moonshine

The start-up Belle Isle Craft Spirits meant to use its moonshine as a jumping off point to make more exciting spirits. Then it discovered infusions.

Note: A photo previously appearing with this story was taken at the Casey Jones Distillery, not Silver Train Distillery. Casey Jones Distillery is very much open for business. Secrecy isn’t the only reason that moonshiners traditionally hid their stills at the bottom of a holler somewhere deep in the woods. Safety was also a concern,…

Welcome to Frozen Drinks Week on Food Republic. We’re excited to bring you a bunch of stories that will make surviving the summer heat a little more — spirited. This drink from Talde head bartender Bill Riley takes white whiskey (moonshine, white dog, undrinkable swill) and shapes it into something beautiful, with help from the…

Mixologist Graham Case at the legendary Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee loaned us his recipe for what very well may be the perfect fall beverage. Pumpkin carving contests, corn mazes and late-night bonfires are just a few of the things that come to mind each year as October begins. As the local farmers fill Blackberry’s…

If you’re the type of drinker who is brand loyal, rarely deviating from your Maker’s, Grey Goose or Patrón tequila, listen up. There are secrets your favorite brand might be keeping from you. Lucky for you, we tapped Mark Spivak, author of the forthcoming book Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating Story, out this November, to help…

Ideally, this pop would be savored on a front porch somewhere in North Carolina, surrounded by fireflies and the chirp of crickets and accompanied by the languorous strains of a bluegrass Dobro. But it's pretty good even in a crappy apartment in the city. In a bizarre post-modern reversal, these days you can buy moonshine…

Put down the mulling spices and step away from the glögg. California's in the middle of a heatwave and we wore shorts all weekend in the East. What does that mean for Cocktail of the Week? Well, as we demonstrated last week with the adult snow cone from Louisville, KY's Proof on Main, we're not…

With a cooking style that blends pork pyrotechnics — a Vermont pork trio of suckling confit, grilled belly, spice-crusted rib, for example — and a deep knowledge of New England fishing and farming, Tony Maws has become one of Boston's kitchen heroes. And with awards from the James Beard Foundation (Best Chef Northeast 2011) and…

“We’re a couple of guys who do everything by hand except grow the grain.” —John Foster, Smooth Ambler Spirits I know what you’re thinking. West Virginia = Appalachian Mountains = veritable fountain of illegal, rot gut moonshine production. While in certain parts of the state this assessment may still prove to be true, in Maxwelton,…

Moonshine is not the only formerly illicit white spirit in town. Brandy producers in the Gascony region of Southwest France have a rustic white hooch tradition of their own: Blanche Armagnac. While traditional Armagnacs are aged in oak until the liquid is toasty and brown, and are meant to be swirled and sipped from snifters—it…

This Bloody Mary recipe offers up a taste twist thanks to Original Moonshine clear corn whiskey. Some of the ingredients are the same as you'd find in a traditional Bloody made with vodka, but subbing in clear corn whiskey can give the classic brunch beverage even more bite. Not that it's harsh. In fact, Original…