Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/611718
december 2015 / the tasting panel / 87 H old your breath, make a wish and count to three. There is a simple magic behind the walls of Greenbar Craft Distillery. Pure imagination. Walking into the new location just east of the Fashion District where the 5 freeway meets the 10, you are quickly ushered into a distinct realm of creativity. Founded in 2004, Greenbar sports a range of impressive titles such as being L.A.'s first distillery since Prohibition, maker of the world's largest portfolio of craft organic spirits and adpoter of sustainability practices so effective that it has zeroed out the carbon footprint of nearly seven million Americans for a day. They produce a wide range of spirits including vodka, gin, tequila, whiskey, rum, liqueurs and bitters. One called Grand Poppy is made on a base of their rum with California poppy, orange, lemon, grapefruit, bearberry, California bay leaf, pink peppercorn, dandelion, blessed thistle, burdock, rue, artichoke, gentian, geranium, cherry bark and cane sugar. It's delicious. And they do a majority of all this on a very impressive still they were the first to receive—more on that in a second. As Cal, the photographer, and I entered the building, we were greeted by Litty Mathew, co-founder and spirits maker, and an array of herbs and spices laid out on a table. Every spice they use—spices you may not have known existed— just sit there ready for your olfactory enjoyment. Right away you get a sense of transparency. Soon after, Melkon, the other founder and spiritsmaker (and Litty's husband), walked up and introduced himself. He, like his wife, has a physical presence that cannot compare to the largeness of his pas- sionate energy. Complex spirits like Grand Poppy are big here, and con- sistency is key. Macerations are constantly being tuned due to seasonally affected ingredients. 95% similar, 3% different and 2% better. That's the Greenbar mantra. These spirits start with a ten-day "hyper extraction" to pick up enough aromas from the selected herbs to maintain presence after re-distillation. After a second, London gin–like distillation, the ingredients go back for a second, more measured maceration. During this time, they add and remove various ingredients while tasting it every day until it meets the standard. This can sometimes last up to two months, which is a lot of your own supply to be getting down on—I'm sure Biggie would not approve. I digress. This is how they achieve balance in the intensity of aroma and flavor. Once they lock into an ideal zone, they send it to bottling. So how do they have such creative control? By slowing things down and diving deep into every process to introduce better, more novel flavors at each step. They ferment slow and cold, distill hyper precisely, macerate whole ingredients slowly and age with an extra variety of woods. One of their most interesting tools is a first-of-its-kind continuous, fractionating column still made by fellow maker John McKee, the engineer/spirit maker at Headframe Spirits. Standing around 23 feet tall, the still can heat and cool mash along four columns and a multitude of trays to give Greenbar distillers the ability to pull off spirits to the decimal point of proof—along with their associated flavors—con- sistently throughout the run in a single pass. Total creative freedom. Pure imagination. "Melkon is a pioneer in the micro-distillation movement and easily one of the most conscientious spirit makers I have ever met," says McKee. Watching them work this thing felt like some steampunk organ concerto was about to go down. On the screen of the still, you get a full readout of what's going on. They can also control the temperature on the fly during distillation at the vapor level, the midrange and sump of all four columns with the touch of the screen. "Infinite control," as Khosrovian puts it. This craft is truly an art and I have witnessed a marked improvement from when I first tasted their whiskey. This is the charm of Greenbar—unabashed growth and improve- ment. The infusions like Grand Poppy and Fruitlab Ginger Liqueur are among the best on the market and as solid as they come. Approach it all with an open mind and heart. I dare say their production methods could be misconstrued. I was not a fan of the idea of adding wood staves to whiskey, but it makes sense, and they do it beautifully. At the end of the day, it's a product that doesn't hide what it is. In fact, it plants a flag right in your mouth. It's clean, it's organic, and you might like it. With that I say, there is no life I know to compare to pure imagination. Enjoy it for what it is, not what you think it should be. Living there you'll be free, if you truly wish to be. Melkon Khosrovian and Litty Mathew, husband-and-wife owners of Greenbar Distillery in Downtown L.A., with writer Joel Caruso, CS (far right). PHOTO: CAL BINGHAM