A pile of them had been hanging out on our desks for a week or more, tiny pleated husks filled with … fruit? I wasn’t sure. Alice told me these were gooseberries grown by her mother; I was a gooseberry virgin. I peeled the papery husk away and bit the sunshine-colored fruit: It was gently sweet but with tart and apricoty undertones. The flavor was hard to describe, but I thought immediately of turning it into some kind of drink.

The quickest way to imbibe cape gooseberries (also known as Peruvian ground cherries) would be to make a simple syrup, which I did with the fistful I took home from the office. Serendipity had also recently delivered a bottle of Vermont’s first white whiskey —  an unaged whiskey straight from the still, sans barrel aging — made by Vermont Spirits in Quechee. It’s called Black Snake, it’s distilled from Vermont corn, and it’s clear, roundand warming — almost as if it has an invisible vein of cinnamon — and slightly sweet. Imagine a softer blanco tequila, a much more flavorful vodka, a spirit whose flavor is as unusual as gooseberries and whose versatility is kind of thrilling.

Corin Hirsch was a Seven Days food writer 2011 through 2016. She was also a dining critic and drinks columnist at Newsday from 2017 to 2022, and contributes to The Guardian, Wine Enthusiast and other publications. She’s spoken often on colonial era drinking and is the author of Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, published by History Press in 2014.

5 replies on “Grazing: Gooseberries, Meet White Whiskey”

  2. I don’t think adulterating moonshine is vulgar, it’s a necessity! I’ve yet to meet anyone who truly enjoys sipping white dog.

  3. I think the VT Spirits version is smooth enough to sip straight. Historically speaking, though, I agree with you.

  4. Thanks~ A colleague set me straight a day or so after the post. I’m truly a gooseberry/Cape gooseberry/ground cherry/Peruvian ground cherry novice.

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