Angelica Maze - Pekut and Carwick Independent Bottlers

Angelica Maze

A bottle of 117° West’s Rye Malt whiskey lies atop a wooden table.

117° West Spirits Is All About Malt

When Justin McCabe was finishing his PhD program in chemistry and environmental science at the University of California San Diego, he’d already been brewing beer at home for years. In 2007, as environmental science funding hit an all-time low and a case of academia burnout settled on McCabe, he

A bottle of Jettywave Small Batch Bourbon and California Botanical Gin on a sand dune overlooking Half Moon Bay.

Jettywave Distillery: Coastal Californian Spirits

Not far from the surf break in Half Moon Bay that inspired its name, Jettywave Distillery is firing up its stills to produce aromatic craft gin, bourbon, single malt, absinthe, and liqueurs, while bartenders pick fresh herbs from the garden surrounding the Swell Lounge for the day’s cocktails. The

A close-up portrait of the chapiteau on the Essential Spirits custom-built alambic still.

Introducing Sergeant Classick Rum

Common traits run through the entrepreneurial craft distillers we’ve met in this business; a connection to engineering, a passion for tinkering, a background in homebrewing (usually in a garage), and a killer palate. There comes a moment when these traits coalesce into a desire to distill, and for the

Partial view of a person holding the two halves of a red-fleshed apple and pruning shears.

Introducing Ambix Spirits

“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits. Let the most beautiful or the swiftest have it. That should be the 'going' price of apples.” - Henry David Thoreau America loves apples. The fleshy, hardy fruit is hard-coded into our national DNA—”as American as apple pie” is

A stainless tank of quartered Seville oranges

Amaro

If you remember your first sip of coffee, beer, or cough medicine, you are likely recalling memories of your childhood palate’s introduction to bitterness. At first, you probably recoiled at the sensations this bitterness caused—maybe a prickle on the back of your tongue, a "yuk" face,

A closeup photo of a glass of Pekut & Carwick Prunus Mume liqueur next to a white blossom and a sunset.

Summer Drinks, California Bounty

Hi Friends, We don't want to brag, but we're pretty lucky living out here in California when it comes to sourcing produce. With so many farms and farmers markets nearby, it's easy to keep an eye on the seasons and watch them unfold in

A close-up photo of halved green walnuts.

Hold on to your walnuts, we're making Nocino!

Hi Folks, We just hauled 175 pounds of green walnuts from Santa Cruz back to our Berkeley warehouse and have been hand-slicing our way through the enormous pile for maceration in grape brandy. What are we up to? We’re making nocino! If you’re not familiar with nocino, it’

A bottle of Cheramie Rum Blanc with two tasting glasses.

Meet Cheramie Rum

Until recently, Louisiana’s largest distillery—Porchjam—specialized in grain-based vodka. But in 2018, they (literally) started tapping into the nearby annual cane harvest and distilling fermented fresh cane juice. Soon after, Cheramie Rum was born. While most of the juice from Louisiana’s sugarcane plants is processed into sugar,

Maritime scene with pilings in foreground, colonial architecture, and sailing ship.

Third Wave Rum Part 2

This is the second of two pieces about something we’re calling “Third Wave Rum.” We started Part 1 off with a few light jabs at woke consumerism and the moral and gastronomic superiority of cashing in on the “right” kind of ethical product or business. We’re in the

Used barrels on a workroom floor.

Third Wave Rum

We are what we drink We are what we eat (or drink)—at least this is the driving idea behind contemporary trends in food and beverages that seek transcendence, quality, transparency, and even social equity in cheese, wine, fruit, and, yes, distilled spirits too. Agro-food activism, as performed by Slow

A martini splashes high above its glass against a dark background.

The History of the Martini

For a famously crystal-clear cocktail, the martini’s back story sure is murky. Who Invented the Martini? Anecdotes abound for who first created the cocktail we now recognize as the gin martini (we’ll get to vodka later). It may have been a celebrating 19th century gold miner in the

The Bay Bridge at sunset as seen from an East Bay dock.

Happy Holidays from Pekut & Carwick Independent Bottlers

Hi Folks, 2022 is almost at an end, and we want to thank each and every one of you for your support and engagement over the past year. We've been growing the business and slowly expanding our reach, and we couldn't have done it without you.

A punch bowl seen from top down, filled with punch, lemon peels, cinnamon sticks, and topped with nutmeg.

