The Tasting Room at Catskill Provisions Distillery serves up flavorful local dishes and Pollinator Spirits in a cozy, welcoming environment.
It might be hard to believe, but the Tasting Room at Catskill Provisions Distillery started with bees. Claire Marin, the owner and head distiller at Catskill Provisions, launched the distillery in 2010 after her beekeeping hobby became a passion.
Born in Madrid and raised in New York City, Marin started beekeeping in 2003. After beekeeping for a few years, she was inspired by the process of distillation and studied it for over seven years.
“Sitting at the table and cooking has always been a part of my culture, and my parents have always been deeply connected to food. I love to cook, too, and, for me, distilling is cooking,” she explains.
Her love of beekeeping inspired the name of her spirits, Pollinator Spirits, and Marin strongly believes that her background with bees has positively influenced Catskill Provisions.
“There’s a certain appreciation for flavors, scents, and even textures that I have from beekeeping that I think a normal distiller might not have,” she shares. “All of my spirits are meant to be sippable, approachable, and easy to blend into a drink.”
It is this background that inspired Marin to re-open the Tasting Room at Catskill Provisions Distillery in April of this year. The tasting room originally opened in May 2020, right in the midst of the pandemic, and Marin recently worked with chef Harris Mayer to redesign the menu for the reopening. Located in an old firehouse in Callicoon, the warm and cozy interior is inspired by a feminine reimagining of a hunting/fishing game club.
“The tasting room is the extension of the distillery and it’s where the brand really lives,” she says.
On the menu
The food and cocktails offered at the Tasting Room are made with fresh, local ingredients and centered around classic American cuisine. The Tasting Room offers classics with a twist. Pulling from Marin’s Spanish heritage, she and Mayer worked to create dishes that run the gamut of flavors. Diners can find options like sauteed garlic shrimp, a tapas dish of shrimp cloaked in garlic-infused olive oil and served with a chimichurri broth; hunter-Style meatballs, made with venison and beef; vodka sauce mac and cheese, made with vodka from Pollinator Spirits and three cheeses; and a double cheeseburger served with caramelized onions deglazed with Pollinator maple bourbon.
“When we were creating the menu, it was important to us that our spirits are blended into the food and that everything was thoughtfully done,” Marin says. “I didn’t want to just offer charcuterie boards. People wanted more, and I think it’s more rewarding and more fun to have variety, too.”
The menu rotates seasonally, but some dishes like the vodka mac and cheese are so popular that they remain year-round. The Tasting Room recently put its pigs in a blanket, which are served with homemade ketchup and honey mustard, on the menu as well.
The cocktail menu, too, is both vast and seasonal. It incorporates the Pollinator Spirits portfolio and features creative takes on classic cocktails. A few apple-based cocktails will be making their appearance just in time for autumn. That includes “An Apple a Day,” which is crafted with Pollinator rye whiskey, apple butter, and apple simple syrup.
Also on the cocktail menu is the maple bourbon Manhattan, made with Pollinator maple bourbon and vermouth. And just in time for the cooler months, Catskill Provisions introduced its black walnut liqueur, which was fermented with cinnamon, cloves, lemon, and coffee for approximately eight months.
In terms of where it gets ingredients, Catskill Provisions sources from a variety of local farms. The beef comes from Hermann Farms, located right in Callicoon. “I literally go to the freezer at the farm two miles away and pick up all of the beef that we need for the Tasting Room,” Marin laughs. “The beef flavor is insane. It’s grass-fed and all-natural.”
The Tasting Room sources its cheeses from Calkins Creamery in Honesdale, PA, trout for its trout dip from Wallkill, and grains from Farmer Ground Flour in Trumansburg. In an effort to close the environmental loop, Marin also sends the distillery’s spent grains to a local farmer, who uses it to feed his cows and pigs.
“That was one of the things that attracted me to distilling in the first place. My business is based on agriculture, and I love that every day I am connected to the local agriculture and community in this way,” she says.
More on the horizon
Going forward, Marin looks forward to opening the tasting room – which encompasses 5,000 square feet – for more events, including birthdays, holidays, and other celebrations and gatherings.
Additionally, the distillery will be introducing a single-barrel program and will soon be releasing a single-barrel bourbon that is six years old and clocks in at 100 proof.
Marin believes that “generosity of spirit” is one of the most important components that makes Catskill Provisions special.
“We love being supportive of the local community. We bring in local makers, don’t skimp out on portion sizes, and only use food that is fresh,” she says. “I hope that’s a quality that you’ll feel when you walk in; we’re warm, friendly, and we care.”
To learn more about the Tasting Room at Catskill Provisions Distillery, visit in person at 16 Upper Main Street, Callicoon or explore the website here.
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