Mike Selberg of The Cannon Beach Distillery

Mike Selberg earned degrees in biology and chemistry.  So what to do for a career?  Open a distillery, of course.

"It seemed the most fun way to make use of the degrees," says Selberg. The Cannon Beach, Oregon resident opened The Cannon Beach Distillery just over a year ago at the west coast seaside town where he's lived since the age of six. The hand-made, small-batch spirits Selberg offers are infused with his scientific know-how and the spirit of adventure and exploration that defines the majestic Oregon coast.  

Selberg got his first taste of distilling in Chemistry class at age 19. After that, he started brewing beer, which provided experience in fermentation and a foundation for developing future spirits. 

"If you can make a good beer, you can make a good whiskey," says Selberg.

Cannon Beach on the North Oregon Coast is famous for its distinctive beach, and the ancient Haystack Rocks that frame the shoreline.  Lewis and Clark explored the region in January of 1806.   Clark described Cannon Beach in his diary:  “From this point, I be held the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed.”

In 1846, a Navy schooner sank in the area, reportedly carrying three cannons.   One was said to have been recovered and the area was thereafter named Cannon Beach.    

Mike Selberg's Cannon Beach Distillery is tucked into a secluded cul-de-sac at the north end of town.   He's exploring many different styles of spirits with his own twist.     

The distillery is decorated in rich earth tones, sandy wood and smoked glass and evokes imagery of rugged shorelines and burnished beach glass.   

On a rainy summer afternoon, Selberg is sampling two styles of rum he's created.  Dorymen's Rum is an evaporated cane juice based rum that is glassy clear and light in taste. Selberg says it's ideal for a refreshing rum cocktail like a mojito. Dorymen's is smooth and sweet and tastes like a lively sea shanty on the tongue.   

Dolon Shanks Amber Rum is caramel color and aged in heavily charred American white oak barrels. The buttery, smoky, rum is named after the two streets Selberg grew up between. Selberg uses blackstrap molasses, and the sampling we try has the character of an aged whisky that can be sipped slowly and enjoyed.  The amber rum is his most popular spirit.  

Selberg offers two styles of gin -- Peter's Family Gin and Lost Buoy Gin.   He's also got several spirits in production.  His bourbon -- made of corn, rye and barley -- will be ready for sale in 2014, and a rye -- made of malted and unmalted rye and barley -- will come of age in 2015.    

As a new entrepreneur, Selberg works long hours.  He's typically at work in the distillery for five or six hours in the morning before the tasting room opens in the afternoon, and he usually logs a 12 to 13 hour day. Selberg says if he makes a hire in the future, he will bring someone on to staff the tasting room, so he can focus on his work in the distillery, leaving the scientist more time to come up with his next discovery.

Cannon Beach Distillery is located at 255 N Hemlock, BLDG C, Cannon Beach, OR  97110 - 503-436-0301.   cannonbeachdistillery@gmail.com   

©2013 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved   

A Comfort ‘N Tonic and Tumblers from the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair

The summer cocktail season has arrived, so I’ve looked beyond my favorite brown spirits for something a bit lighter and brighter.  In my quest, I stumble upon this classic cocktail recipe book once given to me by a friend – “From New York and Restaurants at the World’s Fair – 46 Great Drinks.”

Don’t you just love the white gloves and the high fashion Betty Draper look of the woman on the cover?  I can almost see the White Rain Hairspray dressing her auburn tresses.  

The pamphlet raises a myriad of questions.  Who is that lovely woman, and her clean cut male companion?  How many more exhibits will they be able to view once they’ve finished that Manhattan and Old Fashioned?  Why just 46 great drinks?  Why not 50?  

Here’s a look at our favorite couple relaxing at home, about to make one of their favorite drinks from the World’s Fair.  He looks a bit like Perry Cuomo in this shot.

“They” don’t really hold “World’s Fairs” anymore.  The future is here, and the world is much smaller than it used to be.  Still, I remember the sense of awe I felt as a child when I first glimpsed the symbol of the World’s Fair, The Unisphere. It still stands in Flushing, Queens. 

The Fair was full of futuristic exhibitions and historic first, and the architecture alone – including the multi-tiered New York State Pavilion – was considered a gleaming symbol of the dawning space age. 

We brought home all kinds of cool items from the World’s Fair, including a set of these smoked glass tumblers featuring various exhibits from the World’s Fair.  The original tumblers went to my eldest brother, but I managed to recreate a set for myself by rummaging through a couple of antique stores.  

