Gin

A handful of distillers are looking to temper ABV without compromising flavor to provide something more for moderation-minded consumers.

Honey has more than mead up its beverage sleeve. Here’s how distillers work with it to balance bitterness, add floral notes, and speak to the nature around them.

Beyond its use in liqueurs and bitters, tea can also be a foundational piece to distilled spirits. Here’s how two distilleries are taking very different approaches to those flavors.

Distilling in Florida’s hot and humid environment, and producing spirits specifically tuned for cocktails in a tourism-driven locale—those are the major guideposts for the creative direction of these sibling distilleries, as well as for their methods of barrel aging and adding flavor.

Smaller distilleries can tap into flavors and opportunities that may not be available at larger scale, whether that’s to support modest growth or simply to make the best possible spirit.

When it comes to diluting a spirit before packaging, deliberate slowness has a strong following among distillers. Yet there’s a lack of hard evidence to back up the approach—or to dismiss it.

The available data around flavor impacts is unclear—even contradictory—but this much we know: Distilling a range of strengths for the barrels will give you a broader range of blending options.

Aging barrels on rivers and waterways offers distillers a unique profile—and an intriguing story—for their spirits. However, there are some legal and technical challenges to overcome.

Oh, the sweetness of loss… Here’s how and why the slow, inevitable reduction of cask-aged spirit plays a valuable role in its maturation and flavor—and why some people try to prevent it anyway.

Port, sherry, and other wines offer distillers a wide variety of options to accentuate their whiskeys.

Understanding the reactions that occur in a barrel can help distillers get the most from their cellar environment and cask choices.

Distillers south of the border are tapping into a diverse palette of botanical flavors to create uniquely Mexican expressions.

Industry members weigh in on the word “moonshine,” its evolving meaning in the American distilling world, and the propriety of using it on legally produced spirits.

While smaller vessels can speed up certain types of aging reactions, the results are uneven among different aspects of maturation. Let’s look closer at what’s happening inside those barrels.

Spirits that feature foraged ingredients offer unique flavors while appealing to locally minded drinkers.

Some smaller distilleries are tapping into a wide range of botanicals to create gins meant to evoke (and be enjoyed in) the cooler weather.

To everything, there is a season... but to a barrel-aged spirit, there are several. Those fluctuations in temperature play a key role in how the wood affects the liquid’s flavors. In this clip from his video course, Santa Fe Spirits master distiller Stephen Julander discusses climate, barrel placement, and more.

Each failure to impress is a missed chance to get someone to try your spirit—yet packaging is expensive, especially on a smaller scale. Here’s how some craft distilleries are elevating lower-cost bottles for brands that shine on the shelves.

The martini is an undeniable classic with timeless appeal, yet it’s also evolved over the years. Here’s a look at the modern history of the martini, as told via recipes that give craft spirits pride of place.

Craft distillers are taking advantage of the savoriness and salinity of kelp and other ocean algae, producing locally rooted, umami-driven spirits that evoke the sea.