WEBVTT - Reviving Arak in Palestine 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.800 Product is the oldest spirit in the world. It's the 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.200 mother spirit of all spirits. I mean, even the word 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:11.239 alcohol is an Arabic word. It comes from the word 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:18.200 as spirit that was shipped in Plason as far as Mongol. Yeah, 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.080 today refer to the category of spirits and itself to Eric. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:26.759 But Eric in itself is basically a triple distilled great brandy. 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.960 It's usually enjoyed with a meal where it slipped slowly 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.640 over the course of several hours with different types of 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:39.000 mossad dishes. And it's a tradition in releast that's been 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:45.239 consumed since the night the Tury. Hello. Hello, it's me 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.159 west Stone, co founder and Point of Origin host Stephen Saderfield. 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.000 It's been a few months since our last podcast. In 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.400 the world that we left behind is so so much different. 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.480 With more sitting and reading and reflecting in content and plating, 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.680 we can start to see plainly the ways in which 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.800 our most vulnerable communities have always been the ones most 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:12.920 closely bound to struggles for justice, land, and dignity. There 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.840 is much to be garnered and understanding the past. We 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.920 believe this so fiercely that we've dedicated our work to 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:27.640 this premise entirely centering concepts like origin, anthropology, and indigeneity. 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.920 We considered our role in this moment of social uprising 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:33.840 and the ways in which it is related to our work. 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.600 At first, we thought of maybe doing an entire season 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:42.920 through the filter of COVID nineteen or the immense Black 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.440 Lives Matter mobilization. But as we started to prepare for 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.200 this season, what became clear is that the thing we 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.360 do best is also the thing that is the most 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:58.440 helpful in this moment, and that thing is absorbing and 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.520 discussing food culture from the perspective of the global and 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:09.200 the historical. We cannot comment intelligently on food, social uprisings, pandemics, 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.440 or really anything in between with a perspective that is 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:20.480 not international, intergenerational, and intersectional. So our plan for season 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.880 three is the same as the first two, which is 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.720 to explore the world of food worldwide, and in doing that, 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.040 with the context that we provide and the people that 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:35.160 we learn from, we hope helps us all understand the 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:40.280 parts of our culture that are cyclical and collective, and 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.639 how we can learn from past struggles to meet this 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:52.400 moment with unprecedented education and empathy. With that I'd like 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.080 to welcome you all to Point of Origin Season three. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.640 We begin with a trip to Palestine to discover the 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.960 history behind the lesser known spirit of Iraq. Wet Stone 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:11.520 contributing journalist Lyric Lewin brings us to the Mwati Distillery. So, Lyric, 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.880 you went to Palestine and met Notter and spent time 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:18.399 on his land learning about Iraq, it's history and Palestine 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.800 and how for not a producing Iraq is a revival 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:27.480 of sorts in terms of the tradition and also the methodology. Yes, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.680 so Eric is a spirit that is traditional in the lavant. 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.359 It's distilled from indigenous grapes that are used in winemaking 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.520 and infused with aniseeds. It's a really smooth drink with 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.840 a kick of licorice to it. Most people are familiar 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.440 with Italian sambuca or with uzu from Greece, but not 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:47.560 a lot of people know that those are all derived 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.080 from the mother spirit Attack. The history of Iraq is 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.440 really interesting because it evolved from the Arab invention of 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:59.040 olymbic distillation around the eighth century, and basically olympics are 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:04.080 these apparatus is used to distill or separate and purify substances, 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.120 so they can be made from glass, ceramic, or copper. 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.839 And they have two different parts. The bottom part will 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.800 sit over a heat source and that contains the substance 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.359 that needs to be distilled. And then at the top 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.760 is this bulb and tube sloping down and out so 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.200 that when the vapors rise and flow through the tube, 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:25.279 they can cool down and condense away from the heat source. 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.160 So truly Europe and the rest of the world would 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.520 not have their sambuca or uzu without this and scientific 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.280 invention from the Levant and Muadi. Attack is made primarily 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.040 with the dubuky grape, which is one of many indigenous 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.560 varietals in the West Bank. It's a white varietal that's large, round, 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.240 sweet and juicy, and Nater wants to make sure that 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.400 he has as much juice per grape as possible because 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.839 those will have a higher sugar content and that will 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:57.240 yield the higher alcohol content. So in Palastine we have 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:02.080 twenty three indigenous species of grapes, about maybe you say 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:05.320 eight or nine of them are suitable for wine, three 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:07.239 of which are white barrietal. So that I used my attic. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.520 I used primarily the bookie Um but there's also from 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.800 Danny and Genderly. The Genderly you can tell that the 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.520 berries are smaller, but they're much sweeter. The traditional way 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.839 of growing vines in Palestine is in these beautiful goblet vines. 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:24.559 The farmers grow the vines straight up like a little 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.599 tree basically, so there's no trellising, and that way, due 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.040 to the harsh sun, the canopies of leaves can serve 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.000 his protection for the grapes. Here's what Nater had to 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:39.960 say growing up in the States, for me, like I 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.760 had a very bicultural upbringing. Like on week like at school, 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:44.320 we spoke English, but like when I came home, we 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:46.960 spoke Arabic. On the weekends we spoke Arabic. And whenever 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.080 we had like public holidays, whether it's Thanksgiving or the 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:51.200 Fourth of July, we always had, like you know, a 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:55.479 small gathering of the Philadelphia Palesine community, and you know 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.040 those gatherings, we always had Palestinian food, and we always 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.480 had attack attic. It's it's to drink that's aynonymous with 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.800 our cuisine, like it goes best with our food, and 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.800 we always had Lebanese attic. I don't remember any Palicine 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.160 hottic ever being available there and the brands we had 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:12.720 they were good, and we had like a Zook, we 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:14.800 had Massai, a couple of good brands out there, and 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:16.840 I love that for me. Like at the time that 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:18.960 I mean, I'm used to drink whatever, But like over 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:21.960 the years, like I sort of realized that I don't 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:25.359 enjoy beer or wine as much as I enjoy like 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:27.400 when I was drinking, wouldrink whatever, but now like when 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.040 you want to drink for pleasure, I enjoy at it 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:30.760 because it just goes best with the food that we 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.839 eat here. Coming back here in like two thousand and seven, 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.800 like I remember, I couldn't find good addict like I 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:39.880 used to enjoy attic in the States, but like that 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.680 act in the local market, it was just like I 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:44.520 don't want to shoot anyone down, but it wasn't on 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.920 par like I mean it burnt like going down. It 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:53.920 was just it didn't have the flavor, didn't have viscosity, aroma. Um. 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:58.120 It was just commercial. You can say um. And basically 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.880 what I used to do is um. You Lebanese products 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.839 coming into Palace thinks Israel lebing On are technically of war. 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.440 It's hard to get Lebanese goods into the West Bank 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.520 because the West Bank is occupied by Israel. Um. So 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.320 whenever I would go to Jordan's, which is you know, 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.360 like a couple of hours trip, I would always you know, 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.240 pick up some audict at the duty free and they 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.520 usually have the popular lebing his brands, and I bring 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.480 them in you know, my suitcase or not a duty 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:23.880 free bag or whatever. Um. And sometimes you know, if 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:25.240 I didn't have any on me and I had like, 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:26.560 you know, gathering of friends who wann't to go out 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.440 and have a barbecue do whatever. Um, you know, I'd 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:31.560 stopped by a liquor store. You'd always find the local 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:33.320 attic and then you find like one bottle of like 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:35.679 some Lebanese brand, but it would be like a hundred 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.240 dollars per bottle, and you know, it got expensive and 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.280 it wasn't sustainable. And I figured, you know, if if 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.720 if I'm like killing myself the good quality audict, I'm 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.800 sure there's other attic lovers like you know, on the 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:51.040 market and want to get it. So I I you know, 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.560 I know some friends of mine who only drink exclusively 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.240 like myself, and you know they were doing the same 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.480 thing more or less, so I figured, you know, but 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.240 maybe then it would be a better, are feasible route 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.120 for me, just to explore the possibility of trying to 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.560 make out. And from there, I just like bought a 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:07.480 bunch of books like that was back in two thousand 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.440 ten on Amazon about the stealing and fermentation of grapes 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.960 and making brandy. Really I studied how to make corniac 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.920 and brandy um, and from there it's like an extra 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.040 step how to make adduc um. I spent a lot, 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.160 like a whole year basically reading upon it in different 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:25.400 websites forums, getting books off at Amazon. Two thousand eleven, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.680 I purchased like a really little hobby still, like a 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.160 small six leader still, and I was making tiny batches. 