In the fall of 2022, I developed a stomach ulcer. It started out as an innocent stomachache that turned into debilitating pain after eating seemingly anything. I don’t have a particularly overindulgent diet, but at the time I was drinking alcohol every day—something many of us in the alcohol industry can relate to. It wasn’t too much, never more than a glass or a cocktail a night, but it was every night. I didn’t think anything of it. In my twenties, I could really hold my weight. Working in a bar five nights a week, I was drinking much more than the daily glass.

I went to the emergency room, and after the diagnosis, they put me on a special diet. No fat, heavy salt, spicy heat, acids, coffee, or alcohol for at least thirty days. At first, I felt stuck. Eating rice and oatmeal every day was one thing, but a day without wine was a day disconnected from something that gives me so much joy, so much life. I had to think about why I drank wine. 

In part, drinking is my job. Finding new producers and cuvées that folks who read my articles will enjoy is a big part of how I pay my bills. Wine is also part of my daily wind down. A glass of something special pairs perfectly with the sunset after a long day. How would I replace an evening ritual I’ve had for so many years?

It was the right time to think through my relationship with alcohol. Non- and low-alcohol beverages have been rising in popularity recently, and I dove headfirst into finding the ones that were most exciting, and that were centered in a connection to the ingredients, instead of marketing sugary substitutes to a sober (or sober-curious) consumer.

Six months later, my ulcer has healed, and I’m back to drinking wine and the occasional cocktail, but my relationship with alcohol has changed, thanks to the discovery of some of my new favorite beverages found in local Maine shops and breweries. Layering in these drinks allows for a more diverse experience in my drinking habits and gives my body a bit of a break. I hope you’ll try them out for yourself.

Maine-Based Bevs

Shimmerwood Beverages, Razz Lime Shimmer Seltzer, 0% ABV

Part of alcohol’s appeal is the calming effect that ramps up after your first drink. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down your nervous system and brings on an initial feeling of relaxation, exactly what I look for after a long workday. The Shimmerwood CBD infused seltzers help recreate that feeling, with none of the THC that gets you high. 

5mg full spectrum CBD is enough to help me reduce anxiety and unwind, and it tastes great over ice with none of that cannabutter flavor you might remember from the weed brownies of yesteryear.

Urban Farm Fermentory, Cranberry Kombucha, 1.5% ABV

A seasonal offering from my local brewery here in Portland, the cranberry kombucha from Urban Farm Fermentory is tart, crisp, and overflowing with flavor. This became a fall staple I couldn’t get enough of, perfect for drinking outside in the cool air. 

As it turns out, I’m a big fan of most of their flavors, including Ginger Root and Elderberry. If you’re adventurous and not worried about spice, try the Ghost Pepper.

Herbal Revolution, Maine Wild Blueberry Drinking Vinegar, 0% ABV

Before my ulcer, cocktails were a major source of delight. Drinking a good cocktail means discovering how different flavors layered together could become more than the sum of their parts. I started looking into low- and no-alcohol cocktail ingredients that would be simple to mix with two or three ingredients at the most. 

This drinking vinegar from Herbal Revolution delivers major blueberry flavor, and, mixed over ice with lime seltzer and a rosemary sprig, makes a beautiful end-of-day beverage. I use five parts seltzer to one part vinegar for a lively and refreshing drink.

Root Wild, Grapefruit Shine Kombucha, 0.5% ABV

Not only is Root Wild kombucha delicious, but their physical Portland location is a safe-haven bar where kombuchas on tap make it easy to be out and about but not surrounded by alcohol. Meeting with friends at Root Wild has become a staple for me when I’m not interested in drinking but still want to be social after work. 

The grapefruit flavor is citrusy and bright with powerful hibiscus notes, and the addition of hops makes it feel more like a sour beer than a kombucha.

Non-Alc From Away

Unified Ferments, Jasmine Green, New York, 0.5% ABV

I used to not like kombucha. I was one of those people who thought it was too vinegary and too aggressive. It had been years since I tried anything new. The Jasmine Green kombucha from Unified Ferments re-opened the door and blew me away. 

Soft and gentle, with a full jasmine bouquet, the drink is fizzy and alive with a ton of flavor, yet elegant enough to stand up to a glass of floral white wine. This bottle is special, tea-forward, and begs to be shared.

Heirloom New York, Genmaicha Tea, New York, 0% ABV

Green tea and puffed rice give this Heirloom New York brew a nutty and herbal flavor that I absolutely love. If I’m craving something a bit more winter-friendly and rich, this is the bottle I reach for. It’s also a gorgeous gift to bring to a holiday dinner, as it has an umami vibe that pairs beautifully with many different foods. The company uses organic fair-trade teas and local fruits and herbs.

Muri, Yamilé, Denmark, 0% ABV

If you like complex and fruity semi-sweet rosé, you’re going to like this. It tastes like smoky raspberry sherbet. The fizz is creamy and soft. The Copenhagen-based brand makes this blend from carbonically fermented raspberry and gooseberry mead, smoked lacto-fermented rhubarb, goldenrod, and pink peppercorn kefir. 

The transparent flavors of the beverage shine—you can really taste every element. It’s delicious, interesting, and delightful. The flavors keep developing even after a few days stoppered in the fridge.

Yesfolk, Sencha, New York, 1% ABV

Single origin Sencha tea is the star of this bright and light canned kombucha. When fall barbecues and campfire hangs were filling up my schedule, but I couldn’t bring wine to share with friends, a couple of four packs of the Yesfolk kombuchas were a perfect accompaniment. 

