Tucked away in a small room of the Unknown Brewing Company, in between a still and a bench you will find an unassuming, knowledgeable woman playing around with herbs, extracts, and distillates. This unassuming woman is actually Mena Killough Pratt, Master Distiller working away on project(s) for the next release from Unknown Wood and Grain in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thing is, she was not always a Master Distiller, and began her journey as a Massage Therapist.
So how does one go from Massage Therapist to Master distiller you ask? Here’s how, as a masseuse, Mena would see and help customers on a daily basis. Some of the customers would come in more frequently than others, and that posed a question to her as to how she could help people's health from another direction. This thought landed her in the Blue Ridge School of Herbal medicine in 2013, driving back and forward from Charlotte to Asheville until she obtained her degree. Little did she know that her roots grew in the soil of herbal medicine, including her Grandmother who was an herbal pharmacist in Phuket, Thailand. With herbalism knowledge in hand, Mena began figuring out what her next steps were to be.
Turns out her next steps would be in the hospitality industry as a server/bartender. It is here while under the tutelage of Kel Milton at KiKi Bistro in Charlotte she began utilizing her herbal knowledge, hydrosol, and extracts in cocktails. Mena was wowed by being able to see the effects of plant medicine on patrons right in front of her eyes. At KiKi they would make variants on the classic cocktails, by way of deconstruction, or utilizing different techniques and her custom bitters. After this she dove into research on amari’s and realized that many of the 200 plus year old recipes were created by herbalists! The path became clearer and led to where she can be found today.
Now that we know briefly how she came to be a Master Distiller, let’s take a look at the answers from the questions I had the privilege of asking!
Q. Till today what’s your most prized extraction or blend? Do we need to make that a Top 3?
A. Although tough, Mena let me know her all time favorite was a Blue Lotus cocktail bitter that she made. Next to that would be a Reishi Mushroom Syrup, which was used in an Old Fashioned variant rightfully named “The Drunken Master.” I hope to try this cocktail one day! Last but not least the third was a Blood Orange Dandelion Root Bitter, by the way these all sounded amazing!
Q. If you are going to a “cocktail bar” Are you going for something neat, something absinthe, or a house created cocktail?
A. Mena said she would start with something neat, whether it be scotch, or amaro. Then she would watch the bartenders, and by the time the drink was finished move to a cocktail dependent on what she had observed. Her “little test” cocktail to see if she’d get another is the simple Boulevardier. Another topic we got into was bar ice as it is usually a good gauge of “cocktail bar” quality.
Q. What’s your go to absinthe cocktail?
A. Simply put absinthe with a huge rock (ice cube).
Q. Of the distilled spirits, amari’s included, what would your top distilled spirits/brands be?
A. She stated without hesitancy Amaro Nonino Quentissentia, about as quickly as it leaves her home bar shelf. The other two were scotch single malt or blended, as well as Eda Rhyne’s Appalachian Fernet that she enjoys with craft cream soda titling it her “down and dirty cocktail.” Apparently the cream soda allows for the herbaceousness of the fernet to really stand out.
Q. What's your favorite part of distillation?
A. This was a tough question for Mena, it’s a love hate relationship. There is a problem solving aspect that she enjoys, but most of all it is seeing people enjoy what she has made.
Now, Let’s talk Absinthe!
When hearing the word ‘absinthe’ your mind first goes to the rumors of a fabled “hallucinogenic” liquid, then an emerald green liquid composed of a strong licorice like aroma. Or, it may bring you to a thought of a sugar cube being slowly dissolved under a steady drip of ice cold water into a glass of this said spirit.
Well if you haven’t googled her name by now or watched Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners’ Master Distiller (SPOILER AHEAD) then this part will really get you going! Mena had not made absinthe until she was asked to be on the show. Before we go any deeper, in Episode 7 Mena won the title of Moonshiner’s Master Distiller, a well deserved recognition for someone such as herself. Absinthe being a herbaceous liqueur was probably not that far of a stretch from Mena’s roots as an herbalist. Although we didn’t go into much of her appearance on the show I was able to ask some absinthe related questions.
Q. Now that you have made absinthe on national television, do you have any plans for creating Charlotte’s first absinthe?
A. This question was answered before I even got to ask, when Unknown Wood & Grain posted its release on January 16th, 2021.
Q. How would you go about introducing someone to absinthe? By way of a Necromancer, Sazerac, Death in the Afternoon, or full on sugar drip and sip?
A. The best way she recommended is to go 1:1 ratio with ice cold water or a rock and let it open up, as most cocktails that use absinthe don’t highlight the spirit, but rather mask them as an afterthought.
Q. What are the medicinal benefits of absinthe?
A. Mena likes to sip on a pour of absinth after a meal that includes a ton of carbs, as it is known to aid in digestion. It was also known as a 'vermifuge' to rid the body of worms/parasites.
Q. There are many types of wormwood, let’s discuss a few of them and the nuances of each?
A. The three mentioned were: Artemisia Absinthium (common wormwood), known for its aromatic, pungent and dry profile. Artemisia Pontica or petit wormwood (roman wormwood), milder than Absinthium, less bitter and pungent. Ending with Artemisia Tilesii or Mountain Wormwood, this wormwood contains a pain relieving quality almost like codeine. She has not worked with the latter, but did mention it has been used as a flavoring additive to dumplings.
Q. What's the wildest botanical/extraction you’ve done thus far?
A. As she began to laugh, mentioned a cannabis extraction which apparently because of its concentration her tongue felt the effects before the rest of her body did.
Q. For a novice to absinthe, are there recommended entry bottles/brands?
A. Of course Ted Bereaux’s (a judge on the episode Mena was on) Jade 1901, the celebratory pour from winning Moonshiner’s Master Distiller. St. George’s Absinthe Vert, and Pernod’s Flagship Absinthe that has been at the forefront of absinthe since the ban of 1912 was lifted in 2007.
I would like to recommend following Mena and her journey as she continues to put out awesome projects at Unknown Wood and Grain. With the absinthe being the third project, a gin, and a tequila before that, one can only imagine what she will be conjuring up next!
Salud!
Brodie @wsky.n.jojo