Edmonton distillery teams up with NAIT to make non-dairy liqueur
An Edmonton distillery has crafted one of its most challenging products yet.
"I think that's the main key why you don't see a lot of them on the market is because it's just not something you can throw together," said Kristopher Sustrik, Hansen Distillery co-owner and master distiller.
That product is a non-dairy liqueur – a relatively un-tapped market.
"The options that were available just weren't appetizing, well at least to us anyways," said Shayna Hansen, co-owner.
"The ones that I've had I just wasn't a fan of," added Sustrik.
But with customers continually asking for a non-dairy liqueur option, Sustrik set out to make it.
"The very first batch I made 60 litres of pure gum is what it was. It was so discouraging," said Sustrik.
That's when they turned to NAIT's Centre for Culinary Innovation for help.
"A lot of those plant-based liqueurs and just drinks that you see at the grocery store, they have a label that says 'Shake before you consume', and that's because over time those plant-based proteins actually start to separate out," said Haley Donadeo, a chef and research assistant at NAIT's Centre for Culinary Innovation.
"Alcohol speeds that up. So our goal was to help Hansen produce a product that's smooth and stays in suspension at a longer period of time," Donadeo added.
"I can make vodka all day long. But the conversion from oat flour to oat milk is proprietary obviously, and then going from an oat milk to an oat cream liqueur with our flavouring, lots of separation, turned it into gum a few times, so multiple trials and errors," said Sustrik.
All of the products in the Oat Milk Cream Liqueur are from Alberta.
"Alberta oats, 100 per cent. We're also using an Alberta oat producer to make us the flour to my specific specifications, making the vodka right here and then everything that we can get local," Sustrik said.
It's a process that took the distillery four years to perfect, and still Hansen said their non-dairy liqueur is the first in Alberta.
"We didn't want to put anything out that wasn't 100 per cent, so we were willing to sacrifice not being the first to make sure it was what we considered the perfect recipe," said Hansen.
They said it was lactose intolerant customers who helped with taste testing along the way.
"Seeing them happy and satisfied and not having to just settle with a product was totally fulfilling for us," said Sustrik.
He said they're already thinking about products for people with other types of allergies or intolerances.
"This has opened up a big door for us and we already have some stuff in the mix," he said.
"I wanted something that was going to stand out in the market, something that was going to be totally unique and blow the doors off somebody else," Sustrik said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Smith tells Trudeau Alberta will opt out of federal dental plan
Alberta is opting out of the federal dental plan, the premier told the Canadian government late Tuesday afternoon.
One of Canada's most popular vehicles recalled over transmission issue; 95,000 impacted
One of the country's most popular vehicles is being recalled in Canada due to a transmission issue that may impact tens of thousands of drivers.
WikiLeaks' Assange pleads guilty in deal with U.S. that secures his freedom, ends legal fight
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his liberty and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security.
'We need to regroup,' says Liberal minister and Ontario campaign co-chair in light of byelection loss
A member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet and the party's Ontario co-chair for the next campaign says the Liberals 'need to regroup' after a shocking overnight byelection loss to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.
Pre-med students can't take MCAT in Quebec because of Bill 96
Areeba Ahmed says she's always dreamed of becoming a surgeon but her road to the operating room has become a complicated one ever since Quebec's French language law came into effect.
Protesters try to topple Queen Victoria statue near pro-Palestinian encampment in Montreal
Montreal police were called to intervene after protesters attempted to tear down the Queen Victoria statue at Victoria Square.
Cup Noodles serves up notoriously poisonous pufferfish
Pufferfish is regarded as a luxury in Japan and a meal featuring the potentially poisonous delicacy can easily cost up to 20,000 yen (US$125) at high-end restaurants.
'Truly a great British Columbian': Former B.C. premier John Horgan has cancer again
Former B.C. premier and current Canadian ambassador to Germany John Horgan has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.
New experience in Halifax gets people up close and personal to the ocean's most feared predator
Atlantic Shark Expeditions launched a new shark cage experience which gives brave attendees a chance to get up close and personal with the oceans most feared predator.