There was talk of a cocktail-inspired cupcake last week within Williamsburg Distillery.
Stephanie Rolla, owner of Sinful Treats bakery, stopped by to discuss her participation in the upcoming Virginia Distiller’s Festival, hosted by the distillery. Rolla plans to offer attendees the chance to empty a syringe of the distillery’s Yorktown Silver Rum into a Sinful Treats cupcake.
It’s one of many things in the works for the inaugural festival, bringing six craft distilleries from around the state together on Aug. 20 at the Watermen’s Museum.
“For us, it’s a way to promote craft distilling in the state, because it’s definitely a new trend,” said Madelin Bender, who is directing the festival. A College of William and Mary student, Bender is interning at Williamsburg Distillery for the summer.
The Williamsburg Distillery is still young, open since last October. But its recipes come from times of old, researched from the Colonial era, said distiller Chuck Thompson. Thompson said the distillery’s rum, for example, is made the way of the first rum in the 1600s.
The distillery’s second edition of that rum recently won a gold medal at the Los Angeles International Spirits Competition.
No matter the recipe, spirits are produced from scratch, in small batches, Thompson said. Every part of the process occurs in-house, from milling the grain to labeling bottles. That’s the beauty of craft distilling.
“It’s very much on the rise,” Thompson said. “The market is getting saturated really fast, though.”
Bender said the distillery reached out to nearly 40 other distilleries around the state for the upcoming festival. This year’s festival will feature, in addition to Williamsburg Distillery, five others: Vitae Spirits Distillery, Belle Isle Craft Spirits, KO Distilling, Cirrus Vodka and MurLarkey Distilled Spirits.
“As a small business, you have to promote other small businesses,” Bender said.
Festival tickets allow a souvenir cup and several tastings of both spirits and cocktails. Bender said Williamsburg Distillery offers four colonial and five modern cocktails, including the most popular: vanilla ice cream with rum on top.
The festival, which the distillery hopes will be the first of many, will also feature local bands, food trucks, artisans, as well as local beer from Alewerks.
“Beer and wine are so long established in the state, and it’s important to provide different options for people in terms of alcohol,” Bender said. “In my opinion, (distilling) is an art.”
Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.
Virginia Distiller’s Festival
When: 4-8 p.m., Aug. 20
Where: Watermen’s Museum, 309 Water St.
Tickets: Available online