Bringing this around also opened my eyes to how many other people in my life were cutting down on drinking or were interested in alternative beverages. This brew is refreshingly simple, with lively grassy notes.

Fully Rooted Juice, Citrus Hibiscus, Rhode Island, 0% ABV

Like the Muri Yamilé, this Fully Rooted Juice citrus hibiscus kombucha feels a lot like a glass of rosé. The honeybush tea, grown in South Africa, has a naturally sweet flavor that perfectly meshes with the hibiscus and orange peel. The sweetness is wonderfully balanced by the sharp lemongrass. 

I love the size of the 16oz bottle, which feels heftier than a can of ’booch, and more like a mini growler of beer you’d bring to a dinner with friends. They also offer a 32oz full size growler—you’re going to need it when everyone wants to a glass for themselves.

Read More:

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  8 Low (or No) Alcohol Beverages That Got Me Through My Stomach Ulcer
• 
  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
• 
  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning
• 
  The Ultimate Maine Bar Cart
• 
  Portland’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Isn’t a Bar At All

The post 8 Low (or No) Alcohol Beverages That Got Me Through My Stomach Ulcer appeared first on The Maine Mag.

I remember my first Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy sighting. We were in northern Maine, and the snow was slowly starting to melt as the spring sun thawed out the terrain. On a hike along the side of a snowmobile track, I saw the neck and cap of a bottle that would soon become iconic in my mind. Without realizing it then, I had seen my very first “lily of the tundra,” the term used for Allen’s bottles that have been thrown out on the trails over the winter and emerge as the snow melts in spring.

Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy has had a stronghold on the Maine spirits market for decades. In 2018 there was one bottle of it sold in the state for every man, woman, and child. However, when you leave Maine, you may be hard-pressed to find a bottle—or a non-Mainer who has heard of it, let alone consumed it. Many cities and states have locally famous food or beverages that are mostly unknown or unavailable beyond a geographical line. Pennsylvania has its scrapple, New Orleans has its king cake, Chicago has its Malört, and Maine has its Allen’s Coffee Brandy.

According to M.S. Walker, the Boston-based producer of Allen’s, the popularity of the spirit started with Maine fishermen who would use it as a pick-me-up by adding it to their morning coffee. Most of Allen’s is poured in homes or locals’ bars. Mixed with an equal amount of milk it’s known as a Sombrero, or by many other, generally off-color, nicknames. But over the last few years, we have seen Allen’s make its way onto highbrow cocktail menus across the state.

Hayley Wilson, cofounder of the cocktail popup Jimmy Drinks World, has embraced Allen’s since her move from Boston to Maine four years ago. “I love using Allen’s in unexpected cocktails,” she says. “It works beautifully in stirred, spirit-forward tequila drinks, pairs well with amari for an extra bite, and is always fun to mix with rums.” Wilson says her favorite 50/50 shot to give to guests is Allen’s plus Plantation pineapple rum. “Coffee and pineapple are such a great combo,” she says. “Who knew!” Allen’s fanbase is certainly growing with a new generation of Mainers.

When opening Hunt and Alpine, co-owner Andrew Volk wanted to make a riff on the now classic espresso martini, made famous in the hopping 80s London bar scene by a bartender named Dick Bradsell. The story goes that young women preparing for an evening out approached Bradsell’s bar and asked for a drink that would “wake me up and then f*** me up.” For Volk’s version at Hunt and Alpine, his challenge was to create a cocktail that stood up to other espresso martinis but didn’t require an espresso machine. The end result, which Volk also made with a nod to the local food scene, is a cocktail that has remained on the menu since Hunt and Alpine first opened. Jackson Cannon, the co-owner of Boston’s beloved and recently closed bar Eastern Standard, and of the soon-to-open Equal Measures, calls it, “the greatest espresso martini in the world.”

Espresso Martini

Though Allen’s is inexpensive, its coffee extract comes from higher quality Arabica beans. Simple to make at home, you can easily scale up this recipe to make in larger batches for parties.

Yield: 1 drink
Glass: chilled martini or coupe

Ingredients
2 ounces sweetened coffee concentrate (Hunt and Alpine makes theirs in-house using Tandem coffee, but you can also buy this in stores)
1 ounce white rum
1 ounce Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy

Instructions
Add the coffee concentrate, rum, and Allen’s to a mixing tin.
Add ice to the tin and shake hard for 30 to 45 seconds.
Fine-strain into a chilled glass. Drink immediately.

Mexico, Maine

Named after the town in Maine, this drink is based on popular spirits from both Mexico (the country) and Maine (the state). It’s a perfect cold-weather cocktail and loves fried foods. Enjoy around a warm winter campfire.

Yield: 1 drink
Glass: chilled rocks glass

Ingredients
1 ½ ounces blanco tequila
½ ounce mezcal
½ ounce Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy
1 teaspoon agave syrup
6 dashes coffee bitters (Maine-based Coastal Root makes a great one)
Orange peel, for garnish

Instructions
Add the tequila, mezcal, Allen’s, agave, and bitters to a well-chilled rocks glass.
Add one large ice cube, and then stir for 20-30 seconds.
Garnish with an expressed orange peel.

Read More:

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  Smooth Sailing at Wandby Landing
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  Shakshuka
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  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
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  Seasonal Bites in Portland and Beyond
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  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning

The post Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit appeared first on The Maine Mag.

