Tuthilltown, 2011

 

About a year ago, I went to Tuthilltown distillery for my birthday. They had just signed a distribution agreement with William Grant & Sons, and talked a lot about the changes that we about to occur at the distillery, as far as amping up production and such. We got to see their bottling machine, which hadn’t yet been installed, and was sitting in pieces on the floor. And I got one of the very last bottles of a whiskey they had to phase out as part of that agreement (it has joined my collection of Things to Open on Very Special Occasions).

This weekend, my father had a social obligation, and my mom suggested that the two of us go back. It’s about an hour in the car from the Barn in Connecticut where I spend my weekends to Gardiner, NY, where the Tuthilltown distillery is. I called in advance and reserved us two spots on their noon tour.

We got there about a half an hour early and went into the distillery shop. Luz, who was working there last year, recognized us when we came in, and greeted us like old friends. We did our tasting before the tour this time– last time, it was useful to do the tasting after because the understanding of the process added to my appreciation of what I was drinking. Last time, I tried their corn whiskey and two aged whiskeys. This time, I opted to try the only offerings I hadn’t had before: Spirit of the Hudson Vodka and Roggen’s Rum. You get three tastings, so after that, I had the rye, which is my favorite of their whiskeys. Yum!

Then, Luz pulled out something super nifty from under the bar– their new barrel-aged maple syrup and barrel-aged balsamic vinegar. They were both sincerely, truly awesome.

Anyway, Cordell, who gave our tour last year, was there again to do the honors this year. He gives a great tour, and doesn’t leave out a single detail. As in, you feel like you could go home and start distilling whiskey yourself after hearing him talk. The cool thing was that while not too much had changed, the folks at Tuthilltown had added a new still to their collection of apparatus, and a bunch of other equipment, and are in the middle of adding a bottling room. It reminded me a little of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, apart from the lack of Oompa Loompas and chocolate rivers.

 

 

 

 

Pretty, huh?

But the best part of the trip, perhaps, was what I got to take away! In addition to buying a bottle of Spirit of the Hudson (my mother gets this sort of ‘holy crap!’ look on her face every time I make a vodka drink she likes), my mom got me a second birthday present (the first was my professional-grade gelato maker):

That is my very own bourbon barrel! Now I just have to decide what to use it for– right now the jury is out, but leaning toward beer or bitters.

The Tuthilltown folks were also kind enough to let us take a couple of handfuls of spent grain (the grain that is left over after the distilling process) home to our chickens.

Man, those are some happy chickens!!!

Mirrored from Nommable!.

Recipe: Bourbon-Pluot Gelato

 

 

Recipe: Bourbon-Pluot Gelato

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Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Tea

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 65 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 6-10 depending on size of scoops.

This is a delicious cool summer treat made with bourbon and pluots.Gelato makers use about 1.5 cups of liquid plus additional ingredients. For a standard ice cream maker, approximately doubling the recipe should work.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 + 1/4 cup sugar (any kind will do)
• 2 ripe pluots
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup whole fresh sage leaves
• 1/4 cup bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace)

Instructions

1. Tear pluots into small pieces.
2. Put water, 1/4 cup sugar, sage and pluots in a small saucepan over high heat until water begins to boil and sugar is dissolved.
3. Turn heat to low, add vanilla. Let cook, stirring intermittently, until pluots have cooked down and liquid has become syrupy. (This can take about 20 minutes
4. While pluots are cooking, mix milk, half & half, and cream together.
5. Add sugar and eggs and whisk together well.
6. Put milk mixture into gelato maker and begin freezing according to instructions.
7. Remove sage from pluots
8. Put pluots in freezer and wait until cool
9. When milk mixture is halfway hardened, stop freezer and add pluots, syrup from pan, and bourbon.
10. Continue freezing in gelato maker until done.
11. Eat soft or freeze 2 hours or more for scoopable gelato.

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Mirrored from Nommable!.