Fork or Spoon: Bruinwood’s Canadian Advocaat
Campbell released a soup brand in 1970 using the name “Chunky,” to imply “appetizing.” An advertising campaign that followed, aired for years during game shows like The Price is Right. The premise, two burly men with limited vocabularies, argue about how to eat soup:
“Fork!”
“Spoon!”
“Fork!”
“Spoon!”
An announcer would end the argument by stating they were both right.
Across the Atlantic, the Dutch have a creamy sweet spirit called advocaat. But, you won’t find Holland’s burliest arguing if it’s a drink or dessert. That’s because no one cares whether you slowly sip it in a cocktail or top it with whipped cream and eat it with a spoon. Neither do Barringer and Danise Lofstrom at the Bruinwood Estate Distillery in Roberts Creek, BC. Here, they make a traditional advocaat that takes the velvety custard-like spirit and stamps it with Canadian ingredients.
“As far as I know, we are indeed the only distillery in Canada that is currently making advocaat,” reveals Barringer. “The recipe comes from an old one that was handed down. We spent months getting it to work as a salable product.” The Bruinwood family recipe pairs a rich mixture of cream, eggs and sugar with the distillery’s Aquasen Vodka. Aquasen is distilled from BC grown malted barley and organic wheat fermented with a drop of honey. It’s a vodka with a creamy texture complimented by sweet and nutty undertones. Aquasen is the ingredient that gives this advocaat its signature lift. “We love making it - although, it is very time-consuming,” he continues.
One story behind the spirit has it originating with Dutch colonialists returning home to recreate the texture of Brazilian avocado pulp mixed with sugar and rum. Others claim the spirit’s origin comes from the Dutch word for “lawyer.” No doubt, back in the day, the spirit’s texture helped soothe many a yammering lawyer’s throat. Regardless of the spirits genesis, in Canada, we know where it first took root – at the Bruinwood Estate Distillery, where drinking this guilty pleasure leaves no argument for whether or not you use a spoon.