"Water of Life": CH Distillery Set To Launch Fruit Series June 2

By Ben Kramer in Food on May 28, 2015 4:00PM

Photo done by Lina Cassler

Eau de Vie is French for “water of life.” It’s also a European style of clear brandy derived from fruit mash that holds the flavor and aroma of the fruit from which it came from. Two fruits led CH Distillery to venture into making an increasingly large variety of these spirits.

It all started with cherry when Krissy Schutte, CH Managing Food & Beverage Director, asked for a cherry brandy. CH Founder and Distiller, Tremaine Atkinson, said alright and went to work. Not too long after that, Matty Eggleston, head bartender at Nico Osteria happened to tell Atkinson“God I would love to get a peach brandy because they are so hard to find.” Atkinson replied, “Okay, I’ll see if I can make you one.” And that's how their new fruit series came to (no pun intended) fruition.

To go with the cherry and peach, Atkinson decided the series then needed pear and quince, that perfumey fruit that looks a bit like a pear but needs to be cooked. Pear made sense because, “It sounded good,” while quince has a family connection behind it. Atkinson’s uncle, Tremaine Arkley, owns Arkley Farms in Independence, Oregon and according to Atkinson is, “one of the few quince growers in the country.” So when thinking of fruits to use, quince felt like a natural to try.

With the exception of the quince, Atkinson wanted his fruit to be local and Midwestern grown. All of the cherries, pears and peaches were sourced from farms in Michigan. When CH got the fruit though, they didn’t get it whole or in slices but instead in either juice or “gloop” form, which was helpful because it arrived pre-mashed. To ferment the juice or “gloop” CH used a distillers yeast that Atkinson says is, “specifically designed for fruit...designed to stay out of the way of the flavor of the fruit.”

While the Cherry Eau de Vie was released in February (it was ready sooner than the rest), all four spirits will come together June 2 at CH Distillery for the event “Drink Your Fruit”, which will serve as the release party and first look at the peach, pear and quince-flavored spirits. Attending patrons will be able to try the brandies, sip on specialty cocktails and buy the individual Eau de Vies (which are packaged in 375ml bottles) for $35 a pop or a set of all four for $119. The event lasts from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Atkinson isn’t sure how long the spirits will be around for, so if you want to try any of them it’s always better to do so sooner than later.