”Each geographic area in our grand metropolis is getting a great local beer bar. In Hollywood? Then Blue Palms Brewhouse is the place. Up in Chatsworth? Then McG’s Irish Pub & Grill is nearby. Now another piece in the puzzle is being added, Burbank.” So writes, Brew & You columnist Sean Inman, who discusses Tony’s Darts Away in a post titled: “Our Own Toronado.”

BEACHWOOD BBQ
131 Main Street, Seal Beach, 562 493 4500

New draught options at Gabriel Gordon’s noted Seal Beach beer bar include Lost Abbey Carnevale, Marin San Quentin Breakout Stout, Dupont Avec le Bons Voeux, Rubicon Hop Sauce double IPA, Moonlight Bombay by Boat IPA and Kasteel Cuvee de Chateau. Track changes to Gordon’s 24-tap blackboard menu via HOP CAM.

BLUE PALMS BREWHOUSE
6124 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, 323 464 2337

According to Blue Palms proprietor Brian Lenzo, the tap list now includes Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot Ale, Sextant Oatmeal Stout on nitro, Russian River Bling Pig IPA, Port Brewing Hot Rocks, and on cask, Ballast Point barrel aged Black Marlin Porter. Going online soon: Lost Abbey Carnevale.

On March 19 from 6 PM – 7:30 PM, Artisanal Imports is hosting a Flemish Sour Blending Seminar with Brouwerij Bockor brewmaster Sam Quartier. He’ll educate attendees on the history and artisanal process of West Flemish sour brewing and blending. Blue Palms will pour five samples of new, aged and Lambic blends, along with a sample of Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge. The event costs $20 per person and includes a four-cheese plate.

BoHo
6372 West Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, 323 465 8500

Verdugo Bar co-owner Ryan Sweeney handles the beer list at BoHo, which just got their first cask, Ballast Point Sea Monster Stout aged in whiskey barrels. They’ve also got Old Rasputin 12 and O’Hara’s Stout on draught.

THE DAILY PINT
2310 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, 310 450 7631

Phil McGovern’s Santa Monica bar is hosting a Double IPA event tomorrow night, including Avery Maharaja, Firestone Double Jack, Green Flash Imperial IPA, Stone Ruination, Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous, Victory Hop Wallop, Port Hop 15, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Anderson Valley Imperial IPA, Flying Dog Double Dog IPA, Speakeasy Double Daddy IPA, Mission Shipwreck Shipyard XXX IPA and Sculpin double IPA on cask.

THE GOLDEN STATE
426 North Fairfax Avenue, Fairfax, 323 782 8331

According to The Golden State co-owner Jason Bernstein, Drake’s Denogginizer is now live, and North Coast Old Rasputin 12 is available by special request.

LADYFACE ALEHOUSE & BRASSERIE
29281 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, 818 477 4566

According to Ladyface rep Robyn Britton, “We’ve been collecting a heavenly lineup of big ales in celebration of Ladyface High Gravity Week (March 22-28th). First, the long awaited release of Brewer Dave’s Blue-Belly Barleywine and Chesebro IPA. Next, Angel’s Share. Finally, don’t passover the Port Shark Attack Imperial Red, Big Bear Black Stout, Anderson Valley Imperial IPA, and Alesmith Speedway Stout.
Cask of the Week is “Simcoe Cubed” – our Trois Filles Tripel goosed with the grapefruity, pine goodness of Simcoe hops. A votre santé!”

LIBRARY ALEHOUSE
2911 Main Street, Santa Monica, 310 314 4855

According to sustainability manager Tom Kelley, “We have Dogfish Aprihop and 90 minute IPA, Blanche de Bruxelles, Port Midnight Sessions, and we should see Wipeout IPA this weekend. In bottles we have in John John ale from Rogue, and Hugh Malone from Allagash.”

On March 21, beginning at 11 AM, it’s a Beer Geek Breakfast, with a keg of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, Brioche French toast (made with the beer) and maple smoked bacon for $15. To reserve a spot, call Tom Kelley at 310-314-4855, or e-mail tom@libraryalehouse.com.

