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922 South Morton Street
Bloomington, IN, 47403
United States
812-202-6789
Cardinal Spirits is a craft distillery in Bloomington, Indiana that specializes in producing extraordinary spirits from local ingredients.
The Drop is your source for all things craft.
Tales of the Cocktail, a big, boozy trade event for the spirits industry, happened last week in New Orleans, and we definitely did some stalking via Instagram. We were sad to miss it, but these drinks impressed us even from afar:
Fizzy iced coffee is so hot right now.
Over at thekitchn.com, the coffee columnist declares: Coffee and Tonic Water Just May Be Your New Favorite Summer Drink.
(It is.)
Meanwhile, Bon Appétit asks, "What’s cooler than being cool? Ice-cold coffee with a whole lot of tonic water."
(So true.)
Drink writer Kara Newman says "the lines between cocktails and iced coffees are being increasingly blurred this summer."
(Kara would not lie about this stuff.)
Yes, coffee and tonic is this summer's power couple. And we know how to make it even better.
Cardinal Spirits' Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur plus tonic is a genius two-ingredient cocktail. It has the cool-factor of a Negroni: casual, yet bold and flavorful.
Our Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur is a total secret weapon on its own — it has a smooth, intense coffee profile, with a hint of sweetness. It makes this whole coffee-and-tonic idea even more appealing, because you don't need to pull an espresso shot or make cold-brew coffee ahead of time. You just add tonic to the liqueur, giving it a refreshing, zippy twist. You could use soda water instead for a more mellow take. This is a masterful impromptu cocktail — the kind of thing you pour when friends pop by.
1-2 ounces Cardinal Spirits' Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur
Tonic water (or substitute soda water)
Add coffee liqueur and ice to a glass (use 1 ounce liqueur for a small glass; 2 ounces for a larger glass). Top slowly with tonic or soda. Stir gently.
And that's it. It could not be easier. If you're itching for a little garnish, try a sprig of mint, a swath of citrus peel or a stick of cinnamon.
Sun's out, rum's out.
Say hello to Tiki Rum! Our newest spirit will be released on Saturday at Cardinal Spirits — come on by to sip new cocktails and buy a bottle to take home. Got a grass skirt? A sweet tiki shirt? Let's see them on Saturday! Dress the part.
This light rum has beautiful tropical flavors that make it perfect for cocktails, tiki or otherwise. So why did we call it Tiki Rum, if it's good in just about anything? It's an ode to #tikituesday masterminds Chris Resnick and Baylee Pruitt. For months, these two have been making crazy-good tiki drinks on Tuesday nights with Cardinal vodka, gin and whiskey — everything BUT rum.
We got started on rum-making as soon as we could, experimenting with a variety of foundations like cane sugar and molasses, and a handful of yeasts, which is where all the flavor comes from. It took some time, but now, it's here!
One of the first cocktails we'll make with our Tiki Rum is a classic daiquiri. This is not the slushy kind served poolside. Here, Chris shows us how to make the simple yet perfect original version:
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Add all ingredients to a shaker, then add ice. Shake well, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Who are these good-looking humans? Bloomington PRIDE board members (L to R): Kyle Hayes, Justin Ford, Kristina Simmonds and Sarah Gordon.
What does rainbow-infused vodka taste like?
Come find out on Thursday, when we release Queer Vodka, a special-label vodka by Cardinal Spirits in support of Bloomington PRIDE.
The bottles, sold at the distillery only, are $25 each and 10 percent of sales will be donated to Bloomington PRIDE. Join the flock and be the first to get your hands on a bottle at Birds of a Feather: A Fundraiser for Bloomington PRIDE this Thursday, July 16, from 5-10pm at Cardinal Spirits. The event is open to the public and a $5 donation is suggested.
We'll have a special fundraising cocktail, too, called The Scarlet Macaw, made with vodka, our housemade Redbird Elixir and pineapple juice.
