MicroShiner - Issue 10

MicroShiner C r a f t. S p i r i t s . l i f e s t y l e .

spring 2015

THE NOBLE EXPERIMENT Spring 2015

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contents Letter From the Publisher Drinking Music Tasting Notes—Corsair Artisans’ Ryemageddon Places to Enjoy—Buffalo Nickel, Asheville, NC Crafting Cocktails—Amber Gautreau, NYC TOAST Craft Spirits Tasting - Portland, OR Montanya Rum - Crested Butte, CO The Spirited Woman Delaware Phoenix - Walton, NY FIG + YARROW - Denver, CO Pairings­—New Deal Distillery The Noble Experiment NYC - New York, NY Spirited Works - Cocktails From the Still - Courtney McKee, Headframe Spirits

Spring

2015 9 10 14 16 22 26 32 48 58 74 86 104 119 132

Photo by Emry Trantham« MicroShiner.com | PAGE 5

MicroShiner Life. Distilled.

Music

Content

Jeff Mattson

Brian Cary

Events

Web

Ryan Murphy

Kelsey Binder

Spirits

Coordination

Crystal Martinez

Ian Gregory

Social

Relations

Chi Pham

Jeff Martinez

Concept

Cobey Williamson

Writers

Photographers

Vita Duva

Michael Marquand

Hayley McCoy

Emry Trantham

Robert Dann

Giselle Hellemn

Ian Gregory

Jennaye Derge

Matthew Hedgpeth

Brian Cary

Alex Dowley

Elijah Hoffman

Jennaye Derge

Vita Duva

Courtney McKee

Robert Dann

Emry Trantham

MicroShiner LLC 1406 Summerdale Rd Corvallis, MT 59828

Š2015 All rights reserved. The contents of this magazine cannot be duplicated without the prior written consent of the owner. The views contained within the contents of MicroShiner Magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of its owners or staff.

Photo by Elijah Hoffman ÂŤ MicroShiner.com | PAGE 7

Letter from the Pub

PAGE 8 | MicroShiner.com Âť Photo by Emry Trantham

Letter from

the PUBLISHER Spring is always a time for fresh starts and contemplating new horizons, a time when we shake free from the cold hand of winter and revel in a world of growing possibility. It is a season characterized by potential, that glimmer of what well might be that isn’t always grasped or seen by everybody. And the perfect time, we felt, to celebrate the spirited women of craft.

Not that women producing spirits is anything new; in many cultures it was women who traditionally fulfilled this important communal need. Neither is it remarkable today to find women driving trends in spirits preparation, consumption, or just about anything in the world, for that matter. The only thing that is remarkable, really, is that no one finds it remarkable.

The world is changing. We are entering a time unencumbered by preconceived notions. And what is exciting is that it is not only external prejudices, those that give rise to such things as discrimination and gender roles, that are being abolished, but the internal, self-imposed constraints as well. A girl today doesn’t necessarily see herself as a future housewife, secretary, or supermodel. She’s just a girl, and anything is possible.

The same goes for craft spirits. Molds are being broken right and left. Decades of stagnation are being negated in a flurry of new tastes and flavors.

There are people making whiskey that doesn’t go down smooth, on purpose. And they are able to do that because their product has personal significance for someone, and because a free and willing market exists with which to share it.

We should never fear change. We should always embrace it; because, in all probability, the inevitability of its course is set already. To resist is to only penalize one’s self, and to miss, not only the potential opportunity, but the catharsis of the moment.

So with this issue of MicroShiner, we raise our glasses and toast the women of craft. Not for being remarkable, but for being fearless.

DRINKING MUSIC

By Jeff Mattson

Drinking Music NYC | Vancouver | Los Angeles | London | Melbourne Music

and

spirits

are

inextricably

intertwined.

Whether

it’s the rat pack & martinis, the jazz age and bathtub gin, saloon whiskey and a player piano, or just pickin’ on the porch with a jar of shine, where you find one, you will likely find the other. So many analogies exist between the two that we felt, as a magazine about craft and spirits, inclined – nay almost obliged – to dedicate some space to music.

product, often for no greater purpose than sheer enjoyment.

Just as it is in the spirits business, the music market is awash with corporate product. Artists are groomed and selected based on one thing: their ability to sell records. All of the coarseness and irregularity is eliminated, and much of the nuance and the intangible lost. To paraphrase Neil Young at the onset of the digital age, the real music lives between the 0 and 1.

Music is a craft. Doing it well depends on bringing a number of

In that regard, and in keeping with the theme of this pub-

elements together in just the right proportions, and like craft

lication, what we hope to offer you here is that space

spirits the resultant product is always greater than the sum

between the step and the curve that is so important, yet

of its parts. Differences in equipment, training, ingredients,

often goes overlooked. Here we hope to share some bands

recipes are reflected in subtle, and sometimes not so subtle,

and music that you might just find playing onstage in your

variations in character, flavor, tenor, and tone. Each begins

local tasting room or watering hole. Here, as with the micro-

with a handful of raw material that, through a practiced and

distilleries we focus on, you just might happen upon some-

perfected process, culminates in a refined and handcrafted

one you know, and together enjoy a little drinking music.

Pharkmakon Bestial Burden Margaret Chardiet is noise artist Pharmakon.

It’s the discomfort I would presume of being a first time attendee in an underground sex club. Exciting for all the wrong reasons, exhilarating, and a whole new set of barbaric emotions. The sounds are completely raw, crass, euharmoic, and amelodic. Sink down the steps, steady loss of visual stimuli, distant screams, atonal rants, sibilant overtones. This is the soundtrack of a journey through a deviant schizophrenic’s mind. There’s an imminence with each song. A head full of sweat. Bisecting your veins, flowing simultaneously backwards and forwards, and you’re not okay. Tonight we feast on limbs.

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Spring 2015

White Lung Deep Fantasy From Vancouver BC, Canada, and composed of Mish Way, Kenneth William, Anne-Marie Vassiliou and Hether Fortune. Damn dark and damn spacious.

Shrill guitars tend a wall of rhythmic sound. Indignant, brash, unrepentant. “I will wait in your home”.

Ink

drenched,

dominating

punk.

“Deep

Fantasy”

lyrically visits uncomfortable topics (for some) of rape, body dysmorphia, sexuality, but all with a tone and forcefulness that lends power to the marginalized, a perfect use of the punk rock genre. This is the unlit garage you retreat to when your head is insanity. When life is swiftly chasing you, this is where you turn around and punch it right in the teeth.

Unavoidably loud and tossing any superfluities aside to get there. If this bedlam means I’ll be going deaf, I welcome a life of silence in return for White Lung.

Springtime Carnivore Springtime Carnivore Greta Morgan is Springtime Carnivore.

Opulent gardenfulls of classic pop songwriting.

Her voice carries a compelling contrast, between a youthful curiosity and a mature sultriness. Incredibly lovable lo-fi fuzz, an air of pristine excitement and genuine honesty. Sunlit synth textures, playfully impatient keys. A fanciful picnic, spirits flowing, ideas and conversation. It’s lighthearted but not lacking depth.

Tight roping across your blue sky skyline, a perfect balance. The perfect partner for a secluded day in the hills. Songs like “Name On A Matchbook” and “Keep Confessing” are perfect for running happily and holding hands. “Collectors” lends the perfect soundtrack for cloud gazing, despite competition from the track “Low Clouds”. Finally throw on “Sun Went Black” to fill the Photos by Micke Keysendal landscape with smiles and your nerdy dance moves.

DRINKING MUSIC

By Jeff Mattson

Marika Hackman We Slept at Last From London, England. Ethereal transgressions.

Subtly envious clamoring vocal harmonies.

Airy

instrumentation

modulations.

All

a

with

Salvador

backdrop

Dali-esque

to

eternity’s

perfect couple: a lady and her guitar. And each of these creeping movements are dimly withdrawn.

At the end of day, Marika’s evening voicings loom and seep, a gothic church of her creations. Vaulted ceilings and craning oracles, reaching through the thick to embrace you. Folk, chamber, enticingly entwined. “Undone, Undress” is an emptying lonely purgatory of lost vocal souls. She bleeds channelings of a wandering bard. “Drown” is a somber fingerpicked crescendo stuttering with ornaments. “Did you hear the sun go down?” she asks in “Ophelia”, I like to think she asks this often.

Deja Infinite Ecstatic From Melbourne, Australia and made up of haxx and Rromarin.

Glitch, downtempo, synthpop.

Blissful

charcoal,

capricious

beacons,

cutting

strobes of motion, a hauntingly lucid dream in which flight is a given but daylight is a transient neon mess. “Bloods” is apocalyptic, deeply impending, as if a mechanized overlord is nixing the last of humanity in a single violent pulse. The title track, “Infinite Ecstatic”, lulls and calms but soon unwittingly transcends into a tachycardic frenzy bordering on absolute panic. Too heavy to rise, to light to sink, and girdled gravity seems to be stifling any discernible fine motions, leaving us to drift in aural tides.

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TASTING NOTES

Words by Ian Gregory / Photos by Giselle Hellemn

Whiskey Apocolypse:

Ryemageddon - Corsair Artisan Spirits

With a name like Ryemageddon, and a slick label depicting some debonair individuals who could easily be mistaken for professional hit-men, this unique offering from Corsair Artisan distillery has the capacity to be a bit intimidating, even to those who may already be familiar with the ways of whiskey.

Unlike Bourbon, which is made mostly from corn mash, American Rye Whiskey, as one would imagine, is distilled mainly from rye grains and therefore is not as sweet on the tongue as its far more prolific cousin. This disparity in taste almost doomed Rye to irrelevance near the middle of the last century, as more and more cocktail enthusiasts replaced it with Bourbon in their recipes. Through the efforts of passionate individuals like the skilled artisans at Corsair however, Rye is back, though not with as much vengeance as Ryemageddon’s packaging may lead you to believe.

Building on their award-winning, small batch Wry Moon white Rye Whiskey, the good folks at Corsair select a portion of this unaged spirit for barrel seasoning; leading the potent, clear ‘shine down a road of maturation that produces a smooth, spicy and subtly sweet taste experience. Distilled from a careful blend of malted- and chocolate rye, Ryemageddon benefits a great deal from the cocoa contribution and delivers in every way a quality whiskey should. Neat, over ice, mingling with some ginger beer or taking center stage in a proper Sazerac, the flavor of the chocolate rye is never lost, while at the same time never overshadowing the intent of a given cocktail. Where this Rye really shines is in a genuine Old Fashioned. Amidst the muddled maraschino cherries and ripe slice of orange, Ryemageddon’s unique characteristics are spurred on by dashes of bitters and streamlined with a touch of syrup. The finished product possesses incredible depth of flavor, with the chocolate notes and layers of fruit blending exquisitely. Of course, the quality of ingredients and mixologist play a large part in crafting any cocktail, but when a bottle appears to come with its own dress code, a certain degree of respect should be given to its contents.

