It's not often that business comes first and passion second. It's so rare that if I hadn't met Jim Pierce, the pragmatic and salt of the earth owner and head distiller of Of The Earth Farm and Distillery, I wouldn't have believed it. But on a breezy yet sultry day in August, I learned how sometimes, making the most of what you have gives you your next passion project.
A scant hour from the Northland, the small community of Richmond, Missouri, drips with bucolic bliss. The hills roll. The bees buzz. The apples loll lazily on trees that struggle under the weight of their bounty. It's those trees that first inspired Jim Pierce. Pierce and his wife, Sara, both came from rural backgrounds. They moved to acreage in Ray County in 1990 and developed their land with herb and vegetable gardens. A gift of heirloom apple trees from their eldest son, Jim, turned into a small orchard that has grown to seven acres with 26 varieties of apples, along with peaches and Asian pears.
Pierce had returned to school at the age of 35 to earn a degree in horticulture, so he knew how to grow fruit. The question was what to do with it. To add more diverse income, he attended a fruit growers conference in 2008 that opened his eyes to the possibilities of distilling.
As the only attendee of a workshop on distilling by esteemed late professor Kris A. Burglund of Michigan State University, Pierce had a wide array of Eau de vies to sample. As a non-drinker, he was prepared for the intense burn that he associated with hard alcohol.
"He had me approach it just like wine--nose it, take a little in your mouth, breathe it in--and apparently there's a little thing in the back of your mouth called a nasal bud--and it was like standing in a cherry orchard. It was amazing to me. Then I swallowed, and this was 80 proof. I'm a big guy and didn't want to make a face, so I was prepared to pretend that it didn't burn, but it didn't. It was just a gentle warmth. It was a moving experience," says Pierce.
He was hooked. Instead of becoming merely a connoisseur, he wrote a grant to the state of Missouri to start a pilot program to begin distilling his apples. He purchased a Portuguese copper pot still and got to work. His apple brandy, which is aged in Missouri white oak barrels, was born sometime later.
Farming teaches patience as well, because, through many grant writing stretches, a recession, and a pandemic, Jim and Sara are still going, with a new tasting room that opened a little under two years ago.
Of The Earth Distillery and Farm is that though--a distillery and a farm. The Pierces raise heritage hogs as well as lambs for meat. They offer apple picking or apples by the bushel. They're now trying their hands at making charcuterie, once again with the blessing and grant money of the state. Patience is rewarded.
Of the Earth is growing incrementally. With the tasting room open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, products delivered to your doorstep on Tuesdays, and both spirits and meat available at the City Market on Saturdays, there are plenty of ways to find them. Still, I recommend a trip to the tasting room. Walk among the apple trees. Watch the sunflowers do the wave. Listen to the lowing of the horses in the fields. Know that the earth gives us all good things, but the Pierce family certainly helps.
Snacks/Drinks
1. Start with the original--apple brandy made with Missouri apples and aged in Missouri white oak barrels. Try making an Old Fashioned with this instead of whiskey.
2. Jim and Sara love working with other small producers like Doña Fina, a family-run coffee farm from Guatemala. Add this to your morning coffee or make a boozy affogato using Betty Raie's vanilla ice cream.
3. Need a little guidance? Grab a cocktail kit like the Richmond Mule. This was the winning of the COVID Cocktail Contest. Apple brandy, citrus, and bitters, topped with ginger beer, are spicy and refreshing.
4. Beet Eau de Vie. If you like your spirits earthy, then dig in. Add this to a Bloody Mary for a garden boost to your brunch.
5. What's brunch without bacon? Grab a pound of the cottage bacon to add to any breakfast or brunch.