On March 23, come out and support 18th Street Arts Center. 15% of daily sales will be donated! Kelley said they’ll be tapping limited-edition kegs in their honor, including Old Rasputin XII Anniversary and Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Series - Ken And Fritz’s Ale – a collaboration between Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing. There will also be a $1 raffle with an artist designed skate deck as the grand prize.

LUCKY BALDWIN’S DELIRIUM CAFE
21 Kersting Court, Sierra Madre, 626 355 1140

Lucky Baldwin’s eastern outpost is now pouring Anchor Liberty, Stone Smoked Porter and Wittekerk Rose.

NAJA’S
154 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, 310 376 9951

According to Assistant GM Martin Svab, The Army of Darkness arrives on March 18 at 8 PM. “This night will be dedicated to rare and decadent stouts. The diabolical beer line up is as follows:

1. Deschutes The Abyss (2009)
2. North Coast Old Rasputin 12th Anniversary (bourbon barrel)
3. Sierra Nevada Empire Strikes Black!
4. Nectar Ale Black Xantus
5. **special surprise brew **

All five of these ABV-incinerating monsters will be available by the flight or by the glass.”

Other than Ballast Point, Naja’s new beers on draft are Lagunitas WTF (Wilco Tango Foxtrot) Ale, Rogue Hazelnut Brown and Karl Strauss 21st Anniversary.

From April 21-28, Naja’s is hosting their 2nd Annual IPA Festival, featuring 35+ breweries, 40+ IPAs, 2+ casks and “lots o’ hops.”

38 DEGREES ALE HOUSE & GRILL
100 West Main Street, Alhambra, 626 282 2038

Here’s today’s update from 38 Degrees co-owner Clay Harding, who oversees the beer program: “As we finish the rest of Moylan’s Dragoons & other Irish brands 38 Degrees will begin a nice spring line up adding this week Lost Abbey Carnavale Dry Hopped Saison, Craftsman Honesty a tart cherry beer and Victory Braumeister Pils single hopped with the Tettnanger Tettnang varietal. Joining our large IPA lineup will be Napa Smith Organic and Alesmith.”

VERDUGO BAR
3408 Verdugo Road, Glassell Park, 323 257 3408

According to co-owner Ryan Sweeney, new kegs include Flying Dog Raging Bitch IPA and Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary (a collaboration with Anchor Steam, an Imperial Stout).

THE SURLY GOAT
7929 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, 323 650 4628

According to last night’s talk with co-owner Ryan Sweeney, The Surly Goat just launched their 120-option bottle list, mostly cellared or aged. Going on tap soon: Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary and Hofstettner Granite Bock, a German made with white hot rocks thrown into the tank, which caramels the sugars, producing a “smoky, caramel taste.”

On March 20 from 6 PM – 9ish, The Surly Goat is hosting BrewDog managing director James Watt, who’s bringing a keg of Tokyo, a keg of Punk IPA and bottles of Tactical Nuclear Penguin.

When the Petrossians expanded their West Hollywood location last May, they hired up-and-coming chef Benjamin Bailly, most recently the sous chef of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas, to create a menu that would showcase their caviar. The Petrossian publicist invited a small group of food writers (including me) to sample Chef Bailly’s latest offerings, and it turned out that his food was even more interesting than the caviar.

David Davis of L.A. based Studio Davis went with a clean and simple design, transforming the former Petrossian office space into a contemporary, airy boutique with a 15-foot ceiling, multiple display cases and a communal “Tasting Table” lined with tiny black beads that resemble caviar. The adjacent café, which used to house the entire retail operation, now hosts casual seating and black-and-white photos of Hollywood giants like Marilyn Monroe. You’ll also find sidewalk tables along Robertson Boulevard framed.

Petrossian practically shouts opulence. On the window, yellow and orange block letters tout “Caviar,” “Champagne,” “Foie Gas,” “Smoked Salmon,” which are all ingredients that are prohibitively expensive to many Angelenos, but certainly more welcome in an upscale neighborhood like West Hollywood. The Petrossian cafe menu features plenty of opulent options, including multi-element champagne tastings and a Royal Caviar Trio that is truly worthy of a King, with 30 grams each of Royal Ossetra, Siberian and Transmontanus caviars for a whopping $390. Thankfully, further down the page, no “signature” dish or “main course” tops $28.

Our evening began with an original cocktail, effervescent Mumm Napa champagne with a sinker of candied hibiscus flowers that had been preserved in rhubarb syrup and contributed an herbaceous sweetness. Hibiscus is popular as a Mexican agua fresca, called Jamaica.

There’s a reason that caviar, tangy crème fraiche and blini has become a classic combination. Petrossian set out a plate of warm, springy pancakes topped with crème fraiche and two types of roe, but by the time I got to the plate, the other food writers had devoured the sturgeon roe. I was happy to “settle” for bursting orange trout roe.

At home, chips and dip typically involves guac and a bag tortilla chips. At Petrossian, they fold and pile crème fraiche with black Transmontanus caviar before sprinkling on crumbled hardboiled egg and chives. The whisper thin chips were crafted from earthy Peruvian purple potato and sweet potato chips.

The next stop on the caviar parade involved Caviar Surprise, tins of Transmontanus with subterranean layers of creme fraiche and King crab suspended in apple cider gelee. The gelatinous base was a textural surprise that I didn’t enjoy.

Eating caviar isn’t exactly painful, but a little goes a long way, and after three different caviar-forward bites, it was fun to find Chef Bailly’s steak tartare “spring roll.” Yes, there was more caviar - in this case pressed caviar - but his Prime hanger steak was the star, wrapped in rice paper with minced chives and parsley. The crispy crostini base added a good textural contrast. This was an inventive play on a Vietnamese classic, a novel fusion with French cuisine.

Shrimp Papillote was another creative dish: sweet, plump prawns wrapped in crispy phyllo “wontons” and drizzled with sweet passion fruit and chile ginger sauce that added a subtle but satisfying kick at the finish that left me wanting more.

Foie Gras Creme Brulee featured a crispy, torched top and fluffy cloud of green apple espuma. The foam was a little sweet considering green apple is typically tart, and the custardy foie gras tasted good, but was so rich that it was impossible to finish the entire glass. Of course other writers had no such trouble. Then again, one writer ate more than one tin of Caviar Surprise, but I digress.

Chef Bailly made several satisfying dishes, but no dish was more comforting than his Crispy Egg, an egg that was cooked with extreme precision, encased in a golden, yolk-rich coating of bread crumbs, and plated on a smoky cippolini onion soubise with tiny cubes of sweet smoked salmon. Up top, it was no surprise to find more sturgeon roe. After the yolk was unleashed into the soubise, each bite involved a dizzying mix of sweet, salty, crispy and silky elements.

Our final savory course involved a fork-tender fillet of Skate Wing Grenobloise (in the style of Grenoble) topped with a brown butter foam. He plated the skate with intensely tart caper berries and cubes of sherry vinegar gelee. Underneath the skate, we found crushed potato that reminded me of German potato salad. That’s a good thing.

For our grand finale, Chef Bailly presented a Dessert Tasting. We took turns digging spoons into a trio of glasses. My favorite was his Gianduja parfait, rich chocolate ganache topped with Praline, a crusty mix of almond and hazelnut made with honey sweetness. Up top, he added a dollop of fluffy vanilla mascarpone, where the crushed vanilla was clearly visible in the cream. This dessert was rich, but absolutely addictive.

The other two glasses were just fine, but not as dynamic as the chocolate parfait. Chef Bailly’s pistachio creme brulee was topped with strawberry syrup, chunks of macerated strawberry and whole pistachios.

Chef Bailly’s vanilla panna cotta was a good version of a French classic, topped with diced mango and finished with a syrup of passion fruit, mango puree and vanilla bean. He did have one surprising twist: Pop Rocks embedded in the panna.

Overall, the meal was good, and different than what I expected. Petrossian is 80 years old, but by hiring Chef Bailly, they family is clearly not rooted in history. I would eat at Petrossian again, but next time, I’d skip the classic caviar-centric dishes and focus exclusively on Chef Bailly’s more interesting compositions.

Everything is going according to plan just as I have foreseen. And, by that I mean, each geographic area in our grand metropolis is getting a great local beer bar. In Hollywood? Then Blue Palms Brewhouse is the place. Up in Chatsworth? Then McG’s Irish Pub & Grill is nearby. Now another piece in the puzzle is being added, Burbank.

