Episode 236

Fassbind Eau de Vie with Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss

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Fassbind Eau de Vie with Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss

Episode 236

What’s shakin’, cocktail fans? Welcome to Episode 236 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This time, we’re joined LIVE, IN-PERSON, and on the ground at Tales of the Cocktail 2022 by Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss. Stephan joins us all the way from Switzerland, representing Fassbind Eau de Vie, Switzerland’s oldest distillery, and Henry is the Founder and CEO of Preiss Imports, a company that brings some of the world’s best distillates and liqueurs stateside so that bartenders and educated consumers – like you – can enjoy them.

In this tasting and fireside chat, some of the topics we discuss include:

The heritage fruits, sourcing practices, and protected designations of origin that set Swiss brandies and eaux de vie apart from the other fruit distilling traditions in Europe and elsewhere in the world.
The difference between a “wasser” and a “geist” spirit, particularly as it applies to the types of fruits used and how those fruits are turned into potable alcohol.
The venerable, yet poorly-understood tradition of adding dosage (or “bonificateurs”) to aged fruit brandies to impart consistency on the end product, as well as establish a unique proprietary fingerprint on the flavor profile.
Why resting eaux de vie in stainless steel tanks is an integral part of the production process – not only from a flavor perspective, but also as insurance against the occasional poor harvest.
We also discuss the notions of “purity” vs. “complexity” and “seasonality vs. consistency” in these laser-focused fruit eaux de vie and their aged, slightly fortified brethren.
Along the way, we explain how to take your cocktail program to the next level using fruit brandies, why Henry thinks a great gumbo and a great eau de vie aren’t so different, how to make a perfect cheese flower, and much, much more.

If you run a bar program, or if you’re just a curious enthusiast who loves a good fruit brandy, we hope you’ll check our Fassbind Eau de Vie to see how you can get your hands on a bottle, and we also hope you’ll take a moment to peruse the other amazing spirits that Preiss Imports has made available here in the US.

Fassbind Eau de Vie with Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss

Featured Cocktail – The Moonlight Cocktail

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Moonlight Cocktail. This is a slightly quirky Prohibition-era libation taken from The Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930 by the legendary Harry Craddock. To make it, you’ll need

1 ½ oz of London Dry Gin
¼ oz of Kirshwasser (or un-aged, un-sweetened cherry eau de vie – here, of course, we’ll recommend Fassbind’s Rigi Kirsch)
1 oz White Wine
1 – 1 ¼ oz of Pink Grapefruit Juice

Combine these ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, give em a good, hard shake, then double-strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy.

One of the most attractive aspects of the Moonlight cocktail is that it fits its description perfectly. This cocktail is pale, not overly-sweet, and anyone who’s spent time behind a bar will immediately recognize that the real skill required here is going to be moderating the acid profile of this cocktail. There’s no real sugar to speak of except for that ounce of white wine, and aside from the mere suggestion of sweetness that you get from the almond notes in the cherry eau de vie.

So if you’re thinking about putting together the Moonlight cocktail in 2022, opt for a gentle white wine – A Riesling, a Gewurztraminer, maybe a Semillon – and look for a dry-style gin that doesn’t completely overpower the other ingredients with juniper.

Normally, when we come across Prohibition-era or Pre-Prohibition cocktails, the problem is that they skew too sweet for contemporary palates, but the Moonlight cocktail is a rare opportunity for us to play with a century-old formulation that resides solidly at the opposite end of the spectrum.

This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed and Eau de Vie insights courtesy of Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss. This has been a Modern Bar Cart production, copyright 2022.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

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Fassbind Eau de Vie with Stephan Kopp and Henry Preiss

Featured Cocktail – The Moonlight Cocktail

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