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PORT MORRIS DISTILLERY These spirit-makers have reintroduced a centuries-old Puerto Rican moonshine with a local-ingredient focus. Painted in tropical colors and with Spanish-language ballads playing over the speakers, the tasting room inside this 4,000-square-foot former ironworks showroom is designed to feel like a courtyard in old San Juan. It's the perfect setting to enjoy pitorro, aka Puerto Rican moon- shine. This 92-proof spirit dates to the 17th century, when sugar cane was Puerto Rico's main crop. Locals developed their own reci- pes, typically made with molasses and sometimes infused with fruit, and distilled the spirit themselves by burying jars in their backyards. The guys behind Port Morris Distillery don't bury their pitor- ro in the dirt, of course. They've been producing it since 2013 using wooden barrels in a distillery room surrounded by enormous sacks of sugar and cans of fruit juice, and they follow a recipe perfected by the grandfather of co-founder Rafael Barbosa. Instead of molasses, "we make our pitorro using brown sugar and New York State apples and honey," Barbosa says. "That's our base, and then we put it in a mash and ferment it for 28 days." The result is a fine-crafted, potent liquor with a distinct rum-like taste. Port Morris Distillery makes a second type of pitorro, aneja, that is aged for more than a year. A third, coquito (the best-seller) contains coconut and cinnamon and is traditionally served during the Christmas season. Barbosa and his business partner, William Valentin, who both grew up in Puerto Rican families in Manhattan, have introduced all three to a city excited about artisanal, locally sourced food. Judging by the crowds in the tasting room and number of people going on free weekend tours of the distillery, New Yorkers are taking a shine to pitorro. Depending on the day of the week, 40 or 50 people are in the tasting room, a mix of locals and customers from Manhattan and other boroughs. On weekend nights, a DJ spins records in an adjacent space for an even bigger audience. Approximately 65 percent of Port Morris Distillery's revenue comes from the tasting room, while the other 35 percent is derived from retail sales at liquor stores, bars, and restaurants throughout the metropolitan area and in New York cities as far as Buffalo. A small (375 ml) bottle sells for $16; a larger (750 ml) size runs about $45. In the tasting room, the three types of pitorro are sold by the shot glass for $5 or by f lask for $25. (The tasting room offers wine and beer as well, including craft beer from other Bronx makers.) Growing the business to where it is now took a lot of sweat equity. "We did everything ourselves at first, from getting our license to making the pitorro to distribution," Barbosa says. As of last autumn, Port Morris Distillery has had an outside dis- tributor. But the dozen or so employees at the tasting room and distillery "are our wives and family members; we're a family-run business," he adds. Barbosa is excited about the Distillery District and the impact it will have on Port Morris Distillery as well as the entire neigh- borhood. "Port Morris is definitely starting to be a hub, and other breweries once located in Manhattan and Brooklyn are moving here or to other parts of the Bronx as well," he says. "It's great to be part of something new. We're the poster child for the creativity and energy of the South Bronx now." portmorrisdistillery.com tour Pitorro, aka Puerto Rican moonshine, is a 92-proof spirit that dates to the 17th century, when sugar cane was Puerto Rico's main crop. GUN HILL TAVERN This microbrewery is eyeing more taverns and innovative craft products in the Bronx—the last frontier. This watering hole is the newest addition to Point Morris' burgeoning beer and spirits scene. Warm and dark with a horseshoe-sh aped bar, large-screen TVs, a tin ceiling, and brick walls, it's the first retail bar run by the Gun Hill Brewing Co., a craft beer maker whose main micro- brewery and tasting room are in a converted storage facility in the Bronx neighborhood of Williamsbridge. Dave Lopez, who co-founded Gun Hill Brewing Co. in 2014 with his one-time semipro baseball teammate Kieran Farrell, says the company always wanted to open retail outposts. When Port Morris Brewery approached them about moving into the space next door to the brewery, Bronx natives Lopez and Farrell jumped at the chance. Though Gun Hill's signature Pale Ales, IPAs, pilsners, and other premium beers are manufactured in another part of the Bronx, the space pays homage to the craft of brew-making with a side room displaying antique distillery equipment. Chalkboard menus list about 25 Gun Hill beers on tap (with 18th-century inspired names like "Spirit of '76" and "Ramparts Rye") as well as cocktails and wines from other 122 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com