Pistachio Cream Latte: espresso, homemade pistachio cream
Time & Tide, Biddeford

Inspired by a consulting trip to the Middle East, this latte combines espresso, milk, and a secret recipe of pistachio cream to create a latte that is equally sweet and nutty. Hot or iced, this popular menu item is a Biddeford staple.

The Thunderbolt: espresso over fresh-squeezed lemonade
Cupacity, Damariscotta

Ideal for warmer months, this surprising marriage of tart, sweet fresh-squeezed lemonade and smoky, bitter espresso makes for a refreshingly acidic pick-me-up.

CBD Maine Maple Latte: espresso, Maine maple syrup, Mindful Earth CBD tincture
Higher Grounds, Portland

This combination coffee shop and medical dispensary has the option to add up to 10mg of Mindful Earth CBD tincture to your brew. A celebration of local ingredients, the Maine Maple Latte is made with coffee beans sourced and roasted by Speckled Ax, real Maine maple syrup, and CBD extract from Maine grown hemp.

Flying Dutchman Latte: espresso, dark chocolate, habanero pepper
Traverse Coffee Co., Hallowell

If you’re looking for a way to change up your mocha latte and don’t mind a little heat, Traverse Coffee Co. has the perfect drink for you. Rich, dark chocolate and a hint (or splash!) of habanero pepper concentrate blended into a smooth and creamy latte create a spicy twist on a coffee shop staple.

“Special” Café Bombon: espresso, condensed coconut milk, pandan
Dog Bar Jim, Brunswick

The deep green color of this twist on an Iced Vietnamese coffee comes from pandan syrup. The floral, grassy notes of the pandan paired with sweetened condensed coconut milk and rich, earthy espresso come together to create a delicious and aromatic breakfast blend.

Espresso Tonic: espresso, tonic water, orange
Smalls, Portland

Espresso tonics are quickly rising in popularity in coffee shops around the country, and for good reason! A bubbly fusion of tonic water, espresso, and citrus make for a refreshing morning pick-me-up or a great mocktail option. If you’ve been itching to try this new coffee craze, Smalls in Portland has the hookup.

Cold Brew Flight: rotating seasonal flavors
Lucky Cat Coffee Truck, Lewiston

Do you often find yourself having trouble choosing between different flavor options? At the Lucky Cat Coffee Truck, you don’t have to. Order the cold-brew flight to pair with your Hong Kong Bubble Waffle to sample four of their seasonal coffee beverages. The four pours are switched up each month, and each of the cold brews are specifically brewed and infused depending on the flavor profile.

Café de Olla: latte with house made cinnamon and cardamom syrup
Choco-Latte, Bar Harbor

Choco-Latte brings a traditional Mexican spiced coffee to Maine. The warm blend of cinnamon and cardamom with espresso and milk is a great way to start your morning and gently wake yourself up before hitting Acadia’s hiking trails.

Astro Drinks Series: rotating seasonal flavors
Little Woodfords, Portland

This rotating drink series is based on the zodiac cycle, which means twelve unique beverages to sample a year! As of writing, “Sagittarius” is on the menu, a peppermint mocha topped with a torched marshmallow. When in season, you can also find drinks like the “Leo,” a sparkling blood orange bitters and agave flash brew topped with oat cream cold foam, and the “Pisces,” a white chocolate and cardamom mocha topped with crushed raspberry and pink salt.

Read More:

• 
  Smooth Sailing at Wandby Landing
• 
  Shakshuka
• 
  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
• 
  Seasonal Bites in Portland and Beyond
• 
  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning

The post 9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning appeared first on The Maine Mag.

Between the pandemic era shift to at-home cocktail hours and the recent boom in new distilleries across the state, this holiday season is the perfect time to upgrade your bar cart selection. Whether you’re a novice entertainer or a professional mixologist, we’d like to offer a 2-0-7 twist that will make your inventory deliciously one-of-a-kind. Try one of the recipes below—or concoct your own—snap a picture, and tag @themainemag on social media!

Tree Spirits Knotted Maple

While there are a few micro-distillers producing maple-flavored spirits, Tree Spirits Knotted Maple is different because it’s made from the Central Maine winery and distillery’s popular Maple Picnic Wine. Using syrup from Bacon Farm in Sidney, the 80-proof spirit fits the rich flavor profile of a true brandy and is delicious on its own, but click here to check out their recipe collaboration with Vena’s Fizz House.

Hot tip: Tree Spirits is the only absinthe distillers in New England, so be sure to grab a bottle of the green, aniseed-flavored spirit while you’re at it.

treespiritsofmaine.com

Three of Strong Acadian Rum

Three of Strong is a values-driven distillery in Portland that emerged from a conversation between two friends while sipping rum. The brand’s sustainable and inclusive practices reflect its values, which include protecting Maine’s natural resources, agriculture, and communities. Their rums are made with 100 percent organic evaporated cane syrup, molasses, and yeast, and pure water from Sebago Lake. The bright and citrusy Acadian white rum is distilled from cold-pressed sugarcane juice and has zero artificial flavorings or colors. Not sure how to mix it? Check out their cocktail recipes here!

threeofstrongspirits.com

Cold River Potato Vodka

Triple-distilled using Maine potatoes and water from its namesake Cold River, this award-winning vodka is gluten-free and perfectly refined, making it ideal for a premium quality martini or whatever vodka-made beverage your heart desires. Craving something savory? We recommend trying the Stonewall Kitchen Legal Sea Foods Down East Bloody Mary Mix.