In operation for less than a decade, Corsair Distillery has earned that respect at an accelerated pace, to say the least. From humble Kentucky roots, co-founders Darek Bell and Andrew Webber cultured their creation in Bourbon’s backyard, making their presence known among the Beams and Blanton’s of the whiskey world. While growing larger and branching out into a Tennessee facility in recent years, Corsair continues to add bold spirits to their product line and gold medals to their trophy case.

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Spring 2015

The great rewards for Corsair’s creative risks should serve as an inspiration to mixologists and cocktail enthusiasts alike. Yes, Bourbon is a delicious whiskey, an American classic, and a staple of any credible drinking establishment. It’s a familiar, safe choice, and that suits some people just fine, but fortune favors the bold. If nothing else, just the name Ryemageddon brings to mind that a tomorrow is never guaranteed and there’s no time like the present to try something new, especially if that something is a Chocolate Rye Old Fashioned.

PLACES TO ENJOY

Words and photos by Emry Trantham

Worth Every Penny: Buffalo Nickel, Asheville, NC

Asheville, North Carolina is known as a city with good food and good drinks. There is no shortage of bars in which to spend your evenings. While locals and tourists love the options they have, it can be daunting to open a new restaurant in a city that overflows with some of the best eateries in the Southeast. West Asheville, the up and coming, unpolished, eccentric corner of the city, is home to restaurants both new and well established. Opened last March, newcomer Buffalo Nickel is standing out as a gastropub worth frequenting.

Buffalo Nickel is one part high-end eatery, one part craft cocktail bar, and one part casual hangout. The downstairs feels formal and well-designed, consisting of a galley-style dining room with dark walls and ceilings, beautifully lit by an array of eclectic chandeliers. Upstairs opens into a bar with a fine selection of spirits and local beers, ranging from Green Man ESB on draft to Troy and Son’s Oak Reserve Whiskey on the shelf. Exposed brick walls give the upstairs a warm and casual, if a bit industrial, feel.

Hanging from the walls and the mirror behind the bar are handblown glass balls, colorful and vibrant, which serve as a reminder that although this place has high-end food, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Both family-friendly booths and two-tops surround the bar—the upstairs is a place for both eating and drinking.

Perhaps even more so, upstairs is a place for playing. Adjacent to the bar area is the wide-open Rumpus Room, complete with several pool tables, foosball, old-fashioned pinball machines, and darts. Partially walled-off from the noise of the pub games is a relaxing lounge area, with couches, chairs, tables and board games. Buffalo Nickel wants you to come for dinner, but they want you to stay for drinks.

In many ways, Buffalo Nickel is a reflection of the city it serves.

Asheville is a town that has fully embraced the local movement, and Buffalo Nickel follows suit. The exposed bricks of its interior once walled in May’s Market, a thriving business in the area from 1928 until its closing in 1978. Black and white photographs adorn the walls both upstairs and down: photos of May’s Market in its prime, of construction on the building throughout its various incarnations, and of other West Asheville landmarks.

This is a place that doesn’t just remember its history, but actively celebrates it too.

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Spring 2015

PLACES TO ENJOY

Aside from the historical photographs, the art on the walls doesn’t stay there forever; local artists are featured monthly. Asheville has a thriving art community, so there is a limitless supply of creativity to showcase. The art is distinctively folksy and local, helping add to the casual, relaxed atmosphere that Buffalo Nickel exudes. The colorful paintings and landscape photography mix surprisingly well with the more typical bar décor of tin signs and up-for-sale t-shirts.

As intriguing and well-placed as the local artwork and décor of the restaurant is, it’s obvious that the true focal point of Buffalo Nickel is the bar. Pendant lights hang from the ceiling, lighting the wooden bar top in wide circles. With the mirror, the pendant lights, the glass balls, and the racks of liquor and wine, the bar shimmers in an otherwise dimly lit space. It is warm and inviting, and the drink selection downright appealing.

Asheville has a nearly overwhelming selection of craft beers to showcase on draft, and Buffalo Nickel pours an impressive variety. Pisgah Brewing, Catawba Brewery, Greenman, and Hi-Wire are just a few of the North Carolina breweries represented on tap.

Local craft spirits are featured, too, in the form of Troy & Sons liquors from Troy Ball’s Asheville Distilling Co. While the local beer selection is good, it’s the craft cocktails that truly impress. Jars of fresh-cut fruits line the bar top, ready to be candied, juiced, or skewered through a straw as a cocktail garnish. Drinks are hand-mixed and served in simple glasses.

A favorite of bar manager Stephen Wheeler is the Fig & Ferry, a delicious blend of bourbon, spiced fig syrup, and lemongrass ginger foam. The garnish, which he instructs to eat with the drink, is an elegantly thin slice of house-made coriander-candied lemon. Another one of the more popular drinks on the menu is the Buffalo Nickel, the house version of an Old-Fashioned, served over a dense cube of craft ice.

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Spring 2015

PLACES TO ENJOY

Though the bar stands as a destination in and of itself, and is for many regulars, the restaurant experience at Buffalo Nickel should not be downplayed. The menu is comprised largely of comfort food and family favorites, but always with a twist. The dishes feel familiar, but not passé; reassuring yet intriguing. Along with more traditional Americana items like chicken pot pie and pulled pork, though, are some surprising entrees and appetizers.

Oysters, pirogues, and fried octopus are among the more alluring items available.

In the winter months, Buffalo Nickel serves a mix of neighboring Asheville residents and West Asheville regulars. Come spring and summer however, when the tourists pour into Asheville and the surrounding areas, they’ll be looking to enjoy a meal in a restaurant that feels authentic. They’ll want the fantastic, chefprepared, locally-sourced food that the Asheville area is known for, and they’ll want it alongside a craft cocktail with top-shelf ingredients and a smooth finish. And at the end of a long day hiking, rafting, climbing or fishing, they’re going to find it at the same place as the locals—Buffalo Nickel.

PAGE 20 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

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CRAFTING COCKTAILS MIxologist Amber Gautreau serves up one of her cocktail creations at Jake’s Handcrafted

Amber Gautreau is as daring as she looks. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Gautreau initially moved to N.Y. in January of 2013 on a dare.

“Someone told me that I wouldn’t, so I did,” the 24-year-old said with some sass, as she set to prepare her first cocktail of the afternoon – the Creamsickle Fizz.

Part vanilla-infused Industry Standard Vodka – which Gautreau infused herself - fresh orange juice, simple syrup, aperol, cointreau, egg white and heavy cream, this elixir is the type of drink that catches up with you.

“I shake this one until it hurts,” Gautreau said, cracking a smile as she garnished off her bold creation with fired orange zest and a marshmallow.

CRAFTING

COCKTAILS

Amber Gautreau

Gautreau has been tending bar at Jake’s Handcrafted, located at 559 5th Ave. in the heart of northwest Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood since its grand opening earlier this year.

Mixologist Jake’s Handcrafted, NYC

While the local stop specializes in out-of-the-box, all natural, artisanal

VITA

sausages, and boasts an extensive pickling and fermenting program that

DUVA

takes its cues from produce available at both green markets in Union Square and the Grand Army Plaza, local and imported craft beers, spirits and cocktails are certainly a plenty.

Originally dubbed Der Kommissar, owner Jake Klein bought the establishment after the previous owners had run into some trouble. Gautreau was the

Peach Pecan Shrub

first hire that Klein liked, explaining that the two share a similar vision and mentality. He not only named her a great bartender, but a leading personal-

Muddle:

ity. Ironically, prior to Gautreau’s initial meeting with Klein, she interviewed

a bar spoon of peach preserves

for another bartending job, but was turned away after being told she did not

a wedge of lemon

have enough.

3 pecans.

Starting out six years ago as a fine art major in the undergraduate program

Add:

at Louisiana State University, Gautreau soon discovered a passion for bak-

1 oz. Peach Liqueur

ing and pastry while attending the Louisiana Culinary Institute. But chas-

½ oz. Simple Syrup

ing a profession that is both underpaid and overworked did not appeal to

2 oz. 77 Whiskey

her for long.

Stir.

When asked what skills from culinary school have transferred over to

Pour over ice.

bartending, Gautreau noted her knack for flavor pairing and the importance

Top with Two Brother’s Ebelweiss.

of presentation.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 23

CRAFTING COCKTAILS

“Service is important too, even if New Yorkers don’t expect me to be so warm and inviting. And while I may not know everyone by name, I know them by drink and I definitely remember what they said to me last Saturday night.”

Still, being a woman in an industry that is often dominated by men has not always come easy for Gautreau: “As a female bartender, you have to find that perfect mix between sweet and tangy. If you are too sweet, people will walk all over you.”

“Of course, men come in here from time to time [with the wrong intentions]. It has been a struggle, but women have the power. You kind of have to have a bit of a man’s personality and know how to demand the attention,” she stated, while serving up a drink that is fit for the ladies.

A delightful mix of campari, grapefruit liqueur, rosemary simple syrup – which Gautreau makes in-house – Greenhook Ginsmiths gin and fresh grapefruit juice is poured over ice in a Collins glass and garnished with a rosemary stalk – Gautreau calls this one, Rosebud.

On advice to the other female bartenders out there, Gautreau said, “Be strong and independent. And just do it.

“I was raised by a single mother. She pushed me to be great. She is why I do what I do. So, I guess you can say she is living vicariously through me.”

While Gautreau would love to try her hand at the management side of things, for now she is planning to stick by Klein.

“We’ll see what happens.”

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5 Annual Toast th

Photography by Brian Cary

TOAST is an incredible event because Portland stands at the vanguard of the craft movement. Not only is the Rose City an epicenter for micro-distilling, its residents are ardent, if not rabid, supporters of everything small batch and local. TOAST does honor to this long and storied tradition, with its annual pairing of Pacific Northwest spirits and local culinary artistry.

TOAST - Portland, OR

Spring 2015

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 29

RESPECT THE BUZZ WE APPRECIATE CRAFT SPIRITS BUT WE APPRECIATE RESPONSIBILITY EVEN MORE

Santa Fe Spirits

The Spirit of the West. Handcrafted at 7,000 feet in New Mexico

Santa Fe Spirits’ award-winning Apple Brandy is made from New Mexico and Colorado apples in the Calvados style for a distinctly Western brandy that sips smoothly.

