THAT’S THE SPIRIT

BRANDY

BY MICHAEL PRAMIK

When winter sets in with its icy blasts, warming comfort can be found in a snifter of brandy or in a cocktail glass, spiced with fruit brandy and favorite mixers.

Brandy is an inviting wintertime spirit, whether it’s employed in warm, spiked cider, a Hot Toddy, or even a classic, refreshing Sidecar.

While it’s produced in much the same way as bourbon, there’s a bit of mystery to brandy. In its essence, it’s a distilled spirit made from wine — usually grape wine, but also that of a wide variety of fruits.

Most Ohio brandies are made from apples, but other fruits often are chosen. West End Distillery in Athens has made elderberry brandy, Cincinnati’s Karrikin Spirits produces apricot brandy, and Tom’s Foolery in Northeast Ohio makes a peach and pear brandy, in addition to its betterknown applejack.

Apples are the fruit of choice for Central Ohio’s Watershed Distillery. Founder Greg Lehman said the inspiration to produce Watershed Apple Brandy came from apples his family had while he was growing up in Central Ohio.

“When you have a distillery, you look around and see what you grow, what’s produced here, and find something exciting we can do,” he said. “Apples are associated with Ohio.”

Watershed contracts with a business that supplies cider made from a variety of local apples. It distills some of the cider in a pot still and some in a column still. Each still produces distillate with unique flavor characteristics and, Lehman says, gives its apple brandy a tart, green apple nose, and a sweet, ripe finish.

In the tiny, Geauga County village of Burton, Tom’s Foolery distillery owner Tom Herbruck has been making applejack — another name for apple brandy — since he established the business in 2008. It’s a boozy spirit, not sweet, and not too apple-forward, even though it’s made only with apples and water. No neutral-grain spirits are added.

“Apple brandy doesn’t taste a lot like apples, like cognac doesn’t taste like grapes,” Herbruck said. “And matter of fact, if it did it would be a bad thing.”

In Athens, West End makes a variety of brandies from grapes, apples, elderberries, and pawpaws. The business opened in 2011 as Dancing Tree Distillery when it was based in Meigs County. Over the years, it has changed names, but has stuck to its roots as a distiller making products from “near-at-hand grains, fruits, herbs, and roots imparting flavors and styles uniquely Appalachian.”

Owner Kelly Sauber says because West End makes a lot of wine, it has had the opportunity to experiment with various brandies. In addition to using whole fruits to produce wine, it also uses fruit pomace from other wineries to produce spirits, such as grappa.

“The fruit brandies such as pawpaw, elderberry, apple, and Cab Franc, are made from the first pressing of the original fruit,” Sauber said.

Regardless of how they are distilled, brandies can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks, or used in traditional brandy cocktails. Try them in a Sidecar, mixed with Cointreau and lemon juice (and a sugared rim), or substitute them for bourbon in a traditional Old Fashioned.

SHAKE IT UP WITH BRANDY

JACK’S ROSE

11/2 oz. Watershed Apple Brandy 1 oz. grenadine 3/4 oz. lime juice Shake ingredients and strain into a chilled coupe. Top with sparkling apple cider or club soda.

LITTLE JOHN

1 oz. Tom’s Foolery Bourbon 1 oz. Tom’s Foolery Applejack 1 oz. lemon juice Dash of orange bitters Shake ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.