It all started when Jim Bendis went for a jog through the juniper forests in Central Oregon’s high desert plateau, near Bend, more than 20 years ago. According to Alan Dietrich, CEO of Crater Lake Spirits, Bendis saw the abundance of juniper and an “aha moment” that drew him to use the juniper to make gin.
Since Bendis first started bottling gin and vodka in 1996, Crater Lake Spirits has become one of the most recognizable spirits produced in the Pacific Northwest. Their distinctive labels—a woodcut-style sketch of the Cascade Range—help them stand out on store shelves in 35 states. They have remained committed to using Oregon-grown products, and have recently established a 24-acre estate and tasting room where they are growing everything from rye to lemon balm.
“With each product we release, we’ve always kept that intent of being rooted in the Northwest,” Dietrich says. Crater Lake has a hazelnut and espresso flavored vodka, utilizing the plethora of coffee roasted in the region, as well as hazelnuts grown in Oregon. At the new estate and tasting room, located about 10 miles outside Bend, the distillery is also growing rye that will be used for whiskey, barley, which is used in an estate bottling of their gin, and herbs and aromatics for flavoring the gin.
One of the key ingredients in Crater Lake’s spirits, however, comes from those Cascade Mountains depicted in the label. “The biggest distinction is that we have exceptional water here in Central Oregon,” Dietrich says. “For whatever reason, the water is ideally suited for making distilled spirits. To take nothing away from other craft distillers in this country, if you’re not making booze in Bend, Oregon, you’re not making it as good as it can be made.”
Dietrich says one of his favorite ways to enjoy Crater Lake’s spirits is in a cocktail called The Bee’s Knees. The distillery’s estate is home to a beehive for pollinating the crops, and the staff love using the honey the bees produce. The cocktail combines gin, lemon juice and honey. Another favorite cocktail is the Nutty Russian, a twist on a White Russian, using the hazelnut espresso vodka. It was developed at the distillery’s old facility in downtown Bend. Now that the estate and tasting room is established outside of town, they hope to open a tasting room downtown again someday as well.
Nutty Russian, courtesy of Crater Lake
2 ounces Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka
1 ounces Crater Lake Vodka
2 ounces half & half or cream
Pour Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka over ice in a rocks glass and top with half & half or cream. Garnish with a hazelnut, chocolate covered espresso bean or shaved chocolate.
