Categories

Content Type

Sources

Oregon Trail leads to piney eau de vie

By Lauren Viera, Chicago Tribune, Source: MCT News Service

What do cocktail writers drink when on winter holiday? Anything they want.

And so it was that I came to try the deliciously elusive Anne Marie's cocktail. I ordered it at Portland, Ore.'s classy Driftwood Room based on a single, peculiar ingredient: Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur, made from pine fruit (premature pine cones). I'd never noticed it on menus in Chicago, and mixed in this sparkling wine-based cocktail, its piney, fresh scent and taste was like sipping a breath of Alpine air.

Zirbenz isn't new. It's been bottled in Austria since 1797 and has a long history of being quaffed after a run down the slopes. After being picked up for limited stateside distribution in 2006, it was initially marketed in ski resort meccas like Aspen and eventually made its way to Chicago. Along with another centuries-old, tree-tapped spirit, the elusive French Liqueur de Sapin (derived from pine needles), it's begun to inspire a breed of modern distillers to try their hand with domestic versions.

Among them is Stephen McCarthy, who runs Clear Creek Distillery in _ where else? _ Portland. After numerous trips to Alsace, France, where he sampled and researched that region's native spruce-bud eaux de vie, McCarthy labored for more than a decade over his own recipe. His blend uses Oregon's native conifer, the Douglas fir.

"I just made this up out of thin air," said McCarthy, 67. He distills his Douglas Fir Eau de Vie twice, a classic Alsatian technique that he says "locks in" the tree's aroma and flavor. The taste (pine, honey then mint) is acquired, but nice _ like Zirbenz but lighter.

After five years of perfecting, McCarthy is producing 300 cases a year. "We're just blowing right through it," he said.

Order online at clearcreekdistillery.com.

___

ELKHORN TODDY

This cocktail from The Violet Hour uses Demerara syrup, a simple syrup made from Demerara sugar (1 part sugar to 1 part water, simmered until the sugar dissolves). Or use regular sugar.

2 ounces Bulleit Bourbon

3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

3/4 ounce Demerara syrup

7 drops Angostura Bitters

1/4 ounce Douglas Fir Eau de Vie

Build Bourbon, lemon juice, syrup and bitters in a snifter; top with 3 to 4 ounces hot water. Float eau de vie on top.

___

(c) 2010, Chicago Tribune.

	Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

_____

PHOTO (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): tree-liqueur