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CORSAIR DISTILLERY: SHAKING UP THE WORLD OF SPIRITS W ith more than 100 awards for innovative alcohol, Darek Bell has clearly created a stir. The Nashville native is co-founder of Corsair Distillery, which he launched in his hometown in 2008, and the company has been bucking industry conventions from the start. Company founders and childhood friends Bell and Andrew Webber were brewing beer and wine in Bell's garage when the seed for Corsair Distillery was planted. At some point, Webber said, off- handedly, that making whiskey would probably be a more satisfying endeavor than what they were doing. The idea stuck, and the two soon found themselves studying distilleries and spirits. Before long, Bell knew they had stumbled onto something worth sticking with. "I love spirits and I love distilling," Bell notes. "I saw a revolution happening in the world of craft beer and wanted to see a similar shake-up in the world of spirits." Bell went on to learn his craft at the Siebel Brewing Institute in Chicago and the Bruichladdich Distilling Academy in Islay, Scotland. Unusual Products Corsair Distillery makes seven core spirits including Artisan Gin (a citrusy cocktail gin made with "an unusual mix of traditional botanicals"), Red Absinthe (ingredients include tarragon and red hibiscus), and Quinoa Whiskey (made with malted barley and red and white quinoa grains). The company also has experimental/seasonal products that currently include Insane in the Grain (made with 12 different grains) and Wry Moon (a non-aged Rye whiskey). Spreading the Word In recent years, in addition to opening a second distillery in Nashville, Bell has written two books on spirits, Alt Whiskeys and Fire Water. These books help Bell go beyond simply selling Corsair's products to teaching home distillers how to create unusual spirits themselves. "I believed that a new generation of drinkers was coming online and did not want to drink what their parents were drinking," Bell explains. "They wanted new spirits that ref lected them." And that is what Corsair Distillery is delivering. "I think whiskey, in particular, is still very traditional and is ripe for disruption." That experience led Gross to create League of Kitchens in February 2014, allowing individuals or groups to take a deeper dive into various cultures. How It Works A talented home chef invites up to six people into her home to teach some essentials of her native cuisine. Everyone cooks and eats together, and the students go home with a booklet of their teacher's family recipes and an in-depth shopping guide. Currently, Gross has teachers from Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Greece, India, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Trinidad, and Uzbekistan. She's also hired two part-time employees—a commu- nications manager and program manager—and is actively seeking new instructors to work with, but finding the right fit is difficult. She needs people who are at once gregarious and brave enough to entertain a crowd of American strangers in their own homes. "We really need exceptional people with a deep knowledge of their cultural cuisines," as well as awareness of traditional tech- niques, she says. The techniques and tricks good cooks know are essential to helping would-be cooks understand a cuisine, she adds. The Future The company has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, Slate, and others. Gross decided early on to hire a publicist to help drum up coverage "and that really helped a lot," she says. "Almost all my students have come from reading articles or from hearing about us on the radio." Gross is looking ahead for ways to expand the brand. She's shopping a cookbook proposal to publishers and is looking to do a video or television project at some point. She's also considering launching League of Kitchens in other food-centric cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere where she thinks there will be people who want to connect with their own culinary heritage or learn about a new one. Corsair Distillery makes seven core spirits including Quinoa Whiskey, made with malted barley and red and white quinoa grains. Jim Cronin writes about sustainable architecture, artisan producers, and related food news. 48 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com