Distilling
Here is our 200-liter still. We put 50 gallons of our award-winning cider in the still, heat it up in its water bath, and wait for the alcohols in the cider to vaporize.
Apple Brandy
The still helps us separate these vapors into the best part of the apple distillate, which we set aside for aging in oak barrels to become Calvados-like apple brandy. We also sell a small amount of this fresh, new Apple Eau de Vie. It has a delicious apple nose and an almost sweet taste. We can usually collect about a gallon of 80% alcohol in a six-hour run.
Harvest Select Gin
Because we are using only the smallest, most delicious part of our apple eau de vie for aging in oak barrels to become apple brandy, we can use the rest of this still delicious distillate to make our Harvest Select gins. Gin is simply alcohol distilled with juniper berries and other botanicals. We make ours in a very small batch still with foraged San Juan Island botanicals that work well with our apple-based alcohol -- hand picked island blackberries, wild rose flowers and rose hips, lavender, and Madrone bark. This exceptional gin is a new American style gin, not juniper-forward, and full of flavors that say San Juan Island.