ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Its mere mention conjures up images of backwoods hooch production during the Prohibition era, but moonshine now has a modern flavor on the First Coast, with the grand opening of City Gate Spirits on St. George Street in St. Augustine.
“Moonshine really represents north Florida history,” distillery co-founder Philip McDaniel said, sitting amid a roomful of sparkling vats and valves. “Rum running and moonshining was a way of life -- it’s how people survived [during Prohibition] because there was no other economy and it was currency back in the day. So, for us to be able to be the first people now making it legally in north Florida is a really big deal for us.”
McDaniel, who also co-founded the St. Augustine Distillery on Riberia Street in St. Augustine’s historic Lincolnville neighborhood, spoke with First Coast News last Saturday during the bustle of City Gate’s grand opening.
“We said ‘Why not make something that was a little bit more approachable, a little bit lower in alcohol content, something that people could buy either for enjoyment at home or give as a gift as a souvenir?’” McDaniel said.
At 30 percent alcohol content by volume, he said moonshine has more potential universal appeal than harder liquors. At the top of tourist and pedestrian-heavy St. George Street, he said it’s all about product placement.
“It’s a great way to target people who don’t necessarily jump on the trolleys or trains, or drive over to the distillery and the ice plants,” he said.
McDaniel isn’t the only one betting on one century’s contraband becoming the next century’s celebrated spirit.
“Modern moonshine is really just starting to take off,” City Gate’s General Manager Will Hensler explained. “Most of what you see on the shelves is essentially an unaged whiskey. It’s a corn liquor that works so well with natural flavorings. You get a nice sweetness from the corn and it’s very neutral for what you’re adding. We’re doing the first legally distilled moonshine in northeast Florida.”
For the inexperienced palate, Hensler pointed out that the neutral nature of moonshine opens up a wide palette for creative distillers.
“That’s the fun part of this," Hensler said. "We’re always able to come up with new flavor ideas.”
But while that suggests a "no-rules" approach, he insisted that customary tradition holds sway.
“It’s kind of an unwritten rule that if you’re going to make moonshine you’ve got to start with apple pie," he said. "And we have made an apple pie moonshine, the first in the area. It’s really dessert in a bottle!”
But while the Prohibition Era died in 1933, some of its rules have lingered, which McDaniel said hinders both maker and consumer.
“If you like our moonshine, the maximum number you can buy of that product is six bottles in a calendar year,” he said, explaining that rules have relaxed for point-of-production craft wineries and breweries, but not craft distilleries.
Distilleries are restricted to only selling unopened containers of product, allowed only to provide free tastings but not sell actual cocktails for consumption on their premises. As McDaniel said, even those buying containers may not purchase more than six bottles – 1.75 liters maximum each – of the same brand to the same customer in one calendar year.
It’s a law he says is archaic and is slowing Floridian distilleries – he says their numbers are increasing quickly in recent years – from being competitive versus other states.
“It’s frustrating to us that a winery can sell a glass of wine, they can ship their wine, they can sell bottles without limits, they can do all kinds of things to make revenue," he said. "And we’re limited to selling only six bottles per person, per year. There are no other businesses in the state that have to do that. If you go to a liquor store – ABC, Publix, Total – they don’t have a limit, but we do.”
Especially frustrating, McDaniel and his colleagues say, because of moonshine’s versatility as what they call a “consumable souvenir” – one they are not allowed to ship.
“Our spirits are designed to take straight to the beach,” said production manager Rich DeMontmollin. “Wherever you’re going, back to your hotel room, whatever it is – it’s an easily consumable product that’s ready to drink just like it is. You put it on ice, no fuss, it’s ready to go.”
To read the current Florida laws regarding distilleries, click here.
McDaniel and some of his counterparts have been visiting the State House in Tallahassee lately, hoping to see a bill and eventually a law as soon as summer 2020. He told First Coast News that Seventh District senator Travis Hutson is helping in that effort.
But City Gate Spirits isn’t waiting for limits to lift on how much consumers can buy, to push the envelope of what they can try.
“We find that we’ve got a really broad spectrum of flavors here," McDaniel said. "We really have something for everyone.”
“We’re considering doing a white lightning right now,” DeMontmollin chimed in, offering just a few of many new ideas, also mentioning such flavors as smoked maple, cinnamon, and peach among the various spirits he creates.
“We’re going to do an orange creamsicle moonshine, which we think is going to be a really big hit," he said. "I’m currently developing a limoncello to pair with our sweet tea vodka – kind of like an ‘Arnold Palmer’-style thing.”
Montmollin, who began learning his craft with many years as a bartender, offered a brief etymology of moonshine’s curious moniker.
“Moonshine is one of those funny names," he said with a smile. "What does it actually mean? Nothing! It means 'hillbilly liquor,' it means being rebellious!”
He admitted his job requires him to sample every batch – carefully – even the ones that don’t come out right.
“We have this joke around here, we call it ‘hose wine’” he said, smiling again. “It’s what’s leftover at the end of the production process, caught in the pumps and all the hoses and stuff, and we certainly drink that!”
But while there are jokes and smiles galore, the folks at City Gate Spirits say they’re serious about eventually sharing the wealth and be a friendly addition to the neighborhood.
“We hope once we get turning and start making more sales, we want to be able to donate some of these dollars back to the National Parks system or support the Bridge of Lions and its history and storytelling,” McDaniel said, noting the distillery’s proximity to the Castillo de San Marcos U.S. National Monument across the street and St. Augustine’s feature roadway span over the Intracoastal Waterway. “Or the Alligator Farm or Fountain of Youth or any of the other great attractions in town.”
McDaniel also has a cause close to his heart that coincides nicely with First Coast News anchor Jeannie Blaylock’s ongoing “Buddy Check” crusade.
“Next year, ‘Pink Up The Pace,’ I want to come up with a really, really cool pink-colored vodka, some really, really neat product that we could use as a celebration for that weekend, and then take the revenues of that and give it to the charity," he said.
One more flavor – the spirit of giving – the folks at City Gate Spirits say will be on their menu.