Engineered Spirits

S&S gave us one of the staves they’d cut from our logs to bring home as a display piece at the distillery. Head distiller and owner James Moore seems pretty darn pleased with it. Another step toward our goal: our #JimmmyRedcorn, our #springwater, our #whiteoak, 100% our #whiskey.

We spotted this familiar-looking tree while scouting for a place to plant more plums #downonthefarm. We're not sure how one of Granny's Indian Peaches got way over here, but we won’t be planting any more plum trees here, as both are prone to attacks by the Plum curculio beetle.

What wine do you think we're making next?

We benefited from an abundant fruit harvest this year, so it should come as no surprise that we've got a lot of different types of #homemadewine to make! Today, we're #downonthefarm collecting springwater for our next project. Want to guess what it is?

At the distillery’s picnic area #downonthefarm, most plants have gone dormant after the recent cold spell. That includes these Lady Ferns, which we planted three years ago. They are unusual at the farm where most of our native ferns are either evergreen or go dormant in summer.

Between practicing our winemaking, blending, barreling, finishing, proofing and bottling, approving building plans and hosting periodic tasting sessions, our dining room table looks a little chaotic right now. So, if you want to come to dinner, please give us a few days’ notice!

We've been harvesting native persimmons #downonthefarm for the last six weeks and, in stark contrast to last year, this year we had a bumper crop! Between those we harvested and what local farms have given us, we should have ample fruit to experiment with over the winter months.

Nothing takes you back in time like a visit to one of Tennessee’s old-fashioned general stores. Across the state, these shops spark nostalgia with old-timey treasures, local goods, antiques and homemade treats. Check out our TN General Store Trail here: tnhomeandfarm.com/travel/shop-ti…

Consistency is important if you want to create a product people can enjoy over and over. We've not made muscadine wine before, but we’re sticking to our process and adjusting where needed. Thankfully, racking this wine is pretty much the same as everything else we’ve made so far.

Among the native asters we've planted at the picnic area #downonthefarm is this one, the blue wood aster. Its heart-shaped leaves are similar to those of its white-flowering cousin, which we also planted here, but it’s easy to tell them apart, thanks to its light blue flowers.

Last time we visited Prichard's, we saw they had carved a couple of old whiskey barrels into Jack o' Lanterns for Halloween. We can’t wait until we get to do this at our own distillery! Trick or Treat! (But don’t worry – we know which of those two our customers will be getting.)

It's a nice surprise when one of the botanicals we grow #downonthefarm yields more than expected. This isn't about that. This is the single pear we got off of the old tree in the orchard again this fall. Same thing every year. I guess there's something to be said for consistency.

After the long process of blending, aging, finishing and proofing down spirits, we have one final task. Of course, we can't sell any of our experiments, but we do enjoy sharing them from time to time with friends. And that means we get to practice bottling them too!

Now is when native asters shine #downonthefarm. Ontario asters thrive in the distillery’s picnic area, but we’ve also planted several others. One of the keys to identifying the numerous species in the family is by looking closely at the bracts that form the base of aster flowers.

When we barreled our first whiskey, the final step was adding inventory labels. When it’s time to bring them back to our distillery #downonthefarm, we'll sign the inventory certificates to transfer them from Prichard’s warehouse to our own bonded premises to finish aging.

We have always planned to grow spearmint #downonthefarm to use as one of our botanicals, so we potted one up to plant here. But last year we found wild spearmint already growing in the picnic area! Guess there’s no need for us to worry about the distillery’s supply of fresh mint!

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that one of our main goals when we proof down a spirit is to practice the calculations required to do so. We could just use a program or an app to do the math for us, but instead we do it manually, then use the app only to double-check our work.

This is the Fragrant Ladies' Tresses orchid and it’s way different from the Lesser Ladies' Tresses that is endemic to the picnic area #downonthefarm. This one is way bigger, with large, fragrant flowers. They’re so large in fact, this bumblebee has no trouble enjoying its nectar.

When you age a spirit in a new oak barrel, it's common for the spirit to contain flakes of charred wood from the barrel. This is why big distilleries use large screens over their totes or tanks when they empty a barrel, but here we make do with a regular old kitchen strainer.

Debarrelling? Disbarelling? Well, anyway, we're emptying this test barrel!

The fruit of Hardy Orange has ripened #downonthefarm. As the tiny oranges drop from the trees, hundreds of their seeds fall to the forest floor. The fruit are too acidic and seedy to eat, but we juice them to use in recipes that require bitter orange, while slowing their spread.