Learn more at www.SantaFeSpirits.com

America’s Mountain Rum Tradition Words and Photos by Jennaye Derge Based in Crested Butte, Montanya Distillers’ owner Karen Hoskin first began manifesting the idea for the small mountain rum company in a series of inter national travel epiphanies. She initially discovered her love of rum 25 years ago while traveling in India. Eighteen years later, she and husband Brice, co-owner of the distillery, were vacationing in Belize when they made the decision to open a rum distillery back home in the Colorado Rockies.

“It

minute

time...since then, we’ve been in a to-

‘yes, that’s it!’, the next minute was

was

literally

like

one

tal of three other distilling places.”

[the name], ‘Montanya’... it means ‘mountain’ in all kinds of dif ferent

After

romance languages. We never even

few battles with the city gover n-

discussed any other name. Within a

ment over per mitting, and bitter -

couple weeks of getting home [from

sweet goodbyes to close friends, the

Belize] we had started the process,

Hoskins

and our doors were open on Novem-

Crested Butte in 2011 where they

ber 15th of that year. It was a pretty

have grown to over 5200 sq ft of op-

fast transition.”

erational space including the distill-

three

years

and

in

Silverton,

Montanya

moved

a

to

ery and tasting room, and a barrel Karen, originally from rural Maine,

house

operated her own graphic and web

a mile and a half down the road.

and

bottling

facility

about

design company for 13 years before making the decision to invest her ef-

After being open only seven years,

forts into a project of her own. Com-

the company now distributes in 39

bining her design skills and market-

states and nine dif ferent countries.

ing experience with Brice’s business knowledge, the two prepared to make

“We’ve always had our eye on that,

a big shift in their lives in order

we’ve

to create something all their own.

‘American Rum’. [We have] a big-

always

wanted

to

be

the

ger distribution plan I think than “I felt like I was spending all my time

some distilleries have.” Hoskin says.

building other people’s dream companies,” Karen says.

Though her eyes are big, her sight remains small, and local.

In April of 2008, beginning as soon as they came back from vacation, Kar -

“We like the idea of having some-

en and Brice pursued distilling Mon-

thing

tanya Rum in its first location in the

front of our customers, and so to

small mountain town of Silverton. It

be able to use raw ingredients that

was in an 800 square foot tur n of the

we know exactly where they come

century for mer brothel, which sat of f

from and also come from the United

the beaten path on a side street. De-

States and that they’re supporting

spite the small, slightly hidden lo-

and sustaining U.S. jobs feels good

cation, the distillery found its fans.

to us as a company. So there’s a

that

was

literally

made

in

lot of layers to the way we feel we “The tasting room was so popular.

are contributing to the economy.”

It was only open from 4 pm to 7 pm four days a week and it would

For Karen and Brice, keeping a lo-

get shoulder to shoulder from ski-

cal perspective is synonymous with

ers coming down from the mountain

maintaining

or folks coming in from Durango or

ing where ingredients are sourced

whatever it happened to be. It was

and how they are produced allows

early in the days of craft cocktails;

for better control of their rum, and

they were blowing people’s minds

thus, their brand and their business.

and it was just a really exciting

PAGE 34 | MicroShiner.com

high

quality.

Know-

Spring 2015

PAGE 38 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

“I think there is more and more

“The wood in the barrel is where

appreciation

the magic is, and so for us, we

amongst

consumers

in the U.S. to know where things

have

are made, who made them, what

which pushes the rum out of the

they’re

made

evening

temperature

some-

pores of the barrel, a war m daytime temp which opens the pores again

tails. That’s been a really impor -

which will bring new rum into the

tant thing for me as a consumer

barrel pores so there is kinetic ac-

when

says.

tion

in

It’s the attention to details that keeps

The

process

quality high and consistent. Every-

simple. With a single batch opera-

thing matters from the temperature

tion,

of the room, to what cleaning prod-

pe, each barrel and every ingredi-

ucts are used to keep a tidy ship.

ent

“There is detail in just choosing in-

“The

gredients and just taking care of the

matters to us is water because 85

process. How we clean our stills;

percent of what is in the process

we never clean our still with any-

and 60 percent of what is in the

thing besides citric acid. What we

bottle

clean our building with matters, our

plains,

air flow in the building matters, so

distilleries

we’re constantly feeding good oxy-

waters,

gen into the fer mentation. Eleva-

desirable

buy

things,”

that

cool

one is paying attention to the de-

I

from,

a

Karen

the

and is

barrel

a

is

to

one

the

just

water.” that

use

but reci-

process.

ingredient

saying which

time.”

ingredient

important

is

the

meticulous,

four

number

all

Hoskin many

treated can

elements

that

ex-

other

municipal

introduce like

un-

chlorine.

tion positively benefits every step of the process; people ask us all

“Our water is highly mineralized,

the time ‘why are you making rum

much like the water that is highly

in the mountains, that’s an island

celebrated in the regions of Scotland

thing’ and really there is a huge,

where their water percolates through

long tradition of making mountain

stone and underground layers, and

rum in the world,” Karen explains.

that

Crested Butte’s mountains play a

Montanya’s water comes from a gla-

big part in the distilling of the rum.

cial moraine located 350 feet beneath

Whereas many distillers use cooling

their bottling facility in Crested Butte.

contributes

a

lot

of

flavor.”

jackets to help regulate the temper ature of the fer mentation, Karen and

“It’s

Brice run cold tap water through

Hoskin beams.

a

distiller’s

dream

water.”

copper coils to get the same ef fect.

Aging Montanya rum relies heavily

Sugar, another one of the four main

on the natural temperature fluctua-

ingredients

tion of the mountainous climate. The

process, can’t be purchased from

cooler nights and the war mer days

their

help to keep the rum moving inside

has

of the wood barrels where the rum ages and obtains some of its flavors.

in

the

mountainous been

rum

distilling

backyard,

personally

chosen

but and

PAGE 42 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

meticulously sourced by Karen and

“It’s not rocket science; it’s a lot of

Brice as close to home as possible.

attentiveness to the details along

Whereas

imported

the way. And if you’re not atten-

inter national

tive then something will go awry

sites where refining and pollution

and you have the potential to lose a

can run rampant, Montanya uses

whole batch, and if you lose a whole

raw cane sugar sourced in the Unit-

batch that’s like eight thousand dol-

ed States, almost in their backyard,

lars of investment down the drain,

a

literally, so we work really hard to

from

most

sugar

non-regulated

few

states

away

is

in

Louisiana.

be attentive, and I think that’s the “We know exactly where it’s coming

most important characteristic. So

from, how it’s being grown, who’s

being attentive and having a good

harvesting it; it’s non-GMO... We

palate for the final spirit, those are

watched it go into the mill which is

the two most important things. Any-

where they press the sugar cane, and

thing else you can teach someone.”

we watched them pull the first press of the cane.” Hoskin explains.

“...

And

they have

have.

Brice

and

passed

their

knowledge

Kar -

the first press, [is] the most flavor ful

en

and delicious. When it comes to us it

onto their staf f over the years, re-

still has the remnants of the solids

linquishing

and fibers from the cane...It is as un-

their team to lead the way in help-

processed as you can get other than

ing distill and run the company.

using the sugar cane juice itself.”

In that way, Montanya has set a bar

control,

and

trusting

for other distilleries for consistentRealizing

the

first

ly employing a predominantly fe-

press sugar, untreated water, per -

male team, a rarity in the distilling

fectly

ef fective

world. Of their 11 employees, only

temperatures is the result of self-

two are men, one of whom is Brice.

grown

importance yeast,

and

of

education. Karen is the brains behind

design

and

marketing,

and

“It’s still pretty rare in the distill-

Brice takes care of the structural

ing world to have a female distiller,

bones such as plumbing and elec-

much less someone who is such a

tricity, while both are mad scien-

key part of the company like Re-

tists for the art of distilling and

nee [the head distiller], and just

creating finely tuned rum cocktails.

in general we have a reputation for employing women in very highly re-

“This is some of the oldest tradi-

sponsible positions in Crested Butte

tion in the world in some ways. It’s

and that’s been fun because it’s

like baking or making kombucha,

kind of a man’s world…distilling is

it’s about yeast and yeast vitality

a man’s world. A lot of dudes; even

and the strength of your fer menta-

bartending is kind of a guy’s thing.”

tion, and temperature, and managing temperature and managing heat

“They rock it,” Hoskin says of the crew.

under the still and choosing the still that is going to be the most condu-

Karen

cive to the product that you’re try-

like

ing

to

produce.”

Karen

and

having

Brice a

joke

family

that on

top

it’s of

explains.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 43

their real family. On top of their

And

business,

sponsibility,

Brice

and

Karen

also

with

all

this

with

fun a

and

family

reboth

juggle a home life with two teen-

at

age

al world to look after, Montanya

sons;

one

of

whom

current-

home

and

in

the

profession-

ly works in the kitchen, prepping

Rum

food from their vibrant menu, and

slowing down, let alone stopping.

Distillers

shows

no

sign

of

both help in the bottling stages.

“We

just

committed

to

at

least

“It feels very much like a family

five years in this location...so this

business. Our son, Will, says he’s

building

to

very

take

over

the

company

some-

we

feel

much.

will

We’ll

not

change

always

have

day so that’s cool because I think

no more than two stills here, no

multigenerational

more than 4 fer mentation tanks.”

a

tradition

foothold

in

that the

businesses are

losing

United

are their

States.”

And in their bottling facility about a mile and a half down the road,

As with anything else, boundaries

there is room for yet more growth;

must be set to maintain balance in life.

more distilling and bottling capacity. In this way, they can maintain

“We’re lear ning to set limits.” Brice

their small town feel in downtown

says. “We actually just set a limit;

Crested

after 7 pm we’re going to not talk

room

about business, and so if one of us

tanya Rum for those of us unable

does, and it’s important then we

to jour ney to one of their two tast-

do it for 5 minutes and then we’re

ing

done. Our kids lear ned about this and they loved the idea.” Brice says.

“We have to have good boundar ies. But in the same way, we’re also both having as much fun as we’ve ever had running a business. This is our 5th business we’ve had, and we’re still lear ning so much. We’ve taken more risk than we ever have in our lives, and have had more reward than we’ve ever had. We have a lot of responsibility for people’s welfare and well-being. If we don’t succeed, we have 11 people who lose their jobs, and accountants, and cleaning crews, and landlords, and engineers, and lawyers that will all be af fected; some days that gets heavy for sure, but most days it feels like it’s working.” says Karen.

