Wednesday, July 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Distillery brings spirits to Sisters
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
Craft distilling of liquor
has become a nationwide
culinary trend similar to the
proliferation of craft brew-
eries, with people sampling
new and interesting examples
of vodka, gin, and whiskey.
Now Sisters is on the dis-
tilling map with the arrival of
Cascade Street Distillery.
Brother-and-sister team
Nick and Katie Beasley have
opened the Cascade Street
Distillery tasting room at 261
W. Cascade Ave. in down-
town Sisters. They are offer-
ing a taste (or a bottle) of
North Sister Vodka and will
soon offer South Sister Gin.
Broken Top Bourbon will be
on its way in October.
The Beaseleys are rent-
ing equipment through
Bendistillery for now as they
work on securing an indus-
trial-park-area facility for
their distilling.
Their small-batch, hand-
made spirits offer exceptional
ingredients and care.
“We use a GMO-free
corn,” Nick explained. “We
distill it six times, and filter
it six times and we use water
from here — which is some
of the best in the world.”
In the case of the vodka,
that means a vodka taste with
an aftertaste that dissipates
instantly.
Locals and visitors
alike are enjoying the well-
appointed tasting room, with
all locally sourced fixtures
(including a bar made by
Earthwood Homes) and rea-
sonably priced drinks. Labels
on the bottles feature land-
scapes by Sisters artist Dan
Rickards.
Associated Press
photo by Jim corneliUS
“You’ve gotta get all three
bottles on your shelf,” Nick
said. “Then you have the
Cascades skyline.”
The proprietor said, “I
always recommend (custom-
ers) get a flight so they get a
sample of everything.”
Katie noted that “we also
like to explain the craft of all
the liquors that are here. It’s
kind of like a learning experi-
ence as well.”
Nick jumped into the
liquor business when he was
recruited as a brand manager
while in college at Oregon
State University. Katie’s
background is in media
communications.
Nick said he was attracted
to the business because it is
creative and adventurous.
“It’s fun; it’s new,” he
said. “Beer industry is fun;
the wine industry is fun —
but there’s only so much you
can do because the base is
always going to be hops or
grapes. With liquor, the pos-
sibilities are endless.”
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The family handles all
their own production, which
means they work a lot. And
they love it. Their goal is to
be a landmark for Sisters.
Nick said they chose this
town because — with distill-
eries springing up everywhere
— Sisters was still open terri-
tory. Sisters is a tourist town,
which they believe will help
spread the word about their
products. And the natural
beauty, good water, and rec-
reational opportunities were
all attractive.
The brother-sister team is
young and ambitious, helping
to pioneer a new and dynamic
field. So far, the naysayers
have been silent, which they
take as a sign that they’re on
to something.
“When you go into busi-
ness, people say ‘Why are
you doing that?’” Nick
reflected. “We haven’t had
one person say that.”
For more information visit
http://cascadestreetdistillery.
com.
Year-round
FIREWOOD
SALES
SALEM (AP) — After
months of negotiations and
right before recreational
pot becomes legal, Oregon
House legislators passed a bill
Wednesday, June 24, setting
up the state’s legal marijuana
market.
The measure creates
regulations for medical and
recreational marijuana, and
includes a compromise allow-
ing local jurisdictions to opt
out of legalization. Members
of a joint committee tasked
with implementing Measure
91 had previously deadlocked
on the issue of local con-
trol, and the measure stalled
for weeks while lawmakers
worked out an agreement.
Counties or cities that
voted against Measure 91 can
choose to bar sales of mari-
juana if at least 55 percent of
their residents opposed the
ballot measure in last year’s
election. Other counties
would have to put the issue of
banning pot sales to a vote.
“I did not support Measure
91. I am voting for this bill
because it allows local juris-
dictions to prohibit the sale
of this drug,” Rep. Bill Post,
R-Keizer, said in a statement.
The bill also creates a
tracking system for marijuana
so officials can trace pot from
seedling to retail sale in order
to keep it out of the black
market. The Oregon Health
Authority would be in charge
of creating and maintaining
a database tracking pot’s
path to market, and the bill
requires grow sites to regis-
ter and submit information on
the amount of marijuana pro-
cessed and transferred every
month.
“We want to help local
businesses be successful in
this legal market. We want
to reduce illegal activity and
transactions that are not in
accordance with these laws.
We want to keep kids and
communities safe,” said Rep.
Ann Lininger, a Democrat
from Lake Oswego who car-
ried the bill.
Additionally, the measure
reduces penalties for some
drug-related offenses. Geoff
Sugerman, a lobbyist for
Oregon Cannabis PAC, said
it will bring the criminal stat-
utes in line with the fact that
marijuana is now legal. The
measure, HB 3400, also will
expunge many marijuana-
related convictions, which
will benefit tens of thousands
of Oregonians, he said.
“The so-called war on
drugs has devastated commu-
nities across this country. With
the experience of Prohibition
behind us, we should know
better, but instead we fill
prisons and break up fami-
lies over this drug,” said Rep.
Lew Frederick, a Portland
Democrat.
Consumption of recre-
ational pot becomes legal in
Oregon on July 1.
The House approved the
measure 52-4. It now heads to
the Senate.
ers,
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Thank rting us!
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— Kindling —
—
—
~ Over 22 years Serving Sisters ~
541-549-0109
oregon house passes bill
on new marijuana industry
By sheila V Kumar
Katie and Nick Beasley are ready to offer sisters a taste of spirits at the
new Cascade street Distillery tasting room.
13
Sisters
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