Tony’s Darts Away is spearheaded by Tony Yanow and will open in April. There will be 36 taps paying homage to the great beers made here in the Golden State. The motto of Tony’s is, according to Yanow, “Bringing the fine beers of California to the fine people of Los Angeles.” And with a newly installed integrated beer tap system that includes two cask taps and two nitro taps, you will be able to sample from Chico to San Diego from the 1/2 of the beer menu that is fixed or the 1/2 that are seasonal or special offerings.

Yanow has three arguments to make for serving only California beer, “First, the quality and freshness of local beer can’t be beat. By offering only California beer, we’re able to serve beer the way the brewer wants it served – not something that was shipped across the country and passed through many hands. Second, I think it’s important for California businesses to support each other; we’re all in this economy together and it’s never been more important to support the small guy and buy local to help employ people in our community. Finally, the environmental impact – or carbon footprint – of shipping beer, nationally and internationally. I’m working hard to keep our ‘beer miles’ as low as can be.”

One of the things that struck me from talking with Yanow recently was his genuine passion for beer. That coupled with an extensive knowledge of the statewide beer scene and home brewing makes him a true beer geek. Another positive, that is near and dear to my heart is his idea for a “beer library” featuring books on the subject from Yanow’s own collection to help his customers learn more about beer. And it doesn’t stop there, he has given his employees weekly beer reading assignments, conducted tastings with them and will even have them learn the brewing process to help them find the right beer for you.

On the food side of the ledger will be locally sourced artisan sausages made with California meats plus four vegan sausages and a variety of toppings. A selection of California cheese will be available along with a range of salads or you can go with fried foods to snack on.

Tony’s Darts Away (dart boards included) will be open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 2am and Sunday from 9 AM to 1 AM.

Your beer of the week is Ballast Point’s Yellowtail ale. I know that Sculpin or Victory at Sea are the “hot” Daily Candy beers in the Ballast Point line-up. But I recently had a pint of the Yellowtail and I was amazed at how easy to drink it was. It had loads of cereal and grain notes. Plus there is a little bit of sugar in there that really hits my sweet tooth in the right spot. The best part? It is widely available. You don’t have to chase after it like their extreme beers.

Romero was born in Norwalk and raised in La Habra. He attended Berkeley undergrad, they worked in “strategy consulting” and performed non-profit work before earning his MBA at Stanford. He was looking to do something entrepreneurial that would cater to the Hispanic population, and was inspired by coffee. He spent an influential stretch working for Martin Diedrich at Kean Coffee on weekends before writing a business plan for Tierra Mia.

Pacific is a busy shop-lined boulevard that has an open-air market feel, especially on weekends. The space housed a McDonald’s for 11 years and most recently, a Mexican restaurant. Decor is minimal, with sumptuous couches and chairs. Photos of coffee farmers on the walls. Order at the marble counter, where the baristas brew Intelligentsia and Stumptown coffee. At South Gate, he offered Intelligentsia from the beginning, but after a recent trip to Seattle and Portland, he learned about Stumptown and decided to expand his pourover offerings. Intelligentsia is the only espresso option.

Romero said Tierra Mia typically features 3-4 coffees per day for pourover, which are brewed using two different methods. “With the stir method, it tends to bring out the acidity of the coffee, gives it more clarity,” says Romero. “Continuous pour, you just get that acidity and sweetness but still gives you that pop that I like.”

Tierra Mia offers a traditional line-up of espresso drinks. They’re using a La Marzocco Linea espresso machine, which is the same machine you’ll find in South Gate. “It would be nice to have a super expensive machine with all the bells and whistles,” says Romero, “but if you have good training and a good grinder, you can pull really good shots.”

There are also a handful of Latin-flavored specialty drinks like the Coco Loco, Horchata, Mocha Mexicano and Cafecito Cubano Con Leche, a sweet option where the shots of espresso are pulled directly over sugar before being enriched with half-and-half. Romero decided on a “varied menu that I thought the community would want, made with the best ingredients and flavors possible.” If you’re looking to eat, Tierra Mia carries Porto’s Bakery pastries.

What is it about coffee that inspires you?

So much, probably the most exciting thing right now is that it is kind of like the Wild West. There is so much we don’t know about coffee in every step of the process that if you are studious you can stumble across new things left and right.

