Welcome back to Sip Northwest’s Bar Tab, a weekly selection of what to drink in the Northwest now. Come on in, belly up to the counter and order a digital drink on us. Our focus this week is on a progressive drinking day, starting with coffee-infused beer, getting your fruit in the middle and finishing with a digestif. Bottoms up!
Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub Coffee Blonde || Eat, drink and stay at Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub and Guesthouses in Victoria, British Columbia. The charming heritage homes match quintessential images of the capital city, originally constructed in 1884. A short 100 years later, this adjoining brewing operation opened as Canada’s first in-house brewpub. With an eye on local, the limited release Coffee Blonde is a regionally inspired effort with local ingredients like cocoa husks from Sirene Artisan Chocolate Makers and cold brew coffee from Fernwood Coffee. Wafts of golden, lightly roasted coffee aromas meld with cocoa dustings and a fresh bread aroma, while the palate is crisp and refreshing, focusing less on the coffee and cocoa, more on the clean pilsner malt base.
Bull Run Cider Gravenstein || Named for the pristine watershed that supplies the Portland Metro area with its prestigious drinking water, Bull Run Cider strives to embody that local, clean source with its ciders. Made of fresh-pressed handpicked fruit from the estate orchard in Forest Oregon, Oregon, this single varietal offering is tried-and-true Gravenstein. The cultivar — which is largely grown on the West Coast — is showcased with bold aromatics, ripe flavors and juicy textures of the cider. Tangy scents and flavors of red apple, like biting into a fresh namesake apple that just hit the ground, mix with mineral notes of sandy earth that brushes over the fruit, finishing off-dry and succulent.
ArborBrook Vineyards 2014 Pinot Gris, Guadalupe Vineyard, Dundee Hills || Outside of the dry-farmed, estate blocks of Pommard and Dijon clones of Pinot Noir in the Chehalem Mountains, ArborBrooks steps out to bring in fruit for its two different styles of Pinot Gris the house produces. The old vines at Guadalupe Vineyard, located in the Dundee Hills, are farmed for fruit that ferments to a concentrated, fruit-forward, Alsatian-style Pinot Gris. Barrel-fermented for a lush, full body, the rich Gris pushes out aromas of orange blossom, white peach, papaya and other juicy tropical fruit favorites. The palate brings in those yellow fruit flavors with some red apple and soft textural acidity.
Odd Society Spirits Bittersweet Vermouth Tradizione Italiana || Constantly pushing the envelope, the team at Odd Society has worked with a local chef to create the ultimate black currant liqueur, dedicated a vodka to its native hood of East Vancouver and has also now released a traditional Italian-style bittersweet vermouth. Based on an imported recipe from an antique notebook, this rendition merges 25 different botanicals and fortified wine from the home province, resulting in an aromatic sipper of orange peel, caramel and almonds, with notes of cardamom and lavender on the nose, white pepper and savory herbs drawing out the finish. Grab a snifter and a cube of ice after dinner: perfetto!
