Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
This post is by Voracious contributor Anna Roth.
When Pacific Distilleries invades Woodinville wine country this fall, it will become the second major distillery to open in Washington state since Dry Fly Distilling opened in Spokane last September. Not only that, it will become one of the only distillers in the United States to make absinthe according to old-fashioned French methods.
That’s right. Absinthe.
Owner Marc Bernhard — who describes himself as "an absinthe person for the past ten years" — is growing the most important ingredient, wormwood, in his Everett backyard. (European tests recently revealed that absinthe actually only contains trace amounts of wormwood's dangerously psychoactive ingredient, thujone — discrediting the wild-and-crazy absinthe mythology completely. Thanks, science!)
Still, don’t get too excited. Chances are we won’t be dancing with the Green Fairy until Christmas. The distillery is still in the licensing process, and absinthe requires two to four months of aging ("You have to periodically taste it to know when to bottle it," explains Bernhard). Until that magic moment, we’ll have to make do with the distillery’s Voyager Gin, which should hit the market by mid-October and promises absinthe-like botanicals, including fennel and licorice.
Follow the distillery’s progress at its blog: www.pacificdistillery.blogspot.com.
3 comment(s)
MarriedToTheLaw says:
For PacNW absinthe right now, get yourself up to Okanagan Spirits in Vernon, BC. They produce Taboo, a traditional absinthe that won a Silver at the 2007 World Spirits Awards in Austria. My wife and I stumbled across it (actually, the stumbling was later) while on a road trip up north about a month ago. The tasting room is open to the public and they were more than happy to run us through a bunch of their excellent eaux-de-vies (the Poir William is stunning) and grappas. They also make a nice aquavit. The coolest part is that the use all local ingredients and distill everything in a beautiful custom-made wood-fired copper still. Their distribution is fairly limited due to draconian BC liquor laws, but you can find a lot of their product in Vancouver.
Posted On: Wednesday, Jul. 16 2008 @ 9:54AM
LetzGoOut.com Bar Search says:
Actually, one of our sponsors on LetzGoOut.com is an Absinthe seller. I had no idea they had legalized it here, but I guess they did. This should be interesting...
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 17 2008 @ 6:42AM
Marc Bernhard says:
Thank you for your kind words about our distillery. Hopefully before Christmas our products will be available at liquor stores and your favorite restaurants and bars. Feel free to start asking for it at your local establishment!
Posted On: Thursday, Jul. 17 2008 @ 2:45PM