PAGE 44 | MicroShiner.com

to

Butte,

while

produce

rooms

in

still

plenty

Wester n

of

having Mon-

Colorado.

Spring 2015

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 45

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The Spirited Woman Words by Alex H. Dowley

Women were the first alchemists, entering their laboratories to transform meat, herbs, and grains into food, medicine, and spirits. From the Fertile Crescent to the shores of Colonial America—indeed, throughout most of human history—women produced the world’s alcohol. In the decades since the repeal of prohibition, why, then, have we seen the emergence of Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Johnny Walker, without mention of their female counterpart? With more women increasingly turning to spirits as their drink of choice, a 22 percent growth in whiskey-drinking women over the past fifteen years, for example, a new niche has emerged in the spirit industry for female distillers, blenders, and tasters to reclaim their heritage.

The relationship between alcohol and women in any period reveals telling insight into the culture and beliefs of that period. Today, that relationship shows just how far women have come in defining their rights and securing a reciprocated social autonomy. In a society where women own their own distilleries, make their own spirits, and don’t think twice about drinking them, it’s difficult to imagine a society that exclusively permitted men to drink, vote, or pursue higher education. And that was less than a century ago.

Today’s women have advanced degrees (more than men, in fact), own their own businesses, and, perhaps imminently, become President of the United States.

“The smart set didn’t have Elsa Maxwell [or Tina Fey] to amuse them in those days,” Lois Long wrote in a February 1940 publication of The New Yorker of the raucous speakeasy scene of the 1920s; “the person they thought it would be awfully cute to meet was Al Capone. They thrilled when Owney Madden was pointed out to them.” Four score and seven years after people gawked at the notorious “Killer” bootlegger walking down the streets of Manhattan, reverence for Madden endures in the spirit of Bridget Firtle, owner and operator of The Noble Experiment NYC, through her flagship product, “Owney’s New York Rum.” Although Firtle, just 30-years-old, would have been Long’s peer during the Mad Decade, she may have more in common with Madden. It’s not that Firtle is a killer or a bootlegger—more like a savvy entrepreneur filling the supply side of a hot demand.

The Temperance Movement, comprised mostly of women and ecclesiastics, fought the scourge of the saloon throughout the 19th century. Women, without the right to vote, had little standing in political and social development. Because they bore the consequences of the saloon—family destitution, starvation, sexual abuse, venereal disease—galvanized by the support of various religious organizations, women found common cause. Mobilized, they would shape politics with a new collective voice. It wasn’t so much about alcohol. It was about using alcohol as a scapegoat, or as a catalyst, for shifting the balance of power.

The Eighteenth Amendment, the prohibition of the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcohol, introduced the speakeasy. Replacing the saloon, a social hub where men met, ate, drank, bribed, cajoled, and occasionally received mail, the speakeasy integrated the mead hall, men and women, blacks and whites. Women seen in a saloon were presumed prostitutes, and quite rightly. Alternatively, the speakeasy—illegal for all, yet open to everyone—assimilated races and genders. In Harlem, men and women listened to Duke Ellington in one of the many “Black and Tans,” danced together, drank together.

“Harlem was a thrill,” Long wrote in one of her columns. “We went there regularly well after midnight, to smoky lairs called the Drool Inn, the Clam House, and the Hot Feet.” And later, “The intelligentsia discovered the Negro, and there was an epidemic of black-and-white cocktail parties where whites who wouldn’t have stood still for A. E. Housman had to listen politely while some nice young colored boy read his narrative poem about Scheherazade.”

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Spring 2015

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Long, like many young women of her generation, was a flapper, flouting sexual and social conventions, bobbing her hair, shortening her skirt, smoking, drinking, driving cars, and having sex. She was liberated, to an extent; attaining a snarky, promiscuous social power hardly counts as progress. Superficial as the impression may appear, however, the flapper helped ingrain, culturally, the social acceptance of women’s individuality and empowered them with greater authority for independent thought and political action.

Think of Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby: a professional golfer with a dubious reputation (for cheating, we suspect), drinking, smoking, flirting, and driving. For Fitzgerald and his contemporaries, Jordan, like Long, is a radical departure from her Victorian mother.

Both embody the modern woman of the period. Today’s empowered woman looks a lot more like Bridget Firtle. A former hedge fund analyst, Firtle saw the opportunities of the craft spirit industry, learned about distillation, and launched her business in 2012. While Firtle may be an exceptional person, her story is no longer exceptional among women. In fact, she seems more like an archetype of our emerging economy.

Hanna Rosin, an editor at The Atlantic and author of “The End of Men,” believes that women’s compatibility with the modern, information and creative economy puts men at a disadvantage. “Certainly this isn’t the first time we’ve had great progress with women—the twenties and sixties also come to mind,” Rosin writes in her book of this “unprecedented” situation women find themselves in today—“but the difference is that back then it was driven by a passionate feminist movement that was trying to project its own desires. Whereas this time, it’s not about passion, and it’s not about any kind of movement. This is really about the facts of this economic moment that we live in.”

“Women now earn 60 percent of master’s degrees, about half of all law and medical degrees, and 42 percent of all M.B.A.s,” Rosin writes. “Most important, women earn almost 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees—the minimum requirement, in most cases, for an affluent life.” Although this is not specific to spirits, it is an outgrowth of a larger paradigm shift, and a realignment, or reassertion, of women’s prominence in the workforce and economic hierarchy.

Sheryl Sandberg, the C.O.O. of Facebook and women’s activist, says that stereotypes still hold women back and prevent them from attaining leadership positions. She points to the recent census report showing no movement in the wage gap between men and women, 77 cents on the dollar, in the past 10 years. She urges us to embrace feminism. For the women leading the spirit industry, however, feminism is an afterthought.

Becky Harris of Catoctin Creek in Northern Virginia is another face of our contemporary economy, and the spirit industry. At forty-six years old, she’s a generation removed from Firtle, yet every bit as empowered. After receiving her degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she specialized in industrial processes, developing systems for producing polystyrene foam, copper and nickel plated electronics, and contact lenses. When her husband, Scott, approached her with the idea of starting a distillery, she knew that if he could make the business work, she could make the spirits work. And they do, as the Silver medal for her Roundstone Rye at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition will attest.

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Spring 2015 Autumn 2013

If the goal of feminism is to gain equality and respect for women, it seems the best way to go about that, as Harris and Firtle demonstrate, is to forego the language of feminism altogether and simply play the game, assuming an even playing field. It’s an expression of psychological civil disobedience, conscientious or not; refusing to accept social stigmas, valid or null, as barriers to entry. As Thoreau wrote in his passionate little essay: “When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished.” But their perspective of their place in the economy is also a convenience of our society, one established over a century of struggle.

Although Harris considers herself a feminist, you wouldn’t know it unless you asked. Based on her science and math education, her career in chemical engineering, stereotypes clearly haven’t prevented her from “leaning in.” What’s remarkable is how nonchalant she is in describing her path through these traditionally male-dominated fields. She pursued her career ambitions from interest, not out of a feminist zeal to get more women into science and technology industries. While she applauds the growing number of female distillers, blenders, and tasters in the spirit world, it’s on practical grounds. Men and women have different tastes, so more women in the field means more flavor profiles to experiment with.

Gender differences aren’t important to Harris. She cares about accessibility and diversity.

“When we talk about women making the products, it changes preconceptions,” she said. As different faces enter the spirit industry, “it becomes less intimidating for others to approach the product, learn about it, taste it, and even make it.”

And that’s the direction things seem to be going. Gender differences become increasingly trivial as groups still marginalized, like the LGBT community, inevitably achieve equal rights.

The conversation has changed from one about gender equality to one of gender neutrality.

A recent story on NPR’s All Things Considered reported the U.S. Marine Corps’ experiments with the combat effectiveness of female soldiers in a front-line infantry role. Audie Cornish, the host, asked Katelyn Allison, a professor of exercise physiology and injury prevention at the University of Pittsburgh, how observing the women training in the experimental unit has affected her perspective on gender differences. Although Allison typically studies athletes, athletics are segregated: men and women play in different leagues; they don’t play with or against each other. The military, alternately, plays on a more uncertain, nuanced playing field. Everybody is on the same team, working toward the same goal. “From this perspective,” Allison said, “We’re not looking at female norms or male norms. We’re looking at gender neutral standards.” One standard. That’s starting to sound a bit more equal.

Such is the character of an increasingly global, cosmopolitan society. In a retrospective column, Long compares her time in the speakeasies with the proceeding “deadpan thirties": Before that, there was vigor. There were fights, and what rough-and-tumbles they were!

West Side of Tony’s so pampered its celebrities that you never knew when a mad genius might hurl a highball at a face he didn’t happen to like. Proprietors who have since become most gentlemanly always had the brass knuckles handy. Gently nurtured young men reached for a bottle automatically when a voice rose anywhere in a crowded room.

We couldn’t wait to investigate every new trap that opened. Our night’s sleep took the form of a cold shower. We were sophisticated.

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Many of the calamities that were predicted for us from home and pulpit came, all right. There aren’t enough gall bladders among the survivors to go around. Some people who sat in dim nooks and talked incessantly about suicide actually went and did it. A number of people I used to see around suddenly vanished, to do their brooding behind the bars of sanitariums. There was never any of this nonsense about nervous breakdowns from boredom, though. We smiled as we danced.

What would Lois Long make of this world? Would she see the culmination of the rights women fought for over the past hundred years, or a chaotic amalgamation of desperate interests and economic forces? Perhaps she would see a society paranoid with political correctness that tries to regulate ideas with a top-heavy bureaucracy, much like in her day, a civilization that exacerbates problems by pushing them underground rather than addressing them.

Nothing comes for free in this world. Even progress has its costs. Thankfully, we are not yet androgynous Jetsons. As we march along that arc of the moral universe—in this case, toward social and economic equality—we should remember that there are important differences among us that should be recognized and celebrated, just like we admire the aromas and flavors that distinguish a fine craft spirit.

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Spring 2015 Autumn 2013

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Delaware Phoenix Words and Photography by Rober t Dann

Nestled tightly between an H&R Block and Webb’s clothing store in the Catskill Mountain village of Walton, NY, is Cheryl Lins’ Delaware Phoenix Distillery. Walton, at the foot of Bear Spring Mountain in Delaware County, straddles the West Branch of the Delaware River, world famous for trout fishing. Once inside Lins’ snow shrouded storefront, the distinct aroma of absinthe fills the nostrils like fine perfume.

