"factory tour" news and stories

New Orleans has always been a cocktail town, but did you know it also makes spirits too?

Since 1995, Celebration Distillation has been crafting Old New Orleans Rum from Louisiana molasses in a facility off Elysian Fields.

On a recent visit, Slashfood met one of the company's distillers, Julie Perschall, who walked us through the warehouse operation, which flooded with 8 feet of water when Hurricane Katrina rolled through in 2005.

Using old equipment from the Abita Brewery, chief distiller Chris Sule and crew distill 1,900 gallons of molasses, yeast and water each week into about 200 gallons of white dog (184 proof booze to you), which they age on the distillery's second floor in old bourbon barrels made of white oak. Moving the barrels to higher ground proved to be a wise move, as it spared the distillery's stock during Katrina.

Visitors can taste the results -- a special edition 10-year rum distilled in 1997 which weathered the nation's costliest natural disaster to become as smooth as any ancient whiskey.

More rum after the jump.

It is perhaps every baker's dream to take a tour of the KitchenAid factory, but to do so by invitation is something that most bakers can only dream of. When you are the author of more than one wildly successful cookbook, though, it looks like the company will extend an invitation without even having to be asked. Food blogger, author and chef, the ex-pat American in Paris, David Lebovitz was lucky enough to get just such and invitation. He visited the factory in Greenville, Ohio, took a private tour and put on a demonstration of a few things, including rocky road and ice cream for other visitors. Yes- they do offer tours to non-professionals.

They generously allowed David to take photos along the way, so every photo in his post is an exclusive look inside the factory. He checked out some of the very first stand mixers, the assembly lines and the newest colors, like "Meyer Lemon, Martha Green (named after...), Caviar (black with silver flecks), a cheerful Green Apple, Olive, and colorfully-red Bing Cherry." According to David, each mixer takes one day to assemble and each employee assembles around 90 mixers per day. One of the things that I like about KitchenAid is that, in addition to the high quality of their products, nearly everything they sell is made in the United States, not overseas.

He said that it was one of the most fun tours he's taken, with interesting information and a very helpful staff. Be sure to drop in the next time you're passing near Cincinnati:

The KitchenAid Experience
423 South Broadway
Greenville, Ohio
Tel: 1-888-886-8318

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