Cape Cod

[spiritofmaine]

Hey all How Ya Doin?

My partner and I are in the concept phase of a craft spirits and essences business where we also foresee a farm and food service component in a 5 year horizon. At this phase, we are sketching out the numbers to see what makes sense.

The distilled product offerings will be built on a careful selection of organic local product, fruit and/or grain or tubers. We aim to reach a very high bar in terms of quality and experience and presence in the regional market.

We are very inspired by some of the more seasoned outfits on the west coast, hats off to that incredible work!

Our own personal distilling experience has thus far been traditional home pot stilling of arak based on grape eau de vie in the middle east , so we are looking to develop a model around the local materials we have access to in New England. I should also mention that I have been doing some interning at a local distillery making rum.

I've been enjoying the forum for a while now and am hoping to use it to network with like minded passionate people who are finding success at seeing their dreams come to life. Ill probably be asking alot of questions about apples, pears, cherries - raw materials/conversions in general - and also seeking insights from the community that might help to bolster our planning and establish the right foundations for success.

Products that get us excited: Calvados, Gin, Eau de vie (pear, cherry, plum, apple)

First question, how long have you been at it and have you met success with professional distilling?

Cheers!

B

[NADERHANNA1719]

Did you know that Arak is the world's oldest spirit? It originates from the Levant (i.e. Palestine, Jordan, Syria & Lebanon) and Iraq. It is a triple distilled (via pot still), grape brandy infused with aniseed, and usually aged for at least one year in clay amphorae. Arak is the grandfather of all spirits, as it was the first distilled spirit, because the Arabs of this region created the alembic pot still and successfully distilled wine in 900AD. Through trade, Arak quickly spread throughout the rest of the Mediterranean Basin, and these countries began making their own arak, and each modified the original recipe (i.e. grapes & aniseed) based on available ingredients and culinary preferences. The italians sweetened it and called it Sambuca; the French aged it Oak and called it Pastis, the Greeks added additional herbs and spices and called it Ouzo (and Tsipouro in Cyprus); the Tunisians made it from figs and called it Boukha; the Moroccans made it from Dates and called it Mahia. All of these are similar anise-flavored spirits, all of which are direct descendants of Arak.

For more on the little-known history of Arak, checkout this article:

www.muaddi.com/arak-muaddi-heritage-in-every-glass

To see how traditional Arak is made, checkout this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OULUs5kMDc

Cheers!