|
The Chuck Cowdery Blog 3-3-2010 |
 |
 |
 |
I Visit Koval, My Neighborhood Distillery.
‘White whiskey’ is a new term, but a good one. It’s good because anyone with a rudimentary understanding of distilled spirits gets immediately what it means.
Too bad it’s illegal.
Under U.S. law, all whiskey (except corn whiskey) must be “stored in oak containers,” i.e., aged. White whiskey is just another name for white dog, spirit straight from the still, innocent of oak. It may be ‘white whiskey’ to you and me, but it’s not any kind of whiskey to the U. S. government until it has seen the inside of a barrel.
That’s why the five white whiskeys made by Chicago’s Koval Distillery are just called ‘grain spirits,’ even though they are, in fact, white whiskey. Very fine white whiskey at that.
To Read more please visit: http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-visit-koval-my-neighborhood.html |
|
Metromix Chicago 2-24-2010 |
|
|
|
More ways to drink local
Last week we gave you our guide to drinking local, spotlighting bars around town mixing up cocktails with spirits from boutique distilleries around the Midwest.
This week, two more spots are busting onto the scene with local booze on their cocktail lists. River North's Gilt Bar, which warms up with a soft opening tonight, will be serving up the Jasmine, made with Cointreau, Campari, lemon and Death's Door vodka from in Madison, Wis. Primebar, opening this Wednesday in the Loop, fills a designated "Drink Local" section of its drink menu to drinks like Coming Up Roses (Maker's Mark with mint and rose hip liqueur from Chicago-based Koval) and the Chicago 75, which matches three locally made ingredients (North Shore's No. 6 gin, Koval's chrysanthemum-honey liqueur and Goose Island's 312) with bitters and lemon juice.
To Read more please visit: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/metromix-blog/2010/02/more-ways-to-drink-local.html |
|
Metromix Chicago 2-23-2010 |
|
|
|
Local boutique booze 18 ways to savor booze from up-and-coming Midwest distilleries
It’s happening more and more on cocktail lists around town: Bars are name-dropping their locally produced spirits like chefs tout the local organic farms supplying their pork.
Bartenders are mixing up creative ways to showcase booze coming out of Midwest distilleries, and the options keep expanding. And with their help, drinkers are getting savvier about boutique booze. At new Wicker Park bar the Exchange, the newest entry in the cocktail lounge scene, bartenders place the bottles they’re using right in front of their customer while they’re mixing so they can see them up close and ask questions about where they’re from.
Here’s where to get your dose of local booze from five major Midwest distilleries.
By Lisa Arnett
To Read more please visit: http://chicago.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/essay_photo_gallery/local-boutique-booze/1772086/content |
Memo From the Booze Desk 2: A Celebration of American Distilling (and Innovation)
As I walked into the Celebration of American Distilling at the Edgewater Hotel on Thursday night, my plan was to approach it as a scientist. I had come up with a detailed plan for the night that would start with vodkas and proceed carefully through the flavors available in a way that would not overwhelm my palette. I never dreamed of the stunning innovations and temptations I would discover. I tried to follow my scientastic plan, but failed immediately as the fantasy land of unique flavors took me in directions I never intended.
.....
I breathed a sigh of relief as I finished tasting at the Wisconsin distilleries. I had had a strong desire to cover the local flavors in this article and yet it’s not easy to proceed through a liquor tasting and not let your head float off like a balloon on a string before you are very far into it.
My next focus was on micro-distilleries from out of state. These small distilleries were creating some incredibly unique flavors. For example:
Koval is a boutique distiller from Chicago with a phenomenal array of flavored liqueurs that included Chrisanthemum Honey, Rosehips, Ginger and Jasmine.
To Read more please visit: http://www.dane101.com/food/2010/02/22/memo_from_the_booze_desk_2_a_celebration_of_american_distilling_and_innovation |
Celebration of American Distilling
whew, The Celebration of Ameican Distilling
http://www.madisonmaltsociety.com/
so as the 3rd cup of coffee, the tums, the multivitamin, and the 6 asprin I took this morning have started to take effect.....did anyone else go to the edgewater last night for this event?
I want to start going down the list of things that blew me away, but I'm still a bit groggy.
First impression stand-outs where:
Templeton Rye
Tito's (which I've had many times before, but put head to head against so many other really impressed me.
Koval: Illinois organic and kosher distillery, amazing amazing amazing liqeurs, including a "Rose hip" a "Jazmine" and a "Pear" liqeur that the blew me a away.
Rogue House of Spirits: Dead Guy wiskey: f*cking awesome! From the Rogue brewing company, a newer spirits division they've started.
AEppelTreow Distilling: Fortified cherry, apple, and pear wines, and a barrel sample of their new apple brandy. I usually hate fruity stuff, but the flavor and complexity of this guys stuff was outstanding...door county wine should be put on notice =)
There's more, but I need more coffee. Anyone else have thoughts?
