No matter your age, it’s always fun to step back to the 1950s, the era of diners with soda fountains and juke boxes that played your favorite rock-and-roll songs. Bristol 45 Diner in Bristol, Wisconsin, lets you do exactly that. We stopped in for breakfast during our July trip to the Kenosha area and were impressed with both the fun ‘50s atmosphere and the delicious food we were served. Read more
By October most farmers markets are fizzling out for the season. Once the pumpkins and squash are gone, the fall breeze turns to winter wind, and the vendors leave for the winter. Not so in South Bend, where the market is open year-round. Read more
Bowers Harbor Inn, built in the 1880s on Traverse City, Michigan’s, Old Mission Peninsula, was the summer home of Chicago lumber baron J.W. Stickney and his wife Genevive. Today the building houses the Jolly Pumpkin, a casual restaurant and brewery, and Mission Table, an upscale restaurant. However, even though the property has passed through several hands since the Stickney’s owned it, some say Genevive hasn’t left.
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The feature of the day at Octane InterLounge, Shrimp and Corn, came highly recommended by our server. One taste and I understood why. Succulent sautéed shrimp and crisp-tender yellow wax beans, combined with deep-fried sweet corn, created a harmony of taste on my tongue. Lemon beurre blanc sauce prepared with reduced white wine enhanced the dish to an orchestra of flavor. The Shrimp and Corn was the creation of head chef Patrick Alberto, who started out as a dishwasher at Octane. Read more
The Bavarian architecture couldn’t be better suited for a cheese shop owned by a Swiss immigrant, nor could the setting be better located, adjacent to the Emmi Roth USA cheese factory. In fact, visitors can walk down the hall in the Monroe, Wisconsin, Alp and Dell Cheese Store and see some of the very products sold in the shop being made. Read more
Steve Ross has been distilling spirits for a few years now. It’s only been in the last year or so, however, that he’s been able to offer tours and tastings in his Mishawaka, Indiana, micro distillery, 18 Vodka. A change in Indiana law that prevented tours and tastings now allows them.
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I took the tour, which lasted approximately a half hour. Steve explained all of the vodka making steps, from grinding the grain to putting the label on the bottle. He mentioned that 18 Vodka is the only distiller in Indiana who processes vodka from start to finish.
The process begins with whole rye grain, which is ground into a fine grain.
Water and rye malt are combined with the rye grain and heated to create mash. During this time starches convert to sugar. After a cool down the liquid is pumped into fermenting tanks. Following fermenting, the vodka is distilled in the 21 chamber copper distiller that was imported from Germany. The vodka is distilled 18 times, thus the name 18 Vodka. The more times vodka is distilled, the more acetone and methanol is removed. The less acetone and methanol remaining in the finished product, the lower the chance you’ll suffer from a hangover.
Steve demonstrated the bottling process using a machine that fills 200 bottles per hour. The bottle is capped, labeled and ready for shipment.
Following the tour, at the bar that Steve handcrafted himself, we tasted the vodka, along with other spirits distilled at 18 Vodka. I’m not much of a hard liquor drinker straight up, but I have to admit that the vodka went down a lot smoother than most vodka I’ve tasted.
The same law that now allows tours and tastings allows retail sale of the products at the micro distillery, so you can purchase it right on site, if you’d like. Previously, the product could be sold only through a distributor.
18 Vodka, located at 4211 Grape Road in Mishawka, Indiana, offers tours Wednesday through Saturday. The cost is $6, including tastings. Reservations are suggested since space is limited. Visit the web site for full details.
Disclosure: My tour of 18 Vodka was hosted by Visit South Bend, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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