Luxury Experience visited Westford Hill Distillers in Ashford, Connecticut and met with Master Distiller Louis Chatey and his wife, Margaret Chatey, to learn about their extensive line of high-quality, handcrafted artisanal spirits. The visit was informative and very tasty as we sampled their many products, including their organic Rime Vodka made from 100% non-GMO corn grown in Connecticut. Their vodka is absolutely delicious and definitely worthy of the Westford Hill Distillers reputation for excellence. 

Product Information: Rime Vodka, 40% alcohol by volume/80 proof. Attractively presented in a clear tall, elegant bottle with clear glass stopper and eye-catching label, Rime Vodka will be a standout in professional or home bars. 

Bottle Notes: "Rime Vodka, windblown frost in your glass. Produced and Bottled at Westford Hill Distillers, LLC from gluten-free organic corn in New England's Last Green Valley."  

Tasting Notes: Delectably smooth, there is a slight sweetness from the corn, nice viscosity, and mouthfeel, with a clean, yet slightly spicy finish. 

Luxury Experience was "In the kitchen and behind the bar®" creating some incredibly special handcrafted cocktails and a culinary recipe to tempt your palate and inspire your own creations using Westford Hill Distillers Organic Rime Vodka.  

Luxury Experience Cocktail and Culinary Menu

The Cocktail Menu

The Culinary Menu

Luxury Experience - Spirited Vodka Coffee Charlotte

The Cocktail Recipes 

Luxury Experience - Mango Rhyme Time is our playful reference on the names of the spirits used in the cocktail, "Rhyme" for Westford Hill Distillers Rime Vodka, and "Time" for Farigoule Herbal Thyme Liqueur made in Provence, France. Combined with mango nectar and a squeeze of time, this tasty and elegant cocktail is timeless. 

Luxury Experience - Mango Rhyme Time

Cocktail Ingredients:
 

Method: Chill martini glass by adding water and ice cubes. Set aside to chill. Discard water and ice just before pouring cocktail. Add all ingredients and 4 ice cubes to a shaker, shake hard to incorporate ice into the cocktail.  Strain into chilled Martini glass. Garnish with slice of fresh mango threaded with fresh thyme. 

Luxury Experience - Lemon Martini tastes like summer in a glass and combines Rime Vodka, Extra Dry Vermouth, and homemade lemon simple syrup.

Luxury Experience - Lemon Martini

Cocktail Ingredients:
 

Method: Chill martini glass by adding water and ice cubes. Set aside to chill. Discard water and ice just before pouring cocktail. Add all ingredients and 4 ice cubes to a shaker, shake hard to incorporate ice into the cocktail.  Strain into chilled Martini glass. Garnish with lemon peel. 

Lemon Simple Syrup Ingredients: 
 

Method: Peel the lemon removing the white pith part. Add the lemon peels, water, and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. When liquid is clear, remove from heat and let sit to infuse the lemon peels into the syrup. When cool, strain liquid into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. The lemon simple syrup is also delicious when used to sweeten iced tea or lemonade, and can also be used in salad dressings, marinades, drizzled over fresh fruit, or brushed on cake layers to add a rich moistness.  

Note: As for the lemon peels, as our motto is "waste not" we bake them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a 225-degree Fahrenheit (107-degree Celsius) oven to dry them out. Once dry, remove from oven and let cool. We like to grind the dried peels with some sugar to use for sugar rims for cocktails or use the lemon sugar in cocktails or in cakes. 

Luxury Experience - Java Express is a delectable iced-coffee cocktail made with organic Rime Vodka, Java Love Coffee Roasting Company's Papua New Guinea Organically Grown Coffee, unsweetened coconut milk, and River's Edge Sugar House Maple Syrup (Grade A Dark Robust).  

Luxury Experience - Java Express

Method: Chill coffee in refrigerator until ready to use. In a mixing glass, combine Rime Vodka, Java Love Papua New Guinea Coffee, unsweetened milk, and River's Edge Sugar House Maple Syrup Grade A Dark Robust. Pour into an ice-filled snifter glass. 

Caution: this may become your favorite way to drink coffee! It also pairs well with Luxury Experience - Spirited Vodka Coffee Charlotte. 

The Culinary Recipe 

Luxury Experience - Spirited Vodka Coffee Charlotte is an easy to make, easy to love dessert that will win lots of compliments. The recipe uses store-bought lady fingers, and delectable homemade easy to make vodka coffee pastry cream that is perfect for summertime entertaining. 

Pastry Cream Ingredients:
 

Method: Use a food processor or standing mixer. Add the yolks and sugar and process until very creamy, then add cornstarch and salt to create a slurry. Keep the food processor running to create a smooth consistency. 

In a saucepan, heat the milk, Half & Half, and coffee until scalding.  Slowly add 1 small ladle of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture with the food processer running. This is to temper the eggs so they will not curdle. Continue adding 1 ladle at a time of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, until all the milk has been added to the eggs. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the Rime Vodka to flavor the pastry cream. Let cool in a bowl, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Can be made 1 day ahead.

Lady Finger Ingredients:
 

Method: Dissolve sugar in hot coffee. Set aside to cool, then add the Rime Vodka. 

Method to Assemble the Charlotte: Line a mold with plastic wrap. Quickly dip lady fingers one at a time into the vodka-coffee mixture and place against the sides and bottom of your mold. Gently fill with your prepared pastry cream. Cover the pastry cream with the remaining lady fingers dipped in the vodka coffee mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.   

Presentation: Invert Charlotte onto a plate. Remove plastic wrap. Lightly dust with 1-tablespoon cocoa powder and a few coffee beans in the corners of your plate. 

VIDEO - Learn about these great recipes from Debra C. Argen of Luxury Experience - https://youtu.be/55bKXIBs-5w

Westford Hill Distillers Visiting Information 

If you can visit Westford Hill Distillers, do visit, as the location is postcard-perfect New England.  Located on 200-acres that have been in Louis' family for over 100 years, Westford Hill Distillers is stunningly charming with its rock wall that leads up to the bright red distillery barn, an inviting front porch to sit and enjoy a cocktail or a bite to eat or sit at a table out back overlooking the rolling hills and pond. Margaret and Louis Chatey are gracious and knowledgeable hosts, and their gift shop is a shopper's dream.

Louis and Margaret Chatey
Westford Hill Distillers

Westford Hill Distillers Exceptional Product Line: Pear William, Poire Prisonniere (Pear William with a whole pear presented in the bottle), New World Aged Apple Brandy, Kirsch (Cherry), Fraise (Strawberries), Framboise (Raspberry), Westford Gin, and Rime Vodka. 

For additional information as well as purchasing and touring information please visit their website: www.WestfordHill.com. Westford Hill Distillers spirits are sold onsite as well domestically and internationally. 

Location and Tour Hours: Westford Hill Distillers is located 30 miles east of Hartford, Connecticut and 82 miles southwest of Boston. They are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through Christmas from 12:00 am until 4:00 pm.  The tours last approximately 45 minutes and are limited to 4 persons per tour, so be sure to call ahead and reserve your tour. The cost of tour and tasting is $12 per person. 

Read more about Westford Hill Distillery's exceptional spirits and get more recipes in the Liquor Cabinet section: Westford Hill Distillers Pear William ,  Westford Hill Distillers New World Aged Apple Brandy  and Westford Gin. 

Westford Hill Distillers
196 Chatey Road
Ashford, Connecticut 06378
United States
Telephone: +1-860-429-0464
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.WestfordHill.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/westordhilldistillers
Instagram: @westfordhilldistillers 

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