Day 11: Bon Voyage!

a visual representation what enjoying time with our friends over delicious spirits looks like.

We finished the Colorado Spirits Trail on Friday. Approximately 52 hours and 18 minutes of travel time (give a few miles for stops for food and gas) and approximately 2,743 miles traveled. Perfect timing since this is our last weekend available for the next 8 weeks- both of us will be working at the 43^rd Annual Colorado Renaissance Festival, which kicks off this coming weekend. I spent my week stripping and painting the shop I’m working at and getting everything ready for the festival run. Life has been busy but we are excited to share this final leg of the trail.

Gotta say, hand scraping paint is hard work!

Our first stop was a very special visit to J&L Distilling. They are not currently open to the public due to a large remodel of their tasting room. Seth is the head distiller and owner and he is focusing on vodka and gin. Seth’s recipe is unique in its use of molasses and cane sugar instead of a traditional grain base. The sugar makes the vodka very smooth. He uses his vodka for the base of all of his products and does not source any of his spirits from other locations. Seth is a physicist by trade and very handy. He built his own column still out of stainless steel. It is not as flashy as the traditional copper stills, but the product that comes out of it is a true treasure.

Head distiller, Seth and his lovely distillery dog Sunny.

We were so happy that it was the first Friday of June which meant we were able to get over to Big Fat Pastor’s. Their hours are pretty limited but when we arrived, we could see that it was a very popular location as it was full of locals. We had the pleasure of talking with Lindsey who gave us the run-down of all of their products. Our favorite was the Barrel Rested Gin. They age their gin in an oak barrel for 90 days and it gives it a very smooth almost whiskey like flavor. We bought a bottle to take home and share with our friends because it was just that good!

It began to rain as we headed to Dry Land Distillers. I had been in touch with Nels, the owner and head distiller, and he was so welcoming and excited for us to see their location. We were served by Kelly who made me the most amazing smoke margarita with their cactus spirit. They can’t call it Mezcal since it is not made with agave, but it tastes very similar. Instead of the agave plant they use prickly pear cactuses which are native to Colorado. This is just one of many ways Dry Land Distillers is keeping their business local and sustainable. Water conservation is really important in the West, and all of Dry Land Distiller’s crops and ingredients are grown with this key principal in mind. I was absolutely enthralled with Nels who showed me around their distillery and told me all about what they stand for and where they hope to go. I can not wait to visit them again and make a long-lasting friendship!

We headed into Lafayette and got to meet David who is the owner and distiller at On Point Distillery. Their tasting room and distillery is right on Main Street which is unique. Most city fire codes are such that distilleries end up out in industrial zones, making On Point special. David was saying that the city of Lafayette actually rezoned the location to allow for the tasting room and distillery. David is very adventurous and has a small experimental still which allows him to play with his recipe without too much waste if it doesn’t turn out just right. The highlight was the rum. David is playing with the recipe at the moment but we had the pleasure of trying some of the test batches and we were not disappointed! David is clearly very passionate about his business, and when he isn’t making the spirits, he’s behind the bar helping his staff and clearing tables. We were so glad he was able to share some of his time. We were not disappointed.

For our final stop, number 61, we went into Denver and stopped at Archetype. Archetype has an unusual recipe. Unlike almost all of the distilleries we have visited on the Trail, Archetype does not use grain. They use grapes for all of their spirits. Because of this they do not have a whiskey. Michael, the head distiller and owner, decided that he wanted to make something unique and his specialty is vodka and gin. These are amazing base spirits which are so smooth and flavorful you could easily drink them on their own. They also specialize in Distillates, where the flavoring is actually distilled through a rotary evaporator to get intense flavors without the syrupy quality of a liquor. Michael made our last stop so memorable we didn’t want to leave.

I am so grateful that Dan and I were able to have this adventure together. This road trip reminded me why Colorado is so special; It is beautiful and the people are so passionate about what they are doing. If you want to re-fall in love with Colorado and the great people who live here, I highly recommend you take time to visit your local distilleries and let the spirits guide you!

Day 9: Knowledge is Power

After an amazing meal and meeting with my editor I decided to utilize my time in Denver to strike a few more locations off of the Trail. I walked out of my meeting feeling invigorated to keep this going. I’ve learned so many things and met so many amazing people and I can’t wait to keep it going. Hannah, my editor has been a godsend and has really helped me put everything into focus for a larger scale project.

