Eureka Springs great for food, fun

When I saw a bar named The Rowdy Beaver, I had to stop in.
I was in Eureka Springs last weekend for a little Halloween revelry and “The Beav” — as locals called it — looked like a good time. I was right.

Musicians often entertain on the streets of Eureka Springs

But, let me correct myself: The Rowdy Beaver Restaurant and Tavern is up on Highway 62, just up the road from historic downtown Eureka Springs. The bar I stopped in at was The Beaver Den, a smaller version of the original restaurant and tavern. It is located at 47 Spring St. in the heart of the city’s historic district.  Either way, it was a good time.
The Beaver Den offers up a good selection of burgers, beers, appetizers and cocktails. The small pub’s front windows offer a view of Eureka’s historic downtown — it is a great place to pull up a bar stool and people watch.
On Halloween in Eureka Springs — as you might guess — there were plenty of costumed people to watch.
Food and drink prices at The Beaver are super reasonable, especially by Eureka Springs standards. Cocktails ran $5.50, a pint of Shiner Bock was $4 and appetizers were $6.99.
I hadn’t had a Shiner is a while and forgot what a great beer it is. The Shiner, Texas-brewed dark amber is available in bottles around Joplin at most beverage retailers where craft ales and lagers are found.
It comes in at 4.4 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and isn’t as bitter or malty as many craft selections can be. It’s a smoooth drinker and worth a try.
Little Rock brew
Another must-try in Eureka Springs is Sparky’s Roadhouse Cafe, 147 Van Buren.
After a few hours at The Beaver watching the town’s native hippies scare timid tourists, it was time to head up the hill for dinner. Sparky’s has a great covered and heated patio, a fun cocktail lounge and serves 25 beers on tap.
I ordered a tall blonde ale from Diamond Bear, a Little Rock Ark., brewery. I had never heard of the brewery before and was feeling adventurous. It was a good call.

The Balcony Bar at the Basin Park Hotel is a great place to grab a drink and watch tourists and shoppers below.

At a little more than 4 percent ABV, and slightly bitter, the Southern Blonde ale — as the brewery calls it — hit the spot.
After a little Little Rock brew, I opted for a Red Seal Ale (5.5 percent ABV) from North Coast Brewing in Mendocino County Ca. Since 1998, North Coast has been a leader in the craft beer revolution.
Red Seal is a great full bodied, copper-colored ale with a spicy finish and was a great choice with the Cuban barbecue platter I ordered. Red Seal is a bitter brew, but great if that’s your style.
My pork platter ran $11.95, a large chef salad came in at $7.95 and a Jack & Coke was $6. A pint of Red Seal was only $2.75. Sparky’s also offers a good selection of wines, a full bar and reliable, friendly service.
Local Flavor
A couple of times a year I make it down to Eureka Springs and always stop in for brunch at Local Flavor, 71 South Main Street. The longtime Eureka eatery is a solid choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Sunday morning was warm and sunny and patio seating was available — that doesn’t always happen. I saddled up for some eggs Benedict piled atop an English muffin and sliced medium filet. A great meal.
A hearty chef salad came in at $9, my eggs Benedict was $13 and a bloody mary was $7. A double vodka cocktail was a bargain at $9.
Many places will charge you double the single cocktail price for an extra shot, but Local Flavor cuts you a deal on the double tall drink. This place always impresses and offers a good wine list and one of the best patios for people watching on a sunny morning.
I spied a new wine bar and wanted to give it a try, so I sat down on the patio of Cafe Luigi, 91 South Main Street, a well known Italian restaurant, and decided to kill a few minutes until The Stone House opened at 3 p.m. While I didn’t eat at Luigi’s this trip, I have before and it’s a good spot if pasta is what you crave.
A bottle of Shiner Boch was $3.50 and a Jack & Coke was $6. It seems that $6 is the going rate for cocktails in Eureka Springs, these days. Just about everywhere I went, that was the price for a liberal pour.
We finished our drinks and headed over to The Stone House, 89 S. Main St. It’s a great little place that has recently undergone a massive renovation. I was so impressed by Stone House that I decided to dig a little deeper and report back for our “On the Table” section, which debuts next Wednesday. Pick up a Joplin Globe next Wednesday for a full report.
Other options
* At the Basin Park Hotel’s Balcony Bar, 12 Spring St., well drinks were $4, a Michelob Ultra was $3.50 and a screwdriver was $5.
*  At Jack’s Place, 37 Spring St., a bar with free live entertainment the weekend I was there, cocktails were $6 and there was no cover charge. The drinks at Jack’s were pretty standard and the crowd a good time.
* Henri’s Just One More Martini’s and Grill,191⁄2 Spring St., a cocktail was $6.50. The staff at Henri’s served up stiff drinks and good fun. Give it a try the next time you head south to Eureka Springs.
Cheers!

