Amuse-bouche Altar Spirits

Altar Spirits’ locally crafted Ritual Vodka and Sigil Gin; right, assistant distiller Marcus DiFilippo at Altar Spirits checking levels while working on a batch of vodka

Santa Fe where she could work. This was before Santa Fe Spirits and Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery were founded. Now, Altar Spirits, as Santa Fe’s third distillery, joins what’s still a very small club.

“As we started looking here, there weren’t any distilleries where you could sit and have a cocktail and see the process happening at the same time. We wanted to bring that experience here and create a place where it would be easy for locals to come visit, and tourists could also get here really quickly, either by walking or by hotel shuttles, and so the Railyard just made a ton of sense for us.”

Shoemaker and Gust were fortunate to find a location with a loading dock, which is a must for a large-scale operation. What is now the tasting room used to be the area in Santa Fe Clay that housed the former ceramic studio’s kilns. But transforming it into a working distillery required adding a lot of safety infrastructure, which included overhauling the fire sprinkler and ventilation systems. A large space isn’t always necessary for distilling spirits, as any moonshine maker can attest, but this is the real deal. They needed sufficient space to distill, as well as for bottling, shipping, and storing barrels for aging.

“We were a little worried that, depending on the time of year, we were going to get hit by a lot of tourists and the locals would be like, ‘It’s too busy.’ One of the advantages of opening in the wintertime is we’ve had this wonderful crescendo of visitors, mostly locals. It’s given our team time to anchor into the space before we start getting all the visitors this summer. By then, we’ll be ready to rock.”

Right now, the tasting room features a cocktail list of about a dozen items, which are all created using spirits from New Mexico distilleries, including 505 Spirits, Vara Winery & Distillery, and, of course, Altar Spirit’s own vodka and gin. Outside of spirits from other regional distilleries, all the cocktail ingredients are hand-crafted by the team at Altar Spirits.

They’ve kept the menu abbreviated for their debut on the scene, but plan to launch an expanded menu in March, which will feature unique recipes, twists on classic cocktails, and non-alcoholic cocktails as well. Altar Spirits was recently approved as a vendor at Total Wine & More, and its products are also available locally at Kelly’s Liquors.

“Our plan is to distribute throughout the state, eventually,” says Shoemaker, who’d like to see her spirits available at local restaurants and bars.

In the meantime, they book live music for the cocktail lounge on Thursday nights, can host private events, and plan workshops for the coming year, which may include such topics as growing your own herbs and vegetables for use in homemade cocktails.

“We’re trying to create opportunities for the community to spend time together and do some really fun stuff in this space as much as possible.” ◀

PASATIEMPOMAGAZINE.COM 33

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR March 4 - 10, 2022

CALENDAR LISTING GUIDELINES

• Submit Pasa Week calendar events via email to pambeach@sfnewmexican.com at least two weeks prior to the event date. • Provide the following: event title, date, time, venue, brief description, ticket prices, contact phone number, and web address. • Inclusion of free listings is dependent on space availability.

CALENDAR COMPILED BY PAMELA BEACH

FRIDAY 3/4

Gallery and Museum Openings Antieau Gallery

130-F Lincoln Ave., 505-983-9529 Painted Horse, tapestries by Chris Roberts-Antieau; reception 5-8 p.m. Aurelia Gallery

414 Canyon Rd., 505-501-2915 X-Flora, photographs by Bryan Whitney; through April 10; reception 5-7 p.m. El Zaguán

545 Canyon Rd., Suite 2, 505-983-2567 Chairs, Telephones, Mailboxes and the Covid Mutation Series, watercolors by Anita West; through March 25; reception 5-7 p.m. Lloyd Kiva New Gallery — IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

108 Cathedral Place, 888-922-4242 John Well-Off-Man: Rhythm and Lines, linocuts; through May 29; reception 5-7 p.m. Webster Collection

54 ½ Lincoln Ave., 505-780-9500 Orderly Chaos, paintings by Charles Gurd; through April 24; reception 5-7 p.m. Theater/Dance Cabaret

Santa Fe Woman’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail Tri-M youth company presents the musical; 7 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through March 13; $12-$50; trimsantafe.org. Martha Graham Dance Company

Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., 505-988-1234 Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Appalachian Spring, with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra; 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; $35-$115; secure.performancesantafe.org/7468/7469. (See story, Page 14) Books/Talks Exhibit overview

