The nation's oldest city is never at a loss for things to do and learn. One of the newest attractions on Florida's east coast is rooted deep in history, chemistry and ends with a taste test!
"This building was the first commercial ice plant in Florida,” explains Phil McDaniel, while strolling through the St. Augustine structure dating back to 1917.
Just off the beaten path in St. Augustine awaits a rescue project with a new mission.
"If you look around the building, you'll see these big, beautiful beams," he said.
McDaniel is at home inside the St. Augustine Distillery. As the co-founder and CEO, three years of work went into the plant before he threw open the door almost a year ago.
The Renaissance man is now making vodka-gin and, within a few years, bourbon.
"Oh, man. It's very good,” McDaniel says with a wide smile as he sniffs the cork of a bourbon bottle.
In what was the Ice Plant on the grounds of the 1905-built power station, a new generation is getting thirsty for history.
"You come in this amazing, historic building and see the first barrels of bourbon and drinks being made,” says Englishman Scott Edwards, who came for the Distillery's free tour.
Upon arrival, visitors must clock in, as if they were a turn-of-the-century employee. Their time card becomes their entry ticket.
Visitors are first immersed in history of the Ice Plant building and how locally grown wheat and corn are turned into beverages thanks to a little chemistry lesson.
"It goes from a liquid to a vapor back to a liquid," McDaniel explains while standing next to a copper still built in Kentucky.
The distilling process takes a lot of science and a lot and patience. McDaniel was on a one-year waiting list after placing an order for the still, named Bessie after an endeared family member.
While the vodka and gin are made weekly, the bourbon will need to sit silently in barrels and wait for another three years.
"I really want to be put on some sort of guest list to come back and try the bourbon when it's ready because I am definitely a bourbon guy!" Edwards assures us.
Lucky for the young Englishmen sporting a weekend beard, the tour ends with a free sample for those over 21 years old.
Tour guides serve adults spirits and special nonalcoholic drinks for children and adults wishing not to sip what's made in-house.
"The whole farm-to-table movement is now spilling over to farm-to-glass, and people really want to know who is growing their food, what is it made from, how is it made, and we do that here, every day," McDaniel said.
Tankful on Television
Live in a Bright House? You can catch new Florida on a Tankful stories each Thursday through Sunday on News 13 and Bay News 9. New editions play at the end of each hour starting at 6 a.m. and run through 5 o'clock the afternoon.