Lins, a diminutive woman clad in the unofficial mountain uniform of flannel and denim, is a one-woman show. She distills, ages, and bottles all of her product at her storefront location. A shrewd and savvy marketer, she and friend Sally Blakemore design the labels for the bottles and personally delivers them to stores, primarily in the New York City metro area. Lins doesn’t offer any of her products for sale at the distillery, but, locally, her spirits are available at Breakey’s Liquor store just around the corner from the distillery.

At an age when most baby boomers are contemplating retirement, Lins is just hitting her stride. A former cog in the high tech machine that is Silicon Valley, she left California’s Bay Area in 1997 to pursue her passion; painting in watercolors and tempera.

Settling in Madrid, New Mexico, she spent the next seven years navigating the ins and outs of the Santa Fe art scene from the yurt she called home.

Lins eventually came to be stifled by New Mexico’s arid climate and its fickle art market. Recalling fond childhood memories of the Catskills, she went to the Internet to research opportunities that would put her in close proximity to New York City’s art scene while also offering the solitude of country living. Walton, NY offered inexpensive real estate and the prospect of a fresh start. She moved there in 2004.

“It was so beautiful!” she recalled of her arrival. “I liked how green everything was, and the fact that it rained.”

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The Road to Absinthe By 2006, Lins was settling into her new mountain community. She made extra money working on a goat farm and then for an organic grocery in nearby Delhi. She was also a teetotaler. Then, one day, she read an article in New Yorker magazine about Ted Breaux and absinthe.

“The name (absinthe) was appealing,” she said, “there was something so seductive about it!” So, she ordered a bottle of Jade from France.

“When I first tried it, I didn’t like it,” she admitted. “But the second time, I tried more sugar and watered it differently (louche). Then, it was really good!”

Lins tried different brands and joined the growing ranks of consumers rediscovering absinthe once governments worldwide eased the bans on production.

“By 2006, people were chasing after different absinthes in the market,” Lins notes, “hyping up ancient recipes.”

Her zealous pursuit of the spirit was starting to wane when, one day, she was poking around the Internet and came across a company in Portugal that made 1 gallon stills.

“So, I ordered one and, three days later, it was at my door,” she grinned.

Lins ordered “how to” books from France that were reprinted from the 1900’s (pre ban) and discovered that many of the recipes were for mass production. She felt that commercial recipes “left something to be desired” and started experimenting with her process.

“My original goal was just to make something good.”

A hobbyist herb farmer sold her some herbs he didn’t use and she ordered anise and fennel from Turkey and Italy. Then, she went to work modifying recipes, incorporating the fresh herbs grown locally. She had her friends compare them to the commercial recipes.

“I was the girl bringing my spirits to parties,” she recalls. “Some would roll their eyes.

They didn’t like the licorice taste.”

But, as she honed her craft, true absinthe drinkers started taking notice.

“People who had been to Europe and were familiar with absinthe there started asking me, “why aren’t you a professional?”

With shorter hours at the organic grocery, Lins acknowledged that “maybe I should open an absinthe distillery.”

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Spring 2015

The ban on absinthe was lifted in December 2007. By June, Lins was completing the 40page business plan that she submitted to the Catskill Watershed Corporation.

The Delaware River feeds the Cannonsville Reservoir, which supplies drinking water for New York City. The CWC is a development company that offers funding opportunities for nearby businesses that won’t pollute the waterway. Ironically, Walton was a dry town from 1845 until the mid 1960’s. So changes had to be made to grant a zoning permit variance that would allow distilling before the CWC would grant funding. One final step towards being officially permitted to open was having an approved formula and process.

“That’s when my absinthe started getting really good,” Lins stated proudly. ”I was making it all of the time.”

She received her permit in February 2009. She had already upgraded to an eight gallon still and had extensively researched the stores she would be marketing to. She started selling absinthe in April. Because the “absinthe craze” was still in full swing, demand for her spirits exceeded supply.

“That’s what allowed me to buy the Christian Carl still,” she said. “It makes 45 gallons.”

Lins is a member of a very small legion of distillers that are women. But, she doesn’t think about it much in regards to her being a pioneer.

“There’s a lot of hype on the masculinity of distilling,” she observed. “But, you don’t need a beard, fancy or not. It’s all about your palate. You have to train your ability to taste; to define differences in taste and aroma.” She points out that, traditionally, men distilled and women bottled.

“But that’s changing because women are getting away from sweet drinks and are drinking more whiskey. So women will become more involved in distilling starting in the smaller craft distilleries.” For example, Lins points to her friend Becky Harris, President of Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Virginia. “Becky makes all of the whiskey down there.”

Lins credits the use of fresh locally grown ingredients for the nuances that define her absinthe. So it was only natural for her to apply the same logic when she expanded her product line to include whiskey. Long before Prohibition, Delaware County boasted several distilleries. The first distillery opened in Walton in 1795 and operated until 1830.

“I wanted to make whiskey using similar recipes, particularly rye and wheat,” she explained. “But, I had to also make a bourbon because it’s America’s spirit and one you can measure against others.” Her commitment to use locally grown ingredients without GMO’s has led to the production of a very fine bourbon worthy of 2014’s Good Food Award.

A paradox of responsible bourbon production is its requirement to be aged in “new” oak barrels. Finding a responsible use for the barrels once they became “used” prompted Lins to also distill corn whiskey.

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Spring 2015

Cheryl Lins’ Delaware Phoenix Distillery offers two absinthe varieties; Walton Waters, which Lins describes as her “masculine “ absinthe because of its “powerful louche of rolling and milky cloud banks” and her more “feminine” Meadow of Love, noted for its floral aroma and flavor interacting with the anise. Lins has also produced a limited offering of an absinthe she calls Blues Cat; a more traditional absinthe.

While Delaware Phoenix has become known for its absinthe, Lins’ skillfully crafted whiskeys face off squarely with some of the finest on the market. Offerings include a corn whiskey, a rye, a bourbon, and a wheat whiskey Lins fondly calls Ells Tavern. Ells Tavern whiskey is distilled from certified organic wheat produced by the Lucky Dog Farm in nearby Hamden, NY. Producing only “a couple hundred cases a year,” Lins still focuses on getting new consumers to try her spirits.

“I rely on people,” she smiles from behind wire-rimmed glasses. “People in stores saying ‘hey, have you tried Cheryl’s whiskey?’ That’s why I put it in 375mm bottles so it’s not overpriced.”

The smaller, wax sealed bottles labeled with Blakemore’s artwork, complete with barrel and bottle numbers, highlight a unique product that excites with anticipation even before the cork leaves the bottle.

Spirits from the Delaware Phoenix Distillery are available in select spirit shops in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, New York. They can also be purchased online from Catskill Cellars at www.catskillcellars.com.

PAGE 70 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Words by Matthew Hedgpeth

Photos courtesy of FIG+YARROW

In 2010, Brandy Monique was approaching the end of her scholastic career. As is the case for most soon-to-be-graduates, she had a lot on her mind. So she sat down to meditate. The idea for what would become her artisanal cosmetics line, FIG+YARROW, came from this reflection, one in which she released the concern about years to come. The looming weight of academic conclusion ought never to have troubled her at all, though. Prior to her eureka moment, Monique had been informally experimenting with homemade beauty products for much of her life. Leveraging this experience to create FIG+YARROW, it would turn out, was just the logical next move.

In her estimation Monique entered the industry at the perfect time: right at the pinnacle of a paradigm shift in which the reassessment of cultural consciousness, regarding health and beauty goods, was already underway. “People have used products that make promises for long enough,” she said. “I had my own ideas, but I didn’t want to be preachy, didn’t want to emphasize anything wrong.” Rather, Monique insists on a comfortable distance from image projection, focusing more on the virtue of wellness. “I also didn’t want to be a guru of skin care, that wasn’t my aim. I felt like I was more of a cook; [that FIG+YARROW] was a culinary thing, but for the outside of your body rather than the inside. It was supposed to still have the same sense appeal, nourishment, and many other things that a good meal represents––even elimination. There are more food correlations than cosmetics,” she said.

When she was first asked what she wanted to do with her degree, Monique replied unconventionally: she wanted to trick people into healing themselves.

“I meant it, and I feel like that’s what

Transformation and the cycle of life have

I’m doing. I’m not sitting in a room lis-

since played significant roles in the de-

tening to people’s problems and trying

velopment of the line. The interactions

to sort them out. I’m giving them some-

Monique shared with the animals her

thing that’s infused with all the intention

family raised eventually influenced her

I’ve always had––but it’s a product that

decision to go vegetarian in high school,

people buy as an investment in a positive

but she reverted back to a carnivorous

experience. It’s not just a beautiful, nour-

diet after realizing the standard level––

ishing treat for the body and the senses.

how one raises this animal or that plant

It’s a gesture of ‘I’m going to buy this

and honors its use by giving life to other

because I want to take care of myself.’”

beings––was what mattered most. “Part of what inspired me was the shamanic

Monique’s hands-on approach to small-

work I’ve done with plants, where they

batch cosmetic production, coupled with

were communicative, conscious––more as

some

right-place-right-time

an archetypal collective, not necessarily

fortune, has brought her to a promising

fortuitous

just one plant,” she said. Cognizant of the

outlook for 2015, and the road ahead. As

eye-rolls she might get for poking holes

of this writing, Monique is in the process

in other people’s philosophies regarding

of moving her store further north to a con-

respect for one form of life and not oth-

verted firehouse in the Lower Highlands

ers, Monique is determined to concentrate

neighborhood of Denver, where she will

on her ideals, many of which she culti-

be coming full circle. The firehouse sits

vated in the early days of FIG+YARROW.

just a few blocks away from the structure in which she first officially began mak-

Although her experiences gave rise to

ing beauty products a half decade ago.

some aspects of how she approached her eventual profession, the way Monique

Born in the Philippines, Monique spent

handles the business side of things was

the majority of her childhood in Colo-

more innately produced. “I didn’t play

rado, up on a cattle farm just outside of

with kids, I directed [them],” she said,

Denver. She was drawn to self-care by

laughing. She continued, “I realize, in a

way of natural, available goods, and re-

way, that’s what I’m doing now, I’m di-

members making bath supplies for her

recting the theater of FIG+YARROW.”

friends throughout high school. “Even when I was younger, I would pick ber-

Without a doubt, Monique has come

ries out of the garden to make yogurt and

a long way from making everything by

face peels,” she said. Elaborating on her

hand, alone in her tiny apartment kitch-

belief that FIG+YARROW is meant to be

en. A hardworking and inspired team of

an external expression of how one pro-

employees oversees the now large-scale

vides for the body, Monique also recalls

mixing and bottling operation at the Fig

the therapeutic value of cooking at an

factory. Suppressing some initial anxi-

early age. “The psychological aspect of

ety about taking a step back and letting

it was that growing up, life was pretty

go of the reins, in the end Monique was

rough––people were pretty unhappy. But

“glad to trade in the apron for the boss

I found that food and cooking delighted

position, even if it comes with its own

them...that it had a tangible impact, a

challenges––especially because it does.

positive impact. So feeding [others] be-

That’s where I’m most in my element.

came this way I knew that I could trans-

If I’m not totally solo, then I’m bringing

form someone’s experience,” she said.

people together for a greater vision.”