The History of Punch

You may talk of brisk Claret, sing Praises of Sherry Speak well of old Hock, Mum, Cider or Perry; But you must drink Punch if you mean to be Merry. (18th century song lyric) What is punch? To the modern drinker, the word "punch" might imply a trash

Jamaican rum cake with glass of Pekut & Carwick rum

Tru Jamaica Rum Cake

The Caribbean islands are known for their rum-laced baked goods, and no wonder, since rum, molasses, and sugar were—and still are—locally produced and relatively abundant, making them ready ingredients for many local gastronomic delicacies, particularly desserts. What Is Rum Cake? Enslaved and indentured cooks throughout the Caribbean took

Two bottles of Pekut and Carwick whiskey on a branded barrel.

Spirit Works Wheat & Rye Whiskies Are Here!

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” --Mark Twain The wait is over! We've bottled limited supplies of our All Wheat Whiskey and Rye/Malt Whiskey from our friends at Spirit Works Distillery—just in time for you to stuff

A screenshot of the SF Chronicle gift guide

Prunus Mume Made the SF Chronicle Gift List!

Last week we cracked open our SF Chronicle and found ourselves face to face with a photo of our Prunus Mume liqueur in their 2022 gift guide! Whoa! That's right, our sweet-tart Prunus Mume umeshu liqueur has the official SF Chronicle stamp of approval, which means bringing a

Flow chart tracing rum production from raw materials to production, distribution, and consumption.

Handbook of Rum

The world guide to rum

Where does rum come from? In his book, Rum, a Social and Sociable History, Ian Williams calls rum "the global spirit with its warm beating heart in the Caribbean." Dreamy metaphor aside, most rum styles are legacies of former Caribbean colonies, but that "warm beating heart"

Closeup of a coupe glass filled with a creamy cocktail.

Handbook of Rum

The Rum Flip Is Your New/Old Holiday Cocktail

The days are short, the weather’s cold By tavern fires tales are told. Some ask for dram when first come in. Others with flip and bounce begin. -from And a Bottle of Rum, by Wayne Curtis, excerpted from a 1704 almanac To the uninitiated, the season may be early

Image of a sugar cane field with blue sky in the background.

Handbook of Rum

The most interesting US rum

We take delicious and ethically produced rum seriously. For us, that means finding rum producers who make and market interesting products that we can get behind, both as consumers and as importers/bottlers/distributors. Domestic rum is particularly interesting to us. Sorting through ALL the rum made in the US

Barrels of aging spirits stacked against a wall.

The top ten best selling rum brands and what we can learn from them

What's the most sold rum in the world? The answer might surprise you. According to one online market research database, the Asia-Pacific rum market accounted for a dominating 41.6% of rum’s market share in 2021, mostly driven by India and the Philippines. When you consider further

Screenshot of Merriam Webster rum definition.

How Did Rum Get Its Name?

In an effort to provide you with ALL the information about our products while still satisfying the inquisitive nerd within, we’re writing a rum handbook. You’ll be our guinea pig as we serve up the story of the spirit—from rum’s origin to its current standing in

A page from the SF Chronicle featuring an article about ume and Pekut & Carwick.

SF Chronicle: "ume is going to have a big moment soon"

We’ve been singing the praises of our Prunus Mume liqueur since day one, so we were over the moon when Esther Mobley (the SF Chronicle wine critic!) reached out to us for a conversion about ume plums. That’s right, we’re low-key famous! If you want to know

Shiny, fresh Seville oranges in a blue plastic crate.

Orange you glad we said Sevilles?

Winter is peak citrus season here in California. It's also the season of coming home late at night reeking of orange peels and vanilla beans after processing this year's batch of Citrus Aurantium California Vin D’Orange! If citrus x aurantium sounds unfamiliar, maybe you know

We Are Not Alone! A Rant

We Are Not Alone! A Rant

Last week we were flipping through a reputable craft spirits industry publication, keeping our eyes peeled for topics we are passionate about, like how the spirits industry can do better from a sustainability standpoint. We read a large spread about US-based craft rum distillers. Many companies were mentioned, and the

Closeup of sugar crystals on a blue surface.

The cost of sugar

As you know, we’re nuts about rum. Distillates of sugar cane are the delicious, versatile, and under-sung heroes of the booze world, if you ask us. But the problems with sugar supply chains are immense, and as we’ve only lightly touched on them in these newsletters, we thought