coldrivervodka.com

Blueshine Blueberry Liquor

Blueshine is crafted by hand at Maine Craft Distilling in Portland. Made from Maine barley, the grain is fermented in a large wooden fermenter and then run through a copper still. Once the “shine” is ready, they add in Maine wild blueberries and a subtle helping of Maine maple syrup. Blueshine makes the perfect addition to a refreshing, ice-cold lemonade, a combo Maine Craft Distilling sells at the ready at their public house, on their website, and at stores across Maine.

mainecraftdistilling.com

Allen’s Coffee Brandy

Did you think we would forget this Pine Tree State classic? Rooted in Maine heritage and tradition, Allen’s Coffee Brandy first earned its popularity among fishermen who’d put hair on their chests every morning with a swig of the coffee-flavored liquor. Now, Allen’s is the number one selling spirit in all of Maine. They even sell collectible ceramics in the shape of famous Maine lighthouses, only available for purchase at select liquor stores. Here in Portland, we recommend Bow Street Beverage.

allenscoffeebrandy.com

Hardshore Gin

Hardshore is a distilling company that expands how we think about gin by experimenting with new tastes and textures. Released in 2016, their flagship product Hardshore Original Gin is crafted from their own family-grown grain, with water sourced directly from Sebago Lake. The gin itself is flavored with fresh rosemary and mint, giving it a leafy-green profile.

Check out owner Jordan Mine’s exclusive Grapefruit Sage Collins recipe below, which features Hardshore Original Gin. The drink strikes the perfect balance between complexity and simplicity, using ingredients that are easily sourced at your local grocery store.

Ingredients
1 ½ oz. Hardshore Original Gin
1 oz. of sage simple syrup*
¾ oz. fresh grapefruit juice
Seltzer

Instructions
Combine gin, syrup, and grapefruit juice.
Top with seltzer.
Garnish with grapefruit wedge and sage sprig.

*To make sage simple syrup, blanch one bunch of sage in boiling water for 10 seconds and immediately cool in ice water. Blend with 1 cup of simple syrup and strain.

hardshoredistilling.com

Read More:

• 
  8 Low (or No) Alcohol Beverages That Got Me Through My Stomach Ulcer
• 
  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
• 
  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning
• 
  The Ultimate Maine Bar Cart
• 
  Portland’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Isn’t a Bar At All

The post The Ultimate Maine Bar Cart appeared first on The Maine Mag.

Before the doors even open, there is a crowd forming outside. A sea of pop-punk fans donning Blink 182, Paramore, and fittingly, Jimmy Eats World T-shirts wait patiently. Inside, Hayley and Zack Wilson, the founders of Jimmy Drinks World, complete last-minute tasks and touches. When four o’clock rolls around, it’s time to let everyone in. Immediately the bar runs 15 people deep, each ordering two or three drinks at a time. Bartenders from Portland and Boston are posted up, shaking cocktails as quickly as humanly possible. From the first song on the playlist, everyone is singing along inside the hottest new bar in the city.

Since Jimmy Drinks World’s arrival in July 2021, it has been one of Portland’s most sought-after pop-ups. Founding couple Hayley and Zack Wilson conceived of it during late nights after Hayley finished her shifts behind the bar at Portland Hunt and Alpine Club and during last call while they were out seeing shows. Originally conceived as a brick-and-mortar space, in the depths of the pandemic, when restaurants and bars were closed, the idea turned into a pop-up with the vision of connecting the hospitality industry and the music scene.

Both Hayley and Zack have deep roots in music and hospitality. Before arriving in Maine, they spent their early 20s in Boston seeing shows as often as possible. Zack ran sound and played in bands, and Hayley started her career behind the bar. Since moving to Maine, Hayley’s bartending career has taken off; in 2021, she was named a “Bartender in Residence” at Punch magazine, which highlights up-and-coming industry professionals over the course of the year.

Hayley says the majority of her friends who play in bands have worked front- or back-of-house at some point in their lives. “What we personally run into frequently is that we miss out on shows where we could be supporting local spaces due to the schedule conflict of having to work busy weekend shifts,” she says. Doing late-night pop-up events on Sundays and Mondays allows Jimmy Drinks World to grow a community of like-minded folks who love music and love cocktails.

But Jimmy Drinks World goes beyond just connecting pop-punk lovers. Giving back was always part of Hayley and Zack’s plan and a priority from the start. Supporting small, independent music venues when they had no source of income during COVID not only helped the venues but also reminded everyone attending how important places like these are in a community. Hayley told me, “When COVID hit, the music industry took a massive blow. We watched as some of the most important venues to us closed across the country and feared for the small venues, like Sun Tiki in Portland, and what their futures would look like.”

Each pop-up is held at a different bar around Portland (and sometimes Boston) to keep the scenery changing as well as to bring folks into new places where they might not expect to encounter a loud pop-punk playlist. They also work with multiple food trucks and small food vendors so the menu is ever-rotating. “We do our best to cater to each hosting space and to create a vibe that fits in its walls while still being Jimmy,” says Zack. In just one year, Jimmy Drinks World has done exactly that: from “Acoustic Jimmy’s” to pop-punk karaoke, each experience is unique.

At the one-year anniversary of Jimmy Drinks World in July, tables were pushed aside so the traveling dragshow, Curbside Queens, could take turns performing. Baskets provided by local venues and restaurants were raffled off to raise money for the event’s chosen charity, Indigenous Women Rising. It had all the energy of a great show in a great venue where everyone knows the songs by heart. The evening ended with Jimmy Drinks World founders, Hayley and Zack, standing on top of the bar, thanking the crowd, and then shot-gunning beers before saying goodnight.

