The Leap Year Cocktail

Happy Leap Year

45th Parallel

 Tucked in the wilds of New Richmond, Wisconsin's industrial park is 45th Parallel Spirits. It is a proper distillery for vodkas, gin, and other spirits. Nicole and I recently took a quick tour of the facility and sampled some of their creations.

They currently have two products on the market utilizing their great process. One is a top-shelf vodka and the other is a variation on the vodka flavored with horseradish. They use local corn for the sugars and then the sugars get to spend some with with yeast to create some alcohol. Most vodkas on the market will skip this step and buy the liquid in bulk from an ethanol distributor. That is what makes 45th Parallel special. By starting with the corn itself and monitoring each step in the process, they can craft the desired flavor profile.

Here is their main still operation. It's where the magic happens. This takes that sloppy alcoholic mixture and removes the impurities through distillation.  

Two of their next projects are a whiskey and a bourbon. These barrels were filled a few months ago and will take time to age.  

I would love to make my own spirits, but that is currently illegal under federal law. Nicole has all the equipment at work, which makes me wonder what is she really doing every day?

Expansion is in their future.

 We were able to sample a test gin that they are making. It was incredibly tasty. The juniper favors were very strong and in a good way. The horseradish vodka wasn't really my thing, but might taste great in a bloody mary. The main vodka though is amazing. It has a very pleasant scent and taste that is hard to pin down, but makes a great sipper.

 When in Wisconsin, have glass of vodka before grabbing that beer.

Frosty Morning

We had a frosty morning last weekend, the only interesting snow-themed event to occur yet this winter. Meteorologically-speaking, I'm not exactly sure how the ice forms, but it covered everything in little ice spikes. Very pretty.

We took a quick hike up to William O'Brien State Park later that morning. This was the morning of the Superbowl, and the park was packed with people probably looking to pre-burn their calories. It appears that the ice storm made it this far north, too.