Announcing Von Humboldt’s Natur Wasser, a spirituous accompaniment to Andrea Wulf’s newest book, The Invention of Nature.
Von Humboldt’s Natur Wasser is a limited edition, 40-proof Tamarind Cordial created right here at Tamworth Distilling and Mercantile. Only 500 bottles were produced, and will be available at talks and dinners with Wulf as well as for purchase in our distillery.
Despite being the most famous scientist of his age, Humboldt has faded into obscurity. His radical vision of nature as a complex and interconnected global force — ‘the web of life’ — totally changed our understanding of our relationship with the natural world. So thorough was this paradigm shift that we take it for granted, rather than crediting Humboldt for his “invention”. His travels and writings inspired many environmentalist thinkers and poets that came after, including Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau.
A particular anecdote from Humboldt’s South American adventures led to the choice of the unique tamarind flavor. At the end of March of 1800, the explorer and naturalist packed his boat to the brim with tamarind fruit before departing on an expedition through the Venezuelan jungle. Humboldt had learned from the locals that the pod-like fruit of the tamarind could turn unsavory water into a refreshing ‘lemonade’.
We took this story to our distillers, where a quest began that was almost as ambitious as Humboldt’s. An exceptional batch of tamarind fruit was sourced from Thailand, which had sweet smoke and bourbon flavors resulting from the drying process. The flesh of the fruit was infused in our house-made neutral grain spirit, along with lemon zest and golden brown sugar. Finally, like the original ‘jungle river lemonade,’ the spirit was proofed down with sterilized water from the Swift River, which runs just a few feet from the distillery.
Learn more about Andrea Wulf here. Pre-order The Invention of Nature here.
This fall, Andrea Wulf will be taking both the story and the spirit on the road for a series of talks and dinners:
September 16 – (Mount Vernon, VA) Talk and book signing at George Washington’s Mount Vernon — Click here to learn more
September 17 – (Philadelphia, PA) Talk and book signing at The American Philosophical Society
September 18 – (Philadelphia, PA) Dinner at Talula’s Daily Secret Supper Club from 6:00-8:00pm — To reserve your seat & a signed copy of The Invention of Nature call 215.592.6555
September 30 – (New York, NY) Talk and book signing, followed by dinner at the New York Academy of Medicine at 8:30pm — Click here to reserve your seat & a signed copy of The Invention of Nature
October 5 – (Boston, MA) Talk and book signing at the Massachusetts Historical Society — Click here to learn more
October 14 – (Washington, DC) Dinner at The Tabard Inn at 7:00pm — Click here to reserve your seat & a signed copy of The Invention of Nature
Both talks and dinners will include a cocktail hour, and a chance to taste both Von Humboldt’s Natur Wasser as well as select Art in the Age spirits.