Read More:

• 
  8 Low (or No) Alcohol Beverages That Got Me Through My Stomach Ulcer
• 
  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
• 
  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning
• 
  The Ultimate Maine Bar Cart
• 
  Portland’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Isn’t a Bar At All

The post Portland’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Isn’t a Bar At All appeared first on The Maine Mag.

To booch or not to booch, that is the question. On one hand, devotees argue that kombucha lowers blood pressure and can even help ward off cancer. On the other, most doctors dispute this but cite some evidence that the fizzy fermented libation has benefits similar to probiotic supplements: boosted immunity and improved digestive health, which is increasingly seen as connected with mental health.

But the debate seems worlds away once you’ve installed yourself at one of the sun-drenched, bright tangerine benches at Root Wild Kombucha, its flora-dotted patio tucked into the corner of a buzzy block on Munjoy Hill. Soothing world music streams through the wide garage door, tatted-up couples loaf on the leather sofa just inside—everything seems to be in slow motion. Vibrant photos of surfers and beach scenes line the walls, and in San Franciscan style, you can see all the way down Fox Street as it dips dramatically before splaying out to the East Bayside neighborhood below. In this moment, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in California.

California, as it turns out, wasn’t far from Root Wild founder and “boochmaster” Reid Emmerich’s mind when he began brewing the idea for the business or when he opened it in October of 2018, in partnership with Lone Pine Brewing Company cofounders and owners John Paul and Tom Madden.

“I knew plenty of people in Portland drank kombucha, and that they’d prefer to drink local kombucha,” explains the native New Englander. “But there wasn’t any being made here. They were all drinking kombucha from California. So it seemed like a no-brainer to start providing it locally.”

For Emmerich it began with a home-brewing kit, which he used to make kombucha in his home kitchen. He would bring the results to the homes of extremely appreciative friends. That experience soon drove him to create and head up the kombucha program at Urban Farm Fermentory. He did so for a decade before deciding that his science-driven fixation with foraging local and organic ingredients deserved its very own enclave. Root Wild was born.

Licensed as a brewery (traditional kombucha’s alcohol content comes in at just under 1%, and the legal limit for “nonalcoholic beverages” is 0.5%, so it’s classified as a beer), Root Wild is housed in the erstwhile and revamped Sahara Club, with production in back and a tasting room in front. They also make “hard” kombucha (which requires a second fermentation and comes in at 4.5% alcohol) as well as beer, but their focus remains squarely on traditional kombucha. “You don’t drink traditional kombucha to get drunk,” Emmerich says. “It’s about the flavor profiles.”

The collision of science and flavor exploration is Emmerich’s raison d’être. “I’m not a doctor or an herbalist,” he says. “I’ve got a degree in environmental science; my passion’s for nature, and fermenting and blending tastes is what’s at work here.” To that end, he starts with an all-natural base of fair-trade tea and ferments it for about three weeks, then adds a culture of yeast and sugars that transforms it into a drink boosted with C and B vitamins.

Which flavors are brewing depends on what’s growing and getting foraged. One week that might be juniper mixed with knotweed—“It’s a weed that reproduces and spreads like crazy when it gets big, but when it’s young, its shoots are almost like asparagus, and you can juice it,” says Emmerich—or organic and local flavors like wild local blueberries and lemon thyme. Year-round there’s the slightly tart, earthy elixir Root Wild creates from lavender, lemon balm, verbena, and white pine needles (which Emmerich forages himself). Many of the kombuchas are available to tote home in cans and are distributed around Maine and New Hampshire; however, in the tasting room Emmerich is able to offer smaller, inventive batches that he pours into flights and to-go growlers—flavors like orange-juniper and pineapple-jalapeño.

The place is filled with plants that reference what’s on order—sipping a grapefruit and hibiscus kombucha, one can watch the sun’s rays filter through the billowing blooms of a potted Chinese hibiscus on the patio. “We tried to bring nature into the picture with the space,” Emmerich says. And wherever the Cali vibe rears its head, it’s always Cali by way of New England. Those aforementioned photos of beaches and surfing are by Emmerich’s friend, local photographer Aaron McNulty, and were shot at Rye and Hampton Beaches in New Hampshire. And the gigantic tree root floating above a table like a sculptural chandelier? Emmerich dragged it out of a marsh in Freeport. All the wood behind the bar was stained using oxidized kombucha made at Root Wild—about as hyperlocal as it gets.

“We want the experience to feel and taste fresh,” explains Emmerich. “Our inspiration is nature.” Whatever researchers ultimately decide about the benefits of booching, it’s pretty tough to believe that doing so in an environment this relaxed won’t, at the very least, lower your blood pressure.

Read More:

• 
  8 Low (or No) Alcohol Beverages That Got Me Through My Stomach Ulcer
• 
  Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is Maine’s Favorite Spirit
• 
  9 Creative Craft Coffees to Mix Up Your Morning
• 
  The Ultimate Maine Bar Cart
• 
  Portland’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Isn’t a Bar At All

The post Come for the Kombucha, Stay for the Atmosphere appeared first on The Maine Mag.

Every summer from July to September, rural Maine’s miles and miles of wild blueberry barrens turn a distinct deep red and blue. Often called the low-bush blueberry, Maine’s wild blueberry is different from the common blueberry in size, flavor, and territory, having adapted specifically to the barrens left by glaciers that receded from the area 10,000 years ago. Wild blueberries are more than just sweet: there’s tartness, complex earthiness, and a concentration of flavor that sets them apart from the common blueberry; they are also generally much smaller in size and range in color from bright blue to almost black. Stewarded by Native Wabanaki people for many generations, the fruit has a history that runs deep in our glacial sandy soils, but today’s blueberry growers walk a difficult path.

