Of Nettle Gin and Eau de Vie

It's been a fair while since my last post.  

But I been busy.

And I been tasting things.

On a back country road, on a remote island,

(not far from a certain oyster farm...)

there exists a distillery!

A gin and cider distillery, to be precise.

It sounds very underground.

How could you not stop and see what that's all about?

First you're guided inside to the cider tasting.

These hard ciders range from Very Dry to almost Port-like.

 A beaker spittoon.

My favorite was the Medium Cider,

but I also bought the Pommeau because the color was so pretty.

 The bottling machine.

Next we were ushered to the outdoor gin tasting area.

That copper gin distiller is just SO gorgeous.

Some of these gins are infused with local

Madrone.  Tastes like perfume.

The idea is for the products to taste like the

islands....so there are infusions of blackberry,

Madrone, lavender, Douglas fir...and a few

other secret ingredients.

This apple brandy was made from apples

grown on the property.

 A real treat at the end was discovering

the many Bitters they make!

 The product shelf.

 One of the lovely owners and her daughter.

 A portion of the grounds.

 Gin barrels.

 San Juan Distillery/Westcott Bay Ciderworks is an absolute delight.

About a mile from the Roche Harbor Resort

on San Juan Island (Washington), tastings are lively events on

Fridays and Saturdays from March through December.

12 Anderson Lane, 360.378.2606

Contemplating an Oyster Farm

Once upon a time there were a couple of UW forestry majors

who dreamed of working on an oyster farm. (Yeah I know,

far cry from a timber stand).  For years whenever they

could get up to the San Juans they would weave their little 

putt-putt boat through the maze of buoys and nets up to the floating docks

in Westcott Bay, climb up on the high pier and watch longingly 

as the diggers dug clams on the beaches below, 

and the shuckers shucked oysters in the shacks 

at the end of the dock.  It was a bustling scene, and looked like 

something you wanted to be a part of.  The pair couldn't afford

to buy the already-harvested oysters, so went to the mucky beaches

below and picked their own oysters for their much-anticipated BBQ.

For the next 30 years the pair, along with their extended family, 

would zip over to the oyster farm on warm summer afternoons, 

in a progression of sturdier and faster boats,  and choose

oysters from the baths of already-harvested oysters...the

smaller the oyster, the more expensive.  It was a sacred and

cherished tradition to take them back to the island cabin,

whip up a zingy hot sauce, and savor each delectable bivalve

as it popped open on the barbecue. 

Sadly, the oyster farm is winding down, as the aging and spread-out

family members who own it are wishing to sell the property.  

I recently took an extended tour of the defunct property,

in the company of a biologist who has worked the farm

since its inception, as well as a local expert in the structural

aspects of what is left.  

One can always dream.

Black Oystercatcher.

The longest dock.

Nets over the clam beds.

 History.

Summer season's harvested oyster tanks.

The office.

Man-made anchors pulled from the salty waters.

Retired nets.

Naturally occurring oysters. 

Buoy line graveyard.

Cockle.

Biologist lore.

Ghost pier.

As big as a shoe if left untended....

(I'll opt for a Kumamoto instead, thank you).

Growth rings.

Walking the tidal flats.

Outbuilding.

Former bath house from Camp Nor'wester.

Original Camp structures.

Prior to becoming a full-time sea farm, this was the original

Camp Nor'wester, which is now firmly established over on John's Island.

Tubs for growing spat (oyster seed).

Relic.

Buoy magic.

 Perfectly staged: someone must have been awaiting 

the arrival of my camera.  

Stay tuned....

I'd like to say this is just the beginning.

One can always dream.