No one has facts that are indisputable answers to these questions to the point where even the smallest players in the game can throw out ideas that change everything. It keeps me on my toes and always looking with a fresh perspective.

Since you’re the defending U.S. champ, what motivated you to compete again?

I had the opportunity to do some traveling last year that introduced me to a wide range of international coffee professionals. I wish I had been video taping the interactions because the first question everyone asked was “so… are you competing again?” In the beginning I wasnt going to compete, Atlanta was great but it took a lot out of me. After being prodded and nudged though I realized that I really do enjoy competing and there is little else that applies as much pressure to raise your game. Add to that the opportunity to work with an idea I have been interested in since I began competing and here I am.

What did you learn by competing at the regional competition?

Oddly enough I learned that the time on stage can be fun. I have always enjoyed the build up to competing where you develop a concept, learn a coffee and work on technique… actually performing though was terrifying. This was the first time where being on stage and actually talking with the judges about what I was doing was the most fun part.

Did anything catch you off guard at the regional?

The level and types of coffees other competitors brought. I had a variety of really clean, bright washed coffees from competitors in the top 6 this year. Being that I was bringing a super fresh, super clean Costa Rica I thought that would be where I may have had a little edge but no… All of these coffees were right there.

Do you plan to change your approach at all for the USBC? If so, how?

Chaps Josh… I plan to wear chaps.

What’s your goal at the USBC?

My goal at the USBC is to taste as much coffee as I can, meet all of the new kids bringing good ideas and to do the best run possible.

What’s the key to a great signature beverage?

Understand your coffee(s) better than anyone to the point where you can provide a perspective on it that they have not yet thought of. Part of me hates always serving the sig drink last but it works well as a narrative tool where everything builds to a point allowing the cumulative to be bigger than the sum. It also pretty much has to taste delicious.

Was there a coffeehouse you didn’t know about before the regional that you now want to try?

Not really. This was my fourth GLBC so I know most of these folks by now. It did reinforce how much I need to get up to visit the shop of those Madcap guys though, but I have known that for awhile.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.

The first booth through the door was Breadfruit, an 18-month-old Jamaican restaurant owned by Danielle Leoni and Dwayne Allen. They specialize in seafood and made Red Stripe curry prawns, plump shell-off crustaceans rubbed with Blue Mountain curry, sauteed with garlic, diced tomatoes, bell pepper and thyme. Habanero and Scotch bonnet peppers delivered a lingering spice, but it wasn’t too ferocious since they were de-seeded.

Chef Michael O’Dowd did a great job of representing Kai, an eight-year-old restaurant at Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort. Kai specializes in “Native American Food with global influences” and means ’seed’ in the Pima language. O’Dowd and his crew delivered five different dishes, the most (and most interesting) of any Devoured booth. The biggest winner was a game stew: goat, antelope and wild boar cooked in duck fat for 14 hours until the meat came apart in juicy shreds. The topper: a golden disc of fry bread dabbed with a spicy aioli made with a pepper similar to chipotle.

Kai’s citrus push-up with local lavender was a contender, but ultimately was supplanted by their red Inca Quinoa folded with caramelized avocado, pineapple and supposedly some sweet Lapsang sausage, though I didn’t notice any. Up top, there was a tender bite-sized portion of seared ribeye and more of that mysterious pepper aioli.

Sweet Republic co-owner Helen Yung drove the retro truck from the Scottsdale ice cream shop, and she made sure to bring three big guns: white truffle oil, bacon and salted butter caramel swirl. The obvious choice was bacon, a flavor that’s only available at the store on weekends. The tiny, creamy scoop incorporated rendered bacon fat and bits of candied bacon. Not too painful.

Caffe Boa executive chef Payton Curry and his crew fabricated an entire pig for a rapt audience during a cooking demo…and promptly took the pig back to their booth’s mesquite grill. By the time I got there, the festival was winding down. Curry’s crew was carving the shoulder and cooking the leg. The mesquite imparted a sweet smokiness that accented the juicy but sinewy pig. The plate also held pickled snap peas, carrots and fennel that offered a tangy contrast.

