A common refrain in the cocktail & spirits industry is that everyone is a few years behind New York City. That is, everyone stateside is racing to catch up with NYC as those folks push the envelope. The markets just behind are arguably Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, L.A., and New Orleans. Then there's the rest of us.
Austin has a growing cocktail culture and with it an exploding number of distilleries and talented barfolks. The scene is doing its best to make a name for itself, and we are damn proud to be personally involved.
Meeting local distillers, bartenders and cocktail geeks is guaranteed good conversation and drinks, so we rarely pass such opportunities up.
This week Adam and I (Chris) met up with the fine folks at
Genius Gin. We got a tour of their distillery and sampled some 80 as well as 114 proof (Navy-Strength) Genius gin.
Mike, Chris and Charlie are gin fanatics who are taking a grassroots approach to distilling their gin. In talking with them we immediately developed a respect for their handcrafted approach. They start with a neutral spirit which they distill from their own wash.
They treat their botanicals carefully by cold-distilling the more sensitive ones separate from those that can stand the heat. They end up with a super balanced gin that sits between a London Dry and an American new-age gin.
The Genius guys showed us great southern hospitality and we're excited for them as they plan to come to market in early 2013. A very welcome addition to the local booze scene!
