18 Jul Shop Local for Spirits: From Long Island Vodka to Brooklyn Gin!
Summer is the perfect time to head out East and tour the beautiful Long Island Wine Country, but wine isn’t the only great thing that Long Island has to offer! As much as we love wine, we understand that it’s not for everyone. Fortunately for you guys, there’s a fabulous alternative: Long Island Vodka!
But vodka is only the beginning—we have friends throughout Long Island and Brooklyn who produce all sorts of spirits. Shopping local is critical in maintaining our community, and supporting these producers who focus on sustainability is not only good for our immediate environment, but the global environment! Check out some of these great companies who are producing top-quality, local spirits, from Long Island Vodka to Brooklyn Gin!
photo by Dan’s Papers
Sag Harbor Rum
Starting our tour on the East End, Sag Harbor Rum’s production is inspired by the days when rum was stored in recycled barrels that had once held coffee, exotic spices, and fruit on whaling ships. The culmination of that wide variety of tastes created a smooth rum, which the folks in Sag Harbor like to call ‘sipping rum.’ Its taste is perfect, no matter how you choose to take it—neat, on the rocks, or mixed into any kind of cocktail.
Not only is Sag Harbor Rum crafted exclusively on Long Island, but it’s only available in New York State, as well. A hand-picked selection of restaurants, bars, and liquor stores carry this extraordinary rum, which makes it all the more exciting when you get your hands on a glass of it! Moving a bit westward brings us to…
Long Island Spirits
Long Island Vodka, aka LiV, is one of the most popular spirits that we sell at Bistro 72 in Hotel Indigo East End. Last winter, our pals over at Fat Guy Media went on a tour through the LiV distillery and did a full write-up on their experience. Rich Stabile, founder of LI Spirits, is extremely passionate about making micro-batches of high-quality spirits, using locally-sourced products, which is why he created the first craft distillery on LI since the 1800s in 2007.
Vodka isn’t the only treat that comes out of LI Spirits—they also produce a line of the first potato-based liqueurs available in the US, called Sorbetta. They come in five flavors, lemon, lime, orange, strawberry, and raspberry, and are made from locally-grown berries and hand-peeled citrus fruits! Pine Barrens Whisky and Rough Rider Bourbon are two more beverages that hail from LI Spirits, which are both popular choices at our bar at Bistro 72. Now let’s head to Hipsterville…
photo by Gastronomista
Owney’s Original New York City Rum
From Slum to Rum, they say at The Noble Experiment NYC—a micro-distillery in Brooklyn that named its rum after the legendary Hell’s Kitchen gangster Owen “Owney” Madden. In his early 20s, Owney led the West Side’s Gopher Gang, and later acted as a rum-runner and speakeasy proprietor during Prohibition. Many say that it was because of Owney bringing rum into the States through Rockaway Beach that rum became a liquor of choice for many Americans since the Colonial Era!
The folks at The Noble Experiment NYC are purists, and only use three ingredients when producing Owney’s: NYC water, yeast, and molasses. As a company, they’re super transparent, even going so far as to illustrate their five-step production process. The part of the process that we find most impressive is that each and every bottle is corked, labeled, boxed, and pallet packed by hand!
photo by Brooklyn Bounty
Brooklyn Gin
Last, but certainly not least, is Brooklyn Gin! The three guys in charge of Brooklyn Gin spend three days making 3,000 bottles of gin. Everything is done by hand, from peeling the fruits and cracking the juniper berries to bottling and packaging the finished product.
Brooklyn Gin has a distinct flavor, which is likely thanks to the fact that all of their produce is fresh and purchased right at home in Red Hook. Their gin goes down smooth, and is well-suited to be served in any way you choose. Every last kernel of corn that goes into their product is grown nearby in upstate New York—Brooklyn Gin is as Made in NY as they come.
We’re cooking up some exciting news here at Hotel Indigo East End for all you Long Island Vodka, Brooklyn Gin, and other local spirits lovers, so stay tuned over the next week or so for our big announcement!