Living in the Garden State certainly comes with several culinary perks. Our dining tables are accustomed to the abundance of local, farm-fresh produce. And now, thanks to a few entrepreneurial distilleries, our cocktail glasses are too. Blue Rascal Distillery, located in the heart of the garden state and "The Blueberry Capital of the World"—Hammonton, uses local produce to create a wide variety of micro-batch, hand-crafted, high-quality spirits.
Blue Rascal's owners, Curt and Kelly Perone, are both from farming families. Curt's family owns a Hammonton blueberry farm, Macrie Brothers, and they were interested in different ways to utilize the produce of the local community. When Curt began looking into distilling, he found that it was not only a viable business for this area, but it offered a variety of ways to incorporate fresh produce and help the local community grow. This became a passion project for Curt and Kelly, and just over one year ago, they opened Blue Rascal, Hammonton's first distillery.
"I think what sets [Blue Rascal] apart is the array of spirits we offer. We currently have 13 different products, with more coming," says Veronica Townsend, head distiller at Blue Rascal. Many of which are either distilled from or infused with local produce, including their blueberry brandy. "Our blueberry brandy is definitely one of our flagship recipes. Last year we used close to 5,000 pounds of local blueberries," says Curt Perone, owner of Blue Rascal Distillery. While you may expect a blueberry brandy to be sweet, Blue Rascal's is not. "We distill our brandy in the eau-de-vie method, which is different than what most expect a brandy to be. It creates a strong spirit, ours is 80 proof, that's not sweet, but there's a definite blueberry essence. Making this spirit is very labor-intensive and physically demanding," Townsend explains. Eau-de-vie translates to "water of life." It refers to a type of brandy that is unaged and distilled from any fruit other than grapes. Blue Rascal begins this process with local Hammonton blueberries that are gently crushed, and yeast and sugar are added to allow the mash to ferment. The fruit is this strained out, and the remaining liquid is run through Blue Rascal's German-made still, where the liquid is heated, the vaporized alcohol is collected, then cooled back to a liquid. "It takes about a month to make one batch of our blueberry brandy," Townsend says.
While their blueberry brandy may be what their most known for, Blue Rascal has a wide variety of equally delicious spirits, including gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, and a variety of fruit liqueurs. "Right now, my favorite is our gin. It's steeped with an herbal botanic blend and local blueberries, which creates a unique flavor profile," Townsend explains. Try Blue Rascal's hand-batched fruit liqueur if you want something a little sweeter. They currently offer blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, black cherry, strawberry and cranberry. They're delicious served over ice or mixed in your favorite cocktails.
If you need a little help or inspiration mixing your cocktails, head to Blue Rascal's beautiful tasting room that overlooks their gorgeous still or their backlot with fun outdoor games. Each month they feature seasonally-inspired craft cocktails along with some of their classics. A recently featured seasonal cocktail was the Hammontonians' Julep with muddled mint and blackberry, blackberry earl grey simple syrup, blackberry liqueur and rye whiskey. For a Blue Rascal staple, try the Rascaltini made with vodka, blueberry liqueur, lemonade and simple syrup. On Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. there's live music in the tasting room. Hang out in Blue Rascal's Back Lot on lovely weather days and play corn hole and giant Jenga. "Our back lot is brand new. It's a really great place to hang out and play some lawn games. You can grab a cocktail from the bar, then head out to the back," Perone says. Blue Rascal's tasting room offers snacks for purchase, but you're welcome to bring your own food. If you're curious about the distillation process, Blue Rascal offers distillery tours on Thur. at 6 p.m. for $25 which includes a 45-minute tour, tastings and your first cocktail.
If you can't make it to Blue Rascal, you can find their spirits in several other locations. In addition, some of the area's most well-known restaurants have taken notice of Blue Rascals unique offerings, including Dock's Oyster House and Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City. "We are adding more locations to our distribution very quickly, lately," Perone says. To stay up to date follow them on Facebook.
INFO BOX
WHAT: Blue Rascal Distillery
WHERE: 8 West End Ave., Hammonton
WHEN: Thur. to Fri. 5 to 9 p.m. Sat. 1 to 9 p.m. Sun. 1 to 6 p.m.
WHERE TO BUY: Liquor Stores – Ocean Beverage Discount Liquor in Brigantine, Gleeson’s Liquors in Sea Isle, Gorman’s Liquor Store in Cape May, Sunset Liquors in Cape May, Joe Canal's in E.H.T. and Hammonton, and Buy Rite Liquors in Hammonton. Restaurants - Sweetwater River Deck in Sweetwater, Annata Wine Bar in Hammonton, Dock’s Oyster House in Atlantic City, and Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City.
INFO: For more information call 609-878-3578 or go to BlueRascalDistillery.com
