beets , the bulbous roots of the Beta vulgaris, supply sugar that is used to make spirits and an earthy, intensely red juice that is sometimes used as an accent in cocktails of the more artistic variety.
The root of the (white) sugar beet—B. vulgaris altissima—can contain over 20 percent sucrose, chemically identical to the sugar derived from the sugar cane. Developed in the eighteenth century in a process of selective breeding initiated by the German scientist Andreas Marggraf (1709–1782), the sugar beet could be grown in the landlocked areas of Europe, requiring neither tropical colonies nor access to an extensive shipping industry. Nonetheless, production was low until the Napoleonic Wars, when a British naval blockade prompted the French to start a beet-sugar industry to replace the cane sugar no longer coming in from the Caribbean.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, spirit was being distilled in Europe, North America, and Australia from the pressed juice of shredded sugar beets or from the notoriously nasty molasses left over from making beet sugar. This spirit was generally distilled in column stills to high proof and then rectified to neutrality. It was held in low repute until the 1870s, when the phylloxera aphid put an end to the supply of cheap grape neutral spirit and Continental distillers had to switch to beet spirit as a base for their liqueurs, bitters, and absinthes and as a blending medium for other, more flavorful spirits. Many market-leading brands, such as Cointreau, never switched back. See absinthe, Cointreau, and verschnitt.
In the twenty-first century, a number of American craft distilleries, such as Brooklyn, New York’s Industry City, and Montana Distillery in Missoula began experimenting with sugar beets to craft their small-batch vodkas. Many of these are not entirely neutral in flavor, a new direction for beet spirits.
Byrn, M. La Fayette. The Complete Practical Distiller. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird, 1868.
Dietsch, Michael. “The Serious Eats Guide to Rum.” Serious Eats, January 19, 2012. https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/01/guide-to-rum-basics-types-history-regions-terms-rum-cocktails.html (accessed February 2, 2021).
By: Alia Akkam