Weber Haus Cachaça: Brazilian Environmentalism, Updated

At the 15th Americas Food and Beverage show last year, I tried some delicious Weber Haus Premium cachaça.  Pronounced ca-cha-sa, it is a liquor made from crushed sugar cane juice and is often classified as rum. But according to the Brazilians it is not the same thing.

Evandro Luis Weber of Weber Haus, at 15th Americas
Food and Beverage Show, Miami, Beach, Fla.
Copyright 2012 by Helen A Lockey

Weber Haus is an environmentally friendly Brazilian company harvesting sugar cane when its green instead of burnt like in South Florida. They convert the first 10 percent of the cane juice to ethanol to power plantation vehicles. After distillation, another 10 percent of the liquid gets sold to a perfume factory for scent binding.

Evandro Luis Weber, the company owners' son, told me through an interpreter, there are 5000 companies in Brazil that make cachaça. His company started making theirs in 1948 and it is considered the best tasting.

I had to agree after I tried his three-year aged Premium Black Label style. It was aged in French Oak for 18 months and then in Balsam for another 18 months. It had a rich vanilla and tropical flower scent that continued into the flavor. It was very smooth with a sweet finish.

They also produce a certified organic style, aged for three years in Brazilian Oak. It smelt like freshly pressed sugar cane juice rubbed with oak. And it tasted exactly like it smelt. Weber told me half of his cane fields were certified organic.

By the end of my conversation with Weber, he had poured me a sample of nearly every cachaça he produced. Thank goodness I only took small sips of this 40 proof liquor.

The Premium Black Label was my favorite. Unfortunately, I have not found any South Florida restaurants carrying it. I might have to travel to Brazil to get more.

If you want to learn more about Weber Haus cachaça, and can read Portuguese then go to: http://www.weberhaus.com.br/weberhaus/en

Updated May 2014

Mooresville Ice Cream, N.C: Local Ingredients

I got a delicious surprise when I tried Deluxe peach-flavored ice cream. It tasted like sweet-cream butter, or like grass because that's what the best tasting butter tastes like.

Mooresville Ice Cream Company, Mooresville, N.C.

It was hot when I stopped at the corner of Highway 801 and 150 in Mooresville, North Carolina. I was looking for ice cream preferably with peaches--it was the season. There was a one-window ice cream shop at the back of the parking lot.

As I bought a two-scoop cup of frozen cream I asked if the peaches were local.
"I don't know," said the attendant, "I don't make the ice cream, I only sell it." She directed me to the main store in town but I didn't have the time. I had to get back to my hotel to meet my husband.

I licked and slurped my fast melting cup of ice cream as I drove. And then it struck me--this was the best tasting peach ice cream I had ever had.

Wow, I cheered inside my head, this is fantastic. I'll have to get some for my in-laws. Then I realized I couldn't remember the name of the shop or the name of the brand, so no ice cream for them.

I returned to the one-window shop three days later with my husband. But the shop was closed. The business next door gave us directions to the main store downtown. It was called the Mooresville Ice Cream Company and it sold Deluxe Ice Cream (the same brand I ate a few days before).

Inside the Mooresville Ice Cream Company shop,
Mooresville, N.C.

The saleswoman said the Mooresville Ice Cream Company started producing Deluxe ice cream in 1924. The present owner's family has a dairy farm where they source their milk and cream. They support local farmers by buying their fruit for ingredients.

We got some more ice cream--peach of course--and continued on our culinary tour of North Carolina.

To learn more you can visit them at 172 N Broad Street, Mooresville, NC  28115   Phone: 704-664-5456
Or go to their website www.deluxe1924.com

Florida Estates Winery, Land O'Lakes, Fla.

Florida Estates Winery in Land O' Lakes is part of a 3,600-acre working ranch. Most of the wines are made with juice from their Panhandle, Florida, vineyards. They have been selling Muscadine and Vinifera Hybrid wines for 11 years.

Florida Estates Winery, Land O' Lakes, Fla.

Bill Maher, the vintner (wine maker), was very knowledgeable and chatty. He filled my head with wine facts and fancies as I sipped a selection of dry wines. He tried to get me to try some sweet ones but I politely refused.

Tasting bar of Florida Estates Winery, Land O' Lakes,
Fla.

He teaches wine appreciation classes at the winery each month, and has a radio show every Thursday from 7-8 p.m. called All About Wine www.blogtalkradio.com/allaboutwine

Florida Estates Winery wines, Land O' Lakes, Fla.

I bought a bottle of semi-dry Plantation Red wine made with 80 percent Florida grown Vinifera Hybrid bunch-grape juice and 20 percent California grape juice.

The wines have varying amounts of sulfites in them which means their shelf life is from four to five years. Florida Estates Winery has many more sweet wines, made from Muscadine grapes, than dry wines.

To find out more about this winery you can visit them at 25241 State Rd 52, Land O' Lakes, FL  34639.  Phone 813-996-2113

Or you can go to www.floridaestateswines.com