California Jammin'

Over the past couple of months we've taken a look at the California lifestyle with the help of our sponsor Hangar 1 Vodka . We've now reached our final series: Farm Fresh. In honor of Hangar 1's fine fruit-infused flavors , this series dives into the sources and products of the delicious fruit grown in California.

Meet June Taylor. The small-batch jams she crafts from organic fruit — much of which hails from small Northern California farms — fill the Still-Room, the shop she presides over in West Berkeley. Whether filled with blood orange marmalade or Damson plum conserves, each jar, flaunting stove top–cooked, hand-poured fruit devoid of commercial pectin, is affixed with a letterpress label. For Taylor, every detail requires thoughtfulness.

What is the earliest memory of fruit that made an impression on you?

Receiving tangerines in our Christmas stockings and eating dates on Christmas day. Also, when I visited Cyprus on my 16th birthday and saw oranges growing on trees for the first time.

What made you want to build a career around fresh produce?

A feeling that there were no good marmalades being produced, so I would make them. I had the desire to create something as humble as a jar of preserves to a high level of quality and value. Working with gorgeous local fruit has become a love affair.