Author Archives: Kayla Bernard

Thirst Wine Merchants

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For my retail shop visit, I went to Thirst Wine Merchants on Green Ave in Brooklyn, New York. The place is under a little area so it is not noticeable if you are not paying attention. While entering the shop there is nothing exciting or eye-catching about it. The shop gets straight to the point by only having the wine and county it is from. There are little paintings around. This store looked like a place you go to just pick up a bottle of wine you already knew and then going home. The set up of the store was plain. 

Red from Spain

A pro to this retail shop was the willingness of the worker that was present. He was the only person working in the shop at the time of my arrival. I explained to him what I was doing and he already had an idea because he stated a few of my classmates had come by there already. I asked for all the things I needed and he was able to help in the best way he could. 

While asking about the shelf talker, there was no luck because they did not do those at that location. If you were not a worker in the store or someone who knew what wine they preferred or studied then it would be very hard to maneuver around this shop. The only labeling was the numbers on the bottles, the name or the bottle, and the country above it to distinguish between the wines. The stands the wines were put in hard no writing. In my opinion, when you go into a place like that you would expect writing on the shelf. The first place you are looking is down by the wine not above your head, which is where the countries were.

Sparkling from Italy

Austria is a country located in Central Europe. Most of the wines coming from this country are from white grape varieties.

Red from Austria

At the end of my self-tour, the worker was polite and asked if I needed any more help or had any more questions. 

Reference: Austriawine.com

A Visit to Kings County Distillery

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For my Visit assignment, I decided to go to a distillery. The distillery I visit is The King’s County Distillery. It is located in Brooklyn, NY in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It is New York’s oldest, largest, and premier whiskey distillery. This place was founded in 2010. It is known for its handmade moonshine, bourbon, and other whiskeys. The grain used to make their product is corn from the New York area. They use traditional and old distilling techniques along with traditional equipment to make their unique products. They have won awards like the “Distillery of the year 2016.” 

The process used to make the products at the Kings County Distillery

 

The products that come from this facility are mashed, fermented, distilled, and aged in their location then sound onsite in their waiting bar area. This facility used pot stills for their production.

The first distillation process

The mashing process done in this machine is not that of mashing like potatoes but extracting the juices and sugar from the corn. 

The fermentation process for this is done in large wooden barrels or crates. The yeast is poured on top of the juices and then after the yeast is poured on it is automatically a spirit. It just has to continue to ferment until that process is over. 

The final step before the whiskey is tasted and transported to bottles to age

Charred oak barrels for aging the whiskey. The barrels are made from English wood and only new barrels are used for aging

The second distillation process help takes off this blue substance that is left in the liquor after it is mashed and goes through the first distillation process. This is also when some of the congeners were removed. 

The oak barrels along with aging help give the product its distinct color and enhances the aromas. 

From this facility, the product is 80% corn and 20% English barley. It goes through a 2 step distillation then aged in new charred oak barrels, never used barrels. New barrels are used over old barrels to prevent the flavors of old products interfering with the brand new product. The aromas and taste of the products are strong with rich caramel, spices of the holidays, vanilla, and the oak of the barrel. Some have hints of corn. 

A picture of one of their awards and a cabinet filled with their handmade whiskey

During the end of the tour, we were given a variety of whiskey to taste. We first started with a clear product of whiskey before it is put into barrels to age. This meant there were no flavors to it but the corn it was mashed from. The two year and four-year options had a different taste as in more of the oak-like and caramel feel. We were also given chocolate whiskey which tasted like a rich dark chocolate bar. Along with a holiday spice smelling whiskey that tasted like nutmeg and cinnamon. None of them was my favorite because I guess I am not a fan of whiskey.