Did we really infuse this vodka with rainbows? We did shine light through a prism and into the vodka. Turns out, that doesn't impart any flavor, but it does make the vodka fabulous.
Bloomington is lucky to have an incredible organization like PRIDE, which puts on two major events annually: a film festival in the winter and Summerfest in the ... summer.
Sarah Perfetti, the executive director of Bloomington PRIDE, says the Queer Vodka money will be used to fund the 2nd annual Summerfest on Aug. 29. The celebration features a parade, entertainment, local food and drinks, and educational workshops — and PRIDE is hoping to make it even more festive this year.
"The reason to grow it is to have an awesome, fun celebration for queer history," Sarah says. "One thing our festival does — and I've never seen this done at another pride festival — is offer educational workshops."
One workshop, organized by Bloomington PRIDE's youth community, will focus on gender and will address using correct pronouns. Another will be about activism and how to support minority groups within the LGBTQ community.
Sarah points out that it's been a roller coaster of a year, swooping from the lows of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to the highs of same-sex marriage equality. And there's still a lot of work to do. But, overall, it feels like it's time to celebrate, she says.
"I really love that our organization has so much support from local business," Sarah says. "We have something that's beautifully branded and labeled that shows we're engaged in the community. I feel like this is really timely."
You'll also be able to order drinks make with Queer Vodka at The Back Door starting soon.
Raise a glass and toast to friends and family, LGBTQ allies and activists and everyone fighting the good fight. Thanks for supporting Bloomington PRIDE!
Big Red Liquors and more than 40 of its top whiskey-loving customers did something rare and amazing this weekend: they began making a special-edition whiskey from scratch at Cardinal Spirits.
This isn't just a custom label. Anyone can select a few barrels, have that bottled and call it their own. But here's a group that is steering the entire process to get a whiskey that they can truly call their own. Big Red has been a champion for Cardinal Spirits from the start, and we couldn't have asked for a better team for our first custom whiskey project.
Everyone there on Saturday signed the barrels, which will likely be ready to go in two years or so. The whiskey will be available first to the Big Red customers who made it.
Big Red is the largest liquor store chain in Indiana, with about 50 stores in Bloomington, Indianapolis, French Lick, Martinsville and Terre Haute. Our vodka and gins are available in many Big Red stores, but if yours doesn't carry Cardinal Spirits, just ask for it. Big Red will make it happen.
It looks like red wine. It even tastes a little like red wine. But, actually, this is a gin cocktail called Drop the Beet, on the menu right now at Cardinal Spirits.
Created by Cardinal bartender Andrew Wind, Drop the Beet has our American Gin, beet shrub and grapefruit juice. Get to know this cocktail, then come in and try it for yourself:
>> THE SECRET INGREDIENT A shrub is a sweetened drinking vinegar. Andrew makes a beet shrub for this cocktail by soaking red beets in demerara sugar and balsamic vinegar, then liquifying it all into a flavorful syrup.
>> IN THREE WORDS Earthy. Bold. Acidic.
>> ANDREW SAYS "Beets have this great inherent sweetness to them. They are robust enough to stand up to a vinegar, and bring sweetness to it."
>> GARNISH IS A NO-GO You won't find a citrus peel, an herb sprig or a booze-soaked cherry accessorizing this drink. It is served unadorned on purpose — the drink is a statement on its own.
Photos, story and recipes by Shelly Westerhausen,
of Vegetarian Ventures and Driftless magazine
Summer cocktails don't get any easier than this — a three-ingredient Cardinal soda. One: homemade simple syrup. Two: a Cardinal Spirits clear spirit of your choice. Three: soda water.
Simple syrup at its most basic is equal parts sugar and water, heated until the sugar dissolves. But you don't have to stop there. Adding fresh, seasonal fruits and herbs yields syrups that are worth building a cocktail around.
