Not that one, not that one.
Joel Myers scours the backcountry . . .
Not that one.
. . . and then finds it.
Grapefruit!
Of course, he hasn’t plucked an actual subtropical fruit from Mount Seymour, what he’s spotted is a grand fir bough, the kind with needles that exude the scent of citrus.
Myers binds his find and heads back to Rupert Street where the needles will add that sharp, slightly bitter flavour to the still.
The still is alive with rhubarb root, bitter orange and wormwood that will eventually create amaro, an Italian digestif.
The distillation is a delicate process, Myers explains.
“If you don’t distill that out properly, you end up with something that tastes and smells like Pine-Sol,” he warns.
The company uses vacuum distillation, lowering the boiling point, Myers explains.
“We can boil the essence out of that at basically room temperature,” he says.
That means botanicals don’t get burned and it’s also designed to let the drinkers taste something specific, meaning their amaro “doesn’t taste like a Christmas tree,” Myers explains.
Myers and his partner Fabio Martini (“No kidding,” Myers says of his longtime friend’s last name) are the duo behind The Woods Spirit Co., the newest addition to the North Shore’s cocktail scene.
The two went to school together in Ontario.
But what Myers recalls from that time is
Martini’s backyard.
There was a pear tree behind the house. Martini’s father used that fruit for his own pear brandy. There was grappa and wine and an inside look in how it all
gets made.
The friends drifted apart after coming west, with Myers playing bass for indie band Bend Sinister as well as touring with Holly McNarland.
Bend Sinister is still playing but Myers opted to bow out, attributing his decision to the toll of life on the road.
There’s an uncertainty to the work, Myers says, discussing his marriage and his mortgage.
But he recalls flying to a concert and flipping through an Air Canada magazine that featured an article about Victoria’s craft distilleries.
He was fascinated by the nuances of cocktails. Myers seems almost defensive of liqueurs, describing them as bartending’s “unsung hero,” and discussing the charm of the distillation process as sugar water becomes a vapour that’s is captured and turned into clear liquid.
Having reconnected with Martini, the two were in the woods (hence the company’s name) picking mushrooms when Martini said he wanted to start a distillery.
The plane ride and the magazine flashed back in Myers’ mind.
Myers says his wife vetoed his plans for a vintage sneaker store and an eatery specializing in food that could be eaten in two bites.
But Martini had a bit of a pedigree for the work and B.C. was offering tax exemptions for distilleries.
“I finally got the thumbs up from my wife on one of my crazy business ideas,” Myers reports.
Three years later the distillery is supplying gin and amaro for a host of bars and restaurants and has plans to open their own lounge by the end of November.
While careful not to be dubbed a “pine and brine,” distillery, Myers says each bottle will showcase at least one local ingredient.
“We’re real Pacific Northwest dudes,” he says of himself and Martini. “Even though we were born in Ontario.”
