Artisan Distilling Wshington

Shine for our times

This snippet of local police action during Prohibition comes from the Tacoma Public Library archives. Eighty-four years later, in 2008, Washington state passed a bill creating an artisan distillery license, which allows a craft distillery to annually produce 20,000 gallons of spirits. That's a lot of Vitamin L.

It's Five O'clock Somewhere, an artisan craft distillery in Cashmere, Wash., was the first to legally produce moonshine in our state. Of the 15-20 liquor stores within a 50-mile radius where this made-in-Washington hooch can be ordered, Browns Point and Puyallup are the closest.

Buying local is important, but what if you want the real (made-down-South) deal? Enter North Carolina's Piedmont Distillers and Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon - Johnson is the most recent in a long line of bootleggers,  as Jake Barth of Dirty Oscar's in Tacoma will tell you. Barth's dad turned him on to Johnson's hooch six years ago. He sees to it that it gets stocked at the Sixth Avenue bar. Piedmont produces a variety of flavored and original moonshines that will make you whistle through your teeth on exhale. Barth's favorite is an apple pie moonshine served neat. 

"In general (moonshine) can be used similar to a vodka or gin, falling somewhere in the middle," say Bradford Knutson of Swing in Olympia via email. "(It has) more flavor profile than vodka, but less complexity than gin." Knutson started by carrying Midnight Moon at Swing, but later switched to Headlong, a locally made un-aged whiskey produced by Woodinville Whiskey Company. He's currently looking for just the right vermouth to perfect his Harvest Moon Manhattan.

Back in Tacoma at Dirty Oscar's, the Atomic Rose incorporates cherry, strawberry and cranberry moonshine muddled with oranges and splashed with soda water. And Midnight Moon Lightning Lemon easily becomes a thirst-quenching lemonade with the addition of soda water and simple syrup.

On the Eastside, Top of Tacoma Bar and Café stocks Lightning Lemon and Catdaddy. "Catdaddy tastes like Christmas," says Top co-owner Jaime Kay Jones, referring to its surprising buttery sweetness. "In the winter I make cocktails and some warm drinks around it using cider, Irish cream or eggnog.

Artisan Craft Distilling - Take Your First Big Step Here

Artisan-Craft Distilling, a week-long distilling workshop featuring a time-tested curriculum, moves from its launching point in eastern Washington to its new home at Green River Community College's Kent campus.  Please join us for an exciting and fact-filled week of classroom instruction, which culminates, on Day 5, with the class undertaking a batch of real-world distillation at a commercial distillery. 

Consult the published workshop description for all the topics that will be covered, and prepare yourself for a week of learning and camaraderie unmatched by any other distilling short-course.  No other workshop features as many experts in their respective field than Artisan-Craft Distilling offers.  No other short-course on the subject of artisan distilling offers as much information for such an extremely good value.

In its fourth presentation, Artisan-Craft Distilling is now more conveniently located to serve a nation-wide audience, as the Kent Station campus of Green River Community College is only five miles from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport.  Registrations are now filling fast, and classroom space is limited, so take this opportunity to make your first step toward becoming a part of the beverage alcohol industry's Next Big Thing!

The Art of Distilling Whiskey and Other Spirits, An Enthusiast's Guide to the Artisan Distilling of Potent Potables

The Artisan, a monthly magazine representing the students and the faculty of the William Hood Dunwoody Industrial Institute, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The official publication of the Institute

The artisan

Artisan, Gallery File].

Distilling knowledge, alchemy, chemistry, and the scientific revolution