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Spring 2015

Spring 2015

Which means letting FIG+YARROW take

cho-spiritual alchemy, or how “we trans-

shape on its own, natural course. This

mute the material of our lives and become

is particularly important considering its

the next version of ourselves,” she said.

products are luxury commodities that, at least from an outsider’s perspective, ap-

No stranger to hermetical texts, and the

peal to a very specific subset of people.

esoteric history of occult science, Mo-

Even so, Monique considers FIG+YARROW

nique considers the second line of the

to be a gender-neutral line, (or at least

Emerald Tablet (“That which is below is

she intended it as such) but, perhaps not

like that which is above, and that which

surprisingly, women embraced it more

is above is like that which is below to do

than men. To be fair, this identification is

the miracles of one only thing”) to be in-

due, in part, to her affiliation with pho-

dicative of the fundamental goal for the

tographer Kristin Sink, whose “gorgeously

initiative. “Even though it’s still a cos-

sensual feminine photos [encouraged]

metics line, it is very much this idea of

FIG+YARROW’s feminine associations.”

taking elements––so a toner/moistur-

[After that] “I figured, well then let’s make

izer would be on two different levels and

it more feminine, but still clean. Where

you’d shake it, then apply it––[and uniting

a woman like myself––a woman more on

them, even though] it’s more of a meta-

the tomboyish side––wouldn’t be turned

phorical concept. I mean no one’s doing

away...have it be a product that could still

alchemy, but Iceland is such a fire and ice

satisfy a broad band of audience,” she said.

place. And that’s what alchemy is about: taking two extremes and letting them

While Monique was able to name a couple

work together for the transmutation of

of other companies that have success-

those elements into a whole, other thing.”

fully created products that are malefriendly––by which she means “some-

In order to get the line off the ground,

thing you wouldn’t mind having on your

Monique will be traveling to and from

shelf if you’re a dude”––she is keen to

Iceland periodically, documenting flora

the sense that men respond more vol-

in her field book and collecting sam-

ubly when a product is made explic-

ples of the lichen and Icelandic pop-

itly for them, and for precise purposes.

pies that will, perhaps, one day end up in a jar of FIG+YARROW moisturizer.

Enter Sruli Recht, a designer and artist based in Iceland who is known for his ec-

A multinational partnership of this mag-

centric approach to both fields, occasion-

nitude would spell good things for any

ally using controversial materials (e.g.

business owner, but Monique expresses

human skin) in his portfolio. A mutual ac-

a surprising modesty when she consid-

quaintance introduced Monique to Recht

ers how quickly the whole enterprise es-

as she sought new packaging options for

calated for her. It is almost hard to be-

Fig + Yarrow. Through their discussions,

lieve that her products were among some

though, Monique felt their collaboration

of the numberless, anonymous many

had more potential, so she proposed a set

for sale on Etsy just five years ago. “We

of male-targeted products. The “particu-

sell internationally, and I have from

larly Icelandic line” the two now hope to

the start––my first customer was from

encourage will be sourced from that coun-

France. We are selling in Japan. With

try’s natural landscape, and from its cul-

this next incarnation we’re going to do a

ture. Harkening back to Monique’s senior

little rebranding and some new packag-

thesis, the concept is also informed by psy-

ing over the next few months,” she said.

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Spring 2015

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Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

As cosmetics compliances differ in the EU,

Although there is surely something ele-

Monique will have to jump through some

mental about humans and our enjoyment

hoops in order to sell legitimately in other

of being pampered, it is nevertheless hard

countries, but she has been through the

to shake the notion that, in a perfect world,

process before. A wearer of many hats,

making our own cosmetics would be far

she has demonstrated her resolve, and

preferable than going the store-bought

at this point she is just happy to be on a

route––perhaps more so than with any

good track. “I never had a job that I really

other handcraft. Knowing our own bodies

was in love with until I started making

better than anyone else, the onus would

these kinds of products,” said Monique.

fall to the individual to create the perfect elixirs, measured to address her personal

It’s a good thing she does love it, because

issues, and it would ideally be a private

there’s still a lot to be done before the

endeavor. However, by virtue of being in-

move to the firehouse is finalized. “One of

fused with a belief system and embodying

the bays––where the fire truck would pull

the organic, Monique’s FIG+YARROW of-

in––is going to be retail and the other is

fers a satisfying alternative to the tradi-

going to be the spa/demo room. And I’m

tional cosmetics experience. For, just like

leasing the space adjacent, so I’ll have the

a fulfilling meal, it is not every day where

entire downstairs of the firehouse. Back to

one comes across a product that possess-

working 80 hours a week again, I’m sure.”

es not only the intrinsic qualities of its natural ingredients, but also the heartfelt impressions and devotions of its creator.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 83

ONE MUST ALWAYS DRESS THE PART

www.bedfordandbroome.com

PAGE 86 | MicroShiner.com

Pairings: NEW DEAL DISTILLERY

Words by HAYLEY McCOY Photos by ELIJAH HOFFMAN

Many would argue that a good time can be

come something of an annual tradition, this

summed up by the following ingredients:

marking their fifth year contributing. Mor-

good food, good drink, and good company.

rison organizes the events with local distill-

However, in an era of rampant ADHD defined

eries, breweries, and wineries in combination

by citizens with limited time and a myriad of

with local celebrity-status chefs and bartend-

ways in which to use it, who can settle for

ers. At this particular event, the cocktails

“good” anymore? Replace those ingredients

were crafted by Kevin Ludwig, well-known

with creations from a first-class chef, well-

bartender and head of the Laurelhurst Market

crafted cocktails by a skilled mixologist using

bar. Chef Benjamin Dyer and his right-hand

liquor from a boot-strap distillery, add pas-

man, Will Larin, created the food. Benjamin

sionate locals and a heart-warming cause to

Dyer is a successful chef and entrepreneur

tie it all together, and suddenly you have an

in Portland who owns several well-known

event well worth giving up a Friday night to

food establishments in Portland including

attend. As a final touch, like the garnish on

the Simpatica Dining Hall, Laurelhurst Mar-

a finely polished appetizer, place this event

ket, Ate-Oh-Ate and Reverend’s BBQ. This

smack-dab in the middle of a city like Port-

year marked Ben’s tenth year cooking for the

land, one gaining momentum as a recognized

Morrison event. These days, he is so busy

hub for good food and drink and folk who

wearing his business hat, he relishes these

take advantage of both, and you have your-

opportunities to get back into the kitch-

self a food and cocktail pairing to which Mi-

en, and lend support to a cause he values.

croShiner was tickled to receive an invitation.

Although the event location varies, for the

This intimate food and cocktail pairing was

past two years New Deal has played host in

one of a series of annual fundraising events

their spacious tasting room in inner South-

that Morrison Child and Family Services, a

east Portland, a part of town boasting a

non-profit organization based in Portland,

unique mix of industrial grit and new design

hosts each year. The organization provides

with upcoming artisan perspective. New Deal

full spectrum mental health and addiction

Distillery is a Portland based, small-scale

services for children in the community and

“boot-strap” company, as Tom Burleaux, the

their families using avenues tailored to each

owner and imagineer of New Deal Distillery,

case. These range from outpatient programs

describes it. New Deal started as a scheme

to foster care, with everything you can imagine

hatched by Tom, a product of Portland him-

in between, including various therapy groups

self. Tom, who you would likely run into if you

and school-based programs geared toward

frequented their tasting room, is a quirky en-

prevention. The organization has deep roots

trepreneur and unassuming host who cannot

in Portland, founded in 1947 by a group of

help but exude a passion for his craft. His

committed citizens and physicians, so it has

engaging nature sucks you in right away, im-

had plenty of time to become ingrained in the

mediately enticing you to pull up a chair and

local psyche. Being so embedded in the com-

grab a drink because you will surely share

munity it serves has led to lasting synergis-

some engrossing stories and hardy laughs.

tic relationships with other local individuals and organizations, like New Deal Distillery.

At the event, MicroShiners were immediately greeted warmly by Morrison as well as

In true Portland fashion, this event series

host of the night, Tom, and welcomed with

brilliantly gives the imbibers and foodies of

an enthusiastic introduction by each. For

the Rose City a good excuse to drink for a

New Deal, this included a special highlight

cause. New Deal’s involvement in the Mor-

of a few favorite features, such as their cop-

rison food and cocktail pairing event has be-

per still affectionately named ‘Carl’. Carl

PAGE 88 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 89

is a majestic twin 22-plate vodka column

As eloquently stated in their New Deal Man-

who was freshly polished and in fine form

ifesto, “All we wanted when we started was

for the event. Another cherished feature of

to put a single, good bottle of vodka on

their tasting room is a decorative dividing

the shelf of a liquor store in Portland and

wall made from recovered hardwood flooring

have someone buy it”. And now, just past

they snatched-up from a demolished home

their tenth anniversary, they have far sur-

from 5 blocks down, symbolic of their com-

passed that goal, but still remain ground-

munity integration, whether intended or not.

ed in the ideals that started their journey, as symbolized by their original electric

Tom wasted little time introducing his liquor

still proudly displayed in the tasting room.

line-up, offering a few tastes to set the stage

with anticipation. He quickly pointed this gin

When

asked

lover toward their award winning Portland

duce

such

Dry Gin 33, with its organic juniper origins;

will

a simple, solid interpretation of a classic gin.

