Jayne St. Distillery gives “local” a deeper meaning

When most people think of local ingredients, they probably don’t imagine foraging for them themselves. However, at Jayne St. Distillery, whatever Nick Spiegel can’t find himself, he grows.

From rum and gin to spirits and liqueurs, Spiegel — a Culinary Institute graduate, and the founder and distiller of Jayne St. — prides himself on not only creativity but craftsmanship as well.

The distillery’s building in Florida, New York was originally a mechanical engineering barn in the 1950s. When the Spiegel family purchased and later renovated the space into the distillery it is today, they committed themselves to staying true to its local roots.

Local flavors

Nearly every step of the drink-making process at Jayne St. uses products from New York; Adirondack wood barrels age rum, malted grain comes from the Hudson Valley, and molasses is sourced from upstate.

The outlier is the hand-crafted pot stills from Germany that Spiegel discovered while backpacking through Europe. The pot stills produce Jayne St.’s signature rum — a spirit of historical importance to New York — along with the other spirits and liqueurs available at Jayne St.

“I could lie to you about how, like, something that I’m doing is so magical,” said Spiegel, “but using all in-state New York ingredients and using beautifully manufactured German pot stills definitely makes my job easier.”

But there definitely is a magic to Spiegel’s craft. Recently, Jayne St. has focused on creating botanical-based spirits, and Spiegel forages for the ingredients himself

“What I can still find in the wild, I’ll pick in the wild,” he said.

Spiegel’s creativity allows him to regularly invent new food and drink menus. This summer’s menu features cocktails with fresh-pressed juices, house-made rum, gin and vodka, and a selection of sandwiches from fellow Culinary Institute graduate, Chef Dylan Martin.

“The only way for me to feel not insane is to keep creating things,” he jokes, adding that creativity is a productive outlet for him.

“I’m halfway through a menu already, thinking about what’s going to be next.”

Jayne St. is loved by locals, but Spiegel hopes for his craft to reach further, allowing him to share his hard work and love for craftsmanship with spirit lovers everywhere.