New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., 505-476-5072 Rebecca Senf, chief curator at Tucson’s Center for Creative Photography, speaks in conjunction about the exhibit Ansel Adams: Pure Photography; 5:30 p.m.; by museum admission. Events First Fridays at Coe Center for the Arts

1590-B Pacheco St., 505-983-6372 Free access to global indigenous art collections; 1-4 p.m.; call or email info@coeartscenter.org for required advance registration; donations accepted. Nightlife Robert Fox Trio

Club Legato, 125 E. Palace Ave., 505-988-9232 Jazz pianist, percussionist John Trentacosta, and bassist Cyrus Campbell; 6-9 p.m.; no cover.

Obscura Gallery (1405 Paseo de Peralta) shows photographs by Ansel Adams through March 26. Above, Mirror Lake, Yosemite, 1935; gelatin silver print

SATURDAY 3/5

Classical Music Música Antigua de Albuquerque

St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 550 W. San Mateo Rd. Legends of Love, music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance; 4:30 p.m.; $20, discounts available; 505-842-9613, musicaantigua@comcast.net. Severall Friends

San Miguel Chapel, 401 Old Santa Fe Trail From the Heart, string music of Biber, Schmelzer, and Buxtehude, 7:30 p.m.; $20; severallfriends.org. Zia Singers

First Presbyterian Church, 208 Grant Ave. Ave Maria, Kim André Arnesen’s Magnificat, and Karen Marrolli’s arrangement of The Beatles’ Let It Be; 3 p.m. today and Sunday; $10 and $25; theziasingers.com and at the door. In Concert Diana Burco

Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery, 2791 Agua Fría St. Colombian singer-songwriter/accordionist; 7:30 p.m.; $17 in advance, $22 day of show; 505-886-1251, tickets.holdmyticket.com/ tickets/385905. Words in the Wind

Museum Hill Café, 710 Camino Lejo Composer-pianist Melanie Monsour’s piece honoring Baghdadi booksellers killed in a 2007 car-bomb explosion; 7-9 p.m.; donations accepted. Books/Talks Rebecca Senf

Obscura Gallery, 1405 Paseo de Peralta, 505-577-6708 The author of Making a Photographer, the Early Work of Ansel Adams discusses and signs copies of her monograph; 1 p.m.; Adams’ photographs on view through March 26. Classes Artful Soul

227 Don Gaspar Ave., 505-398-9448 In person/virtual painting classes available through April; Paint Night Out, Guided Studio Night, and Open Painting Group; artfulsoulsantafe.com. Events Santa Fe Artists Market

Near the Railyard Water Tower, South Guadalupe Street Outdoor booths, with jewelry, paintings, and other handmade items; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays; 505-310-8766, santafeartistsmarket.com. Nightlife Gustavo Pimentel

Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi, 113 Washington Ave., 505-988-3030 Guitarist; 5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturdays; no cover. Robert Fox Trio

Club Legato, 125 E. Palace Ave., 505-988-9232 Jazz pianist, percussionist John Trentacosta, and bassist Cyrus Campbell; 6-9 p.m.; no cover.

SUNDAY 3/6

Gallery and Museum Openings Jean Cocteau Cinema

418 Montezuma Ave., 505-466-5528 Venice Comes to Santa Fe, paintings by June Julian; reception 4-6 p.m. Classical Music Borromeo String Quartet

Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., 505-988-1234 Music of Bartók, Adolphus Hailstork, and Debussy, with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott; 3 p.m.; $25-$90; tickets.sfpromusica.org/events. Nightlife Bill Hearne

La Fiesta Lounge at La Fonda, 100 E. San Francisco St., 505-982-5511 Americana singer-songwriter; 7-9; no cover. Pete White’s Crossroads Jam

Tiny’s Restaurant & Lounge, 1005 St. Francis Dr., 505-983-9817 Musicians and dancers welcome; 4-7 p.m. Sundays; no cover.

MONDAY 3/7

In Concert Andy Shauf

Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle, 505-395-6369 Indie-folk singer; 8 p.m., doors 7 p.m.; Yves Jarvis opens; $27 in advance, $30 day of show; ampconcerts.org/event/384408.

3/5

Diana Burco at Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery

PASATIEMPOMAGAZINE.COM 35PASATIEMPOMAGAZINE.COM 35