4 minute read
Medicinal Mixology
Drink Coffee Do Stuff DRINK COFFEE DO STUFF EXPANDS
Drink Coffee Do Stuff, with locations in Truckee and Incline Village, Nev., recently opened a location in South Lake Tahoe in the former Black Cabin Coffee at 3894 Pioneer Trail.
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The takeout window is open daily from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a grand opening planned for later this fall. | drinkcoffeedostuff.com
NEW OWNERS FOR SOUTH SHORE STEAMERS
Steamers Bar & Grill in South Lake Tahoe will be reopening this fall under the ownership of Paul Brenner and Heather Cords, former customers of the eatery. The restaurant is undergoing a renovation with reopening anticipated for later in October. | @Steamers Bar & Grill
tasty tidbits
Achieve Tahoe Foam Fest
area venues | Truckee | Oct. 26-31 $49 | achievetahoe.org
Battle Born Chili Cook-Off
The Chateau | Incline Village | Oct. 28 5-8 p.m. $75-$ | tahoeinclinerotary.org
Tahoe Club Crawl
Tahoe Club Crawl | Stateline | Oct. 29, Nov. 5 & 12 7:45 a.m.-11 p.m. | tahoeclubcrawl.ticketsauce.com
Harvest Mondays
Food Bank Garden | Truckee | Oct. 31 8 a.m.-12 p.m. Free | slowfoodlaketahoe.org
Tahoe Chocolate and Wine Festival
Hyatt Regency, Incline Village | Truckee | Nov. 6 3-6 p.m. $150-$175 | tahoechocolatefestival.org
Rubicon Pizza Party Fundraiser
Rubicon Pizza | Truckee | Nov. 7 5-8 p.m. Free | truckeefol.org
Passport to Dining 2022
North Tahoe Event Center | Kings Beach | Nov. 10 6-9 p.m. $60 | eventbrite.com
SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS FOR FREE
Visit TheTahoeWeekly.com/ Events to add your Event for our print & online calendars.
Pa atio Lakeview OPEN DAILY 12-9PM Dining
FEATURING: Slow-Roasted Prime Rib | Baby Back Ribs | Full Bar Steaks | Seafood | Pasta | Gourmet Hamburgers | Kid’s Menu
Medicinal mixology
LAKE TAHOE DISTILLING & ELEMENTAL SPIRITS
BY KAREN BARCHAS
Enjoying cacao whiskey. | Kevin Barchas
You wake up late, dry-mouthed and puffy-eyed from last night’s partying. You sort through your hangover remedy options: electrolytes, kombucha, pear juice, raw egg, exercise — or that age-old cure: hair of the dog. Don’t laugh. According to Kat Valentina, co-founder, medicinal mixologist and CEO of Lake Tahoe Distilling and partner company Elemental Spirits, a little gin mixed with peppermint leaves, dried lemon verbena and milk thistle tincture can help with liver detoxification and your hangover. But how are you going to prepare, let alone find these herbs? Fear not. Lake Tahoe Distilling and Elemental Spirits offer a proprietary blend of bitter detox herbs and aromatic herbs such as lavender, holy basil, rosemary, celery leaf, Ceylon cinnamon, chili, sage, cacao and more. Add in their plant medicine-influenced, organic, non-GMO gins, rums and whiskeys for extra herbal support.
Spirits and bitters. | Alex Barsky VanHee poured me a shot of the cacao whiskey. The blend of raw cacao, toasted chia seeds and whiskey was smooth and subtly chocolaty. He added a few drops of Qi-Li (a blend of red wine, chili, raw cacao, star anise and bitterings) and the toasted chocolate flavor popped.
More than a hangover remedy
In addition to relieving hangovers, Valentina said, the botanicals can support a variety of health conditions. For example, the Qi-Li can increase circulation, relieve pain, boost cardiovascular health and help with Type 2 diabetes and weight loss. That’s why the co-founders call cocktails made from their products medicinal mixology. Valentina and VanHee met at a distilling conference in San Diego. Valentina has a background in planetary herbology, Chinese medicine and bartending. VanHee studied fermentation at UC Davis. When he’s not distilling, he runs a construction company. The two founded Lake Tahoe Distilling in 2018. Most of their botanicals grow in northern California; the juniper berries for the gin grow around the Tahoe region. Lake Tahoe Distilling plans to open a tasting room in South Lake Tahoe in spring 2023. | laketahoedistilling.com, 4elementalspirits.com n
DRUNK IN SOCIETY: HANGOVER REMEDY
FROM KAT VALENTINA
2 oz. gin ½ oz. mint honey* dried lemon verbena 4 drops of milk thistle tincture
Shake with ice and pour. Sprinkle dried lemon verbena on the cocktail.
*MINT HONEY Using spearmint and/or peppermint, add a mix of 2:1 mint/water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer slightly and as the infusion cools, add honey to create a 1:3 composition of honey/liquid. Once cooled, strain and use.
Chocolate whiskey?
On a sunny Wednesday in September, I visited The Tiki Bar at Beach Retreat & Lodge, one of Lake Tahoe Distilling’s customers, in South Lake Tahoe. There, Jeff VanHee, co-founder, head distiller and COO, greeted me with a bottle of amber-hued cacao whiskey and Elemental Spirits line of bitters: several small blue bottles containing botanicals macerated in alcohol.