Wyman’s, Allen’s, and other processors purchase over 99 percent of the wild blueberries grown in the state. Farmers send their fruit to the processors, and in turn the processors tell the farmers how much they’ll pay for the fruit. Since growers are not able to set their own prices, and processors can choose to take as little or as much fruit as they like, there’s not much opportunity for the people cultivating the fruit to take hold of their business. With blueberry prices diving, thanks in part to competition from Canada, profits aren’t looking good, and many growers are grappling with a tough decision: do they continue in this business or try their luck in a different industry altogether?

More than just a snacking fruit, in recent years Maine’s wild blueberry has come into its own as a valued ingredient for wine making. With so much access to local blueberries, why plant grapes at all? Wineries like Bluet in Scarborough, RAS in Portland, and Oyster River Winegrowers in Warren are paving the way for an industry that is on the brink of explosive growth. Purchasing the fruit directly from growers, these wineries pay more on the dollar than any of the current processors, who pay between 20 cents and one dollar per pound. “The industry itself doesn’t offer a very financially stable reality for the farmers,” says RAS winemaker Emily Smith. “Opening up a value-added product like wild blueberry wine is a perfect avenue for growers because we buy tons of fruit fresh at a price that is higher than frozen, giving them a better revenue stream. It’s an additional revenue stream as well, because frozen will always be an alternative.”

Blueberry farmers are helping winemakers, too. With global temperatures rising and sustainability becoming paramount, burgeoning winemakers must decide whether grapes are the most responsible fruit to be working with. Wild blueberries are native to our soils, they don’t require irrigation, and many blueberry growers choose not to spray pesticides or chemical fungicides, opting for organic farming methods instead. “Because of the changes in the climate and the world around us, we somehow struck on something that is becoming necessary to work on—different beverages, different wines that are sustainable and that have the opportunity to be around for a long time,” says RAS winemaker Dan Roche. “It’s there—why not utilize it? We feel pretty lucky that we got in when we did.”

The wines themselves are incredibly versatile, with many different flavor profiles, although dry and sparkling tends to be the style choice of local makers. Deeper, full bodied wild blueberry wines, like Oyster River Winegrowers’ “The Ewing Project,” a dry and slightly effervescent wine made with fruit grown down the road from their winery in Warren, is bold and fruit forward. Bluet’s champagne-style sparkling wine is fruity, earthy, beautifully fizzy, and pairs well with food. Their canned wine is especially appealing as a summer beverage—fresh, dry, crisp, and perfect with a lobster roll or sipped on board a sailboat. RAS’s Arkadia is a joyful sparkler made with 100 percent organic wild blueberries. The three-person team also makes a stellar blueberry-based vermouth, A7 Americano.

There can be between 10 and 100 subvarieties of wild blueberries in a single field, which ferment together to showcase the local terroir in the final product. “Because it’s a native fruit, the terroir conversation becomes central. That’s something that consumers and winemakers are both very tied into,” says Ed Lutjens, assistant winemaker at Bluet. “We think it’s a great fit.”

The wild blueberry wine industry is just getting started, but the more winemakers (and beer brewers) use the fruit, the more local growers get paid and the longer the culture can survive and thrive. Wineries like Bluet are leading the charge, helping inspire more makers to start fermenting. “We’re trying to develop other winemakers to play with wild blueberries in the state of Maine and elsewhere, and encourage more people to buy blueberries in general,” says Lutjens.

As for buying the wines, you can be sure that you’re drinking a product that supports the local blueberry industry—and represents the local terroir. “I feel very much supported in our Maine community,” says Joe Appel, a winemaker at RAS. “I also have confidence saying, yes, this is a product that is truly representative of Maine.”

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The post Wild Blueberry Wine is Becoming Maine’s Hot New Commodity appeared first on The Maine Mag.

If you want to be more thoughtful with your imbibing or impress guests at your next lawn party, try diving into the world of cocktails. For ideas and inspiration, we asked some of our favorite Maine bartenders what they’ll be mixing up this summer. Sure, grabbing a cold beer from a cooler or walking around with a rosé-filled Yeti tumbler is easier, but this isn’t about convenience. This is about making the most of every moment—and every drink.

Old Orchard Peach

LyAnna Sanabria has worked behind the bar at Via Vecchia in Portland and Round Turn Distilling in Biddeford and runs the beverage program at Pacifico in Saco. Her cocktail is an orchard sling that uses a Bimini gin that is finished in bourbon, brandy, and rum barrels.

2 ounces Bimini BR1 Gin
½ ounce Rothman and Winter Orchard Peach Liqueur ½ ounce coconut water
½ ounce Bully Boy Rum Cooperative Volume 1
½ ounce dry vermouth
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce simple syrup
Angostura bitters

Combine all the ingredients but the bitters in a cocktail shaker. Whip and shake, then strain into a Collins glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add a float of bitters. Garnish with a cocktail umbrella, of course.

Midnight Sun

Sarah Jackson, bar manager at the cocktail bar Portland Hunt and Alpine Club, created this drink that utilizes gin, an Italian bitter aperitif called Cynar, and homemade strawberry syrup.

