Pub Snippets..

Aromatic Inspiration

Alaska Airlines Magazine - August 2002

By Ted Kenney

When Jim Bendis encountered the heady, sweet aroma of junipers while running in the high-desert forests of Bend, Oregon, it brought to mind his favorite cocktail, the gin-and-tonic.

Gin is made from the berries of juniper trees, and good-sized forest of Juniperus occidentalis grows near Bend. Bendis, an advertising salesman with dreams of starting his own venture, saw (or rather, smelled) opportunity in these prickly, gnarled evergreens. He had watched Northwest-based beer and coffee empires arise through artisan production methods and careful attention to ingredients. Could distilled spirits be the next breakout culinary item?

Bendis bet on it, founding Bendistillery in Bend, Oregon, to manufacture an all-natural gin using fresh, handpicked wild juniper berries and other local ingredients. The company sold its first bottles of Cascade Mountain Gin six years ago, and manufactures three additional type of liquor that utilize other local ingredients, such as hazelnuts.

So far, Bendis' hunch seems well founded: The company hopes to ship some 48,000 bottles this year, up from 7,200 in 2000, the year Bendis quit his day job to run the distillery full-time.

Priced between $20 and $30 (depending on the state) for a 750 ml. Bottle, Cascade Mountain Gin fits squarely in the "ultra-premium" liquor category. In Bendistillery's case, this means gin made in 250-gallon batches, with fresh berries picked on the high-desert plateau east of the Cascade mountain range, days or even hours before productions.

Early on, Bendis and his family gathered raw ingredients. Today has had running buddies and local back-to-nature enthusiasts do the harvesting, under a license from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which owns much of the forests.

So how does a small operation such as Bendistillery compete with the large liquor manufactures, with millions to promote their brands? The company takes a grassroots approach, building awareness "one person at a time," Bendis says. Favored tactics include sponsoring events such as museum openings, and "martini nights" at selected bars and the company's recently opened sampling room.

A typical customer is someone who rejected mass-produced coffee and beer when younger, and now "wants to grow up from the microbreweries" and "go out someplace nice and have a cocktail," Bendis says.

Reaching such consumers individually might not bring Starbucks-sized market share quickly. But Bendis says he favors cautious, measured growth. Even though the company's stills could handle 10 times their current output, he's refused offers of funding to "take it to the next level," in large part because that might ultimately mean leaving Bend. "The juniper is here, "Bendis says. And a craftsman should stay close to the raw materials.