"Come thirsty, leave happy"

 

Lansdale craft distiller Boardroom Spirits, has officially unveiled their newly expanded distillery and tasting room at 575 W. Third St.

A project that was apparently in the works ever since Boardroom Spirits launched in 2016, the tasting room has moved to a part of the building that had previously been used for storage, making the bar space at least four times bigger than it was. It can hold 80 people.

The addition of 2,400 square feet also means expanded distilling operations. A new 528-gallon still by Hagyo Distilling in Hungary, pictured below, is expected to quadruple production.

 

 

The tasting room and bar includes two bathrooms, a dedicated space for chefs and caterers, shuffleboard, a large bar that acts as the focal point for gatherings and an automated bottling line. 

 

Sure to be a hit at the new Boardroom Spirits tasting room is this tabletop hand-shuffleboard game.

 

Phase two expansion plans include an update to the exterior façade and landscaping, and an adjacent 1,000-square-foot warehouse with a capacity to increase to 4,000 square feet. 

The tasting room’s cocktail menu has also been revamped thanks to new tasting room manager James Cleland. New cocktails include the Knee Buckler, a mix of Northbound rye whiskey (the Northbound name is a reference to the restaurant in Souderton), Boardroom's Fresh ginger infused vodka, lime juice (Boardroom insists on squeezing it fresh) and honey; Executive Punch, a blend of Boardroom's recently-released Northbound spiced rum, red wine simple syrup and aromatic bitters; and the Made in the USA Mai Tai, featuring Boardroom rum, the Northbound spiced rum, Boardroom's 80-proof triple sec (the reason why this simple-but-effective variation on the mai tai will sneak up on you), lime juice and house made orgeat (a syrup made from blanched almonds). 

There's no denying the smooth difference local, fresh and premium liquors -- with no artificial flavors, food coloring, preservatives or sweeteners -- makes in mixing a superior tasting cocktail.  Another recently-released spirit from Boardroom is nocino, a black walnut liqueur.

Celebrity chef, fitness authority and author Robert Irvine was so impressed that he invested in Boardroom and became a co-owner in 2017.

The distillery will continue to host Foodie Weekends, themed by cuisine (ramen night) or dish (mac n cheese slider trios), with local catering partner Fry’s Catering, and bi-weekly Macaroon and Martini cocktail workshops in partnership with local catering collaborator Mixie Chics. 

And yes, Boardroom Spirits liquors can be purchased at Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores throughout Pennsylvania, as well as in the new tasting room, which is open 4 to 9 p.m. Thursdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 2 to 10 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Left to right: Boardroom co-owners Vlad and Marat Mamedov and Zsuzsa Palotas, and tasting room manager James Cleland.

What is a "Greatest Hit" anyway?

Steve Winwood's sold out "Greatest Hits" tour stop at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby was not so much this

as it was this:

What I'm saying is that, with the exception of the No. 1s "Roll With It" and "Higher Love," the 69-year-old blue-eyed soul singer/keyboardist/guitarist ignored the 1980s, the period of the bulk of his greatest hits.

Whaaaaat?

The first inkling this might happen came as Winwood  took a seat behind a Hammond organ. That keyboard's distinct and classic sound would probably rule out the more synthesized sounds of "Valerie," "While You See a Chance" and "The Finer Things." It should be mentioned that the gifted multi-instrumentalist in Winwood's rock-solid band freed "Higher Love" from its '80s sonic prison by playing the song's chirpy synth hook on saxophone.

Sure I absolutely expected to hear Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith songs -- the 1970 Traffic song "Empty Pages" still sounds quite fresh -- but was not expecting something branded as "Greatest Hits" to so grossly under-represent Winwood's most commercially successful decade.

"Did Steve Winwood just not have a good time in the '80s?," I wondered.     

Then I read something he said to Digital First Media's Gary Graff: "I remember, at some point in the '90s, there were people who were following me for my work in the '80s who weren't familiar with either Traffic or Spencer Davis, and didn't know that I was the same person that sang 'Gimme Some Lovin'' or the same person that sang 'Can't Find My Way Home' (both big-time crowd-pleasers at the Tower). I do specifically remember one person coming up to me after a show to say: 'I loved the show, but why did you finish with a cover of a Blues Brothers song?'

So I have these different sort of levels and phases I've gone through, and one phase isn't always familiar with the other phases."

 From what I could tell, Winwood's Philly faithful skewed close to Winwood's age, and therefore found "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" to be satisfying enough. The audience was also appreciative of the opening set by Winwood's daughter, Lilly (who appears in my "Roll With It" video above), who has a storytelling singer/songwriter thing going that would fit in very well at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Later I discovered Winwood recently released a "Greatest Hits Live" album, culled from the tour, that features "Back in the High Life Again," "Arc of a Diver" and "Freedom Overspill" -- songs I really wish I could have heard.