always that way. When New Deal Distill-

Alongside their esteemed Portland Dry Gin

ery was just being realized a decade ago,

33, they boast a backbone of quality classic

local craft distilling was not the trend it is

liquors including vodka, whiskey, and vari-

now. “We were in the wilderness and it took

ous gins while leaving room for experimen-

years to learn by making mistakes,” Tom

tation, leading to a plethora of unique spir-

explained. When he hatched the idea, distill-

its and liqueurs. Their distinctive Wildcat

ing vodka was something he knew nothing

would be a good example of their creativity,

about. Now, it is not uncommon for aspiring

a product of cane sugar and malted barley

micro-distillers to frequent his tasting room

fermented together, a spirit that “just doesn’t

asking what it takes to start distilling, to which

fit in a box” as Tom would say. When inquir-

his response is simple: gumption. Put simply,

ing about the Hot Monkey, their acclaimed

“those who are going to do it are going to do it.”

be

the

how

they

quality first

to

came

to

product, admit

it

was

proTom not

pepper vodka, their seasoned advice was not to take its spicy kick lightly and that I may

Tom’s passion for his liquor is paired nicely

not be ready for it at this point in the night.

with an evident love for what he deems a

“whimsical” city. From the perspective of a

The idea of New Deal Distillery started around

boot-strap company owner, it certainly doesn’t

2001, when, undeterred by what most would

hurt to be located in a city like Portland, well

have termed unfeasible in the economic slump

known for supporting local industry. “People

of the time, Tom simply asked “why not”? Why

are willing to pay a little more for local, like

couldn’t he make his own vodka? So he and

a good loaf of bread; you don’t want to have

a friend, Matthew VanWinkle, started a small-

to go far to get it, but you still want it to be

scale project in a modest 10’x12’ space as an

good.” That being said, the customer base in

inventive way around buying alcohol; they just

Portland treats drinking more as a sport than

wanted to make good vodka. At the time his

a hobby. As Tom puts it, “local gets you your

dream came to fruition with an official license

first drink, quality gets you your second”. The

in 2004, they had a small 25-gallon electric

mentality extends beyond the customer bias

still that took several days to produce only a

toward local product, but is exemplified by

quarter of what his current 100-gallon steam

the relationships and cooperation within

still produces in a mere 3 hours. In addition

the industry. “People think Portland is just

to Carl, they now have a second steam still

made of hipsters; but really we are entrepre-

and 4 electric stills, giving them a total of 500

neurs,” he exclaims, proud of the community

gallons of distillation power at any given time.

of inspired craftsmen that surrounds him.

PAGE 90 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

“Who

products?

jerking stories, on this night he kept it

Craft distillers.” Tom marveled then adds,

sells

their

competitors’

informative with a synopsis of their role in

“Craft brewers and distillers have paved

the community and the many facets of their

the way for how you do small business.”

organization (a difficult task given the ex-

Faced with any snags, his “competitors”

tent of their services), then opened the fo-

are the first people to lend Tom a hand.

rum for a few questions. Still, it was impos-

sible not to be touched by his passion for the

Tom and his fellow craftsmen and colleagues

cause, no matter how brief the introduction.

are working on shifting the traditional reputation of a businessman from one based solely

The parade of the senses that follows can be

on personal financial gain to a paradigm root-

recreated in the comfort of your own home.

ed in the community it serves, and custom-

You may not have acclaimed chef Benjamin

ers who share their ideals and appreciation of

Dyer creating your meals, but using the fol-

quality. It’s a paradigm in which a successful

lowing delicious New Deal-infused cocktail

day at the office is one that includes taking

recipes it would be hard to go wrong. If you

the time to sit down and connect with cus-

want to go the extra mile, consider donating

tomers over the very product its created. The

to a cause you feel strongly about in dedica-

event that brisk February night epitomized

tion of your pairing dinner. As for the food

the craft business movement and why it is

and drinks pictured here, they are dedicated

growing exponentially. With any luck, the

to Morrison Child and Family Services and

days of a market awash in product of low

the thousands of families impacted by the

quality and limited innovation are numbered.

selfless efforts of the organization in more than 68 years of service to the community.

Meanwhile, a delicious aroma was building in the air, an aroma of the food that was set to soon paint our palettes. Needless to say, when ushered to our seats, everyone in attendance was more than ready for the festivities to begin. Drew McWilliams, Chief Executive of Morrison Child and Family Services gave us a brief introduction.

While veterans of the event

made it clear he was capable of some tear-

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 91

AMUSE Blue point oyster with Hot Monkey Granita

Hayley’s Notes: A sweet, tangy citrus flavor with just the right amount of kick provided from the Hot Monkey.

This was my personal favorite of the night. sweet, tangy citrus flavor with just the right amount of kick provided from the Hot Monkey. This was my personal

PAGE 92 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

Salt & Pepper ¾ oz New Deal Vodka ¾ oz Hot Monkey Pepper-Flavored Vodka ¾ oz Cointreau ¾ oz lime ¾ oz celery juice ½ oz simple syrup Shake and strain to serve up in a salt-rimmed glass.

Served as a shot, the recipe will make 3 drinks.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 93

FIRST COURSE Hawaiian Ahi Tartare with Roasted beets, candied ginger, lime, cilantro and New Deal Ginger Liqueur

Hayley’s Notes: You can’t go wrong with a Portland Dry Gin 33 foundation zested up with a bitter.

PAGE 94 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring Winter 2015

Bitter Mule 1½ oz Portland Dry Gin 33 1 oz New Deal Ginger Liqueur ¾ oz lime ½ oz simple syrup dash Angostura bitters Shake and strain over ice in a tumbler.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 95

SECOND COURSE Frisee salad with citrus, preserved lemon vinaigrette, shallots macerated in New Deal Gin No. 1

Hayley’s Notes: Perfectly paired with an excellent simple, light summery salad (and by simple I mean brilliantly simple. Who knew something so seemingly basic and healthy could be so delicious), this pretty in pink drink may look frilly but packs a punch with its strong gin backbone.

PAGE 96 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

Best In Show 2 oz Gin No. 1 1 oz grapefruit splash lime splash simple 6 dashes Peychaud’s bitters Shake and strain to serve up in a salt rimmed coupe.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 97

ENTREE Strudel of duck confit, black trumpet mushrooms & hedgehog mushroom with fig sauce & sautéed kale

Hayley’s Notes: To go along with the richly flavored savory main event was Tom’s favorite drink. A bold and sophisticated smooth caramel colored cocktail, this was not some cutesy drink to be taken lightly. Searching for the right description, it was summarized by Tom as “boozy”.

PAGE 98 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

In the Forest 1½ oz Distiller’s Cut Rum 1 oz Cynar ¾ oz sweet vermouth bar spoon crème de cassis Stir with ice and serve up in a coupe with orange oil.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 99

DESSERT COURSE Stumptown coffee panna cotta with New Deal Coffee Liqueur, caramel & spun sugar

Hayley’s Notes: The perfect indulgence at the end of a satisfying meal, it has smooth flavor with a rich coffee undertone, providing the end-of-meal coffee satisfaction while encouraging the fun to continue. Nicely paired with a beautifully designed dessert with its intricately patterned caramel net amid a bed of panna cotta, this was pure deliciousness.

PAGE 100 | MicroShiner.com

Autumn 2013 Spring 2015

New Deal Nightcap 1½ oz Distiller’s Cut Rum ¾ oz New Deal Coffee Liqueur ¾ oz Dolin Blanc ½ oz Fernet Shake and strain to serve up in a martini glass with orange oil.

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 101

MicroShiner

#JoinTheMovement—Subscribe Now! www.MicroShiner.com

The Noble Experiment Words by Vita Duva Photos by Michael Marquand

Raised in Rockaway Beach, Queens, in a home that once had a speakeasy – alive and simmering – in its basement, Bridget Firtle found herself besotted with the spirits trade at an early age. A native New Yorker descending from a lengthy line of Brooklyn-based small business proprietors, Firtle is “The Noble Experiment.”

Honing a strong background in finance,

ment NYC, refers to the Prohibition Era

the bright blonde completed her under-

of the 1920s when the American govern-

graduate studies at McGill in 2006, and

ment thought it noble to altogether outlaw

earned her MBA in 2007 from Bingham-

the manufacture, sale and transportation

ton University. Shortly thereafter, she

of alcohol. While the government’s experi-

went on to work as a financial analyst for

ment failed royally, Firtle’s, thankfully,

a Syosset-based hedge fund. When the

has not.

company struck gold with a stock in Molson Coors, Firtle became the company’s

“I have a very math and science-oriented

securities analyst for global alcoholic bev-

brain. Originally, I was going to go pre-

erages. This feat is what in turn, helped

med in school to become a doctor, so it

wet Firtle’s feet in the spirits industry.

comes naturally to me,” explained the self-taught distiller.

“I fell in love with was happening, but on a smaller scale. So, I started to do my own

Firtle learned her skill by reading and re-

research on the craft of distilling,” Firtle

searching, and by taking a couple distill-

said of her love for small business and,

ing courses, here and there. However it

of course, outpouring passion for small-

was in daily practice of the distiller’s craft

batch spirits.

that she mastered it.

“Small business is super exciting.”

“The biggest challenge was the art of it all.

There are benefits to having a business

After “soul-searching” for the better part

background, but then there is also the

of 2011, what began as a pipe dream be-

science of it, the story and marketing that

came actuality. That June, Firtle saw a

have to play a role as well – and some-

TED talk by a professor at Stanford Uni-

times there is a little boiler troubleshoot-

versity who was encouraging students to

ing,” Firtle said with a wry smile.

go out and make their stamp on the world without a fear of failure. Feeling inspired,

For the first two years she was the only

it was then and there that she began to

one running the place. But no matter

draft her business plan for a start-up

what challenge confronted her, Firtle

micro-distillery.

never shied away from getting her hands wet, or dirty – the epitome of the modern

With an investment of hard work, de-

craft entrepreneur.

termination and a lot of sweat, Firtle opened The Noble Experiment NYC, a

But now, with a team of three diligent,

boutique rum-running distillery, located

dedicated women – two main distillers

at 23 Meadow Street in shoddy East Wil-

and one brand representative - stand-

liamsburg, Brooklyn, only a year later.

ing beside her, The Noble Experiment

The 4,000 square-foot build out included

NYC is the world’s only all-women dis-

state-of-the-art distillation equipment, a

tillery – quite an accomplishment in an

barrel room, and a vast DIY-style tasting

industry

room to boot. The distillery centerpiece

male dominance.

often

acknowledged

for

its

is Cleo the Still, a 265-gallon copper pot still named after a collie-shepherd mix,

As remarkable as that is, Firtle confident-

Brooklyn-born street dog.

ly expresses that she has never considered herself a woman in the spirits indus-

The distillery’s name, The Noble Experi-

PAGE 108 | MicroShiner.com

try. In fact, she feels that there are many

Spring 2015

MicroShiner.com | PAGE 109

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Spring 2015

in the business standing alongside her -

that he owned and operated speakeasies

women she not only has great respect for,

and nightclubs throughout Harlem, all

but has also come to call friends.

the while bootlegging his own liquor.

