Tag: Gin

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Bartender, Annue

Ray Disch is a co-founder of New Jersey’s first brewpub, Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton. In 2014, Ray founded Disch & Sons Distillers (DBA) Sourland Mountain Spirits and in 2016 built a distillery on the Double Brook Farm property at the foot of the the Sourland Mountain Preserven, part of a 17- mile long ridge extending from the Delaware River at Lambertville, New Jersey to Neshanic, through Montgomery Township in Somerset County and into Hopewell Township in Mercer County.

Sourland Mountain Spirits, Hopewell— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm, 0.020 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019

Drawing from an aquifer at the base of the Sourland range, our spirits are made using pure water filtered through micro-fractures in the geologic formations of the mountains, protected by the largest contiguous forest in Central New Jersey.

Ray and his wife Erica traveled to Hungary to purchase distillery equipment which was installed in a renovated barn behind Brick Farm Tavern. This location is unique to New Jersey, hosting a distillery (Sourland Mountain Spirits), a farm to table restaurant (Brick Farm Tavern & Bar), and a craft ale brewery (Troon Brewing Company). Sourland Mountain Spirits offers locally made, handcrafted, and sustainable spirits to the greater Hopewell community.

Bhavna and I love the award-winning gin, recommended it to friends and family for whom it has also become a favorite for making gin and tonic.

Sourland Mountain Spirits recently added a tasting room where visitors can sample the spirits and drink uniquely named cocktails. Tours & tastings are given every Saturday & Sunday. Bhavna and I have recently started making a visit to the distillery either before or after dining at the Brick Farm Tavern. We get to hang out with bartender Annie while sipping her latest cocktail and sometimes chat with Ray and Erica. It's a small town and I first met Erica while having breakfast at Aunt Chubby's.

Annie, Sourland Mountain Spirits, Hopewell, New Jersey— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 20.6 mm, 0.040 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
Tasting Room, Sourland Mountains Spirits, Hopewell— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm, 0.033 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
Tasting Room, Sourland Mountains Spirits, Hopewell— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm, 0.125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
Barrel of Fun, Sourland Mountain Spirits— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm, 0.067 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm, 0.143 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
Sitting Room, Sourland Mountain Spirits, Hopewell— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm, 0.001 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019
Sourland Mountain Spirits, Hopewell— FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm, 0.001 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, ©Khürt L. Williams, May 31, 2019

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I like Sourland Mountain Spirits. I took a tour of the distillery shortly after opening to the public and I was impressed by the distiller's expertise and attention to quality. I uploaded photos from the even back in March but never got around to writing a blog post about it. With this post, I have repurposed those photos.

I love blueberries. I like eating them a handful at a time. For me, it’s the best low-glycemic index snack. My daughter loves them too. She eats them by the carton. I recently learned that the blueberry is New Jersey’s state fruit. I thought that was cranberries. Scratched head. I'm sure I can find a recipe for gin and cranberry juice.

Gin, Hopewell, Sourland Mountain Spirits, Gin, Vodka, Mercer County, Handcrafted, Local, Distillery, New Jersey[exif id="28369"]

Sourland Mountain Spirits recently posted a recipe for a Blueberry Basil Gin Fizz on Facebook and I wanted to try it. I bought fresh blueberries from Von Thun Farms at the Montgomery Friends of Open Space Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and used fresh basil from my garden planter. I bought two cartons of blueberries. One for me and one for my daughter.

Gin, Hopewell, Sourland Mountain Spirits, Gin, Vodka, Mercer County, Handcrafted, Local, Distillery, New Jersey[exif id="28370"]

I combined the fish lime juice, simple syrup, blueberries and basil in a shaker and muddle the ingredients. That’s a fancy cocktail word for “mix up.” I think doing the muddling in a shallow bowl might be easier than doing it in the shaker. I think I’ll try that next time. After you’ve given your wrist some exercise, add the gin and ice to the shaker. Shake, shake, shake Senora1 and strain into a glass with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a basil leaf or not. Sip. Relax. Enjoy.

Sourland Mountain Gin and Blueberry Basil Fizz

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
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I love blueberries.


Ingredients

Directions


I combined the fish lime juice, simple syrup, blueberries and basil in a shaker and muddle the ingredients. That’s a fancy cocktail word for “mix up.” I think doing the muddling in a shallow bowl might be easier than doing it in the shaker. I think I’ll try that next time. After you’ve given your wrist some exercise, add the gin and ice to the shaker. Shake, shake, shake Senora[^1] and strain into a glass with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a basil leaf or not. Sip. Relax. Enjoy.

  1. I couldn’t help myself but I think Harry Belafonte prefers rum. ↩