The comedic duo of Laurel and Hardy plays in black and white on a projector screen between a pair of chandlers. The rough wood bar of the speakeasy shows the scars of saw blades on a piece of timber that was salvaged from the Duluth Timber Company. But the back bar steals the show.
Behind the bar stands an object best suited for the lab of a mad scientist: Eight long glass tubes each filled with various colors of liquid, bits of nuts, fruit or other infusers mostly settled toward the bottom, near a spigot. Situated in the center are two bulbous receiver jars, one still boasting a “Surge” logo across it.
At one time, the tubes and jars were part of a local pipeline milking system. But Chris Barker repurposed them into an infusion station and centerpiece for the Terramar Brewstillery’s speakeasy in Bow-Edison several years ago.
“We use this to infuse some of our products to make the house-made infusions that go into our unique craft cocktails,” explained Tim Onion, the speakeasy lead who works with the other bartenders to create the custom infusions.
He noted that “Surge” was one of the original makers of glass equipment for dairy production farms, though the jar currently contained vodka with activated charcoal.
The in-house infusions create a range of products from spice-apple whiskey and elderberry spirits to rhubarb spirits and apple-maple wood bitters, allowing the bartenders to pour out a string of locally crafted, seasonal cocktails.
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Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