Today, we'll show you how to make three flavorful varieties of simple syrup: Cold-Pressed Cherry-Ginger, Pineapple-Turmeric and Roasted Strawberry + Tarragon. Each will elevate your cocktail game and each has its own method of preparation.
We like the idea of setting syrups and spirits out at a summer party and letting guests make their own sodas. These versatile recipes can be made with whatever fruit you have on hand, so experiment and play around with your favorite flavors.
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces Cardinal Spirits Vodka, American Gin, Standard Gin or White Oak Whiskey
1 ounce simple syrup of your choice (recipes below)
Soda water
Add spirit and syrup of your choice to a glass filled with ice. Top with soda water.
A fruit’s flavor changes when you cook or boil it. To achieve syrup as close to the actual flavor of the fruit as possible, I recommend trying this cold-pressed method, which involves very little hands-on time. The upside of this method is that it results in a vibrant flavor, but the downside is that we are not heating the fruit, so this simple syrup won’t last for more than a week in your fridge. It is so delicious that it doesn’t last long around here anyways. You can strain the syrup, but I usually prefer to just keep the little bits of cherries in the syrup for an extra boost in my cocktails.
½ cup sugar
½ cup cherries, halved and pitted
1 teaspoon grated ginger
¼ cup hot water
This is the most common method for creating simple syrup and can be used to make pretty much any flavor imaginable into a syrupy form that is perfect for cocktails. I used pineapple juice in this recipe to avoid having to strain later on and avoid having to add water. However, this method can be easily done with fresh fruit and you’ll just need to add water in a 2 to 1 (2 parts sugar, 1 part water) ratio. Also, since we are heating this syrup, it should last up to three months in an airtight container in the fridge.
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
Peels from half a lemon
The last method we have today is roasting the fruit to bring out the natural juices. As mentioned before, cooking fruit alters its flavor and, in this case, we are looking for that roasted flavor in our final syrup. If you’ve ever had a roasted strawberry then you already know that it tastes completely different than its fresh counterpart, but it's still delicious in its own way. Again, since we aren’t heating the whole syrup, I’d recommend only keeping for about a week in the fridge.
1 quart of strawberries, halved, and green parts removed
1 cup sugar, divided
4-5 sprigs of tarragon (depending how strong you want the flavor to be)
We are curious: What amazing cocktails are you making with Cardinal Spirits at home? Will you take some pics and tag us? And maybe share the recipe? Here's a few that have caught our eye...
It's Punch + Pitcher week on The Drop.
Every day, we'll share a recipe for a drink to make for a crowd this July 4 weekend.
This is a no-fail punch — a delicious crowd-pleaser that's incredible easy to make today and all summer long. Happy 4th! And don't forget that all bottles are $17.76 each through the end of the day at Cardinal Spirits.
1 part Cardinal Spirits Standard Dry Gin
1 part soda water
1 part cranberry-raspberry juice
Raspberries, for garnish
Chill all ingredients before serving. Pour Standard Dry Gin, tonic water and berry juice into a punch bowl or pitcher. Float raspberries in bowl or use as garnish.
It's Punch + Pitcher week on The Drop.
Every day, we'll share a recipe for a drink to make for a crowd this July 4 weekend.
This little beauty pairs rosé with our American Gin, which has floral and citrus notes. Those two are delicious on their own, but then you add a little blackberry jam, and, whoa. This is the kind of thing you could sip all day long.
Using jam in cocktails is a sneaky way to mimic simple syrup without any of the work.
As far as rosé goes, you can use either still or sparkling. Can we make a suggestion? Right now, we're loving Chambourcin Rosé from Olivery Winery in Bloomington. Adjust the soda water depending on the type of rosé — if you're using still, add soda water, and if you're using sparkling, you can go easy on the soda water or omit all together.
Serves 6
3 tablespoons blackberry jam
3 ounces Cardinal Spirits American Gin
24 ounces rosé, chilled (3 cups)
Soda water, optional
Blackberries, for garnish
