| Start by booking a
room in one of the city’s boutique hotels, and use this
as your headquarters for tasting, sipping, sampling and indulging
around town. The Curtis Hotel boasts a witty, retro-contemporary
atmosphere with homey perks like warm chocolate chip cookies at
check-in. The Hotel Teatro, housed in the historic Tramway Tower,
offers a more timeless ambience, with custom-crafted cherry wood
furniture and soft down duvets.
The best thing about good hotels is that they usually have skilled
and experienced bartenders. (My brother, Rick, who knows these
things, says that your best bet for a good cocktail in a new city
is to go to a fine hotel’s bar and ask the professionals
for their local favorite.) The Curtis and the Teatro are close
enough to each other that guests can sleep in one and have drinks
at both. But save these bars for sundown – there are distilleries
to be toured while the sun is high in the sky.
Don’t think “Coors” or even “New Belgium”
in terms of size. Denver’s distilleries are more like workshops
than factories – shop-sized industrial spaces with plenty
of space for expansion and drains in the floor. The first stop,
by rights, is at the oldest and biggest sibling in the Colorado
distilling family: Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey. Located
in the site of a former brewery at Alameda and Kalamath, Stranahan’s
has figured out how to best welcome visitors. Tours are almost
hourly, and the day I went, my hosts – Jeff and Josh –
had polished their straight guy/funny man patter to a high sheen.
It’s just plain fun being there with people who are happy
with their jobs and know their business intimately, too.
Guests learn about the five phases of whiskey: brewing, distillation,
maturation, bottling and tasting. Two of the five can be experiential.
Stranahan’s accepts volunteers for bottling; sign-up, and
they’ll call you when they need help. As if the experience
weren’t enough, you’ll also get pizza and a free bottle
of whiskey at the end of the shift.
Every guest gets the instructions, and opportunity, for experiencing
the tasting. It’s more complicated than it sounds and, in
case you’re wondering, you won’t be slamming shots
and getting soused. The amounts are tiny, the timing is slow,
and the distillers themselves taste by just putting a finger in
the liquor; they’ve got work to do, and you, the visitor,
have more stops to make, so please follow suit. Stranahan’s
was just sold to a New York liquor distributor, Proximo Spirits,
but that shouldn’t change the nature of the whiskey or the
tour.
From here, it’s dealer’s choice whether to head south
to Downslope Distilling in Centennial, or north to Roundhouse
Spirits or 303Vodka in Boulder. Hours can be quirky at these small
places, but the owners try to open up on weekends; call before
you show up.
Ready to move from touring and tasting to imbibing in earnest?
Localphilia has spread from the food world to the beverage world,
so it’s not hard to find gins, vodkas, rums and whiskeys
from these Denver distilleries at restaurants and bars in the
area. Just ask what’s local at any cocktail place (including
right back at your hotel).
Denver also has a whiskey bar and a vodka house. For vodka, head
to Red Square Euro Bistro, where you’ll find 90 vodkas on
its extensive menu. My dad taught me that of all the liquors,
vodka was the only true “commodity,” meaning every
vodka was the same as every other except for the label and the
price. Therefore he advised buying cheap vodka and saving my cash
for higher quality whiskey and gin.
Dad was wrong! On my crash course in distilling, I learned that
even that last 5 percent of vodka, the part that isn’t water
and isn’t pure alcohol, can impart a flavor, and that can
make all the difference in the tumbler.
The Rackhouse conveniently shares Stranahan’s building.
Order a flight of whiskeys – a selection of four or five
varieties in 3/4 ounce servings – to learn what all the
hoopla is about. If a friend chooses a different flight, you can
have quite the taste test going on.
You’ll want to file this getaway under, “educational,”
probably. In case you forget to take notes, here’s some
trivia I picked up while making the rounds, sort of a ‘”flight”
of details:
• Making whiskey begins the same way as
making beer: grain and water becomes a wort (an agricultural-smelling
slurry) which ferments and becomes a “wash” at 10
to 12 percent alcohol, like a beer. It’s only at this point
that distilling really begins.
• Whiskey’s color comes from aging
in white oak barrels; fresh from the still it’s as clear
as, well, vodka.
• Vodka, gin, whiskey – they can
all be distilled from the exact same still. The variations between
liquors come from the ingredients and the post-still processing.
(I saw only copper stills but I’m told that stainless steel
can be used).
• Whiskey and whisky are the same, and
yet the words can’t be used interchangeably. American and
Canadian whiskeys use the ‘e;’ Scotch and Irish don’t.
(And by the way, there are rules about what can be called any
of these four kinds of whiskey/whisky – and if you don’t
follow the rules to an “e,” you can’t use the
country name.)
• Even using the same recipe, the same
process, and the same equipment, small batches can vary. So if
you especially love a sample of something, buy bottles of it now
because it may never come your way again.
In addition to writing The Enlightened Tourist
column for Nexus, freelance writer Wendy Underhill has written
features and investigative reports on a number of diverse topics. |
TRIP TIPS
Roundhouse Spirits is open to the public Thursday
through Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. When we visited, we had
the place, and the attention of owner Ted Palmer, to ourselves.
We sipped his gin (flavored with 11 organic botanicals), agave
(Americans can’t name this product tequila, so it’s
referred to by the name of the plant from which it’s made),
and his coffee liqueur (made with local coffee that has a story
of its own). 5311 Western Ave, Boulder, Roundhousespirits.com
Downslope Distilling makes craft vodkas, rums,
and whiskey. It’s small, the owners are voluble, and it
offers monthly classes for would-be distillers. These are “for
people who want to get into distilling. It’s illegal to
do it at home, though. So let’s just say these classes are
for spirit enthusiasts.” It’s open to the public from
12 to 4 Saturdays and 12 to 3 Sundays, but they’ll accommodate
visitors other times when they can. 6770 S. Dawson Circle, Centennial,
Downslopedistilling.com
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey books 45-minute
tours (with tasting) online many times in the week. Volunteers
are recruited to bottle the goods when the time is right. 200
South Kalamath Street, Denver, Stranahans.com
303Vodka offers a tasting room that also serves
cocktails. For a distillery tour, call first: 303-442-1244. 2500
47th Street, Boulder, 303vodka.com
The Rackhouse serves good food at decent prices,
but the emphasis here is on beers and whiskeys. If you miss the
tour at Stranahan’s, just ask the waitstaff and they’ll
fill you in. 208 S. Kalamath, Denver, Rackhousepub.com
Red Square Euro-Bistro, an upscale restaurant
with 90 vodkas on the menu, opens at 5 p.m. 1521 Larimer St (in
Writer’s Square), Denver,
Redsquarebistro.com
Hotel Teatro is great for the theater crowd,
since it is across the street from the Denver Center for the Performing
Arts, and something of a specialist in romantic getaways. 1100
14th Street, Denver,
Hotelteatro.com
The Curtis Hotel houses The Corner Office bar
and two happy hours, one at the usual pre-dinner hour, and the
other starting at 10 pm. The whole hotel has a pop art/mid-century
modern appeal. 1405 Curtis, Denver, TheCurtis.com |
