A Spirited Trip: Tattersall Distilling

In my ever expanding quest to visit and document new (and old) craft breweries, I occasionally get a chance to visit a distillery. With craft beer booming, one of big new rising trends is in craft distilling.  I usually look at distilled products as being fairly homogeneous these days: an example is Ireland, where nearly all their major Irish whiskeys are distilled at one place.  Much like the sad state beer was in in the 1980's to 1990's, there's now plenty of room for small, local, craft places to find a foothold.

One new-ish Twin Cities distillery is Tattersall Distilling in Northeast Minneapolis (Nordeast to his friends) located in the historic Thorp Building.  The building used to be the production facility for large fire doors, and had a period of use in WWII as a secret military equipment manufactory.  Now the aged building hosts a distillery, several artist studios, and soon Strike Theater!

The distillery is located around the back of the building, somewhat hidden unless you're looking for it.  There is some parking in a dirt lot behind the place, but it may get crowded on a Saturday afternoon.  The place is pretty massive, with a large old-looking wooden bar taking up a good portion of the indoor tasting room.  Large glass panes separate the distilling area and barrel storage from the tasting room, but everything is easily visible from within.  There's plenty of seating inside, but also a large patio area with some umbrella'd tables for shade in the hot sun.  Food trucks are often present to take the edge off!

Arty shot of the view from the patio

The first time we stopped at Tattersall was during Art-A-Whirl, a crazy neighborhood wide "block" party, art show, and festival that is simply amazing to take part in.  At that time Tattersall was teaming with people and was SRO.  Normally Sj and I would have probably just taken off, but very quickly a waitress found us in the crowd and took an order, not forcing me to wade into the press of humanity at the bar.  Bonus points for having an active and large enough staff to properly handle such an event!
More recently we took a couple of cocktail loving friends from Colorado (Heather and Lorelei) to visit on a Saturday afternoon.  Again, the place was very busy, but not as extreme as during the festival.  The back half of the taproom seemed to be set up for a party, but it was winding down by the time we got there.  We did wait a while at the bar for our drinks, but it was worth the wait!



Our server this time was Dan Oskey, co-founder and Twin Cities celebrity bartender.  A little known fact of distillery tasting rooms in Minnesota is the fact that they can't serve any liquor not distilled on site.  Sounds fair right?  Sure, until you realize that a huge proportion of mixed drinks involve accessory mixers like vermouth, flavored liqueurs, etc.  This pretty much limits bartenders to fruit juices, simple syrups, and bitters.  J. Carver Distillery in Waconia (my town) makes up for this a bit by making their own infused simple syrups, but are still unable to make a classic Manhattan!  Tattersall has really taken this to the next level by making their own versions of Creme de Cacao, Triple Sec, and more for mixing.  They also make digestive bitters like Amaro and Fernet that can be sipped on their own or mixed into drinks for an added herbal kick.

I had a bourbon-based cocktail which was quite good and surprisingly refreshing on this warm but overcast day.  We each got something different and shared a bit to get to try them all.  I've only recently begun to experiment with cocktails, so I'm no expert on this field!  I do know that all of these drinks were well balanced, smooth, and complex.  Not rocket-fuel like a few places we've been to!

Overall, we were all very impressed with the service, the vibe, and especially the drinks.  I will highly recommend it as a stop in Nordeast...on your way to the Indeed taproom perhaps?  I also look forward to having a cocktail here before a show at Strike Theater once that gets going.

Beer and Cocktails #1: Jack Rose

This year I've been widening my arsenal of beverage choices by adding cocktails to my repertoir.  I bought a couple of classic books on the subject and have been working my way through those, trying to get a feel for mixology standards, as well as deciding what type of mixed drinks that I like.  I've also been experimenting on my wife, Sarajo--finding her tastes go to gin based drinks and ones on the sweeter side.

Enter a cool new series of beers from one of my all-time favorite breweries--Perennial in St. Louis: Dealer's Choice.  I picked up the second in the series on a trip (on Sunday since you still can't buy beer here in Minnesota that day #whynotsundays) to Hudson, Wisconsin.  This beer takes the flavor profile of the Jack Rose cocktail as it's inspiration.

I decided that I had to make a Jack Rose and try this beer at the same time!  Here are the results!  Also taking part in this was our friend Heather McNabnay, and of course, Sarajo.  Oh, and there are a lot of different versions of Jack Rose to choose from, so I picked one from a classic source.

