Last Saturday I went out to the Colombia County Farm Festival which was being held at Golden Harvest Farms in Valatie (pronounced Va-lay-sha), NY. I had found it through the self guided driving tour being held by Mid Hudson Valley Tourism Board calledGarden of Eating.I went with a friend and we explored the festival- which had all sorts of goodies. From other organizations outside Golden Harvest Farm there was organic trail mix and chocolate covered nuts made at Tierra Farms, a surprising amount of jellies and chutneys made by Beth’s Farm Kitchen, live bluegrass and blues music, photography and pen to pet sheep.
I am not a jelly eater. I like gelatin and pudding, but once it’s made into gelatinous semi-nutritious bread spread count me out. However my curiosity got the best of me when I got to Beth’s Farm Kitchen stand at the festival. They had all these, as they put it, zany flavors. I was able to avoid temptation when I saw habanero jelly and mighty hot pepper jelly, mainly because spicy and I do not get along. But when I saw Rosemary and Garlic jelly I had to try some. To my delight it was very tasty- neither spice overpowered the other. Biggest mistake of the day was probably not buying a small 8 oz. jar.
After tasting jellies and jams delight we walked through Golden Harvest’s farm store but before buying anything, we decided to tour Harvest Spirits’ distillery which is on the property. Anyone can tour the facility, but only purveyors 21+ can partake in the alcohol. Since my current driver’s license is from Georgia, and I’ve learned that presenting an out-of-state driver’s license as a form of ID can be a very big hassle when trying to get a drink if you look like you’re 17 and don’t talk like the place your license is from, so I like to keep my passport handy. After getting ID’d at the Chatham Brewing stand, which was on the way up to the distillery, I got to taste what I think was their IPA. I’d asked for the Maple Amber Ale, but the sample I was given tasted like the flowery soap of IPA rather than the deliciousness of Amber Ale sweetened with Maple. However the guy might have given me the correct one and I didn’t like it. But I hope not because I like amber ale and I like REAL maple syrup (not the normal stuff stocked at the grocery store), so it would stand to reason that I like amber ale sweetened with REAL maple syrup. However I didn’t ask for a second taste test to make sure I hadn’t been given the wrong one for fear of being thought an alki or a mooch.
The distillery was a small warehouse. The walls were lined with different displays of their alcohol and decorated with old time farm signs. Upon entrance to the one room warehouse, there is a bar on the left for tasting the different liquors made there, a little ways in front of that is the distillery, on the opposite wall is what looks like a magician’s stand brimming with glass bottles filled with different potions, and to the right is a picture perfect display of their different liquors, promotional posters and awards. Harvest Spirits makes Core Vodka and Pear Brandy. Core Vodka is made from apples instead of grain like other vodkas- however unless you are a discerning vodka connoisseur, it tastes like any other vodka. Same goes for the Pear Brandy- it warmed and made my mouth tingle like any other brandy I’d had. I’m not much of a hard alcohol drinker, unless it’s mixed with something to the point that it’s nearly syrup. These days if I’m going to drink something, I’d rather drink a nice beer than a cocktail- so I’m not casting judgement on either. I could not taste a difference between their vodka and others I’ve had because I haven’t had enough vodka to taste a difference between them. Like tasting the difference between tap water and filtered water the first few times you have it.
Overall the day was full of win. I bought cider donuts and cider to snack on through out the week. Tasted lots of different foods that I otherwise wouldn’t have tried. I also realized that apple picking could no longer be considered a fun activity to do with friends, but an extension of my work week on my one day off, because I would be looking for the best apples and picking them and carrying them around carefully so I wouldn’t bruise them.