What could make one of San Diego’s most prolific publishers of beer-related content switch from ales and lagers to the spirit realm? In the case of Bruce Glassman, a writer and publisher who spent nearly a decade authoring books about San Diego’s brewers and covering them as a columnist for San Diego Magazine, it was “Scandinavian gin”, AKA: aquavit. A neutral-grain spirit that’s infused with spices and botanicals such as caraway, dill and fennel, aquavit is the national spirit of most Nordic countries. Glassman was first introduced to it by his old college friend, Matthew Arkin, who was distilling it at home. He wasn’t sure what to expect from the foreign potation, but it was love at first sip. Enough that Glassman, Arkin and business partner Mark Marosi have spent the past three years refining the recipe for an aquavit with a unique flavor profile and getting it to market. Today, their Batch 22 New American Aquavit is available at numerous San Diego retail locations and online. We caught up with Glassman to inquire about his departure from beer and find out how his entrepreneurial venture is going.
What drew you to aquavit as a beverage enthusiast?
I didn’t really know aquavit, but through my involvement in this project I’ve become, well, not an authority, but someone with a broad aquavit knowledge base. We had to taste an awful lot of other aquavits—all the traditional ones, which we didn’t particularly like very much—in order to focus on what our approach was going to be. I’ve since become an aquavit enthusiast because the good ones are complex enough to drink on their own, but also versatile and excellent components in a huge variety of creative and interesting cocktails.
What parallels do you see between the craft brewing and distilling?
The crossover between the beer world and the world of spirits is more than figurative. Lots of the production processes are similar and even much of the equipment is the same. It’s no accident that we’ve seen lots of our brewers move into distilling, as well. Both processes start with some sort of mash—similar ingredients for both beer and spirits—and both processes involve initial fermentation. Back when brewers like Yuseff Cherney (formerly of Ballast Point Brewing) were first playing around with the big copper still he had tucked away on the floor of the brewery on Old Grove, I didn’t really understand how natural it was for brewers to become distillers. I soon got it, though. I remember getting a few pre-release tastes of Old Grove gin, Fugu vodka and Devil’s Share whiskey that made it all clear! From a community standpoint, the culture of brewing and the culture of craft spirits are also basically the same. For both, the ultimate goal is to create drinks that provide pleasure for people and bring folks together. If you can innovate and develop new flavors or formats that people also find exciting and inspiring, then that’s even better.
Why did you think this was a good time to launch an aquavit brand?
I’ll be honest. Getting into this business was not the result of a lot of in-depth market research or spirits-industry knowledge. Truth is, I’m a book publisher, my partner Matthew is an actor and partner Marc is a commercial real estate guy. We got into this business because we were passionate about what we had created and we wanted to get it out into the world. We truly believe that, when you taste it, you’ll love it. That’s certainly been our experience for the past few years, as we’ve beta tested it and poured for people all over the country. It just so happens that, now, we seem to have lucked into the beginning of a boom time for aquavit. It’s popping up on craft-cocktail menus all over America and is being hailed by numerous publications as “the next big thing.” Lots of industry analysts think the mezcal and gin crazes are waning, and that aquavit will be the cool new spirit to replace them. One industry report I read predicted that the American aquavit market will grow by 23% in the next five years. We want to be a part of that!
What makes Batch 22 different from other aquavit brands?
Ahh, this is one of my favorite questions! We call Batch 22 a “New American Aquavit” because it’s our unique take on the classic Scandinavian recipe, but it’s not the traditional style. As I mentioned, none of the three of us are particular fans of the licorice flavors in classic aquavit. They tend to be harsh and overpowering, so we basically took those elements out of our blend. Batch 22 focuses on the citrus, toasted caraway and dill components, which makes it smoother and much more approachable. Without the fennel and anise-type ingredients, Batch 22 blends beautifully with all sorts of other elements and provides a fresh, unique canvas for creating new kinds of cocktails. Lots of people get pretty jazzed by that, including judges at major competitions. We’ve already won numerous industry awards, including 2022 Specialty Spirit of the Year from the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation/New Orleans Spirits Competition and 2022 Specialty Spirit of the Year from the Beverage Testing Institute.
What are ideal ways to enjoy Batch 22?
If your readers are like most people in America, tasting aquavit will be a new experience. That’s part of what excites us about Batch 22. Because most people have no experience with this kind of spirit, we have a unique opportunity to make Batch 22 their first impression of aquavit. We have the chance to define the category for people, which is very motivating for us. So, for your first taste, you should try a few sips of Batch 22 straight; get a sense of it on its own. The next step would be to start creating cocktails with it. The easiest way to start is to simply substitute Batch 22 for bland, flavorless vodka in any classic vodka recipe. Batch and tonic…Batch and grapefruit soda…Batch and bitter lemon…cranberry…ginger ale. They all work great and are simple to make. As you get more adventurous, you can start using Batch to create Negronis, Cosmos, even Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. It’s also a great base for infusions. I recently infused Batch 22 with some dried porcini mushrooms and then made a “Shroomarita” with the infused aquavit, blanco tequila, lemon juice and a shiitake mushroom-infused simple syrup. It was fabulous.
How has Batch 22’s initial reception been?
I gotta say, San Diego has been a great place for us to focus our initial sales and marketing efforts. I know from being part of the beer scene here that San Diegans will embrace new products that challenge tradition and push the envelope creatively. San Diego brewers have been leading innovators in flavor, technique and style for many years now, and those who have evolved into distilling have embraced that same sense of adventure, as have their fans and followers. We’ve already had the opportunity to pour Batch 22 at numerous large local events like Culture & Cocktails at the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Zoo’s Food, Wine & Brew Celebration, the San Diego Spirits Festival and San Diego Food & Wine Festival, and the response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive. It gives us great satisfaction to see so many people trying our aquavit for the first time and getting truly excited by it. That’s what keeps us going!