1 ounce Beefeater gin
1 ounce Cynar
1 ounce strawberry syrup (see recipe below) ¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce 2:1 simple syrup
2 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters
3 cucumber slices
Soda water
Strawberry

Strawberry syrup:
16 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled
16 ounces sugar

Combine hulled strawberries and sugar in a bowl. Let sit over-night, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Strain the syrup into a jar and refrigerate. (You can save the strained strawberries for topping ice cream.)

Combine all the ingredients but the soda water, cucumber, and strawberry in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add 2 cucumber slices, shake, and strain into a Collins glass filled with ice and top with soda water. Garnish with a strawberry and the remaining slice of cucumber.

Fever Reliever

Crispy Gai bar manager Arvid Brown is known for his unique tropical drinks, and this cocktail with coco-nut–infused mezcal, various rums, pineapple, cinnamon, lime, and nutmeg epitomizes his creations at the Portland restaurant.

1 ounce toasted coconut–infused Banhez mezcal ¾ ounce Bully Boy Rum Cooperative Volume 2 ½ ounce Leblon Cachaça
1 ounce pineapple juice
¾ ounce lime juice
½ ounce cinnamon syrup
2 dashes orange bitters
Nutmeg
Pineapple fronds

Combine all the ingredients but the nutmeg and pineapple fronds in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a glass of your choice. Garnish with grated nutmeg and some pineapple fronds.

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The post Impress Guests at Your Next Lawn Party With These Three Summer Cocktails appeared first on The Maine Mag.

Five centuries ago, Bavaria was the emerging beer capital of Germany. But with success came probems. Demand for grains like rye and wheat from brewers caused bread prices to soar, raising the cost of the humble food of Germanic peasants. The rising cost also pushed up the price of a pint. This supply-and-demand conundrum was coupled with the encroachment of specialty ingredients in Bavarian beer, threatening to destroy the region’s distinct brewing voice.

The Duke of Bavaria had to act. In 1516 William IV issued what is commonly referred to as the German purity law, or Reinheitsgebot. This edict, which ran just over 300 words, decreed that beer could only be made with barley, hops, and water. (Yeast was added to the law later, when scientists discovered the microbe’s role in fermentation.) Over 500 years later, the ingredients outlined in the German purity law continue to dominate modern brewing.

But Maine brewers, being the ornery, talented bunch they are, sometimes pitch specialty ingredients that would make the Duke of Bavaria roll over in his Munich grave. Here are five Maine beers that are pushing the limits of the oldest known beer law in the world with their outside-the-box ingredients.

1. Greenwarden | Banded Brewing Company

Greenwarden is an American ale made with locally harvested spruce tips. Although this woodsy ingredient may seem avant-garde, it was a common component in beers of colonial America, when hops were hard to come by. Banded brewmaster and owner Ian McConnell, a multigenerational Mainer, harvests hundreds of pounds of spruce tips each spring to make this coniferous ale. Greenwarden has a light malt and hop foundation to allow the spruce tips to shine through with their sharp, refreshing flavor.

2. Saison Dell’Aragosta | Oxbow Brewing Company

At first glance a beer made with lobster smacks of tourist pandering, but do not diminish the grand achievement that is Saison dell’Aragosta from Oxbow Brewing Company. First brewed in collaboration with the Italian brewery Birrificio del Ducato, this lobster ale has a delicate saison underbelly and gorgeous notes of brine and sweetness from the lobster. To make this beer, Oxbow boils live lobsters directly in the wort. When the crustaceans are cooked, they are pulled from the tanks and brewers remove the meat. The shells are then pitched back into the wort to continue to add flavor to the beer. The result is nothing short of a culinary triumph.

3. Gunner’s Daughter Milk Stout | Mast Landing Brewing Company

On paper, Gunner’s Daughter Milk Stout shouldn’t work. It’s a beer made to evoke the flavor of peanut butter (without using actual nuts). But it’s one of my favorite beers made in Maine. While peanut butter beers are often a cloying train wreck on the palate, Gunner’s Daughter is a lush flavor ride from nose to finish. The interplay of peanut notes with big flourishes of chocolate and coffee is sublime. This beer is made with a delicate touch that will draw you back in over and over.

4. Window Seat | Baxter Brewing Company

Brewed with toasted coconut and almond meal, this porter offers a rich sensory experience. Poured into a glass, Window Seat emits deep notes of roasted coconut, vanilla, and cocoa in its aroma. The coconut flavor intertwines beautifully with milk chocolate notes from the malts as it glides over the tongue, while the almond meal gives the beer a strong nutty finish on the back of the palate. It’s a liquid Almond Joy bar that Baxter has pulled off with aplomb. A favorite among locals, this beer also received a silver medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.

5. Pisces | Rising Tide Brewing Company

Although a beer made with salt water may sound like a modern innovation, this style of beer dates to the thirteenth century. Rising Tide’s take on the gose (pronounced go-suh) brings this ancient beer to the modern palate. Brewed with local seawater, Pisces has a savory salt finish set snugly beneath the subtle tart zing from the Lactobacillus, while coriander offers bright citrus notes in flavor and aroma. The style originated in Goslar, Germany, so perhaps William IV once sipped a gose in his Munich estate, and the tangy beer filled him with such fear that exotic flavors would infiltrate his local beer that he sat down to pen the fateful purity law that still ripples over craft beer today.

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The post Maine’s Most Bizarre Beers appeared first on The Maine Mag.