I decided to start with Denver Distillery. They are a newer distillery and just joined the ranks of the Spirits Trail this year. They are working in a commercial district off of Broadway in downtown Denver. The building they are located in was built in 1891. They have done a gorgeous restoration of the location, peeling the plaster away to reveal the original brick. Their milling, fermenting and aging occurs in the basement. They are using sweet potatoes from Mississippi for their vodka. While I was there they had some of the vodka mash actively fermenting. It smells kind of sweet and faintly of vinegar at the same time. The fermented mash is then brought upstairs where the stills are kept. It’s a small operation but Denver Distilling is making some amazing products. Stephanie, the bar manager was telling me they should be hoping to release some rye and bourbon products this summer. I’m hoping Dan and I can be there for that event because if their whiskey is anything like their vodka and rum everyone is in for a treat.

Rose Quartz being used to filter the spirits off of the column still

From downtown Denver I made my way north to Leopold Bros. Their facility is in this huge building on the north side of Denver. It is surrounded by gardens that are all getting ready to bloom. I caught Ronnie behind the bar prepping to close but he still allowed me to get a tasting flight. I let him pick what I tried because prior to my visit I had only ever had their flavored liquors. Ronnie started my journey with the vodka. It consists of a mash build that includes potatoes, barley and wheat. He was saying that all of their products are fermented in open fermenters and they open the windows to the garden to encourage wild yeast introduction. Leopold Bros really is trying to be as sustainable as possible. They use their heads, the first cut from the still when distilling, for cleaning of their floors in the distillery and sanitation. They use their spent mash for compost in the gardens and also give it to local pork and beef farms for feed.

Both Stephanie at Denver Distillery and Ronnie at Leopold Bros were so kind. These are the kinds of people I love meeting on my travels, they are so kind and willing to speak with me. They are passionate and knowledgeable of their products. These are the people whose stories I look forward to sharing and am honored that they allow me to be part of their community. I was by myself for this short leg and they made me feel confident in my knowledge as well as taught me new things about the process and the products available here in Colorado.

Daniel let me know he was off work and that Sand Creek Distillery was open out in Hugo Colorado so we decided to meet there and spend some time with Lucas who is the owner and distiller of Sand Creek. He is a one man operation and used to run everything out of a converted storage container. He has graduated to a full building and got a new still. He’s still working on distilling while he works on renovating the building to include a tasting room. Lucas makes such a delicious whiskey and is too kind. He allowed us to look around and try his whiskey. It was such a relaxing end to the night and he gave me some encouragement to continue pursuing knowledge and sharing it with everyone I can. I am looking forward to the tasting room opening up. Hugo is a bit of a drive but I would gladly make it to enjoy good whiskey with great friends.

I think we will be doing a final push this weekend while we are in Denver for the 7^th Annual Whiskey + Doughnuts event. We have 9 more locations to go. Until then, let the spirit guide you.

Tiki Tuesdays

As I previously mentioned, Colorado Springs has a vibrant and interesting bar culture. With the Spirits Trail kick-off party still nearly a month away I wanted to share other interesting locations, bartenders and events that Dan and I enjoy together. Usually, we would be playing Dungeons and Dragons at the Yellow King Games and Hobbies store. However,this week was postponed due to players being out of town allowing me and Dan to enjoy a Tiki Pop-up Bar at the Indian Palace Restaurant. The pop-up is held by TIMKI Tiki and the Freaky and hosted by bartender Tim Chapman. This pop up has been going on since February 2019. Every week Tim develops a unique menu of up to 6 different Tiki drinks.

Tiki bars are a great combination of visual aesthetic and (typically) rum-based drinks. Usually brightly colored and tropical in flavor. Think Curaçao and Midori. As with all traditional cocktails, as long as it tastes delicious the adherence to tradition is less important. Tiki bars were popular from the 1930’s to the 1960’s. Tiki bars were intended to evoke the South Pacific with primarily Polynesian imagery. It was a taste of the exotic for the American people. There was a revival of the Tiki bars in the 90’s, which we were happy to see and continue to thoroughly enjoy today.

Rum used to be my go-to liquor. Any time I went to a new bar that I wasn’t sure of I would get a simple Captain Morgan or Sailor Jerry’s and orange juice. I preferred the dark rums over the silver rums and they were something easily located in just about every bar. Due to this enjoyment I had quite the collection of Sailor Jerry’s. Rum is also, of course, a “pirate” drink and thus a staple to carry at various pirate events we’ve frequented.

