Unexpected Flavors
HOUSE-MADE LIQUEURS INSPIRED
BY THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY by William Kennedy
T
he people behind popular Eugene res-
taurant Party Downtown, located at
55 W. Broadway, apply a “make-it-
in-house” ethic to everything they do,
from curing meats to baking bread.
Bartender James West is particularly passionate about
house-made liqueurs — distilled spirits infused with
the fl avors of fruit, berries, herbs or even fl owers.
“I want to make things that are for sale in the
liquor store,” West says. “But if we have as good or
better ingredients in the valley, I will forgo buying
something and make it myself.”
“Liqueur implies richness, viscosity,” he continues,
adding that liqueurs have high sugar content but
shouldn’t be thought of as strictly dessert drinks. “I
always want people to be brave about when they’re
having things and not feel contrived to a sequence of an
experience,” West says, explaining that many liqueurs
are aperitifs — or “before-the-meal” beverages.
This past winter, a popular drink on West’s menu
was the house-made Irish Cream: Clontarf Irish
whiskey, organic condensed milk, organic half ‘n’
half, Wandering Goat espresso, chocolate ganache
and organic almond and vanilla extracts.
West serves the drink over frozen Wandering
Goat Abyssinian coffee cubes and even makes his
own half ‘n’ half. “Half milk, half heavy cream adds
a nuanced richness,” he says.
West uses recipes as a reference when making
liqueurs but frequently expands on them. “The
GREEN WALNUT NOCINO
PHOTO BY TRASK BEDORTHA
instructions are really easy,” West says, “but it’s up
to you to choose the quality of ingredients and really
take it somewhere that has more potential.”
And being located in the heart of the Willamette
Valley, West has access to a dizzying array of quality
ingredients to experiment with — making everything
from Doug fi r brandy to elderfl ower liqueur.
“I go and actually forage my own elderfl owers
with a hoe and a basket,” West says. “The whole
energy is to harness anything we have seasonally
available and make it instead of buying. If you’re
a gardener and you have great produce and fruit at
home, you can make your own liqueurs.”
West is currently working on a green walnut
nocino — a sticky, spicy and sweet Italian liqueur.
And during currant season — usually mid-summer
— West makes his own crème de cassis, mixing black
currants with pink ones from a tree in his own yard.
Crème de cassis is “defi nitely a liqueur,” West
says, “but is usually used as a mixing agent.” West
uses crème de cassis as a mixer in a popular drink
called the Bourbon Renewal: bourbon, lemon, crème
de cassis and bitters.
“One of the things that making house liqueurs
does is it starts a conversation,” West says. “You’ll
get some people that will come and have [the Irish
Cream] and say, ‘I remember, 15 years ago, I tried
this and tried that.’ You see that glint in their eye when
they cared for a moment about craft mixing. And what
we’re doing now is reminding them of that.” ■
DANCERS AUDITION
Call 541-517-7196
Never A Cover
Nude Hours 12pm-2:15am Daily
LOTTERY • CHAMPAGNE ROOM
OUTSIDE SMOKING • DRINKING PATIO
1836 South ‘A’ St., Spfl d • 541-762-1503
Only 5 minutes from campus • (Franklin Blvd turns into South A St.)
6
SWIZZLE 2014
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