Jack Rose Cocktail

2 oz Laird's Applejack
3/4 oz Fresh lime juice
2 squirts homemade grenadine syrup
Shake with ice in cocktail shaker for 10 seconds.
Strain into martini style glass.
Garnish with an imported marashino cherry (not the violently colored red ones) and a slice of apple.

The drink was tasty, but very tart with the addition of lime.  A bit on the hot alcohol side as well.  I thought Sarajo would hate this but she didn't mind it.  I'd probably add a twitch of simple syrup to it next time (1/4 oz?)

Perennial Dealer's Choice Jack Rose

Aroma: Lime and apple are certainly the stars.  Some caramel and malt presence, but subtle.

Appearance: Light amber in color.  Excellent clarity.  Fine off-white head that sparkles briefly then fades to nearly nothing--very much like carbonated hard apple cider.

Flavor: Bright fresh apple and light caramel malts.  I get a nice zip of lime zest at the finish.  Hints of pomegranate.  Mouthfeel is medium to almost light.  Finish is off-dry.  I give it a 4 out 5 stars.

Sarajo commented that she likes the beer better than the cocktail.  Once she tasted the garnishes on the cocktail she made a better connection between that and the beer flavors.

This was a fun little experiment and a good way to try out a new (old really) cocktail and a new beer.  I'd love to see what the other beers are in the series, but we can't get them here in Minnesota so I might have to wait a while!

A Whale A Week: The Manhattan Project

Now in my second year, A Whale A Week is my challenge to try (with an array of beer loving friends) a rare beer for every week of the year.  Last year I had a great time with this and have continued it for 2016.  Not every beer will be a truly "white whale" beer, but all are hard to find and a treat to try!  This week we try something different.  Tired of just trying out one beer (and lets be honest how can I really shrink my cellar at this rate) each week, we're going to break out a bunch of them!

This week we're doing something different!  I discovered that I had two beers in my cellar that were based on the Manhattan cocktail flavor profile and thought it would be fun to combine the two into one tasting.  But of course we would have to mix up an actual Manhattan to compare with right?  I contacted Gina Holman, one of the owners of our local Waconia distillery J. Carver, who is our resident expert on mixology to come help us out!  The other cast of characters fell promptly into place as well.  We had myself and my lovely wife Sarajo as always.  We also had Dan Herman--homebrewer with the Primary Fermenters and sometime bartender.  Heather McNabnay--who mixed up the first Manhattan I had ever tried.  And last but not least we had over local beer/food/spirits blogger Paige Latham and her husband Rick Didora.  With this highly skilled and educated crowd we dug into our work!

Paige wrote up her (and Rick's) impressions of this event for her fantastic blog Alcohol By Volume, so check it out HERE as well!

Cascade Brewing's Manhattan NW 2011

For those who don't know Cascade Brewing out of Portland, Oregon--you need to try their beers!  They focus on mainly barrel aged sour beers and are putting out some of the best in the country.  Sarajo and I visited the Cascade Barrel House a few years back and stuffed our suitcase with corked and caged bottles of this liquid manna--including today's special vintage.  Most of their sours are lactic, setting them apart from many others.  It was with great excitement that two weeks ago I discovered Cascade on shelves here in Minnesota.  They aren't cheap, but worth it if you like sour beers!   This particular beer is aged in whiskey barrels with pie cherries and apricot noyeax (an almond flavored creme liqueur made from apricot kernels).  Unlike many sours, this one is high-test and clocks in at 11.5% ABV! 

Aroma:

Eric: Strong lactic sourness up front.  I do sense some malt sweetness under there as well.  Slight funky barnyard brettanomyces character.  Cherry present and tart but pretty subtle.  Mouth starts salivating at the sourness in the aroma!

Gina: Muted nose, not getting fruit, but sour yes.  Getting more funk.

Heather (or Penelope as her "bar name"): Granny Smith apple.  Star fruit. Amaretto.  

Dan: Bretty and a little almond.  Little to no cherry.

Appearance:

Eric: Slightly hazy, gold to amber color.  Fine white head that fades to edge of glass quickly.

Gina: Golden, amber, medium, hazy.

Heather: Bit cloudy, amber.

Dan: Amberish, clear, little to no head.

Flavor:

Eric: Sweet on the front end--fades to a tart cherry and cherry pit flavor at the end.  Strong lactic acid sourness with a hint of pedio and certainly some funky brett.  Sweet and sour candy-like.  I do get almond or cherry pit strongly.  Body is medium with a creamy mouthfeel--unusual for sours.  Carbonation is high.  Very much stays with you after the sip is done.  4.5

Gina: Acid, lemon zest, cherry pit, skin, tart, nutty, funk, raw honey.  Lingering finish with a balance of acid.  Nice body.  Like an amaretto sour.  4

Heather: Lemon rind.  Amaretto.  Better than an IPA!  3

Dan: Highly effervescent, yet somehow still slick.  Acid.  Cherry is there, but way behind the acid.  Citrus peel on the finish.  4

Sarajo: Amaretto sour all the way!  4.75

Overall Score: 4.05

Town Hall Manhattan Reserve 2016

Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis has been one of my favorite breweries for years.  They remain a bit under the radar compared to a lot of the newer flashier brewery taprooms, but under the skilled hand of head brewer Mike Hoops, they've been putting out stellar beers for almost 20 years.  Dan and I are Pint Club members, getting access to free/discounted beers.  Their barrel program was one of the first in Minnesota and this beer is the culmination (for me at least) of that experience.  Sarajo and I first tried a version of this beer at Winterfest several years back and it has remained one of the best beers either of us has tried.  With the fairly recent Town Hall Barrel Aged Week events we got to try it again at the brewery, and our friends Randy and Andrea managed to get a couple mini growlers of it for us.  Thanks guys!  The beer is a strong golden ale (Grand Cru) aged in whiskey barrels with tart cherries.

Aroma:

Eric: Cherry is strong in this one!  Mixture of tart and sweeter Bing cherry.  Rye whiskey sweetness.  Tannin from oak mixed with a hint of cherry pit.  Malt present, but more honey-like.  Lots of complexity here.  Some mild Belgian esters.  

Gina: Inviting.  Jolly Rancher sour cherry!  

Heather: Cherries.

Dan: Bright estery Belgian.  A little alcohol burn but not much of a whiskey richness.  Nail polish.

Appearance: 

Eric: Excellent clarity.  Deep red to orange in color.  Very minimal head.  

Gina: Amber, clear, healthy.

Heather: Gorgeous color--like a Manhattan should be!

Dan: Deep amber. Same color as true whiskey.  Tight white bubbles dissipate and cling to glass.

Flavor:

Eric: Mild sweetness up front.  Middle is cherry pit, raisin, maraschino cherry.  Mild vanilla.  Oak tannin or sherry notes.  Whiskey very mild in this.  Slight Belgian esters peaking through.  Medium mouthfeel--slick?  End is off-dry.  Warming all the way down the esophagus.  4.75

Gina: Cherry fruit, chocolate cherry, wood, tannin, char, cocoa!  Bitter and inviting.  Lingering finish.  Light effervescence.  Creaminess.  Softer mouthfeel.  Crisp. 4.75

Heather: Caramel, young maple syrup.  Holds up after a real Manhattan!  4.9

Dan: Cherry and Belgiany sweet stone fruit.  Vanilla in the middle.  A little nail polish solventy alcohol--in a good way.  Sweet finish.  4.75

Sarajo: Still just delicious.  I love Mike Hoops!  4.75

Overall Score: 4.78

Gina mixing us up some magic!

J. Carver Rye Manhattan

To top off our tasting of these two amazing cocktail based beers, we had Gina mix us up an actual Manhattan! Using J. Carver's 3rd batch of Rye Whiskey as a base, along with Fee Brothers Aromatic bitters, Luxardo cherries, and sweet vermouth, she served us up a great cocktail.  By this time our ability to write things up was failing, but I still jotted down a few notes.  In the aroma I got spicy sweet rye, some oakiness and hint of cherry.  In flavor I tasted sweetness up front, followed by a spicy rye malt finish and a bit of dryness from the Italian "sweet" vermouth.  Mild cherry flavor, but adds complexity.  Hint of cinnamon and clove.  Heather and I both picked up a little smoky flavor as well.  A wonderful caboose to our beer tasting!  

Gina also let us try the newly released J. Carver Bourbon alone and mixed up in my other favorite drink--the Old Fashioned.  I was frankly impressed with both the Bourbon and Rye, both having more complexity and flavor than some others I've tried.  

This was a fantastic evening filled with good friends and great drinks! Thanks to everyone for showing up and making this a stellar event!