The pamphlet is actually a promotional item for Southern Comfort, designed to highlight “Southern Comfort’s completely unique taste and flavor.”   Southern Comfort is a whisky spirit flavored with a proprietary blend of “rare and delicious ingredients” that remain a secret to this day. Many of the recipes in the World’s Fair pamphlet – including the “Comfort ‘N Tonic,” swap out traditional spirits and replace them with Southern Comfort. 

I’ve actually never tried Southern Comfort, but I remember it was a favorite of my Dad’s Aunt Lou.   A world traveler, and always the life of the party, Aunt Lou would say, “I need to be comforted” when the cocktail orders were being taken.  She would have enjoyed this recipe:

Comfort ‘N Tonic

 1 jigger (1 ½ oz.) Southern Comfort

Juice and rind of ½ lime

Tonic Water

Squeeze lime over ice cubes in 8-oz. glass.  Add liquor, lime rind; fill with tonic, stir.

I mix my Comfort ‘N Tonic in the tumbler honoring the New York State Exhibit.  The Southern Comfort adds a touch of spice and citrus and smooths out the tonic water.  It’s quite refreshing.  The cocktail transports me back to an era when absolutely anything was possible. Cheers to the comfort of the good old days!  

©2013 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

I’m Old Fashioned

I’ve never seen the Tom Cruise movie “Cocktail” and that’s probably a good thing because I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. That’s why the course “Classic Cocktails,” taught by Anthony Caporale at The Institute of Culinary Education had immediate appeal for me.

Imagine a Saturday night “getting wet.” Don’t worry – it’s a bartending term that aptly describes the action behind the bar. As Caporale says, when you’re mixing cocktails it’s inevitable that things are going to get wet and sticky. Caporale has been in the spirits business for years. He’s a high-energy instructor with a high proof mix of tips, tricks and fascinating anecdotes about the classic cocktail. I’ve already taken his excellent course on Whiskey, Bourbon and Scotch. You can get a taste of his approach at his Art of the Drink website.

Did you know the art of the cocktail emerged during Prohibition? Yes, folks started drinking more because alcohol was illegal, and they started adding things like fruit juice and bitters to mask the taste of some pretty poor quality booze. Fortunately, our tastes and techniques have evolved and mixing cocktails has become an art. Within minutes, Caporale provides the basics on colorless and brown spirits along with a couple of dashes of history and economics, and then gets us started on pouring techniques. Skilled bartenders don’t measure – they count and pour. With a proper pour spout and the right technique, you pour a ½ ounce of liquor per second.

Our source material for the course is six basic cocktail recipes found in David Embury’s “The Fine Art Of Mixing Drinks,” a bartending Bible first published in 1948. Embury was a pioneer in the field of cocktail culture. Caporale adds a modern twist. He’s got a degree in engineering so he’s very good at breaking recipes down into components so you understand the formula, technique and the approach instead of obsessing over a specific recipe. As he explains it, every cocktail starts with a base spirit, and then a combination of mixers, sweetened liquors, fortified wines, or sweet and bitter ingredients are added. The key, he says, is balance. He’s not a fan of the super sweet cocktails popularized in recent time in the United States.

We are each positioned at a station equipped with a tin shaker, an array of bar tools and easy access to a lot of ice. Once we get through a few warm up rounds of pouring, mixing and shaking we get to work and shake up a Dry Gin Martini (the only way to go with a Martini):

A Manhattan with Bourbon and Sweet Vermouth:

An Old Fashioned made with Dewers White Label whiskey on the rocks:

A Rum Daiquiri, which is much simpler and tastier than the super sweet blender concoction we often think of:

A Side Car made with Cognac, Triple Sec and lemon:

And, a Jack Rose made with apple “jack” brandy and rosy-colored Grenadine:

The mixing and shaking gets fast and furious at times. So how do I fare? Well, I’ve already hinted that I’m not Tom Cruise. My pouring aim is off at times (you need to get the spirits into the cocktail shaker, not all over your sleeve) and my Manhattan Cocktail, which I’m pretty experienced at preparing, comes out a bit watered down. But, my Dry Gin Martini is sublime, and I think I’ve discovered a new favorite in the Side Car.

Cheers to Anthony Caporale for shaking up a spirited evening of insider techniques and classic cocktail lore!

©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved