Perfect Hardware Manhattan

Perfect Hardware Manhattan

Oct 30, 2015

Manhattan-recipe

Fill glass with ice

Two shots Bee’s Knees® Merry Cherry

½  shot sweet vermouth

¼  shot dry vermouth

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Juice from cherry jar to taste

Cherry to garnish

(Italian cherries recommended)

3-cherries

Bee’s Knees Peachy Keen, Batch No. 4

Bee’s Knees Peachy Keen, Batch No. 4

Nov 25, 2013

Last night we started bottling batch no. 4 of Bee’s Knees Peachy Keen. This is our first batch from Rich Lady peaches, which rested for 2 months in a 15-gallon, white American oak barrel.

The Wildflower Honey from Silver Bow in Moses Lake complements the peaches. The nose is great and quite peachy.

Bee’s Knees® – Rich Lady Peaches

Bee’s Knees® – Rich Lady Peaches

Sep 5, 2013

The next batch of Peachy Keen Bee’s Knees® will be distilled from Rich Lady peaches from Gilbert Orchards in Yakima, Washington. Rich Lady peaches have a warm yellow flesh, a rich dark red skin, and they smell delightful. This batch should be available in about 4 months.

Merry Cherry Bee’s Knees®…coming soon

Merry Cherry Bee’s Knees®…coming soon

Aug 24, 2013

I just drove to Eastern Washington to buy more honey and to return the bing cherry bins to Bigfork Orchards. This is a photo of the orchard, as I am driving away.

We have started the Merry Cherry Bee’s Knees® and have one barrel aging. We have enough cherries to make enough Merry Cherry to fill several more barrels. In the meantime, the Hoodsport Coffee Co. is serving Merry Cherry ice cream from un-aged Merry Cherry Bee’s Knees®.

Bee’s Knees® Merry Cherry

Bee’s Knees® Merry Cherry

Aug 18, 2013

On the first day of July, I drove to Bigfork Orchards, near Mattawa, WA, on the Columbia River to buy bins of bing cherries. The orchard is in a beautiful setting with rows of tall trees creating walls around and within the orchard.

Bing cherries suffered this year. Due to extreme weather conditions, cherries cracked and split. Unsuitable for retail, but perfect for distilling, I bought 960 pounds. Of course, this was before I realized that each cherry has to be pitted. I don’t know how many cherries are in a pound, but it looks like a lot.

 

We'll be washing and pitting a LOT of cherries!

We’ll be washing and pitting a LOT of cherries!

The cherries will be fermented with honey and distilled to become a cherry Bee’s Knees®. After aging in a new white oak barrel, it will be transferred to a red wine oak barrel from Stottle Winery, and the Bee’s Knees® Merry Cherry will be ready by Christmas.