A New Hampshire distillery has come up with its newest concoction called “Crab Trapper” — whiskey flavored with invasive green crabs.
Tamworth Distilling, a maker of craft spirits, is not afraid of pushing boundaries with unexpected flavors. In the past, the distillery produced a whiskey with the secretion from beavers’ castor sacs. Last year, it was turkey over the holidays and before that the notoriously pungent smell of durian.
The company said the body of this peculiar brew has hints of maple, vanilla oak, clove, cinnamon and allspice. And no, you won’t get any crab legs in the drink.
WHY DID THE COMPANY CHOOSE GREEN CRABS?
Searching for a fresh flavor, Tamworth Distilling cast its eye to the sea. Distiller Matt Power said the company heard about the problems caused by the invasive green crabs from the University of New Hampshire Extension’s Gabriela Bradt.
The crabs, which came over on ships from Europe in the mid-1800s and landed on Cape Cod, have taken the region by storm. These saucer-size crustaceans with a murky green color have decimated the area’s marine ecosystem, outcompeting native species for food and shelter.
Bradt, a fisheries extension specialist, said the crabs are “so numerous that they have really impacted shellfish habitats and fisheries because they are also voracious predators.” A good example, she said, was the soft-shell clam fishery, which has suffered millions of dollars in losses.
HOW DO YOU MAKE CRAB WHISKEY?
