Recent Articles

Agave may get the lion’s share of distillers’ love, but it’s far from the only game in town when it comes to distilled Mexican and Southwestern spirits. Desert Door, on the outskirts of Austin, is out to show the beauty and range in sotol—made from the desert spoon plant and sustainably harvested from wild plants.

Stainless steel is ubiquitous in production environments, so—to ensure consistent spirits and long-lasting equipment—it’s critical to understand how and why it works and the types we’re likely to use in the distillery.

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.

This unusual rye-wheat hybrid isn’t well known among the drinking public, but its star may be rising in the world of craft whiskey.

The journey from art student to distiller may strike some as unusual, but for the plant operations administrator at Denver’s Stranahan’s, creativity matched with effective and disciplined execution is the key to successful spirits.

With an infinite array of combinations, you can make a distinctive amaro-style liqueur with your own flavor thumbprint, at home or behind the bar. These tips and recipes will get you started.

In all its myriad forms, tea can add exotic yet comforting character to liqueurs and bitters.

When it comes to microbes, the choices you make will shape the expression of your final spirit. Here are some key considerations.

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.

Even a corrosion-resistant workhorse needs proper care and maintenance.

Rapid-aging research is as old as commercial whiskey production. What are the upsides, what are the downsides—and why hasn’t it taken broader hold in the industry?

While the smallest distilleries will never compete on volume, there are other areas where they can outmaneuver bigger players on experimentation, local ties, and small-batch appeal.

Whether she’s engaging with the wide world of ingredients or sourcing those from her own high-mountain backyard, master distiller Sara Sergent combines well-honed sensory skills with a methodical process for testing how processes and treatments change aroma and flavor expression in her award-winning botanical spirits.

Bitters are an essential item in the bartender’s toolkit—whether home or pro—and nothing sets a great cocktail apart like a handmade, bespoke version.

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.

Bob Dillon joins the podcast to discuss the technical and artistic vision behind his more familiar spirits as well as his ACSA best-in-show-winning Vidisha’s Masala liqueur.

From methods to ensure healthy fermentation to fementor choices to cleaning procedures, yeast selection, and time, the decision tree that a distiller follows when designing a fermentation regimen has tremendous impact on the character of the final product.

As a distiller, you need to ensure that the water you’re using for dilution is helping, not harming, your products. Here’s what to know.

Whether she’s distilling in far-flung locales, blending beautiful spirits, or writing about others’ processes, Devon Trevathan crafts stories in both words and flavors.