Author: Rachael Manna

Here in Tamworth, the stories we tell are the spirits we create. Flowers tell the story of seasons, so we’re telling the story of our local flora in the form of the most floral spirit possible: gin.

The conception of  Tamworth Garden spirits began on the hillsides of New Hampshire. Inspired by local flora, we’ve foraged the ingredients to create fresh infusions in our botanical kitchen, as a base for our unique spirits.

While our Apiary Gin celebrates the sweet bounty of honeybees, our next gin will sings the song of flowers themselves. It’s an unfolding bouquet, adorned with local geranium, honey, violet, Lemon Verbena, Elderflower and Red Clover.

We’ve picked the bouquet, all you have to do is pour it in a glass.

“The keeping of bees is like the direction of sunshine.” – Thoreau

The story of Tamworth began with the story of hard work in a hard land, the relationship between the people and the soil. Our Apiary Gin celebrates the efforts of the most industrious workers around us: our local bees. Distilled with juniper berries, hand-foraged Poplar buds, Red Clover flower, and of course, 100% New England raw honey, Apiary Gin’s forest pine flavors are mellowed by the delicious fruits of our little buzzing friends labor. Another reason why we work with the land, not against it.

Visit our distillery for a tasting or stir up an Apiary Lemonade to enjoy at home.

2 parts Apiary Gin

4 parts fresh lemonade

 

Unlike wines, spirits don’t change in the bottle. They are time capsules, perfect pictures of the time and place they were created.

For our first line of spirits from our new Art in the Age Test Kitchen, we looked to the New England landscape around us to find our inspirations, and the seasonal ingredients of the autumn of 2014 were what informed our creations. Autumn in New Hampshire is a time of both subtle contemplation and intense inspiration. These Garden Infusions reflect that time in every bottle and in every glass.

Sweet potatoes infused with clove, maple syrup, and a touch of salt make this first batch the quintessence of autumn in a glass. Enjoy it after a hearty dinner, or before a long hike in the woods.

Once used as a coffee substitute, roasted chicory is the rich, dark basis of this earthy spirit. From there we tease out some bite with hand-harvested dandelion, spice with American rye, and warmth with cinnamon and maple syrup. At once both dark and inviting, our Chicory Vodka is a mystery you can solve.

Our beet vodka is a tribute to the fruits of the fall. We’ve blended sweet beets, tart New Hampshire cranberries, and cidery apple pomace, and added honey, salt, and tarragon to tie it all together. In the glass it is a striking punch which glows with a beautiful magenta color when held to the light. A perfect way to enjoy final fruits of the season today, tomorrow, and forever.

The wait is over: Our doors have finally been opened! Here’s a look at our first few exhilarating days, a glimpse of many more to come.

We invite you to visit us Wednesday through Sunday, to taste our new spirits and pick up a bottle to enjoy at home.

As the weather breaks we have one thing on our minds – foraging for new ingredients! This time we’re on a hunt for fragrant Balsam Poplar buds.

With few budding trees in Tamworth, we grabbed an axe and made our way up to Coos County to meet with UNH Forester Brendan Prusik and Agricultural Educator Steve Turaj. With their help, we collected a hefty supply of plump buds, allowing for a piece of New Hampshire in every bottle.

Maybe it’s because we’ve got a thing for booze, but to us, a lawn full of dandelions means a belly full of wine.

We took advantage of the vibrant florets sprouting up in New Hampshire and starting plucking our way to a batch of homemade Dandelion wine. Like most wine, each batch takes time to fully develop, but there’s nothing like a sweet glass of spring in the dead of winter. Here’s how it’s done!

 

Recipe:

1 gallon freshly picked dandelions

1 gallon water

2 pounds raw sugar

1 pound organic golden raisins

2 organic lemons

2 organic oranges

1 packet wine yeast

 

1. Collect the blossoms when they are fully open on a sunny day.  Remove any green sepals as they will impair fermentation.

2. Prepare the oranges and the lemon. Juice citrus fruits and set aside. Cut remaining rinds into thin strips to minimize the amount of white pith added to the brew.

3. Add peels, juice, dandelion petals, raisins, & sugar into a large crock. Pour 1 gallon of boiled water over ingredients and steep for 3 days.

4. Strain the liquid through a cheesecloth until all solids are removed and pour into a large fermenting vessel with an airlock. Add yeast and seal.

5.  When the mixture has stopped bubbling (about 2 weeks) fermentation is complete. Siphon wine to remove lees (sediment) and pour into sterilized wine bottles. Cork and store in a cool, dark place for at least 6 months.

Spring is just around the corner, but Tamworth is just as beautiful when the town is blanketed in snow. Whether you’re on foot or cross-country skiing, there are just a few more weeks left to go out and take it all in.

It’s about time we sprinkled a little more rye into the pot to get our first batches of rye whiskey cooking.

By law, rye’s mash must consist of at least 51% rye. The additional rye adds a particular spice and dryness to the flavor, while corn adds sweetness, and barley drives the fermentation process.

To conjure up the past we’ve petitioned the future: a state-of-the-art 250 gallon custom-made copper still with a Scotch-style brandy helmet, a whisky column, a gin basket, four fermenters, six holding tanks, a hot water reclaiming system, a mash cooker…well we don’t want to give away all of our secrets but you get the idea!

The wide range of gear allows us to be many things at once: a Test Kitchen, a whiskey distiller, an Applejack fermenter, a maker of small-batch gins, eau du vies, and spirits hitherto unknown.

The visionary poet William Blake once wrote “what is now proved was once imagined.” When it comes to possibility of future spirits, the limits of our Test Kitchen and our own imaginations know no bounds.