Beverage of the Week (B.O.W)
in
BOW for the Week of: February 10 to February 16, 2010
This is the decade of the American micro-distiller. The idea of the micro-distiller is far from new. Before Prohibition came along, most towns and cities of any size had small, often family-owned, distilleries. This current renaissance is simply a correction and one that we at BevX are greatly enjoying.
Recently we became acquainted with a new distillery named Roundhouse Spirits from Boulder County, Colorado. They presently make a coffee Liqueur and a wonderful Gin that quickly became a darling of our tasting panel.
While the project was some six years in the dreaming and development stage, the distillery was founded just over two years ago by Alex Nelson,. The name comes from the old Roundhouse that is situated near the distillery. Beyond being a well-known local landmark, they imagined a Roundhouse being “a place where trains go to socialize.” So why not socialize with a good cocktail!
Being curious by nature we had to ask Roundhouse, why Gin? “Our founder Alex Nelsons' grandmother taught him how to make a martini when he was in high school. Needless to say, he fell in love with the flavor and wondered how the heck do they make gin!” explained Roundhouse president and distiller Ted Palmer. Besides, the area around Boulder grows beautiful juniper berries. (Juniper is the signature aromatic and flavor botanical used in classic Gin.)
The Roundhouse Gin is a true American melting pot in terms of style. It claims its dry nature from Britain, the flowery aromatics from French Gins, and the fruity and faintly sweet herbal flavors from Holland. The result is a Gin that is cut from its own cloth, an expressive and pleasing mutt of sorts.
We will be keeping a close eye on Roundhouse as they have recently acquired two new copper stills and are moving the operation to a larger space. They expect to offer Bourbon, American Whiskey, and an aged Gin by year’s end. They are also playing with a unique tonic water to ideally compliment their Gin. You can be sure that when these new creations get put to bottle that we will share our discoveries with you.
