On a winding country road, slightly off the beaten path of what is known as Nantucket town, sits the Cisco Brewers compound, also home to Nantucket Vineyard and Triple Eight Distillery. The brewery’s move to expand into vodka stems from a series of interesting events, beginning with a love story between two of the owners, Randy and Wendy Hudson, and the budding friendship and business partnership with another couple, Dean and Melissa Long. The Longs were attempting to grow grapes on Nantucket in order to produce wine, while the Hudsons brewed beer out of their backyard. When the couples joined forces, however, a successful business was born, and from that business came Triple Eight Distillery.

Initially, Triple Eight Distillery tried its hand at whiskey, which is beer that that has been distilled. But the distillation process takes time—five years to be exact—and so they turned to vodka, which doesn’t take nearly as long to distill. In order to raise the funds to make vodka, Hudson decided to offer investors futures on the now-distilling barrels of Notch, or not-scotch, whiskey, a spirit that was named Best Single Malt in America in 2015.

Hudson is direct about what he thinks makes Triple Eight’s vodka unique: Nantucket’s water source. “Vodka must be distilled to 190* proof, so to get it into bottles at a reasonable and drinkable strength, it is required to be proofed down with water. LOTS of water,” Randy Hudson says. Triple Eight distillery has its own well, and they use ultra pure sand to filter the native water. “The bottle is predominantly water, and our water is amazing!” Hudson says.

In addition to the local water source, Triple Eight uses real fruit for its flavored vodkas. Cranberries come from Cape Cod in addition to Nantucket grown berries, and for the Blueberry Vodka, Hudson turns to Maine. If you are a visitor to the island, you can enjoy a cocktail at the onsite bar, often flavored with homegrown ingredients. “Where we get to go a little crazy is at our bar,” Hudson says. “We grow chamomile that is used in syrups for drinks, three types of mint that we produce, garlic, peppercorns, and horseradish that we use to infuse vodka for a bodacious Bloody Mary, raspberries for jam drinks, and loads of other seasonal produce like cucumbers and kale.” According to Hudson, “We love growing stuff, and we have fun with it!”

Having a vodka distillery on an island 30 miles out to sea makes getting your product to the masses a little tricky. Triple Eight recently hired a wholesaler, but up until that point, Matt Lambo, Triple Eight’s in-house distributor, traveled around the New England area in a 1975 Volkswagen camper van. This boots-on-the-ground approach helped spread the word fairly effectively, particularly when Lambo parked outside big events in major cities, including Fenway Park during baseball season. Triple Eight vodka is now available in 12 states, thanks in large part to this guerilla marketing campaign.

In the meantime, if you ever find yourself on Nantucket, stop by for one-of-a kind vodka concoctions, or if you want to recreate a taste of Nantucket at home, pick up a bottle of Orange Triple Eight Vodka and one of Vanilla Triple Eight Vodka and make yourself a Nantucket Creamsicle: just add ginger ale and orange juice, and pour over ice. Cheers!

Randy Hudson–co-owner, Triple Eight Distillery at Cisco Brewers
Nantucket, Massachusetts
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Top image: All photos courtesy of Triple Eight Distillery.

The post Cheers! Nantucket’s Triple Eight Distillery appeared first on Take Magazine.

Alexander Weinstein is getting ready for the Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, of which he is both founder and director. The program is in its eighth year, and Weinstein has not slowed his dedication to the institute after what has been an extremely successful year personally. His collection of short stories, Children of the New World, was published last fall by Picador Press to much critical acclaim, earning him favorable reviews in the New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, and many more.

Each summer, Weinstein gathers several of his colleagues and together they offer two separate weeks of retreat and workshop for aspiring writers at all levels. “I wanted to create a summer writing retreat where writers of all ages and abilities could work together in a nurturing, craft-oriented environment, without the competition or worry which is often inherent in the writing process,” Weinstein says.

Taking in nature’s beauty at Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing

Writers attending the institute have the opportunity to learn from fellow writers as well as to workshop their own ideas against the backdrop of the beauty and nature of Martha’s Vineyard. An evening excursion to Menemsha Beach for seafood and sunset is one of the highlights of the week, offering all of the attendees a glimpse of the island that Weinstein has known and loved since first visiting with his parents. “It’s a place where writers have the space and time to write in a beautiful environment, where they can connect with a community of global writers, and can learn how to edit and publish their work,” he says. Weinstein is eager to share his island with each year’s writers, greeting them each opening night with his own childlike enthusiasm for the craft and a glass of elderflower wine, a sweet concoction of his own making.

Although Weinstein’s new short story collection focuses on technology and our society’s increasing dependence on our connections through various devices, Weinstein loves the nature and beauty of Martha’s Vineyard. “The presence of nature is always at play beneath my stories,” he says. The story, “Openness,” is most inspired by New England, he says. “The story is based on the premise of psychic technology—a world where almost no one speaks anymore; they just send one another thought messages,” he says. “In this story we get to see a kind of detox happening for the characters, and a rediscovery of the natural world and themselves.” Weinstein feels that same detox, he says, every time he takes the ferry from the mainland to Martha’s Vineyard, as he gets offline and returns to nature.

The post Martha’s Vineyard as Muse appeared first on Take Magazine.