

After distillation, they flush out the solids from the still. These solids are also used to produce biogas. 

 

 

After being distilled, the spirit at full proof is rested for 90 days in these large urns before being diluted and bottled. The dilution process, which takes place at the bottling plant, is slow and takes place over 10 days. The product is bottled at 47% ABV, which is above the level that it would louche, so the gin is not chill-filtered. 

 

In addition to the flagship gin, they produce annual Distiller's Cut bottlings with different botanicals added to the mix.

 

All told, I had this strange vision in my head that Monkey 47 was going to be this blend of Black Forest eau de vies made in wooden shack by a wizard, and that turns out not to be the case at all. The overall procedure is pretty standard for gin with some tweaks such as the fresh-peeled citrus and long maceration time before distillation. So what makes this gin unique is not so much its rustic location, but the recipe. 

 

After the distillery visit, we spent the night in an amazing big Bavarian-style lodge nearby. Here are just a couple pics of that. I love this part of the world, but then again I haven't seen it in the winter.