J. Carver Distillery Review

Way back in August of 2014 I wrote up a short piece in this blog about J. Carver Distillery that you can check out HERE.  At the time I got a short tour from Bill Miller and Gina Holman, and was very excited about what they had planned.  They had just put in the dark wood bar, and had received their fermenters, but still had a lot of work to do on the place.

Fast forward to now and they've been up and running for some time, with spirits for sale around the Twin Cities.  There was some delay in having taproom hours due to some complicated old national and local laws about samples of spirits and I had wondered if they would ever get to open it!  Happily though, they just recently opened up the tasting room to the public and it was finally time for my wife (Sj) and I to get out there to check it out.  The distillery building is in an old auto dealership just a short mile from my house, making this an easy commute!

The industrial front of the building certainly hearkens back to its previous life, but now you can see the coppery glow of the stills through the large glass windows, beckoning one in to see what wonders lurk within.  The new taproom is well-lit but still intimate.  The long bar is immaculate with rows of shiny beautiful bottles and mirrors on the walls behind.  Gina was at the bar when we arrived and greeted us warmly as always, making us feel immediately at home.  The feel of the place is very different from the other local bars and watering holes, with the upscale and classy look of a cocktail bar.  We had signed up online for one of the tours, which costs $10 per person and takes about 35-40 minutes.  Part of the tour price includes either a taster of three spirits or a cocktail.  Gina quickly built some fancy cocktails for us to have in hand during our tour around the building, crafting them with speed, grace, and skill.  I ended up with a tasty Gin Old Fashioned (made with their barrel aged gin, rosemary scented honey, and vanilla cherry bark bitters.)

Cocktails in hand, we met up with Dan Niesen (one of the distillers) who took us all over the distillery to explore the nooks and crannies.  It was fun to see the whole process from local grains to the glass in my hand.  They do truly try to source most of their ingredients as local as possible--Dan seemed needlessly apologetic that some of their rye came from a little farther away (but still in Minnesota!)  They're also making good contacts with suppliers of local produce for some of their other products like grappa in collaboration with Waconia's Sovereign Estate Winery.  I'll admit I didn't love the grappa, but I'm more of a bourbon or Scotch kind of guy.

J. Carver's pot still

During the tour we got to ogle the three stills that they have for different projects.  I especially like the tiny experimental still that they use to do smaller batches without risking a much larger batch not turning out.  This can also come in handy if they get access to a smaller amount of a local fruit or other fermentable.  Dan took us through the whole process and really gave us a great tour!

We also got to check out the growing barrel room where whiskeys and gins are aging in climate controlled hibernation, becoming much more than the base spirits they began life as.  I'm excited about when those whiskeys come to fruition!  Already, the barrel aged J. Carver Gin is a treat--mixing the herbal spicing of a gin with the tannin, structure, and complexity of time in a barrel.

Tour over and drinks empty, we returned to the tasting room.  The place had filled in a lot since we left, now bustling with other folks dropping in for a drink or tour.  We found a high-top table in a corner where we would sample the other spirits.  Each of us had three coming, so by sharing we got to try most of the available products.  It was cool getting to test these, but other than bourbons, I'm not used to sipping hard liquor straight, so this was a little challenging.  Our favorites were the Barrel Gin and Grimm's Farm Gin.  The vodkas were OK, but like I said, I'm not used to straight up vodka, so this was difficult to judge.

One can buy a 375 ML bottle at the distillery, or they can send you with a one-day-only coupon for a discount at one of our local liquor stores.  Sj and I ended up taking our coupon to Legacy Wine & Spirits in Waconia to buy bottles of the Barrel Gin and the Grimm Farm Ultra-Premium Gin.  Time to get working on some cocktails at home!

I'm excited about what these guys are doing right in my own backyard.  With the addition of three wineries, two breweries (Waconia and Schram), and now a distillery, Waconia is really starting to become a destination for craft alcoholic beverages.  No longer do I need to drive to Northeast Minneapolis to try out something unique and local!

Hijacked! Fruity Drinks on the High Seas

Hi there!  This is Eric's wife Sarajo (or Sj as he often calls me) doing a little blog takeover for the day.  Last week while my husband was stuck at home holding down the fort, I was off on a grand adventure with my friend Kathleen... cruising the Caribbean and making jewelry with about 48 other bead ladies!  Sound crazy?  Crazy fun!  I swear that this is a real thing.  You can check out my post all about the Bead Cruise over on my blog HERE.

