Since 2012, Midnight Madness Distilling, LLC, has been crafting naturally flavored spirits under the name of Faber Craft Spirits. The company was started innocently enough by the trio of Doug Heckmann, Casey Parzych and Anthony Lorubbio during an undergraduate entrepreneurship class at Carnegie Mellon University.
What drove the founders to get started making their own vodkas, rum and gin was the desire to create naturally made, real fruit-distilled spirits. The use of real fruits rather than artificial products help them to create great flavor and a quality spirit with very little added sugar.
Faber’s line of spirits includes gin, white rum and several varieties of vodka, including cherry, chocolate, pomegranate, vanilla, raspberry, grape, orange and citrus. Distilled from milled corn and filtered through more than 40 feet of activated charcoal, Faber Vodka is very smooth with a clean finish. Flavored vodkas are distilled from real fruit, allowing natural flavors to complement instead of overpower. The gin is brightly spiced and full of juniper without an overwhelming bouquet or sweetness, which can complicate a cocktail.
Speaking of cocktails, Faber’s citrus-flavored vodka worked great in our updated version of a spiked lemonade:
Faber Citrus Ginger Lemon Spritz Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz. Faber Citrus Vodka
- 1-inch piece of ginger
- .25 oz. simple syrup
- 4 oz. lemonade (we used Wegmans Organic)
- .5 oz. lemon juice
Method
Muddle ginger. Add ice, vodka, simple syrup, lemonade and lemon juice. Shake. Strain into highball glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and a lemon wedge.
The fact that Faber is making such a fantastic product should be no surprise given the founders’ background in craft brewing, but what may come as a shock is the price. High-end spirits often come with a $45–$50 price tag; Faber’s spirits can be found in a local state store for less than $20. One of the ways Faber is able to keep the price at this level is by keeping costs low and buying in bulk. Take their bottles and labels, for example. Faber’s stripped-down style is very much a calculated decision. The company feels that the product should do the talking and sees no need to spend extra money on extravagant bottle or label designs. In fact, the simple design attracts its own attention and easily stands out on a crowded shelf.
Another big reason for the affordable price was a change in the Pennsylvania liquor code enacted in 2011 that allows distillers in the state to sell their product directly to taverns and pubs. The new law has been credited with helping jump-start the state’s fledgling craft-distilling industry.
Faber’s liquors are distilled locally in Quakertown and sold in select Pennsylvania state stores as well as in local bars and restaurants in both Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. Search the Faber website for bars, pubs and restaurants that offer the spirit.
- Photography: Faber Craft Spirits
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