There’s something seductive about the route to Fluvial Brewing, akin to getting lost on purpose. December fog presses down on the winding road. My headlights struggle to cut a path through the mist and light snowfall. Eventually, a green street sign flashes in the haze. The drive to Harrison has been like this since I turned off Route 302 in Naples. Finally, the squat brewery appears, glowing like a beacon in the darkness.

Inside the snug tasting room I meet Lisa Graham, one of Fluvial Brewing’s owners. She’s quick to smile, with hair cinched in a tight ponytail and a purple fleece to stave off the cold. She asks about the drive. When I tell her, she laughs and says, “When people come here, they’re often like, ‘Where are we going?’ But then they see the landscape and try the beer, and they get it.”

She pours me a Mystic Beauty saison and herself a Reeko pale ale and suggests we head out to the yurt behind the brewery. As we shuffle over the fresh dusting of snow, I’m struck by the hush of the darkened landscape. The brewery is set on 40 acres that abut another 365 acres protected by the Loon Echo Land Trust, leading all the way to the Crooked River, a fabled fly-fishing destination that runs into Sebago Lake.

Inside the capacious yurt, we settle next to a roaring woodstove. As we sip our ales, Lisa explains that, although Fluvial Brewing has been open for only two years, her husband and co-owner, Shaun Graham, first conceived of the brewery more than a decade ago. In 2008 Shaun, an Army veteran, was recalled to his post and deployed to Iraq. When he returned from his tour of duty with a shoulder injury that required surgery, his father gifted him a homebrew kit. He immediately threw himself into the respite of his new hobby. “At first, he brewed a lot of bad beer,” Lisa laughs, “but he kept brewing and getting better.”

Eventually, he fashioned a one-barrel brewing system from recycled kegs and took over the basement of the couple’s house, which is located on the edge of the Harrison property. “For years he brewed a new batch almost every week,” Lisa recalls. “Shaun fell in love with the science of making beer and the creativity behind it.”

We’re interrupted by a crashing sound as snowpack avalanches off the canvas roof of the yurt. This structure and the four single-party geodomes dotting the yard behind the brewery were erected last winter as a COVID-19 adaptation, and became a hit with patrons. When the weather warms in the spring and summer, the geodomes get packed away; patrons can repose in Adirondack chairs scattered across the woodchip patio or shelter in the yurt. As I sip my saison, letting the bright spicy notes from the yeast work over my palate, Lisa explains that Shaun had wanted to open a brewery for years. “But I always thought the idea was crazy,” she says. When Shaun left his job as a hedge fund accountant in Portland, Lisa finally agreed to the brewery, on two conditions. One, he had to keep brewing on his one-barrel system to keep the overhead low. And two, he had to log a small corner of the property Lisa had wanted cleared out for years. Using the proceeds from logging, they purchased wood and set out designing and erecting a nearly 1,000-square-foot brewery and tasting room themselves.

Lisa recounts a day in spring 2019 when Shaun was finishing the brewery roof, alone. He had watched the sleepy adjacent road and observed only five cars driving by over the entire day. “We feared no one would come all the way out here,” Lisa remembers. “We thought maybe we’d made a mistake.” But, she says, she always believed that Shaun’s beer was so good that, once people tried it, they would keep making the drive to this destination brewery. “Shaun loves the pursuit of unattainable perfection,” she adds.

When Fluvial Brewing opened in July of 2019, people indeed came. In fact, due to the demand for Shaun’s beer from locals and people who own camps in the lakes region, they quickly upgraded to a 3.5-barrel system. This winter they added a 7-barrel fermenter. Lisa notes their following has steadily grown through word of mouth.

After another heap of snow booms off the yurt roof, Lisa excuses herself to head to an engagement. I return to the tasting room to order a flight and then enter the cozy warmth of a geodome. Snowfall clicks against the thick plastic covering as I size up my beer sampling. Lisa had explained that Shaun’s first love in brewing was New England–style IPAs, so it makes sense to start with their two best-selling beers: Tropic Dancer and River Haze. Sampling both, it’s instantly clear why Fluvial has garnered a loyal following. Tropic Dancer is an excellent example of a mango-forward IPA, while River Haze offers the more classic citrus fruit flavor profile associated with the Citra hop. Both have a full-bodied mouthfeel beer lovers crave in New England IPAs while coming in just over 6 percent in alcohol content. These carefully crafted IPAs are inspired ales that don’t feel redundant among the myriad IPA offerings in the craft beer world.

Moving on from the IPAs in the flight, it becomes clear Shaun Graham doesn’t rest on his hoppy laurels. Strawberry Dreamin’ is a balanced fruit ale that drinks like liquid strawberry shortcake with field-fresh berries and hand-whipped cream, while Cosmic Eclipse is a silken American stout with rich peanut butter notes in the nose and a chewy, cocoa finish. Both beers illustrate a brewmaster adept at walking the tightrope of brewing with nearly any ingredient.

Between sips of Fluvial’s artfully crafted ales, winter’s breath rustles in the umbra beyond the brewery. I could sit here for another hour, lost in the dark, deep beauty of the landscape as the warmth from the propane heater knits itself around me. But I finally step out of the geodome, called back to my life elsewhere, already plotting my return to this pastoral treasure.

Fluvial Brewing
860 Maple Ridge Rd., Harrison
207.491.9363 | fluvialbrewing.com

Thursday, 3 p.m.–7 p.m.
Friday, 3 p.m.–8 p.m.
Saturday, noon–8 p.m.
Sunday, noon–6 p.m.

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The post Making the Pilgrimage to Fluvial Brewing appeared first on The Maine Mag.