Tag: Greenbar Distillery

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Greenbar – Hop ’til You Drop

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Over last weekend, I made a return visit to Greenbar Distillery to test out two new hops infused liquers that will be coming out on the market. Both will fly under the FruitLab banner with the first ready to buy now and the second named Grand Hops coming later.

The first has been dosed with Bravo and Citra hops and was wicked, sickly sweet. To me it was more simple syrup or candy, than hops. I can see how it could add to a cocktail, in fact the Hop Drop cocktail that was being poured was quite nice, though I could have used a bit more fizz to it.

The cloudy and unfiltered, Grand Hops version dials down the sweet and ramps up the bitterness which is very earthy and tree bark-y. More ABV heat shows up here since the sugar isn’t there to smooth that over. The bitter aftertaste was a bit much in conjunction with the sweet. And the California Love cocktail played up the liquer to a detrimental effect to me.
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To compare and contrast, Greenbar also had a Simcoe ice tea and Citra sparkling soda to try. And to be frank, I would have bought either of them before the alcoholic cousins. Both the tea and the soda added a balancing note to the hops used and were very refreshing and very aromatic. A little spritz of gin and I would have had a quick and easy cocktail that would have worked wonders for me.

Maybe a cocktail pro would find standout uses for these new products separately, but, for me, I would blend the two together to tone down the sweet and create a more balanced bottle for mixing.
HopDrop

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Greenbar Distillery

Last Sunday, beer buddy Richard and I went as far south as the 10 freeway in DTLA to visit the Greenbar Distillery and take their tour of the facility.
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This is the only distillery in Los Angeles and the rules governing their tasting room are archaic, at best. You can buy a bottle of rotgut on any corner in this town with no issue but a tasting room at the actual distillery can only sell bottles if you sign that you are taking it out of state as a gift and not opening it in the State of California. Which is of course completely unenforceable. They also have to carefully monitor the amount of tasting room pours.
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That stupidity out of the way, the tour at Greenbar is well done. The guides have the patter down cold but it isn’t just rote memorization. There appears to be a genuine care taken in all aspects of the process and a desire to be innovators and not just imitators. And plenty of information is delivered in the hour long tour.

Their procedure for creating whiskey is time consuming and out of the ordinary (using a tea bag of sorts to lower a melange of smoked woods into their barrels) as is their devotion to using spices, fruits and vegetables that are organic in their other spirits. And they have an extensive line-up from vodkas, to rums to bitters and liqueurs.
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My favorite was the brownish dusty gin under the Tru brand. It was bright and really featured a citrusy botanical mix. The spiced rum was also quite well done though not subtle by and stretch and their first attempt at whiskey was unique. It packed heat aplenty but also really brought the grain forward in a way I have not tasted in other whiskies.
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On the downside, the tequila seemed abrasive and non-complex for a Reposado and the Grand Poppy bitter liqueur was overly floral with a wicked vegetal bitter kick that had me looking for water.

The tour is fairly priced at $12 and allows for a second tasting to try the full spectrum of products plus a 20% store discount.

After the tour, I wanted to hit Mohawk Bend to try a gin and tonic and see how it tasted.