Sweet and Sappy

Saxtons River Distillery

Vermont is for lovers—liqueur-lovers. This Valentine’s, treat your sweetheart to something sweet and high-spirited from the Green Mountain State. Christian Stromberg, who launched Saxtons River Distillery in 2006, showcases the state’s signature crop in bottles like the Sapling Maple Liqueur. See how the engineer-turned-distiller tapped into family history and the local surplus of maple syrup to create a line of liquors that are just the right balance of dessert-y and distilled.

Sapling LiquorsStromberg comes by booze-making naturally: his great grandmother made rye moonshine in the Prohibition years as a way to support her family after her husband’s death. “I guess I’m the first in my family to legally do this,” Stromberg says. “A lot of the Prohibition stuff—there was nothing good about it. I think I’ve improved the quality in our family liquor history.” As a starting point for the Sapling Maple Liqueur, he fiddled with a passed-down recipe for Lithuanian krupnikas, or honey liqueur. Since real maple is not as aromatic as honey, he adjusted spices and ingredients to let the distinct Vermont flavor shine through, then aged it to add a level of complexity.

The liqueur works best as a mixer, bringing in woodsy Vermont notes to cocktails with a sweetness that’s not saccharine. “This is our time of year,” Stromberg says, with recommendations to add the liqueur to anything from hot cider to hot coffee to hot chocolate (his personal favorite). It also blends particularly well with anything dairy, as in the Iced Sapling Chai below.

Since breaking into an initially small maple liquor market, the distillery has since expanded their boozy offerings to include a Sapling Maple Bourbon and Sapling Maple Rye. “It was harder at the beginning to get distributors interested in small craft spirits,” he says, “but now that bigger liquor companies are coming out with things they call maple (which may not actually be from a tree), I don’t have to explain“why maple?” anymore.” One sip of the Sapling spirits should make it clear “why maple” and especially “why” Stromberg’s hand-selected maple syrup from Vermont sugarmakers.

Outside of the maple sphere, Saxtons has added the Perc Coffee Liqueur (which won the gold medal at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition) and has a gin almost ready for market. Take your favorite cocktail partner on a trip to Brattleboro during tapping season to sample Sapling and family at their source (distillery hours at 10:00-5:00pm on weekends). Or, pick up a bottle at spots like Gordon’s or Liquors, Inc. to try your hand at the woo-worthy recipes below.

Sapling Liqueur Chai CocktailIced Sapling Chai
Ingredients
2 ounces Sapling Maple Liqueur
4 ounces chilled chai tea
2 ounces milk, cream or almond milk

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker, shake vigorously, pour over ice and top with cinnamon.


VT Valentine CocktailVT Valentine

Ingredients
4 ounces milk
1.5 ounces Sapling Maple Bourbon
1.5 ounces Perc Coffee Liqueur
1 ounce melted dark chocolate
5 ice cubes or 1 cup of vanilla ice cream
1 teaspoon maple syrup
dash of vanilla and cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in blender and whip until smooth. Garnish with shaved chocolate and a chocolate-covered strawberry.

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