Dan and I have been to the TIMKI Tiki and the Freaky’s Pop-up Bar a few times. The drinks that Tim makes are not only delicious but beautiful. This week he had a menu of six alcoholic cocktails and one non-alcoholic option. I enjoyed a Pina-Blue Swizzle which had Plantation 3 Star Rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and lime juice. It was served with shark candies and an adorable shark toy. It was amazing and instantly put a smile on my face. I usually avoid anything with coconut in it, due to it usually being sickly sweet, but Tim did an excellent job balancing the sweetness of the coconut cream with the pineapple and lime juice.

Dan enjoyed the 151 Swizzle which contained Hamilton 151 Rum, lime, simple syrup and absinthe. It was another home run really emphasizing the absinthe without the syrupy licorice flavor that can be associated with absinthe. When I stole a sip, I found it was spicy and smooth. It was served with half of a key lime filled with 151 Rum and lit on fire.

We both had a second round. I enjoyed a Rum Swizzle which contained dark + light rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, and homemade grenadine. It was served with a slice of dragon fruit and dried pineapple. Dan had a drink called For Swizzle My Shizzle. This was a tiki twist on a Gin and Juice; it contained gin, a homemade 3 berry cordial, orange juice, lime juice and falernum.

The Indian Palace is the restaurant where the pop-up bar resides and has delicious full menu of various Indian dishes. While you enjoy a cocktail, you can order from their full menu. Everything we have ordered has been delicious, from their traditional Indian breads to their curry. I highly recommend their Vegetable Samosas.

TIMKI Tiki and the Freaky

Featured

In the Beginning….

The glorious protectors, Marzanna (4.5 yrs old) & Veliona (1 yr old)

The purpose of this blog is to share something we love with people in the world. Daniel, AKA Avan DeBar has grown from an imbiber to a collector over his long life, 26 whole years! Dan has taught me a lot about appreciation of all things fermented and distilled. Evolving me from Washington Apples and Boones Farm to a preference for a well-made Gin or Bourbon cocktail. We have well over 300 bottles of various spirits from liquors to scotch and everything in between. This is approximately one mastiff long by one mastiff wide if all placed on the floor. We have recently obtained some shelving to properly display our collection but we have already outgrown it and are on a mission to locate more storage, this is especially pressing with the 51 bottles coming from our adventure on the Spirits Trail last year.

A year out of date… but you get the point

Dan and I both work the renaissance festival, though we started at very different times. Dan carried one or two flasks. He learned of another participant carrying four flasks which were unique and different from what you usually find at the retail stores these days. This piqued his interest as well as his competitive spirit. Never wanting to be out done he began to collect more and more flasks, I believe the count is up to 75. Of course, you can’t carry the same thing in every flask so his collection of liquors and spirits grew with it. He enjoyed sharing with his close friends. He especially enjoyed sharing something new or unique that his friends may not have experienced before. It became a game to find the strangest, most delicious alcohols to share with his friends. People began to gift or recommend new and interesting items causing the collection to grow to enormous proportions.

Our life has always been like that, Dan never does anything half way. If he sets his mind to something, he does it, and he does it as intensely as he can possibly can.

We live in Colorado Springs, Colorado which is at the epicenter of the boom of craft distilleries in the mountain west. In Colorado Springs we have Distillery 291, Axe and The Oak, Lee Spirits, Colorado Gold who all participated in the Colorado Spirits trail in 2018. I will go into more details regarding each of these locations as we complete the trail again this year. We are close friends with the owners of 291, Axe and the Oak and Lee Spirits. Dan has known Mike Myers (of Distillery 291) since 2012 when he was still working out of a basement workshop. We thoroughly enjoy meeting the people in this industry, from the founders, distillers, bartenders and brand ambassadors. They have wonderful stories to tell over some of the best spirits around.

I intend to have some about us and our story posts leading up to the beginning of the 2019 spirits trail. This will include photos of the collection, details about what the 2018 Spirits trail entailed and some of our favorite stories from that trip and our favorite locations for food and drink in Colorful Colorado.

I look forward to sharing their stories and ours while we partake on our adventure on the 2019 Colorado Spirits Trail.