“I needed a team right from the start.

“Most endearing is that Owney was a rum

From strengths also come weaknesses

runner. He smuggled Caribbean-made

and forming a team that can build on

rum into the United States from his estate

those weaknesses together is essential.

on Rockaway Beach. I fantasized about

Then, the whole ship starts to lift,” Firtle

if Madden drank at the speakeasy in my

said of her management philosophy.

parent’s home,” Firtle said, her enthusiasm for the namesake gangster tinted

While it may have taken some time ini-

with a hint of school girl crush.

tially to get that ship off the ground, The Noble Experiment NYC hired its very first

Owney’s NYC Rum is a well-balanced,

official employee in April 2014.

aromatic, all-white dry rum with quite a lot of body, given it has only three ingre-

With a passion befitting their brand, The

dients - filtered New York City tap water,

Noble Experiment, Firtle and her team

all-natural non-GMO, top grade sugar

constantly strive to create an innova-

cane molasses domestically sourced, and

tive atmosphere where the art of crafting

propriety yeast.

spirits isn’t forgotten in the science. But why choose rum?

Tropical fruits, banana notes and smokiness are a few of the distinctive qualities

“The first distillery on record in New York

that set this rum apart from the rest of the

(c.1664) made rum. Rum is my favor-

rum on today’s market.

ite spirit after all and I had a vision to bring it back.”

Firtle’s carefully calculated fermentation process includes five days in temperature

Firtle’s own grandfather operated a bar

controlled stainless steel tanks – which is

business on Flatbush Avenue during the

notably longer than the average rum. Tru-

1960’s and into the early 1980’s, but it

ly a craft operation, mashing, fermenting,

was Owney “The Killer” Madden, Prohibi-

distilling, bottling, and labeling at The

tion mobster, bootlegger and owner of the

Noble Experiment are all done in-house.

infamous Cotton Club, that she was most drawn to – later naming her rum in his

Owney’s is batch distilled spirit in a

honor – Owney’s NYC Rum.

made-to-order, copper pot-column hybrid still. The “cuts” are made around 80-85%

“The name not only appropriately embrac-

alcohol by volume – which is also lower

es New York’s rich history in imbibing, but

than the average rum –ensuring Owney’s

it also embraces badasses.”

is flavorful yet smooth on the palate.

Arriving on American soil from his homeland Ireland at an early age, Madden grew up in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen during the turn of the 20th Century. A leader of the West Side’s Gopher Gang, Madden later rose to prominence in New York amid the organized crime scene. It was then

PAGE 114 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

While Owney’s is a simple delight poured straight up, for added fun, Firtle recommends drinking the spirit in classic daiquiri style – 2 oz. Owney’s rum, 1 oz. fresh lime juice, 0.75 oz simple syrup – shake vigorously and double strain into a coupe glass with lime wheel garnish. Check out www.owneys.com for more.

For a complete history of the distillery and a sample of Owney’s Rum, stop by The

Noble

Experiment

NYC

for

an

intimate tour Saturdays at 4 p.m. Price of the tour and taste is $10. To register for a tour, visit www.tnenyc.com.

PAGE 116 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Photo by Elijah Hoffman

Spirited Works of Art photos by

brian CARY

curated by

Jessica SHUMAKER

inspired by

Ashby MARSHALL head distiller - Spirit Works and lauren PATZ distiller - Spirit Works

prepared by

tara HEFFERNON at Spoonbar and jeff REITZ at Bravas Bar de Tapas

Healdsburg, CA

Spyglass Makes 1 strong cocktail Spirit Works Vodka is superb in this cocktail due to the sweetness and flavor retained from the base grain, organic California Red Winter Wheat. It pairs perfectly with just a touch of apricot liqueur and dry vermouth.

2oz Spirit Works Vodka .5oz dry vermouth 1 bar spoon apricot liqueur Lemon peel Add all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and strain into cocktail glass. Release oils of lemon peel over the top and discard the peel.

PAGE 120 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Barrel Gin Old Fashioned Makes 1 cocktail Barrel Gin works wonderfully in this version of the venerable Old Fashioned.

Aging Spirit Works Gin in new American Oak imbued the spirit with an immense amount of character in just a four-month time period, however the botanicals from the Gin are still quite prevalent.

2oz Spirit Works Barrel Gin 3 dashes Angostura bitters sugar cube club soda Place a sugar cube in a rocks glass, add Angostura over top, follow with a splash of club soda. Muddle sugar cube. Add ice cubes and Barrel Gin. Stir and garnish with orange peel.

PAGE 122 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Quill Makes 1 cocktail Spirit Works Gin works so well in this cocktail thanks to the fresh lemons and oranges

that

are

hand-zested

before

every gin run. The fresh zest really helps to brighten the bitterness of the Campari.

1oz Spirit Works Gin 1oz Campari 1oz Sweet vermouth .25oz absinthe Add all ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir until chilled and serve up.

Garnish with orange peel.

PAGE 124 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Plume Makes 1 cocktail The sweet and tart notes from Spirit Works Sloe Gin really elevate this refreshing cocktail.

1oz Spirit Works Sloe Gin 1oz Campari .25oz absinthe 1oz club soda 2oz Prosecco Fill shaker with ice, add Sloe Gin, Campari and absinthe. Shake briefly to mix, add prosecco and club soda to shaker then pour into tall Collins glass. Garnish with orange peel.

PAGE 126 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

The Millionaire Makes 1 cocktail Spirit Works Sloe Gin pairs perfectly with Jamaican rum in this classic cocktail. .75 oz jamaican rum .75 oz Spirit Works Sloe Gin .75oz apricot brandy .75 oz lime juice dash of grenadine Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into cocktail glass. No garnish necessary.

PAGE 128 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

Barrel Aged Bees Knees Makes 1 cocktail Using Spirit Works Barrel Gin in this classic gin cocktail adds a unique twist.

Barrel Gin strikes a fine balance between the new American Oak notes from the barrel and the botanicals in Spirit Works Gin. The coriander and cardamom in the Barrel Gin are highlighted and work when combined with the fresh lemon juice and honey syrup.

2oz Spirit Works Barrel Gin .75 oz fresh lemon juice .5 oz rosemary honey syrup Add all ingredients to shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into cocktail glass.

Rosemary sprig garnish.

PAGE 130 | MicroShiner.com

Spring 2015

FROM THE STILL

Strong Spirits: Courtney McKee Headframe Spirits - Butte, America

product and as patrons, too, moving their drinking out of their own parlors and into the public eye. This further turned the tide against the legislation that had prevented women from even entering saloons, pre-prohibition. The whiskey flowed like never before in Butte, Montana, and women were responsible for a

Women and strong spirits have gone together since time imme-

great part of that increase. To say that women’s role in the world

morial, so to say that there’s something special about a distiller,

of spirits is new would ignore history not only in Butte, but in

simply because of her gender, seems to me to be missing the

large cities and quiet communities all over the US.

point. What makes a person a worthy or a more significant— distiller? I’ll argue all day long that it’s the quality of the prod-

In the modern era, it is great to see women getting more atten-

uct they make, the work they do to support their industry, and

tion for their roles in beverage alcohol. One need look no further

the value they bring to their company that defines the relevant

than women like Nicole Austin at Kings County Distillery, Ashby

value of a distiller. Perhaps that’s how I was raised, or the think-

Marshall at Spirit Works, and Headframe Spirits’ own Casey Mc-

ing I developed as I matured. The facts of what I’m amazing at,

Connell to find examples of the incredible work they’re doing for

or what I’m dreadful at, are not based on my gender. These are

our industry. And when you examine it, these women are more

simply functions of who I am, what I’m passionate about, and

than just great distillers. They’re helping to build the reputation

where my own capacity for excellence lies.

of an entire industry, and in this industry, I believe the better each of us does individually, the better we all do together.

I have a daughter who is a sophomore in high school who wants to be a mechanical engineer. Recently, she brought up a per-

But these women represent something more. They are at the

ceived injustice to me. She believes it’s extremely unfair that

pinnacle of women in STEM careers right now. We all know that

there are Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

distillation is a beautiful blend of Science, Technology, Engi-

programs being directed at girls. To her, it seems sexist to pro-

neering and Math. One might even take it one step further—

mote a girl’s career track at the expense of a boy’s. “Why would

these are STEAM careers, adding in the Art that is craft dis-

they offer it to me and not to the boy sitting next to me?” she

tillation. At Headframe Spirits in particular, the Technology of

asked over breakfast one morning. I told her that women are

our own distillation equipment brings our craft into the 21st

wholly underrepresented in STEM careers and that targeting

century by integrating the art of distillation with engineering

middle school and high school girls to develop STEM interests

advancements that enable micro distilleries to operate continu-

and, hopefully through that, STEM careers, was an attempt to

ous flow distillation equipment. We’re leveling the playing field

address that discrepancy. She blinked. This is a girl who never

for micro distilleries around the US. But the excellence these

considered, for one minute, that there may be a disparity be-

women bring to their work isn’t a reflection of their gender; it’s

tween the genders in any of the career paths she finds compel-

simply a fact of who they are, what they’re passionate about,

ling. I believe that witnessing kids who haven’t internalized that

and what makes them tick.

imbalance is a good sign for our collective future.

So I’m not the woman to say that there’s anything about being In Butte, Montana, where I live, women have always made whis-

female that makes women in distillation special. That said, I

key. For the first part of the 20th century, it provided income for

will cheerfully raise a glass to the publicity women are receiving

women whose husbands had been killed or injured in Butte’s

for something we’ve always done, and done damn well. May our

copper mines. Women played a huge role in the consumption

foremothers be proud of the legacy they established long before

of alcohol during Prohibition, and they also accounted for their

STEM or STEAM were academic concerns. And may we continue

fair share of arrests for illegal hooch production. To their cred-

to be excellent role models for the young women like my daugh-

it, women were walking into bars and speakeasies for the first

ter, who know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they can do

time, not merely as working girls, but as distillers there to sell

anything they put their minds to.

PAGE 132 | MicroShiner.com

Photo by Elijah Hoffman

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