Up North Distillery
If you’re looking for a truly local sip, brandy might just be your best bet. Made from distilled fruit or fruit wine, brandy is produced all over the world—pretty much anywhere there’s an excess of fruit and enterprising moonshiners with a still and some free time. In Italy, they craft grappa from leftover grape pomace, while in France’s Normandy region they make calvados from distilled apple cider and in eastern Europe they produce slivovitz from fermented Damson plums.
Here in Idaho, you can also find brandies that bottle the region’s terroir and capture the essence of ripe fall fruit. In an off-the-beatenpath warehouse in Post Falls, Up North Distillery produces “farm-to-flask” beverages that range from Honey Spirits (made from distilled mead) to Apple Brandies (crafted from local,
fresh-pressed apples). They even offer a Barrel- Aged Apple Brandy, which rests in American White Oak barrels for three years. For those who prefer their drinks a little less fiery, Up North makes the Big Kid Cider, which features its apple brandy “locked in a passionate embrace” with fresh-pressed apple cider.
In addition to producing spirits on-site, Up North is also a licensed bar, serving up craft cocktails and an assortment of Northwest liquors in a warm, wood-lined space with a roll-up garage door. House cocktails include the Twisted Old Fashioned (made with Aged Honey Spirits, a sugar cube, bitters, cherry, orange and club soda) and the Metropolitan (made with Apple Brandy, sweet vermouth and bitters). For a sample of everything Up North has to offer, order the Brandy and Big Kid Flight ($6) or the Honey Spirits Flight of Three ($6), and you’ll start to understand why Grandma’s favorite after-dinner tipple is making its way back into the spotlight.
Up North Distillery
846 N. Boulder Ct., Post Falls
upnorthdistillery.com
