There’s a whole new type of distillery in Corry, Before the Barrel, at 11 S. Center St.
Owner Bernie Blore, 31, specializes in what he calls “unaged spirits, including flavored moonshine and aging products”.
It offers unaged spirits made from corn and white rum and offers flavored products such as salted caramel and lemonade. You can drink them as is or age them yourself by soaking oak wood blocks in the liquid for an aged taste to make whiskey and rum.
“We have five types of wooden blocks, to make whiskey and rums or moonshine with the flavors, so there are dozens of combinations,” said Blore, who worked for seven years as a chemical engineer in a job that required a lot of travel. .
“I was away from home a lot and got a little homesick,” he said, adding that he had returned to Corry a year and a half ago, discovered the pass- distilling time and had spent a year and a half building his own store. .
“I’m working on more things every month, trying to fit new products and new flavors into it,” he said, adding that he opened about two months ago and is building up inventory since.
“It’s a unique idea,” Blore said. “A lot of distillers make their own brands, flavors, it’s whiskeys and vodkas. I try to be different, almost a do-it-yourself company.”
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Customers can taste Moonlight and purchase bottles and kits on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. It’s open until 9pm on Corry’s First Fridays, which are the first Friday of every month, giving businesses the option of opening later for curious and potential customers in their town center businesses. He also organizes events for which he prepares cocktails from his spirits, invites vendors and introduces new special flavors. For more information or to attend his next event, visit facebook.com/beforethebarrel or call 814-566-4486.
“The product is high quality as I make it,” Blore said. “And making them unaged gives you flexibility to give the final product whatever flavor you want the final product to be. Vodka is essentially an unaged spirit. It’s a blank canvas for what you’re looking forward to at the end.”
Thelma’s Tasty Temptations, a spin-off of Cafe 7-10, will open
Mabel Howard, operator and co-owner of Coffee 7-10, at 7 W. 10th St., since June 2019, opens a second location, Thelma’s Delicious Temptations, at 160 E. Front St. inside the lobby of the Blasco Memorial Library. The new store, which will offer coffee and pastries, is named after Howard’s mother, Thelma Blanks, who bakes the treats served at the cafe. The new location will be open Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The opening date has not been determined. The company was cleared by the Erie County Health Department on October 20.
Betsy Ann’s Bakery open for online orders, pick up
Gluten- and dairy-free desserts can be hard to find. Betsy Brumagin, 49, who has food sensitivities herself, is opening an online ordering and delivery service, which offers all gluten-free options and many dairy-free options, Betsy Ann’s Bakery, in a commercial kitchen in downtown Erie. To see a menu, visit betsyannsbakery.com. She specializes in bundt cakes, plain cakes, cookies, and cupcakes, and she says she’ll do her best to accommodate any request.
“I’m tired of not having choices like these and I’m going to dedicate myself to this and do it for people like me,” she said, adding that she has done and continues to experiment for convert conventional baking recipes to gluten and dairy. -free.
“It’s hard. Conversion is what I struggled the most with,” she said. “The cream cheese frosting was so runny. I messed it up. And the pie crust is one thing that was hard for me. But I have, pies, cookie trays for events and Thanksgiving .”
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Brumagin worked as an insurance agent for seven years after some time in the restaurant industry.
“I really wanted to do this,” she said, adding that her husband, an electrician, said, “Well, so what do you do?” So he really supported me.”
For now, she works out of a rented commercial kitchen in Erie, filling online orders for pickup and delivery. She hopes to find a physical location by spring 2023. For a menu, message, or more information, visit betsyannsbakery.com or call 814-790-5685, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Flagship City Food Hall Voting
Flagship City Food Hall is holding an online vote to determine the most valuable supplier to Flagship City Food Hall, 24 N. Park Row. Vote online on November 8 (Election Day) at facebook.com/FlagshipCityFoodHall. Three lucky voters will receive Flagship City Food Hall gift cards.
Thanksgiving Baskets for Immigrants
American Committee for Erie Refugees and Immigrants provides the ingredients, according to a press release, for a traditional turkey dinner to every refugee family in Erie experiencing Thanksgiving for the first time. The public is invited to contribute: a turkey costs $25, a complete dinner costs $75 and a side dish, such as corn or sweet potatoes, for all the baskets costs $250. To donate, visit secure.qgiv.com/for/erithabas and welcome new families to this American holiday.
If you have regional restaurant news or questions, please email[email protected]or call 814-870-1885.