Ticoz is a modern Latin restaurant named for natives of Costa Rica. Their smoked shrimp tostada wasn’t revolutionary, but it combined a crunchy shell with a firm jumbo shrimp, a chunky avocado hummus base and crisp passion fruit cole slaw. Ticoz drizzled their tostada with a subtly spicy drizzle of roasted Poblano salsa.

Relish Burger Bistro is a new burger concept from executive chef Paul Carter at The Phoenician. Carter said the owners of the luxurious Scottsdale resort were tired of having guests leave to find casual dining options, so they opened one of their own. If their griddled Kobe Beef Burger is any indication, they should no doubt increase retention. The silky Kobe could have used a more pronounced char, but that’s not exactly a hallmark of Kobe beef. The burger achieved balance with melted Cheddar and umami-rich steak sauce on a soft house-made roll. Relish is currently in their soft opening phase. They plan to close soon and re-open full-force on May 1.

The most over-the-top option had to be the corn dog from District, an 18-month-old American restaurant in the downtown Sheraton. Chef Nathan Crouser starts with an oozing cheddar hot dog from Schreiner’s, the revered local butcher shop that supplies sausage to places like Pizzeria Bianco. He then batters the dog in cornmeal, deep fries it, dusts it with sea salt and provides a squeeze bottle of house-made violet mustard. The reduction of red wine, garlic and shallots is pureed with whole grain and Dijon mustards, leading to a tangy, spicy condiment. Even in miniature, this corn dog was an absolute beast. No wonder it’s a signature dish.

Tammie Coe Cakes is skilled pastry chef who’s known for baked goods and colorful fondant-strewn cakes that are similar to what you’d see on “Ace of Cakes.” At Devoured, she went relatively simple with a Chocolate Coconut Blitz. The dense chocolate and coconut orb was dipped in chocolate and toasted coconut shavings and served on a bed of coconut tapioca pudding with playful Pop Rocks.

The dessert barrage continued at Christopher’s and Crush Lounge, where Christopher Gross mercifully cut thin slices of gateau Marjolaine. The rich cake featured harmonious layers of espresso, hazelnut and coffee mousses, another striation of crunchy hazelnut meringue cake and an outer coating of chocolate ganache. As if that wasn’t enough, Gross also plated the cake with espresso creme anglaise.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Silvana Salcido Esparza and Barrio Cafe showed up big. Not only did the “badass girl” bring her cochinita pibil and camarones borrachos, she also brought guitarists…

…and a luchador, who was painting another luchador. It doesn’t get much more meta than that.

Indoors, the seminar room also served as a beer hall with tantalizing options like Avery 16th Anniversary and Collaboration Not Litigation. There was also a very cool DJ set that drew on the music of a live saxophonist.

Caroline on Crack

Caroline Pardilla: Tips on How To Send Back A Bad Meal at a Restaurant (March 10, 2010)

Eating LA

Pat Saperstein: Quadrupel: The gastropub of my dreams, it’s not (March 10, 2010)

e*starLA

Esther Tseng: Garden Market Thursdays With A View at Yamashiro (March 12, 2010)

Food Marathon

The Ceviche Food Marathon (March 9, 2010)

LA Weekly

Jonathan Gold: Tasty by Any Name (March 9, 2010)
Noan Galuten: Top 10 Food-Related Stand-Up Comedy Bits (This Blog Post is Rated MA: For Mature Audiences Only) (March 9, 2010)

Mattatouille

Matthew Kang: Nagoya-Style Dishes in Los Angeles (March 8, 2010)

Midtown Lunch

Zach Brooks: Burger Truck Showdown: Baby’s Badass vs. Grill ‘Em All (March 10, 2010)

What distinguishes Tuthilltown Spirits from other distilleries in terms of your approach and product?

Tuthilltown sources about 90% of raw materials from within 10 miles of the distillery. By maintaining close ties to our farmers, we are able to acquire high quality grains while also having the ability to experiment with heirloom varietals on a smaller scale. Our apples for our vodka come from an orchard 3 miles up the road on which we own trees with a number of grafted varietals from the old country. The micro-distillation process allows for a very dynamic approach, giving us the ability to create new products and innovate with established spirit types.

Also, we employ a whole mash process. This allows us to create very grain oriented flavors in our finished product. These are two approaches that create a very distinguished product.

Why was it important to expand beyond whiskey?

