Category: Distilling & Cocktails

F&W: Use of Salt in Cocktails

| Posted in People, Distilling & Cocktails

Both Magnus on Water in Biddeford and Bold Coast Spirits’s new Marine 01 oyster shell vodka were mentioned in a new Food & Wine article about the use of salt in cocktails which in part read,

Other products, like Bold Coast Spirits from Maine, infuse the spirit with a salty ingredient, like the brand’s Marine 01, an oyster shell–infused vodka…Brian Catapang, beverage director and co-owner of Magnus on Water in Biddeford, Maine, likes Marine 01 because it comes “properly seasoned” straight from the bottle. “I do not think of it as adding overt savory notes so much as contributing texture and minerality,” he says. “In a great Martini, texture is everything. The difference between something exceptional and something forgettable often comes down to mouthfeel.”

Photo Credit: Photograph courtesy of Bold Coast Spirits.

Bold Coast Spirits – Marine 01

| Posted in Openings, Distilling & Cocktails

Bold Coast Spirits (website, instagram) is launching the first batch of Marine 01 today. It is an “oyster shell vodka” that is being produced and bottled by Artisan Distillery in Oxford, Maine by co-founders Jay Lombard and Stuart Littlefield. Lombard shared,

Marine 01 is built around texture and coastal mineral character. When the spirit rests on the shells, the calcium and natural tannins in the shell slowly work into the vodka, building structure and a distinctly coastal minerality. The result is a vodka with a soft, rounded palate and a finish that holds up in a dirty martini, a Bloody Mary, or any savory build where balance matters.

The vodka is produced by resting the spirits on cracked Maine oyster shells sourced from Nor’Easter Oyster Company. It is the first product in Bold Coast’s Marine series, “a collection of small-batch spirits built around ingredients sourced from Maine’s coast.”

Four local bars and restaurants will be having special cocktails on their menu featuring Marine 01 including Douro, The Marquis, Magnus on Water in Biddeford, and Salty Spirits in Kittery, with bottles available at Bow Street Beverage, Oak Hill Beverage in Scarborough and other retailers.

Photo Credit: photograph courtesy of Bold Coast Spirits and taken by Evan Kalman with food styling by Sheila Jarnes.

Handshake Origins

| Posted in Distilling & Cocktails

Wine Enthusiast has published an article about Handshake, the Persian-inspired amaro that was launched in Portland earlier this year by Shahin Khojastehzad.

That’s when it clicked. “Beer was where I first started figuring out how to use Persian flavors in fermentation. But with amaro, I realized I could be even more intentional—more expressive.” With that, the seed was planted. After seven years of tinkering with recipe after recipe, Handshake was born.

The article mentions that Handshake is now available at over 160 locations in 15 states, and that Khojastehzad is working on a non-alcoholic version of Handshake as well as two new spirits, Roos and Shab.

National Press for Maine

| Posted in General News, Distilling & Cocktails, Wine

Maine is on a roll with press attention with food and dining stories running in Forbes, Architectural Digest, and Imbibe.

An article (not yet online) about fruit-based wines in the latest issue of Imbibe magazine features Eighteen Twenty Wines, RAS and Bluet. “At Maine’s Eighteen Twenty Wines, founder Amanda Denniston’s choice for vinification [rhubarb] is technically a vegetable, but it’s commonly treated as a fruit…Vinified bone dry, Fête, her summer release is akin to a French rosé. Its big, fruity mid-palate is bookended by a light, Provençal hue and the bone-dry yet savory finish of a Bandol rosé.”

Architectural Digest interviewed Megs Senk and George Korsnick about the creation of the space that is home to the Saint George Pizzeria, their new restaurant in the Midcoast town of Warren. “There’s a reason makers are drawn to this part of Maine. It attracts people who want to create things and be part of something—people with that New England pragmatism, even if they aren’t originally from here. It’s a fiercely individualistic place, but also deeply creative. Most of our friends here run small businesses or are artists or musicians. That’s rare in an area this small.”

In anticipation of National Spritz Day (August 1st) Forbes magazine wrote about some aperitifs and handcrafted bitters including Portland’s hometown favorite Handshake. “Traditionally sipped after meals, this digestif also works well for making big, bold spritzes. Rich, layered, and made with intention, Handshake is a modern bitter with old-world soul.”

Sanabria’s Coquito

| Posted in People, Distilling & Cocktails

Punch has published an article about Papi beverage director LyAnna Sanabria’s recipe for the classic Puerto Rican drink Coquito.

While coquito is often shorthanded as Puerto Rico’s answer to eggnog, the comparison is not quite right, Sanabria notes. While the two drinks share some characteristics—boozy, creamy, spiced—coquito tends to be lighter-bodied than eggnog, meant for sipping in warmer weather. It also has a complicated heritage entwined with the island’s colonial past.