Being a novice baker, I have been wanting to visit King Arthur Flour, ideally for a class, but even just to go to the bakery and store. Luckily King Arthur Flour was minutes off the interstate we used to get up through Vermont. And better still, the Harpoon Brewery was only about 20 minutes from King Arthur Flour, a few minutes off the same interstate, a little further south. Since Harpoon is Dave's favorite beer, I knew we would have to stop.
While driving towards Lizzy's new home, I mentioned to Dave that we would have to stop at a roadside stand of some sort to get real Vermont maple syrup. As a huge maple syrup fan (I haven't been able to buy anything other than the real stuff since we moved in together), he agreed and we kept our eyes peeled for the right place.
About 15 minutes from our first destination, Lizzy's forever family, we spotted a sign on the side of the highway for Cabot Creamery, indicating it was only 5 miles away. We agreed we should stop and see what it was like. So after leaving Lizzy with her new family, we got back in the car and headed to Cabot, VT. The town is quite quaint and soon we found the Cabot Creamery, including a factory store.
We went inside and started looking at all the local Vermont goodies and then Dave noticed that they offered a tour. Since it was about to start and was only $2 per person, we joined the group. The tour started with a short film noting the history of the Cabot Creamery and farm co-op. It was pretty cool to learn how they started, the quality they require of their farmers and what they do with all the milk, curd and byproduct. They actually return the water drained off the cheese to the farm fields, putting nutrients back in the soil, and then of course the cows are eating that naturally enhanced grass.
Then our tour guide Tori told us all about the different cheese products and types they make, including some limited items that are only available close to the creamery. She was very thorough--I had no idea they were so specialized in certain types of cheddar. She then took us a on a quick trip through the plant, showing us the machines that make cheddar cheese (from curd to package) and another machine that, at the time, was filling 16 ounce packages of sour cream. The video actually showed us one of the machines, the one that lifts the finished boxes onto the pallets. I had to comment on it when Tori asked if their were questions because it was painted like a cow. (I asked who painted it. She said the company that made it sent it like that. How funny is that?) So of course when we saw RoboCow, I had to snap a picture.
After the tour we went back to the store to sample some of the cheeses. We tried to behave ourselves since we hadn't yet had lunch, but I did have to get a second taste of the Buffalo Wing Cheddar and Dave was amazed at the limited batch of Classic Vermont Vintage Cheddar. So of course we had to get both. And then a few more. We could have done a lot worse, but ultimately this was our haul.
I don't know if it was the lack of food or just being happy from finding a random place to stop, but outside I goofed off a little.
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| Moo. |
We got back in the car, quickly got back on our route and decided it was time to stop for real Vermont maple syrup. We'd passed a sugar house on the way up, so when we came near it again we pulled in and got exactly what we wanted. The sugar house itself wasn't very exciting, but we knew it was the type of place where we would get "the good stuff."
Now it was time for me to get excited. We were on our way to King Arthur Flour. In true Vermont fashion, this company is 100% employee owned and really turns out some quality products. Their recipes are amazing and I understand they have wonderful classes. Ideally, I'd like to take a class there sometime, but stopped by the store was a fun introduction.
King Arthur Flour is undergoing a huge expansion, building up their Baking School, store and bakery, among other things The project will be done sometime next summer. Guess I'll be holding off on that class until then!
Inside the store, I found myself completely mesmerized by all the different ingredients and tools. all of the thoughts running through my mind of what I could potential make with some many tasty morsels. Dave was very patient with me as I slowly and methodically went around the store (literally around--the store is a giant circle!), placing things in my basket. I'd warned Dave that I planned to fill my basket, but then promised to go back through it and buy only the things I wanted most. Which I did. My final purchase was only a fraction of all of my wants.
Indeed there actually were specific items I knew I was going to purchase, like Fiori di Sicilia, an extract-like flavoring that gives a unique "secret" ingredient flavor. I also ended up getting maple flavoring and cinnamon oil, among a few other things. Items that did not make the cut were the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook and the mini cheesecake pan, but not I have a reason to go back. On the plus side, they were running a special that day so I got 15% off my total purchase, which was like getting the cinnamon oil for free!