Ozarks’ distiller makes money making moonshine, whiskey and rum

I’ve always been fascinated by moonshiners.
My lust for illegal liquor goes back to the TV sitcoms of the 1960s and ’70s. I always liked “The Andy Griffith Show’s” moonshining florists — the Morrison sisters — and their potent “elixer” that Otis, the town drunk, so loved.
On “The Beverly Hillbillies,” Granny always had a jug of her “roomatiz medicine” ready to remedy anyone with a touch of consumption.

Jim Blansit, owner of Copper Run Distillery near Branson.

Even the feuding Appalachian clans, the Hatfields and McCoys, could agree on one thing: Moonshine, good. Revenuers, bad.
When I discovered a modern-day moonshiner had set up shop — and a 140 gallon copper pot still — about 10 miles north of Branson, it was a no-brainer for me to stop in, say “howdy” and sample a “snort,” as Granny Clampett used to say.
Jim Blansit owns and operates Copper Run Distillery, 1901 Day Road, in Walnut Shade, Mo. At Copper Run, Jim — with the help of his family — produces sour mash corn whiskey, molasses-based dark rum and traditional Ozarks moonshine, an un-aged version of his whiskey.
Jim isn’t a moonshiner — they made their illegal hooch at night, under shine of the moon, to escape the prying eyes of government agents. Jim’s operation is full-on legal, licensed by the state and he pays the taxes to prove it.
‘World class whiskey’
“My parents and brothers and sisters, everyone is pitching in to help,” Jim said as he showed me around the distillery he built on his family’s property.
A self-taught distiller, Jim started learning about fermentation while working at wineries and brewpubs.
“I worked in the beer brewing industry in the ’90s and for a couple different wineries,” he said. “When it comes to distilling, I’ve been practicing for the last couple of years.”
Open at 10 a.m. seven days a week, Jim said he loves it when guests drop in at Copper Run and check out the distillery.
“The people who come to see us are always a good time,” he said. “We really enjoy the visitors who come and sample and purchase our products.”
Jim’s place is the second distillery I’ve visited. I toured the Anchor Steam distillery in San Francisco last summer and was fascinated. Breweries I know, but distilleries are new to me.

Copper Run produces a sour mash corn whiskey, an aged dark rum and traditional moonshine.

“To make good whiskey you have to make good beer first,” Jim said as I sampled his corn liquor. “It’s 80 percent corn and 20 percent wheat.”
When Jim decided to get into the distilling business, he researched the techniques used by old-time distillers.
“I decided to go back and research the techniques from a couple of hundred of years ago,” Jim said. “I make whiskey way they used to make it before the prohibition recipes started being used.
To make his whiskey and moonshine, Jim uses locally grown corn and wheat. For his rum, molasses from Louisiana is imported. Jim said the Ozarks’ water makes his liquor special.
“Our water is ideal for making whiskey,” he said. “The calcium, magnesium, hardness of the water and the lack of iron makes a world class whiskey.”
Rum or shine
Processing the grain to make his whiskey is time consuming. Making his “Privateer” label rum is an easier job, he said.
“We ferment molasses until it’s about 10 percent alcohol and then we double distill it on our direct fire copper pot still,” Jim said.  “That type of still is very rare these days. Hardly anybody uses them anymore. The pot stills make the best quality. When I’m distilling it caramelizes some of those sugars and just creates superior rum.”

Jim had a 140 gallon copper still built to produce his whiskey, rum and moonshine.

Jim ages his rum in sherry barrels he gets from Stone Hill Winery in Branson. When the winery empties out a barrel for bottling they give him a call and he dashes over, picks it up and fills it with his rum for aging.  “It’s a fantastic relationship,” he said.
The charred oak barrels his whiskey ages in come from American Stave Company in Lebanon, Mo.  Jim’s moonshine is the fastest for him to produce, he said.
“We take the corn from the field and in two weeks we have it in the bottle,” he said.
Copper Run products are available in Springfield and Branson. Jim plans to expand into the Joplin area after the first of the year. Copper Run’s one-year aged whiskey and Privateer rum retail for $30. Copper Run Moonshine runs $22. Cheers!