Eau de Vie of Douglas fir


Eau de Vie of Douglas firEver eat a pine tree?

Now that the holiday season is over, and that Christmas tree is begging to be put out to pasture, it might be worthwhile to consider alternate ways at disposing of it besides just putting it out on the curb. While carving it up at the kitchen table might be something only Euell Gibbons would have attempted, it might be interesting to know that Clear Creek Distillery has thought of another means of recycling a little bit of the holiday spirit.

OK, so they probably aren’t using old Christmas trees, but they are making a wonderful product from the freshly picked buds of Douglas fir.

There apparently is a slightly obscure Alsatian liqueur known as “Eau de Vie de Bourgeons de Sapin” (translates to: “brandy of fir tree buds”), which is a spirit made by careful maceration of Scotts Pine buds in brandy and re-distillation to create a product that has a wonderfully piney character.

The folks at Clear Creek Distillery, who have a penchant for going out on a limb for their craft, have recently come out with their own take on this product, using the more common Douglas fir from the Pacific Northwest. If you think about it, there is little else which could possibly be more representative of this area, besides of course applejack or perhaps a salmon liqueur.

It took Steve McCarthy, founder of Clear Creek Distillery, nearly 10 years of dedicated experimentation to arrive at a process which he felt properly captured the woodsy essence he envisioned. And it frankly is an excellent product with lots of interesting potential.

At about $50 for a 375ml bottle (which is a half-bottle, or also known as a “split”), it may not necessarily be something you’ll be seeing becoming a standard product at your local bar, but it hopefully will make appearances at some of the bars which enjoy blazing new trails.

I decided to take my bottle out for a spin and see if I could work up a new cocktail which properly used this product.

Woodsman Sour

  • 2 ounces Eau de Vie of Douglas fir
  • 1 ounce St-Germain Elderflower liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The combination of the slightly piney flavor from the eau de vie, and the floral notes of the St-Germain really worked well in this slight variation of a traditional sour.



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January 5th, 2008
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Vidiot
Posted on:
January 7, 2008 at 10:57 pm

Sounds intriguing…I may have to get my hands on a bottle.

I’ve been enjoying a bottle of génépi, a juniper liqueur I picked up in the French Alps a couple months ago. When I get a chance, I look forward to trying it in cocktails, but so far I’ve just sipped it as a cordial.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Robert Hess
Posted on:
January 8, 2008 at 2:09 pm

There is only a touch of sweetness to Clear Creeks offering, so if your génépi is a sweet liqueur, then it might be too sweet to use in this drink. If it is sweet, then perhaps you could us it in place of the St-Germain, and use brandy in place of the Eau de Vie of Douglas fir. If that seems to work well, then perhaps switch in gin to see if that doesn’t go “too” overboard.

-Robert

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Vidiot
Posted on:
January 8, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Yeah, my génépi is a liqueur rather than an eau-de-vie, so that plus the St-Germain would be way too much sweetness. Brandy’s a really good idea for a base spirit, though; I’d been thinking about doing something with the génépi and gin, but thought that that combination might be over the top. (Maybe I should mix the Clear Creek, some Junipero, and some génépi, and call it a Pine Bomb. It’d be like swigging bathroom cleanser.)

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Rick
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 12:13 am

I had a great drink at the Pegu Club that contained yellow Chartreuse, grapefruit syrup, gin, and douglas fir Eau de Vie. I can’t recall the name, but the drink was delightful.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Robert Hess
Posted on:
January 10, 2008 at 7:02 pm

…and when isn’t a drink at the Pegu Club delightful? :->

-Robert

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
The Cocktail Chronicles » MxMo XXX: And everything smelled of vinegar….
Posted on:
August 12, 2008 at 6:47 am

[…] But what do you expect? The theme for this month’s Mixology Monday is “Local Flavor,” (selected by our host this month, Kevin at Save the Drinkers), and it’s the Pacific Northwest in late summer. Short of distilling down a Douglas fir — oh, wait, that’s been done — if you need a local ingredient around here, you need look no further than the blackberry. (Of course, I could have turned to other ingredients evocative of Seattle, but a drink mixed with over-roasted coffee and hyper-hopped beer with a muddled chunk of smoked salmon just ain’t in my future. Sure, it’ll be on some promo menu at Bite of Seattle or something, but not here.) […]