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I had an exhilerating, lengthy discussion w/ Lee Medoff & Matt Mount @ House Spirits yesterday. We've been unofficially discussing either using their distillery or contracting specialty liquors thru those guys since Teardrop opened. After walking through the process & the many serpentine laws of the OLCC, Lee & I resolved that the best way to approach the development of such products was to fold it into their upcoming apothecary line, which for the moment includes ouzo, a beta version of their upcoming rum line, & a few other products they're tweaking as we speak. Since they already have preliminary label approval from the feds, all they have to do for a new inclusion is to change the name from Ouzo to, say, Apricot Brandy & the whole formula/label process becomes a walk-through (still taking about a month, but much better than starting from scratch). I had been in conversation w/ them about a line exclusively for Teardrop, as we develop recipes & concepts together. But it's much more important, as we develop the collaborative nature, not just of the guild, but between ours & the ditiller's guild, that we approach this from a larger perspective.
So our proposal to the group is a joint, ongoing effort to supply them w/ ideas, researched formulas, & collectively conceived recipes for defunct (hawaiian oke/batavian arrack/raki), seasonal (apricot brandy/elderflower liqueur) or unavailable (old tom gin/creme de violette) products. At least at the start, these would be available primarily for guild use (we have to be careful not to say exclusively, but it's a question of practice rather than stated policy). I hope everyone realizes what an exciting possibility this is. For example, as I know many of us are frustrated w/ the lack of quality apricot brandy for classic cocktails, we agree on a recipe that they can craft for us when apricots come into season. Pomelos are still around right now, so we can open up a forum on what we think it might take to make a forbidden fruit liqueur. We estimate the frequency w/ which we'd use the product, & translate all that to Lee/Matt/Christiaan, & they go to work making the stuff.
I think the possibilities are not only endless, but would create a trend unseen elsewhere. We could, in fact reach out to other distillers w/ this idea (Lee has asked for Lance or myself to be in regular attendance at the distiller's guild meetings), but it's my personal opinion that these guys are not only crafting a superior line of product, but they've got the program in place to make this a really easy process.
Lee & Matt will both be in attendance Sunday. I've asked all distillers or representatives to be on site @ 3:30, but those 2 will be there @ 3pm so we can have a discussion in person on this topic. I think it's a no-brainer that they (at least one of them) be given a de facto supporters-of-the-guild status. That way Lee can have input on our forums as we flush out this concept. Also, I'd like to ask that everyone come w/ a list of the liquors they'd love to see them produce. I don't want to bombard them, but it'll give them & us a notion of the larger picture before moving forward.
wooot!
I LOVE the concept. However, I think we should all take a minute and be grateful to the guys at House for being so generous with their time and efforts. They don't have to do this for us, and I think we need to make a point of saying thanks. This is incredibly generous of them.
Absolutely, I think I bowed several times yesterday. But bear in mind, they love the idea of a joint venture. It's nothing but good press for them, & though it may start small in the next year w/ just the OBG, they will have tested out this entire line for full release in the states. It's all mutually beneficial.
Yep, but its mutually beneficial if we hold up our end of the deal by being the best Guild in the country.
I'm really glad we didn't go USBG.
Should I trademark Oregon Bartenders Guild? I don't even know how to (but I can figure it out). It might make sense.
A good affordable triple sec is a great idea.
Love the triple sec idea. Really love the aged gin idea.
I see an event where we crack the first bottle of 6 yr old OBG whisky err whiskey mix it with a little sugar and OBG bitters damn it taste good already
At some point in the near future, I'm going to be making a batch of rye whiskey. Its on my to do list, as are a lot of other things though.
& at some point in the distant future, you'll be tasting that batch of rye whiskey. I'm down with the flights of fancy, but opening a 6 yr. OBG whiskey; I don't really plan on knowing any of you people then...
Seriously, it'll be best for all of us (but esp. Lee) if we actually have a somewhat organized (prioritized) list from each of us on the products we'd like to see. There will be time in the future for us to bombard him w/ the products we'd love behind our bars, but it's in his best interest if we have a structured approach to this, to give him a clear idea of what we're talking about.
We can bring it up to Lee tomorrow, but I agree w/ Jeff. They're going to want this to be a boutique line, focusing more on unique, higher end items.
It would be wonderful to see a maraschino liqueur from Oregon cherries. It might even atone for the maraschino sins of Oregon's past.
But it's a great idea, atoning for the sins of our fathers... Oregon bing/ranier cherry Heering, anyone?
I know McCarthy makes a cherry kirschwasser with oregon cherries over at Clear Creek. I don't think anyone else is distilling cherries in state at this time.
I had to fall back on using the Clear Creek kirschwasser once instead of maraschino (this was a few years ago on a visit to Portland). It worked, but was missing that maraska-funk / oiliness and much of the almond notes. I suspect that those flavors are from fermenting on cracked pits of the cherries, and that the kirschwasser is from juice more delicately separated from the pits.
