Learn the in’s and out’s of starting a distillery from Hardware Distillery’s Jan Morris in this interview with Robbin Block on Minding Your Business.
Hear all the details about the paperwork, build out, financing and more.
Aquavit is a holiday treat in Scandinavia.It is one of the older liquors, and there are records of aquavit dating back to the 16th century. Like many of the older spirits, it was named “Aqua Vite” for “water of life” and was considered to have medicinal properties.
Aquavit is also spelled “akavavit” or “akevitt.” It is associated with many traditions in Scandinavia. It is popularly believed to help digest rich foods, and it’s enjoyed at holiday time and celebrations throughout the year. It is often drunk while singing a traditional drinking song.
Like gin, the recipes and flavors of aquavit vary among brands and are kept secret. Also like gin, there is a dominant flavor. In aquavit the dominant flavor is caraway. Other botanicals found in aquavit recipes may include cardamom, cumin, anise, fennel, and lemon or orange peel.
Aquavit is usually aged in barrels, but it does not have to be. Norway has a unique tradition of sending barrels of aquavit in ships from Norway to Australia and back again. The steady movement of the waves, the humidity and the mercurial temperatures cause the aquavit to extract more flavor from the barrels. Upon returning to Norway, the ocean-aged aquavit can be labeled as “linje” aquavit. Because this process has not been successfully reproduced in simulated circumstances on land, boats loaded with barrels of aquavit continue to set sail from Norway to Australia and back again.
In nearly all of my gin recipes, the Mediterranean juniper berry is the most important ingredient. The other ingredients have great names, such as sweet flag, grains of paradise, angelica root, and orris root. I had thought these ingredients would be hard to find, but I found almost everything I needed right here in Seattle at the Pike Place Market.
I started my search at World Spice, which is adjacent (actually on a street below) the Pike Place Market. The smells there are wonderful. They have Mediterranean juniper berries, from Italy, which are a rich deep purple and fragrant. Because World Spice did not have all of the ingredients I needed, I next visited Tenzing Momo.
Tenzing Momo is on the main level of the Pike Place Market down a short, slightly crooked, corridor. It is a truly tiny shop, with many, many jars of herbs and spices. The shelves were packed to the ceiling with these jars. I found what I needed here.
Orris root
The store clerk, who had unforgettable, clear, bright eyes, packaged roots, herbs, and spices in small brown paper bags that could not contain the great smells.
I bought a good quality vodka to serve as my neutral grain spirits, and have begun my experimentations. So far, so good.
