He calls it 19th century physics.
But instead of creating energy, Ian Anderson uses his physics background to create artisanal spirits.
Founded in December 2015, Burnaby’s Anderson Distilleries started selling its craft versions of Ouzu and Soju, popular Greek and Korean alcohols, respectively, to restaurants and private liquor stores last summer, but it was at craft fairs and markets last fall that things really got going.
“We haven’t actually been to any liquor stores in quite some time mainly, because we’ve been so busy trying to keep our liqueurs in stock,” Anderson said.
The SFU graduate had planned on getting a PhD in physics one day. Instead he decided to take advantage of the provincial government’s tax exemption for craft distilleries that use 100 per cent B.C.-grown ingredients and start his own business.
“It was actually a couple steps backwards because I don’t have to do major quantum mechanics. There’s a little bit of biology that I had to learn, and a little bit of chemistry, but beyond that, it was anything that was terribly on the difficult side,” he told the NOW.
Anderson currently makes three different lines of spirits – Mare Serenitatis, Montague and Sweet Serenitatis. The Mare Serenitatis series is his spin on traditional alcohols like whiskey and gin while the Montague series is for professionals looking for raw flavours, including lemon, lime, mandarin, mint and blackcurrant.
The foundation of all of Anderson’s creations is a unique method dubbed the tequila process single malt, which distills the alcohol using a traditional Scotch-making procedure but ferments it in the fashion as tequila makers, he said.
But it’s the Sweet Serenitatis line that is especially popular, according to Anderson.
Available in several different flavours, the Sweet Serenitatis is made using actual plants.
Take Anderson Distilleries’ mint liqueur for example. Anderson steeps real mint in the alcohol.
“So all of the colour and all of the flavour in the end product is from the mint itself,” he said. “It’s actually kind of interesting from a physics standpoint because it’s bright green, so under a black light – so under UV light – it glows fireball fuchsia, and that’s how you know it’s real chlorophyll.”
Anderson Distilleries is located on Underhill Avenue, just off Lougheed Highway. Right now, it’s still a one-man show with Anderson doing all the distilling himself. He hopes to open a tasting room with regular hours but until then, he plans to keep working on his craft. The process is a time-consuming one, he said, but well worth it in the end.
For more information on Anderson Distilleries, go to www.andersondistilleries.ca.