The foregoing is supposition, I never took FST102 History of the Maraschino at OSU.
I just shot Steve McCarthy an email asking for his thoughts on all of this. I'll post his response if I get one.
House Spirits is already planning on doing a maraschino in their apothecary line; I think they're already making it, in fact. That said, do we have an idea of the first product we'd like to propose to Lee, so we can start working out a recipe. My thought is Creme de Violette, just because by the time we're ready for them to produce, it'll be the season. Perhaps we can find time to sit down together w/ the Hermes in the next couple weeks & do a flavor profile breakdown. To my mind, it's too one-dimensional & I have thoughts on how we can add flavor besides just violets & sugar. Does anyone else have thoughts on first product?
Creme de Violette sounds chouette to me. Let's do it!
Seeing as John Walker was out of Creme de Violette last time I was there, I vote yay on this.
One more vote for Creme de Violette.
I got this response from Steve McCarthy re Kirsh, Maraschino and Oregon Cherries.
"Now, to your real question: making good kirshwasser from Oregon table
cherries is hard. Typically the cherries are big, pretty, sweet, and not
really all that flavorful. I have had to learn a lot from 23 years of
making kirsch to get good cherry aroma and flavor. A couple of things: get
dead ripe cherries. Try to get them from a grower who irrigates sparingly.
This is hard to do. Most growers pump their cherries full of water. I have
developed some techniques to remove almost all the pits from the mash, but
not all. My experience with good Swiss Kirshwasser is that it has a slight
almond tone that adds an important element and keeps the product from being
one dimensional or jam like. Keeping all the pits in produces a too woody,
bitter distillate. Taking all of them out is prohibitively expensive. As
to your last question, Oregon cherries are not very oily or funky. Some of
the growers are working with new strains, however, so stay tunes. The
orientation continues to be supermarket, fresh fruit, but there is always
hope."
Bump
We need to keep tslking and working on this
Absolutely fascinating, sort of a dream come true.
I just looked up who house spirits was, I wasn't able to put that name with a face until then. That aviation gin is really fascinating. Every month we do a staff meeting where we do a blind tasting and last month we did all of our gins. No one really liked the aviation (and because of that it is unfortunately rotting on the shelf, also because I haven't had much time to mess around with it for a cocktail - although I did a spin on their red pepper mint cocktail as a special and I really liked that). This month we tasted vodka, and as a brain teaser I threw in the aviation. This time, it was one of the server's favorite vodkas - although she didn't like it in the gin portfolio. I found this really interesting. I find aviation really interesting, because it really could go either way and when the rep was in town and I first tasted it I would have never called it a gin - it has very little juniper on it. But I liked that it was different, so I brought it in. Anyhow, I'm excited to see what they create with everyone's input. I like the aviation gin because it is pushing the envelope of what gin is. I also absolutely adore their packaging, I think that the medoyeff vodka bottle just looks smart and crisp. I also loved their aqua vit because it wasn't overwhelming, as soon as I move through some of this so called sipping rum that was supposed to be all the rage, the aqua vit is one item I'd like to bring in.
The Aviation can be confusing when placed alongside London Dry gins, because it's another style of gin altogether: a Genever-style gin. However, when this gorgeous gin is used properly, the botanical balance really shines; you're going to shock a lot of first-timers if you try to make them a dry martini with Aviation right off the bat.
That said, a great introduction to the brand is by using it in an Aviation cocktail. I like to use 2 oz Aviation gin, 1 oz Maraska maraschino liqueur (if you're using Luxardo, this recipe will need some tweaking) and ¾ oz lemon juice, shaken and strained into a cocktail glass. While my colleagues on this forum will take me to task for not including Creme de Violette, the best I can say is good luck finding any in Bend - it hasn't even showed up on the radar here in Eugene.
Once you've seen what the big, creamy botanical blend of Aviation gin can do in the Aviation cocktail, try some other classics. I've found it to be a nice counterbalance to the bitterness of Campari and the sharper edges of Cinzano Rosso in a Negroni. Use equal parts, stir, and strain. You might even get crazy and express the oils from a thin slice of grapefruit peel over the top.
In my opinion, Aviation is not only the finest gin being produced here in Oregon, it is also one of the finer craft-distilled products in the nation right now. The next time you're up in Portland, be sure to pop in at the distillery and get to know the folks producing Aviation. I'd be happy to make the introduction for you if you care to contact me.
Good luck, play with the spirit, and let us know your findings (in a new forum topic, of course) ;)
I wholeheartedly agree with Jeff. Aviation is my first choice when making a Negroni and it has quickly become my preferred gin to introduce people to.
No doubt House Spirits Kicks Ass. Aly did a great job with Aviation in her Violet Hour, the yellow charteuse and parfait amour with the lavender tincture really set the subtle juniper off. This gin is so sexy to mix with check out the Sensation in Savoy to get on a mojito drinker's nerves.
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