Spirits | United States | Matchbook Distilling | Fieldtrip Squash Amaro

Fieldtrip Squash Amaro

NOTES

Field Trip Squash Amaro is a seed to bottle project by Matchbook Distilling featuring the Boston Marrow Squash. Leslie and the crew selected this gourd from the Ark of Taste (a living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction) due to the description of it having a vanilla custard quality. The squash was grown by their friend Pete Treiber of Treiber farms and harvested mid-September. 2,588 pounds of Boston Marrow Squash in total, with some of them weighing as much as 40 pounds! Onto the production bit…

The Matchbook crew broke down the squash with hand saws, then steamed them. From there, the squash was rolled in brown sugar with cacao nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon, and star anise. Next, they were torched to caramelize the sugar and toast the spices. Finally, the squash was added to a mash tun with water, and then boiled. Once cool, the solids were racked off, and the liquid was left to ferment. Spiced Squash Wine!

After a few days the acidity started to climb, and the liquid started to take on a passionfruit-like flavor profile. To finish, the acidity was balanced with a touch of amber Belgian candi syrup, and fortified with botanical distillates of quassia, and orris root.