Happy with my King Arthur Flour swag, we got back in the car and headed toward the Harpoon Brewery. Dave had been there in July for their BBQ festival with his friends Ben and Nick. They'd gotten a brief tour, had some beer and ate some good food. Dave asked if I wanted to do the tour, but I wasn't sure if they would be offering one, based on the information in the pamphlet I'd picked up at the Visitor's Center that morning. We'd planned on grabbing a bite to eat since they have a pub-style restaurant and we were famished. We'd left around 8:30 in the morning and other than the stop for nibbles of cheese at Cabot, the only other sustenance we'd had was a bag of peanut butter M&Ms.
Inside Harpoon, Dave used the facilities and I started poking around the store with all the hats, T-shirts and what not. I was just about to go to the hostess stand and give our name for a table when I heard a woman holler to the crowd that anyone going on the tour should line up at the door. I hesitated, not sure if I should hurry and buy tickets for the tour or if Dave wasn't interested. Just then he came out and I told him the tour was about to begin and did he want to go. So we ran over to the register, got tickets and headed to the door. They carded us, gave us tasting glasses (that's always a good sign) and the tour began. Dave's tour back in July was only an abbreviated version, so this was definitely a treat.
I'd like to stop for a minute and appreciate our tour guide who, while admittedly having trouble with math at the moment, almost didn't give me a glass because she didn't think I was 21. And then realized by birth year was 1980, not 1990, and that even if it was, since my birthday is in February, I'd be 21 anyway. Looking back, I kind of appreciated it because when I'm with Dave I never get carded at all, let along questioned about actually being over 20.
Cat and Dan, our tour guides, gave us an amazing tour. Having gone on a brewery tour before, we kinda knew how beer was made, but the history of Harpoon and the unique things they do to make their beers was pretty cool. Local farmers actually take the brewery's used mash for feed for local cattle (no wonder the cheese tastes so good up there!). Plus Cat bubbled over with personality and energy and you just know she loves her job. Along the way we had some samples. First was a swig of unfiltered IPA. IPA is Dave's absolute favorite, but I usually don't care for it. But this unfiltered stuff was great. And super cold. Cold beer is happy beer.
Cat had filled a pitcher of the unfiltered IPA and then started given about 2 ounce pours to everyone. With beer still left in the pitcher, she started handing out seconds. Who was the first person she refilled? Dave, of course. There were probably 15-18 people in our tour, and there was a couple standing near us. The woman leaned over to Dave and asked him if he liked IPA. He said yes and she asked him if he wanted hers--she hadn't tasted it because she knows she doesn't like it, so she just poured it in his glass. Dave made a beer friend!
Later on in the tour, Cat brought us another sample, this time of the filtered IPA. And yes, the entire scenario I outlined above was repeated. Exactly. At this point Dave had 6 tastings to my 2. Of his favorite beer. Lucky duck.
Finally, the tour concluded with a sampling frenzy as Cat described the 10 or so beers they had on tap at the moment and Dan offering to pour us as many samples as we'd like to try. I tasted the UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen and the UFO Pumpkin. Both were super yummy, and as Cat described, the pumpkin tasted like "liquid pumpkin pie." Dave tried the 100 Barrell Oak Aged Dunkel and the Leviathan Imperial IPA, and another one I was forgetting. Clearly he had so much beer, I was starting to forget things. Or it could have been the fact that in 8 hours I'd only eaten cheese and candy. One of those.
So to the pub we went! The restaurant is the Riverbend Taps and Beer Garden and the food is classic pub fare of burgers, sandwiches and fried things. We each ordered UFO Pumpkins and then tucked into an appetizer of chicken tenders served with amazing french fries and an awesome ranch dressing. Again, in true Vermont fashion, ingredients are local where possible and out sandwiches were actually served on King Arthur Flour bread. Everything was delicious and a leisurely dinner was truly was the perfect way to end the day. With stomachs filled and our beer buzz subsided, we headed back home.
So let's recap: In a little over 12 hours, we drove to Vermont, adopted out dog to a wonderful family, visited a creamery for a tour and tasting, got real Vermont syrup, visited the King Arthur Flour factory for perfect baking ingredients, toured the Harpoon brewery and got lots of samples and a great dinner. Yeah, I'd say that's not bad for a random road trip.
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