Bar Agricole, the San Francisco bar from Thad Vogler, launches a single origin spirits line focused on transparent and direct sourcing, heritage distillation practices, and the provenance and quality of ingredients. Much like third wave coffee, single origin spirits connect consumers with the rarity and beauty of the place where they are grown and made. The Bar Agricole spirits line features single barrel, single origin whiskeys, biodynamic gin, agave spirits, custom vermouths, amaro and more, all sourced directly from small producers and offered in their purest form, allowing the spirits’ agricultural beginnings, fermentation and distillation to shine.
Having spent decades cultivating relationships in the craft spirits world, Vogler is able to directly partner with sustainable small growers throughout the world who deeply respect the land to source the spirits for the Bar Agricole line. The spirits exemplify the essence and pure flavors of their base materials, without relying on colorants and additives. They are meant to be enjoyed neat or mixed in drinks. Collaborators include St. George Spirits (one of America’s original craft distilleries and specializing in pushing the boundaries of spirits in Alameda, California), Leopold Bros. (a family-owned distillery in Denver renowned for site-specific ingredients, floor maltings, and hand-bottled whiskeys), Marian Farms (brandy and liqueur from a biodynamic farm and distillery in Fresno, California), Calvados Adrien Camut (the most renowned producer from the Pays d’Auge region), and Real Minero (fourth- and fifth-generation makers of handcrafted Mezcal using the most traditional methods in Oaxaca, Mexico).
THE SPIRITS
Available for purchase at the bottle shop, poured at the bar, and also available for nationwide shipping, the Bar Agricole spirits include:
- Golden Alpine Amaro – Sweetened with only honey and free of all colorants, extracts, essences, industrial alcohols and sugars, this amaro is exquisitely bitter. Made from fresh herbs in collaboration with the house of Bodiga, who has been producing since the 19th century.
- Vermouth #1 – Made with organic nebbiolo and enhanced with real cane sugar rather than industrial sweeteners and caramel coloring, this vermouth is bottled by Bordiga, features more than thirty different macerations (as opposed to extracts or essences) and celebrates the aperitivo culture of Turin, Italy.
- Lalocura, Pechuga Single Run Mezcal, Bar Agricole Celebration – This collaboration with Eduardo “Lalo” Javier Angeles Carreño (who is a staunch conservator of the tradition of agave distillates as well as of the agave plant) and the team at Lalocura was made special for Bar Agricole to celebrate bar’s reopening. Forgoing certification, Lalo simply refers to their beautiful spirits as what they are, destilados de agave.
- Biodynamic California Brandy – The only Demeter certified Biodynamic® brandy in the US, this brandy is fermented and distilled in a German copper still, and aged on the Marian Farms premises by Gena Nonini, whose family has farmed here for generations.
- Demeter Certified Curaçao – This curaçao developed with Gena Noini of Marian Farms contains only three ingredients, all of them biodynamically farmed: California orange peel, sugar and grape spirit.
- Bar Agricole Gin by St. George – This gin is specially made for Bar Agricole by craft distillers St. George with notes of citrus and eucalyptus, in reflection of the Bay Area aromatics and California landscapes.
- St. George Single Cask Rum – This rum is built from five separate harvests of sugar cane, conducted in December of 2013 and January of 2014, from Kalin Farms in Brawley, California. Fermented separately, each are distilled in five separate batches. These five remarkable rums have rested together as a blend in a recouped Francois Frères barrel since March 17, 2014.
- St. George Single Cask Apple Brandy – This unique apple brandy began as a cider made from a field blend of apples grown by Gowan Orchards in Philo, California. The cider was then distilled with 8,000 pounds of fresh, unfermented red delicious apples, also grown by Gowan Orchards, and has been aged since March 27, 2015 in a 59-gallon French oak barrel that had previously held a different cider.