For California and Arizona pistachio growers Jim and Gloria Zion, pairing the tasty nut with Kentucky bourbon and wine is perhaps as much about adding value to the popular crop as it is a passion.
While the process is a bit of a trade secret, Jim says the outcome is Kentucky bourbon with a unique flavor profile that makes it a premium product.
The idea was borne almost three years ago as Jim was having a discussion with Steve Thompson, owner of Kentucky Artisan Distillery, over a topic passionate to both of them - pistachios and bourbon. The discussion led to the possibility of doing something with pistachios in an alcoholic beverage. Jim did not simply want another flavored product; rather something that could sit on the top shelf in a bar.
Two years later, Wicked Harvest was born. It’s a blend of pistachios infused in Kentucky bourbon, finished in wine barrels, with a smooth and lasting finish with a unique flavor.
The wine barrels were Gloria’s idea. She's a wine connoisseur who readily admits bourbon was not her thing. She now prefers a glass of whiskey at the end of the evening over that second or third glass of fine wine.
“I’ve never been a brown spirit drinker and I never intended to even try these iterations,” she said of early batch samples created in Kentucky.
Adding value
Jim has long looked for different ways to add value to pistachios. He wanted to move beyond the roasted, salted snack nut idea to something completely different. He’s tried other products he didn’t think would work with consumers, but that didn’t deter him.
“Almond growers have done a great job at creating value for their product,” he said. “You can’t go down a grocery store aisle and not find something with almond in it, so I started to wonder about pistachios.”
Consumers seeking American pistachios are currently limited to how they can consume U.S. pistachios. While the snack nuts in a bag can be easily found in the grocery store, some processors have taken to making paste and ice cream, but nothing yet with the volume seen with almonds, walnuts and peanuts.
The American pistachio industry could be on the cusp of improving its reach into grocery store aisles as the industry faces the possibility of producing one billion pounds of nuts in 2018, Jim says. This rapid growth in production could put the industry at “critical mass” and allow further product development by the large food manufacturers, he believes.