I’ve been so engulfed in the flood of inventive, new craft beers hittin’ shelves that I haven’t checked out what’s been going on in liquor with hand-crafted spirits. This local gin is a bold reminder: there’s plenty of creativity happening on the other side of the craft aisle…
There’s so much going on in Botanica Spiritvs Gin. All in a good way. And all with no surprise… It’s hand-made from a guy who used to be a UC Berkeley Biochemist with a penchant for digging up old cocktail recipes and obscure bitters. He pushed boundaries while exploring different roles, like wine maker and bartender, before compiling all his learnings and settling as a Distiller.
You can taste both the craft and the science in Botanica Spirtvs, too (you just can’t taste the ‘n’.) Using predominantly Vapor infusion, his team at Falcon Spirits have managed to layer in complex herbs and fruits that play as well together on the nose as they mingle ‘n pay off on your palate. Pretty impressive.
Yup, that’s real hand numbering. Not just “craft-y” design. Their Still can only produce 300 bottles in each batch so they’re able to assure quality and attention to detail.
So fresh you can smell the coffee.
And the ink on the hand-stamped labels.
Every batch of Firelit Spirits coffee liqueur uses a different fresh roast and local roaster—usually. Batch05, marks their third with Oakland‘s Blue Bottle Coffee but this time they chosen a Peaberry Yirgacheffe bean. It’s not the holy-grail, cat poo coffee bean, but it sounds deliciously close. Look for it on shelves immediately.
This not only looks amazing, it looks legit. If I can track one of ’em down I’ll report back with a photo and review. That is, if they can resuscitate me afterwards. (via SFist)
Today isn’t just a day where the fresh coffee nectar known as Firelit goes into bottles,
it’s also the day where founder Jeff Kessinger, art director Tyler Warrender, and several other strong-wristed cohorts hand-stamp each and every label on said bottles. Something the fellow Bay Area folks at Almanac Beer, with their hand-signed bottles, know a thing or two about.
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Firelit Batch 04 Roast Info
What I love about Firelit is how they use different local roasters / beans for every small batch they do. The first two releases used Oakland‘s Blue Bottle Coffee. The third batch used San Rafael‘s Weaver’s Coffee. Now, for Batch 04, they’re using Santa Cruz‘s Verve Coffee Roasters. St. George Spirits, where the liqueur is produced, has sold out of every bottle from previous batches so if you see an older one on a shelf, snag it with a quickness. Otherwise keep an eye out for where to find the new batch here.
If you haven’t given Parks & Recreation a chance yet, go now—it’s free on Hulu so you don’t have an excuse not to. And if you already have, the show’s really grown into its own. So try again. Ron Swanson‘s become one of my favorite characters on TV the web. The guy knows how to eat. (Thanks, Mel)
To help promote Portugal brewery Sagres‘ new Preta Chocolate Stout, their digital agency Grand Union Portugal came up with what they thought was a fitting launchpad for a chocolate beer: a chocolate webpage. Duh.
So they hired the Artistic Director of the Óbidos International Chocolate Festival to lead the sculpting. Creating not just a flat “web page”, but going full boar creating all the buttons, number tiles for the loading screen (which only added to the heavy load time, IMO), sliding modules, and more. Then they shot it all and used it as the basis for the website.
Cool. And no doubt delicious. But a long climb up the mountain for a small sip of cocoa. Then again, I am sharing it. And you are reading this. So, guess it worked. A sia saide!
The first two batches of Bay Area’s delicious Firelit Coffee Liqueur used a different roast of Blue Bottle Coffee beans for each. It’s part of what made them so distinct (and collectable). But now they’re mixing things up even further.
Apparently, partnering with different local coffee roasters is all part of the Firelit plan …
THE ROASTER
Batch 03 uses a new artisan roaster out of San Rafael who NBC Today Show called “the best organic coffee”, See the rest »
Yes, it’s real. And it’s spectacular. You take an ampm Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissant and switch out the croissant with glazed doughnuts. It’s all part of the new Secret Menu campaign our team at Ogilvy just launched. Pretty much a big invitation to come up with your own creations and try something new. Go nuts.
It’s here. Jeff Kessinger, the main brains and taste buds behind Firelit Spirits, holds the 60-proof proof.
Batch 2 of the tremendously successful Firelit Coffee Liqueur was bottled just last week. Again using the Bay Area’s Blue Bottle Coffee. This round opting for Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, or “Yirg”, instead of the Yemen in Batch 1.
Hand-stamped just like the first batch. Only with See the rest »
On the edge of LA’s Chinatown sits the birthplace of the French Dip sandwich, Philippe’s. Or at least, that’s what they say. Go downtown and Cole’s will claim the same thing. I can’t speak for Cole’s, but Philippe’s was a fine sando. [Sorry, no pic. It went down too fast.] For a pre-dipped version, it was surprisingly moist and flavorful without being a sloppy, drowning mess. And they score points for their clientele:
As ecstatic as he looks to put down his dip and take a pic with another, Lance was actually super nice. Hopefully I’ll be able to harass him at the X-Games tomorrow. Stalker alert!
Sweet fancy Moses … this little bakery is so worth the drive from SF. Hell, it’s worth the drive from Chicago.
The sticky buns are what hooked us the first time we stumbled across Wild Flour Bread Bakery. The rest of their brick oven creations are what brought us back.
This heavenly nectar was only bottled two weeks ago but is already hittin’ the streets. And disappearing off shelves. Here’s the latest list of where to find Firelit Coffee Liqueur made with Blue Bottle Coffee, as of 03.29.10 …