-Dan Motor
To Read more please visit: http://www.thedailypage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48301
|
'American Distilling' event leaves a good aftertaste
If I were a cartoon, little bubbles would have been rising off my head Thursday night as I walked out of the Edgewater Hotel and the second annual "Celebration of American Distilling," a benefit for community radio station WORT 89.9 FM.
The event is a bonanza of spirits -- 30 distillers from around the country -- but presented in an atmosphere of education and enjoyment, not gluttony. The $55 to $65 tickets probably also kept the riffraff at bay. It didn't have the pigs-to-the-trough rush of the Madison Food & Wine Show. Spitting is encouraged, but I didn't.
....
Koval Distillery (Chicago, Ill.) -- Billed as "American, organic, kosher," this distillery offered some of the room's most unique and well-crafted liquors. The Bierbrand whiskey is distilled from lager and retains the beer's malty taste and hoppy smell without being overpowering. The ginger and coffee liqueurs are just as tasty -- not very sweet or syrupy, they draw on the more interesting elements of each flavor. The coffee liqueur had an earthy, roasted taste that was simple and uncluttered. The distillery also makes rose hip, chrysanthemum honey, jasmine, cardamom, hibiscus, orange, walnut and black currant liqueur.
To Read more please visit: http://host.madison.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/article_fad7946e-1d0e-11df-8e9d-001cc4c002e0.html |
|
Chicago Now Redeye 2-17-2010 |
|
|
|
Chicago liquor-makers bet on fans of craft booze
In a few years, 1-year-old Lion Birnecker will have a fascinating story to tell the class on career day.
His mom, Sonat, and dad, Robert, produce small batches of liquor--including vodka, grain spirits, brandy and liqueurs--at Koval distillery in a lofty, soaring space in Logan Square where the baby's brightly painted toys are scattered among barrels and bottles.
"Lion is kind of like our mascot," Sonat Birnecker, 36, told RedEye as her son was napping elsewhere in a room filled with vats and the strong smell of grains. For nearly two years and after leaving their careers as a professor (Sonat) and a press secretary for the Austrian embassy (Robert), the couple have worked grueling hours for the company, which creates certified organic and kosher liquor, Sonat said.
Lion is right in the middle of the action, even once scrawling his signature on a barrel.
"We love having him here with us while we work," Sonat said.
Robert, 28, nodded his agreement.
The Birneckers' workplace and day-care arrangement is certainly unique, as the distillery is widely acknowledged as the first business of its kind in Chicago.
To Read more please visit: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye/2010/02/local-liquor-makers-bet-on-fans-of-craft-booze.html |
|
What Would Alpanda Drink? 2-17-2010 |
|
|
|
Hot for Ginger!
Whenever I think of ginger ale, I am reminded of a former restaurant co-worker who was addicted to ginger ale. She worked back of the house (restaurant lingo for kitchen) but the sole soda gun was located at the bar in the dining room. No less than three times a day she would quickly dash out of the kitchen, fill a giant pitcher with ginger ale and then rush back to her station. I couldn't believe that a human being could consume that much ginger ale and quickly became obsessed with her habit. I tried talking to her a few times, wondering if she ever drank other flavors like orange Fanta or Fresca but whenever I approached her, I could tell she was too hopped up on sugar to concentrate. When she finally left us to pursue a position at another restaurant, our bartender went from changing the ginger ale syrup once a week to once every couple of months.
....
Koval Distillery Ginger Liqueur
This is an organic product made by a local boutique Chicago distillery owned by a very adorable and inspiring husband and wife team. Sixty pounds of ginger went into making just one batch.
To Read more please visit: http://whatwouldalpanadrink.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-for-ginger.html |
|
Stone Barn Brandyworks - 2-3-2010 |
|
|
|
Rye Whiskey
Grain spirits and whiskeys are a relatively new product and technique for us. Robert from Koval Distillery in Chicago shared his whiskey recipe with us when he came to help install the still. We mix flour with boiling hot water in a 150 liter stainless steel cauldron on wheels. The vat is enveloped by a water jacket making it possible to cool the brew by running cold water through this casing. Two different types of enzymes are added to break down the starch in the mash and ready the batter for the yeast and then fermentation. Ideally when the mixture is done, all the starch has converted to sugar and the conditions are thus ripe for optimal alcohol production. The whole process from the heating of the hot water to bucketing the mash into the fermenter takes us about five hours.
To Read more please visit: http://www.stonebarnbrandyworks.com/2010/02/rye-whiskey.html |
A City Wish for Prasino...by D.C. Crenshaw
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Prasino has a drink menu that works for everyone. Besides the standards of specialty coffees and teas, other organic highlights include fruit and veggie blended juices, sodas, smoothies, bottled beers and ciders, and sparkling wines. They have nice red and white wine selections, but Prasino's specialty alcoholic cocktails take the blue ribbon. Be sure to order my two favorites, the "La Grange Manhattan" and the "Rose Hipster". Top off your dinner with the apple waffles or bread pudding, although the latter of the desserts was very average.
To Read more please visit:
http://www.efete.net/blog.html |
|
