BRBN

Born and Raised

June 17, 2019 No Comments

Creating cocktails is a team effort at Timber, with all the bartenders and servers contributing their ideas. Most recently, they’ve been working on summer cocktails—including this one that restaurant manager Jonathan Dennis calls “a mix between a mojito and a bourbon peach lemonade.”

• 2 oz chili-infused Okanagan Spirits BRBN (see note)
• 1 oz peach and mint purée
• 1 oz mint syrup (see note)

On the drive up to Saanichton from Victoria, hand-lettered signs for honey and free-range eggs compete with honour-system farm stands exchanging wildflowers, produce or jam for money stuffed in a can. When I arrive on an oceanside hilltop, Ken Winchester points out 25 acres of certified organic vineyards, maple and fruit trees and, farther in the distance, barley being farmed to his specs before it’s malted at Phillips Brewery in Victoria. “I’m also a beekeeper, among other things,” says the deVine winemaker and Bruichladdich-trained distiller, gesturing to the hives. He’s more than that: he’s a farm-to-flask disciple.

B.C. Distilleries

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery

November 30, 2015 No Comments

A family-owned award-winning distillery with a wide range of products to its name, including an absinthe, and both rye and single malt whiskies. Tours and tastings are available in both its locations.

5204 24th St., Vernon
267 Bernard Ave., Kelowna
250-549-3120 | 778-484-5174
OkanaganSpirits.com

Read more about Okanagan Spirits:

• Spirited Away: B.C.’s oldest craft distillery has made an international impact

• Fruitful endeavour: Family-owned distillery crafts world-class spirits from homegrown harvests

• Recipe: Apple Flip

• A shift out of neutral: The Alchemist’s tasting panel samples B.C. vodkas for a taste of the province’s most crowd-pleasing spirit

• Recipe: Sangria Rosé

• Farm to flask: Artisan distilling started a conversation about the terroir of spirits. But can you taste those uber-local ingredients in the bottle?

• Recipe: Bramble

• Liquid gold: It can take years before brown spirits get to market. Here’s how B.C. distilleries keep their businesses liquid in the meantime

• Star anise: How a Scandinavian classic is warming hearts in B.C.

• Recipe: What’s Haskap’in?

• Recipe: Parkside “Sip ‘n’ Slide” Raddler

• Recipe: The Burrard Gimlet

• The spirit whisperer: B.C. craft spirits pioneer Frank Deiter is taking on the world

• Recipe: Citrus Breeze

• Collaboration nation: B.C.’s small-batch distillers are getting crafty with their foodie, wine and beer neighbours

• Say hi to rye: The Alchemist tasting panel samples Canadian and American rye spirits

• Return of the green fairy: The spirit that supposedly drove a generation of French artists mad is back in B.C., where distillers are reinventing absinthe

• Recipe: Absinthe Mojito

• At RauDZ, gin is in

• Recipe: Born and Raised

PRODUCTS:

• Essential Vodka
• Family Reserve Vodka
• Essential Gin
• Evolve Gin
• Family Reserve Gin
• BC Rye Whisky
• BRBN Bourbon-Style Corn Whisky
• BLK BRBN Cask-Strength Bourbon-Style Corn Whisky
• BC Hopped Whisky
• Laird of Fintry Single Malt Whisky
• Laird of Fintry Rum Barrel Whisky
• Applejack IPA Whisky
• Okanagan Shine Unaged BRBN Whisky
• Taboo Genuine Absinthe
• Aquavitus
• Fruit Liqueurs
• Bartlett Pear (Poire Williams)
• Bradshaw Plum (Old Italian Prune)
• Canados (Aged Apple)
• Kirsch Danube
• Raspberry Framboise
• Gewurztraminer Marc

TASTING NOTES:

Poire Williams

FRAGRANCE: Sweet, ripe Bartlett pears.
FLAVOUR: Fruity, with a great boozy backbone.
FEEL: Clean, loads of mid-palate.
FINISH: Austere, dry, lean.
BEST ENJOYED: Neat, after a big meal.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A delicious introductory digestif. —Josh Pape, April 2016

Cherry Liqueur

FRAGRANCE: Cherry pit, fruit rollups, rose petals.
FLAVOUR: Tart cherry pie.
FEEL: Beautifully thin and bright.
FINISH: Cherry skins, rose water.
BEST ENJOYED: Remember The Main cocktail.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Great product showcasing Okanagan fruit. —Shaun Layton, July 2016

Maraschino Liqueur

FRAGRANCE: Sour cherry.
FLAVOUR: Sweet cherry with underlying almond.
FEEL: Mouth-coating.
FINISH: Relatively short.
BEST ENJOYED: In a Last Word cocktail.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Very excited to see this product. A popular ingredient in classic cocktail recipes, it is great to have a local iteration. —Robyn Gray, October 2016

Taboo Genuine Absinthe

FRAGRANCE: Refreshing hints of citrus from the lemon balm, pleasant fennel presence.
FLAVOUR: All the herbaceous notes you’d expect from absinthe.
FEEL: Great body, initial sensation of alcohol heat.
FINISH: Long, hot, delicious.
BEST ENJOYED: Neat.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Try it neat without the sugar cube or any water dilution. —Scott Barner, February 2017

FRAGRANCE: Certainly smells like a corn whisky. Has a sugary note as well.
FLAVOUR: Corn and oak, some mild vanilla on the front.
FEEL: Warm, slightly mouth coating.
FINISH: Corn sticks around, shadowed by the alcohol heat.
BEST ENJOYED: Good with some ginger ale and held up in an Old Fashioned.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Interesting taste for a Canadian take on “BRBN.” —Trevor Kallies, October 2017