Plums and Pear Eau de Vie from Coppersea

Coppersea is a distillery in New York's Hudson Valley. I was a big fan of their Green Malt Rye, so I was excited to try these two eau de vie - plum and pear. The fruit comes from Dolan Orchards in Wallkill, New York.

The eau de vie are naturally fermented without additives and distilled in direct fire copper stills. They are then aged in steel for at least six months.


Coppersea Pear Eau de Vie, Batch PR-1, Distilled 2013, 45% abv ($55 for 375 ml)

This has a nice, crisp pear nose. The palate is mostly new make though, with the pear notes falling to the back ground. The taste is mostly spirit. The finish is raw and grainy.


Coppersea Plum Eau de Vie, Batch PL-1, Distilled 2013, 45% abv ($55 for 375 ml)

On the nose I get cherries and cherry candy. The palate is much fruitier than the pear with cherry and raspberry notes. A distinct plum note doesn't come into play until the finish where juicy, red plum mingles with dried apricots and a slight bitterness that ads complexity and balance.  This one is nice, the finish being the strongest element.

Between these two, I definitely preferred the plum.

Thanks to Chris Dion for the samples.

Enough with the Apples: Spirit of Pear Brandy

Brandy Peak Distillery in Brookings, Oregon has been distilling since 1994, which make them craft distillery pioneers. Today I'm sampling their pear eau de vie, an unaged brandy made from 100% Barlett Pears and no additives. It's only available in and around Oregon.

Spirit of Pear Brandy, 40% abv ($23 for 375 ml).

The entire experience of this brandy is like biting into a ripe pear. Apple brandies can have lots of apple notes on the nose, but the palate tastes like brandy. Not so this one. It's like virtual pear. It even mimics that slightly grainy texture of fresh pear. If you love pears, you need to drink this.

This is really remarkable stuff and at 40%, it's easy to drink.  They also make an aged version; I'm very intrigued to see how barrel aging affects the freshness of this eau de vie.

Clearly Apple: Double Zero Eau de Vie de Cidre

A few weeks ago, K&L held a tasting with spirits importer Nicolas Palazzi. It was an amazing deal. For $25, we got to try eight highly original spirits from a number of eau de vies to the latest Navarre Cognac to the 1975 Domaine Aurensan Armagnac. But among all these rare and long aged spirits, one of the stand outs was something young.

Double Zero Eau de Vie de Cidre is made by Cyril Zangs, one of the most well respected cider producers in France (sadly, his ciders aren't available in the US). Zangs uses over 30 varieties of apples, a mixture of sweet, bitter and sour, to make his cider. He then distills it on Jean-Roger Groult's Calvados still.

I'm not usually a fan of eau de vie. Like white whiskey, unaged brandy usually has a harsh, chemical flavor typical of raw spirit.This stuff is different. The nose has an incredible, intense apple note. It is utterly fantastic. I could just nose the stuff forever. The palate opens with crisp apple notes, followed by cinnamon and spice. It trails off with a yeasty/apple note with a strong apple finish. I love the purity of the apple flavor of this from nose to finish. For new make, this stuff is unbelievable. 

Double Zero clocks in at 100 proof (50% abv). There are 406 bottles coming to the U.S. Eventually, it should hit the shelves in California, but you can currently get it at Astor Wines. Astor has it for $80, but they have frequent one-day 15% off sales for things like all French spirits or all spirits made from apples; it's worth getting on Astor's mailing list so you know when the sales hit.