The one thing that my sweet husband asked in return for letting me go off on a girls trip (other than rum cake, of course) was for me to take notes and pictures of the fruity cruise drinks I consumed and report back for his blog.  So, I'm now making good on that promise.

My first cruise drink was sort of an accident, but it was also one of the fruitiest/cruisey-ist in many ways.  The Aquarium bar was out of one of the components for my first choice drink and I panicked.  I didn't notice that the drink I ordered, the Batidas, had half  & half in it.  Also, I missed that there was supposedly a choice of fruit (not a blend of them) and the waitress didn't clarify what I wanted... so what I ended up with was basically an adult strawberry milkshake!  It wasn't terrible, but the half & half made it VERY rich and it just wasn't what I was expecting.

iPhones are not great at low light... but here's me with my Batidas on the first night of the cruise.

Day two our group had our disco party in the Chamber night club.  We got free drinks and I tried the Yellow Bird.  I'm not entirely sure what was in that other than rum, but it was a little watered down so I can't really give it a fair review.  That night also brought about the discovery of my favorite drink of the cruise, the Elderphire!  Made with Bombay Sapphire gin, elderflower, sugarcane, and fresh lemon this drink was sweet, tart, and refreshing.  This is the only cocktail I ordered multiple times.  Perhaps that makes my "research" a little less complete, but sometimes you want what you want.  We also tried the Elderflower Lemonade which was similar but not quite as tasty as the Elderphire.  It's a mix of elderflower, Absolute vodka, and lemonade.

Elderphires in love?  I loved how they usually did something cute with the straw wrappers!

On day three (night actually!) we went back to the Chamber night club for a little dancing with our new friend Kashmira where we all ordered Lemon Drop martinis.  This was a pleasant suprise for me since I'd ordered this drink (at least I think it was the same thing) someplace else and it had been way too tart for me.  This one was a nice blend of sweet and tart!

Three little Lemon Drops all in a row...

Day four was a port day in Nassua.  Kathleen and I had an excursion to Blue Lagoon Island to play with the dolphins.  We had some down time after that so we had Bahama Mamas on the beach while lounging.  This felt like the perfect drink for a hot beach day! It was a mix of rum, grenadine syrup, orange and pineapple juices... yummy and tropical for sure.  Later that day while lounging by the pool, I indulged in what amounted to an adult Kool-Aide... also known as the Pomegranate Spritz.  My photo of that one did not turn out at all but it was a lovely red/pink but a little too light on flavor for my taste.

Bahama Mama on the beach.  It doesn't get much better than this!

On Day five we didn't order any fruity drinks... can you believe it?  But don't worry, we did put a dent in a bottle of wine at dinner!  The next day we made up for our lapse.  In the afternoon we checked out the jazz themed bar on the 14th floor and I ordered my new favorite drink, the Elderphire.  Kathleen tried the Captain's Caipirinha which was made with Captain Morgan spiced rum, Leblon Cachaca (a spirit made from distilled sugar cane and the official spirit of Brazil), sugar and lime.  It was interesting but far too boozy for me.  My dad would have said that it would put hair on your chest!

Captain's Caipirinha

After dinner we joined several other ladies from our group at the Schooner Bar for music trivia.  I tried the Frozen Mojito while Kathleen tried a very pretty drink called the Goombay Smash.  The Frozen Mojito flavors were pretty true to the traditional version's and it was very tasty and refreshing.  The only downside is I felt like the aftertaste stayed with me for awhile!  The Goombay Smash was another rum based drink with two different types (one coconut), Cointreau, lime and pineapple juices.  I think that I'm just not as big a fan of rum overall... and especially not when it's coconut flavored.  so I was happy with my choice for this round.

Goombay Smash (and a little of my mojito on the left).  Poor lighting strikes again!

Day seven it was back to my standby Elderphire while we listened to the live band play and watched folks dance up in the 14th floor bar.  We did some dancing ourselves when they played the occasional faster song.  Kashmira also ordered a yummy Frozen Mudslide that I got to taste.  A great dessert drink if you want something with coffee and chocolate flavors.

I would have to drink far more than I normally do (and probably spend all my cruise time at the bar) to try all the drinks available on the ship.  Hopefully this gives you a little taste of what is on offer and maybe an idea of cocktails you might want to try in the future either on land or at sea!