I think its important to create spirits with the materials at hand. If you live near orchards, make brandy or vodkas from those apples. If you live on Washington Island where they grow varietals of wheat, make wheat whiskey. If you are surrounded by fruits and berries, make brandies or eu de vie.

No reason to expand beyond whiskey if the distillery is surrounded by grain fields. For us, where we are, its important, and fun, to create new types of spirits with what we have at hand. This is good the farmers, the distillers and the consumers.

How did you become so interested in spirits?

Well…..thats a loaded question. Spirits have long been a part of my life, though in very different capacities.

From a craft, distillation end, I learned most of what I know here at Tuthilltown, on the job. After learning the distillation process from the inside out, I was hooked. Now I enjoy learning as much as I can about our craft and the other craftsmen working parallel to us. There is a true satisfaction in tasting other artisanal products, as well as the more established products of Scotland or Kentucky. Those guys obviously know what they are doing, and it shows. Its truly amazing though how American micro-distillers have created such a wide variety of high quality spirits with very little knowledge of the processes and so few avenues of learning. These guys are almost all self taught.

Do you have a first whiskey memory?

The memories of my first whiskey experiences are long gone.

How did Tuthilltown Spirits come about, and why the name?

Ralph Erenzo and Brian Lee our the founders of Tuthilltown Spirits. Ralph bought the Tuthilltown Gristmill property in 2001 with the intention of creating a climbers ranch with afforable accommodations for climbers visiting the world renowned Shawangunk mountains. After some local resistance to the project, Ralph invited a friend over who was on the zoning board. “What an we do without having to ask permission?” His answer was “Farm Winery”. Any farm use is by right and would allow us to move forward without any NIMBY resistors. (These were only 2 neighbors with deep pockets and a adamant opposition to having climbers swimming in shared pond). In the process of researching farm winery licenses, Ralph stumbled across a new class of distillery licenses (A-1 Farm distillers license). This started the ball rolling.

Around the same time, Brian Lee was poking around the properties 18th century mill with a slight interest in taking on the mill as a retirement project. After one season running the mill, he thought better of it. Ralph suggested looking into the distillery idea as well. A few weeks later Brians house was mortgaged, Ralph put up the property and Still 1 was ordered.

The name comes from the gentleman who built the mill in 1788, Selah Tuthill. Tuthilltown was actually a hamlet that predated the current town of Gardiner, NY.

Do you have any mentors?

My distilling mentors are Ralph and Brian. Its amazing what they have created, business-wise and liquid-wise. All with no prior knowledge of distillation.

What was your major in college?

Business Management with a minor in Marketing. No, no science background…though you could certainly consider my onsite education as at least minor status.

Do you think that helps you in your position?

Absolutely. Business and staff management is always one of the hardest aspects of building a business. Also a basic understanding of Marketing can only help any small brand or business.

Who are some other distillers who you respect?

Hubert Germain-Robin, Jorg Rupf, Lance Winters, Rick Wasmund, Fritz Maytag to name a few. These are some of the leaders in the American Micro-Distillation movement. All of whom are creating amazing spirits from scratch. Of course there are the big dogs too such as Fred Noe, Parker Beam and Jimmy Russel, all of whom have decades in the field of distillation.

What’s a great simple whiskey cocktail for people to make at home, and what’s the recipe?

The quintessential “Manhattan” Try with any whiskey, but be discerning in your choice of sweet vermouth. I suggest Dolins or Carpano Antica for a delicious outcome.

one of my favorite recipes

2oz Hudson Manhattan Rye Whiskey
1oz Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
2 dashes of Fee Brothers Aromatic bitters

stir in ice for a moment and strain into martini glass. Garnish with a lemon zest (zest over glass to cover the cocktail with citrus oils).

Enjoy.

What’s upcoming for Tuthilltown Spirits?

Ive planted some apple seeds. So check back in 15 years for my apple brandies :-). Really though, Ill be focusing on Apple Brandies over the next 5 years or so.

For now, check out our Hudson New York Corn whiskey. Amazing in any whiskey cocktail and available nationwide.

If you could only drink one more cocktail, what would it be?

Probably either a Hudson Sazerac or a Ramos Gin Fizz (with Deaths Door Gin).

Why?

Simply delicious.