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:36.000 And from like two thousand you can say was my 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.719 first batch, all the way up until about h or 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.920 the two thousand, two thousand eighteen, like pretty much two 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.559 thousand seventeen, I was making really tiny batches. I was 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.320 making like I started out with like twenty bottles and 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:49.240 thirty and forty, made a pop up to about almost 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.079 a hundred bottles um. And then I you know, I 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.920 was basically trying to get people's feedback at first, and 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.800 then I found that, you know, after after I got 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.080 a recipe down and people enjoyed it, and you know, 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.600 I appopriate at all the feedback that I, you know, 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.839 seem to agree with. UM had sent up production a 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:06.720 little bit, and see if I can sell it. You know, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.120 there wasn't interest people are asking me for it, So 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:10.560 I forget if people are asking me for it and 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.079 giving it out for free, and mind as well. You know, 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.000 see if I can make something out on the side, 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:16.280 maybe one day can make a business out of it, 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.760 right like over the because you know, over here there's 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.280 a conflict, and you know, people here aren't very wealthy. 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:23.959 There's you have like a very small upper class, and 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:25.679 I get, but majority of people are probably don't have 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.880 a lot of money, and there's a middle class fairly 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.559 exists here. UM. So I guess commercial producers over the 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.200 year they began making like this inferior product that they 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.319 call out of And I guess they did it because 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:38.600 you know, if they want to sell, they have to 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.480 sell something cheap. They need to sell some of people 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:42.640 can afford to buy, and they cut a lot of 0:09:42.679 --> 0:09:47.320 corners and they began using like industrial alcohol and they 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.599 would just buy it in like one thousand meter containers. 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.839 They'd knock it down as the water, and then they'd 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.640 add like anisol flavoring too, like Annis flavor, and it 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:58.680 was just like it was a cocktail operation. They just 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.760 mix and bottle and that was it um And that's 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.240 what made this inferior product on the market called addict. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.720 But the problem with that is that people got driven 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:09.600 away from Attic. You know, when people have a special 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:11.640 occasion or gathering or they want to get a gift 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.800 for somebody, and you know, they want to get something 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.120 you know that would you know, reflect upon themselves as 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:18.840 you know, I got you a nice gift or whatever. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:21.280 They're definitely not probiotic. I mean that the scene is 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.320 like the poor Men's drink and you know, the drink 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.679 of the masses, and a lot of people got it 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:28.800 went away from it. So I mean, like now people 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.319 you know that they have this perception that Attic is 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.120 inferior and that if you want to drink something good, 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.480 you gotta drink whiskey or tequila, and they went towards 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.200 the brown spirits um. So for me, like and then 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.360 people they forgot all about like a lot of people 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:42.920 here like even in Palace. I'm surprised, Like you know, 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:44.840 it's the homeland of Addict. They don't even know how 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:46.599 Hoddic is made. They think it comes from Annessey and 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:48.800 they don't know that it's actually a great brandy with 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:53.520 annest flavoring. Um. And to me, I mean, some people, 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:55.480 like my small circle of friends who drink addict, they 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:57.680 were all enthusiastic about it, But the broader people they 0:10:57.720 --> 0:10:59.800 just didn't get, like like, why are you making out 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:01.360 of not make something else? And some people, if you're 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.600 gonna make experience, go make whiskey. You know, people love whiskey. Um. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:06.760 But for me, I'm also I'm passionate about, like you know, 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:10.400 upholding our tradition and our heritage. And for me, I 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:12.840 think it's like a travesty to drink whiskey with Palestine, 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:14.719 And truly I want to revive out it. I want 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:19.240 to make out it great again. UM. I love that 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.920 because you're almost you had like, on top of everything 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.080 else you're doing to make it, you almost had like 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:28.080 a rebranding mission to like rebrand Iraq, to make it 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.079 something that you could remind people know this is actually 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.559 how amazing it can be. Yeah, I mean one of 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.160 my goals I want to make people proud of out it. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.679 I want to revive like auducts, like glory and like 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.680 um yeah, I want out to be like, you know, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.439 something of national pride. Um. I feel like, you know, 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:45.480 if we if it's these small things like where we 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.800 if we give up on these small you know, parts 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.319 of our heritage. You know that all these little bits 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.400 like whether it's food or whether it's whatever, I mean, 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.959 it makes up it's a fabric of our identity. If 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.360 you give up on it, eventually you'll lose who you are. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.200 You lose your culture, you lose your you know, your 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:09.839 sense of self. We have a very rich gold in 0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:12.720 a traditions here in Palestine, and in particular like our 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.680 our distilling heritage is very unique. I mean, if you 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.600 saw on my website, we Arabs in the Van were 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:22.440 the first to create distilling. We're the first to make spirits, 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.920 were the first to you know, alcohols. In Arabic word 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.839 alcohol comes from ahl eyeliner um. And that's what the 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:30.960 still was created for because it was a must an 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:32.880 alchemist who created it. And you would have never created 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:36.040 for alcohol. Um. But you know, and when I reached 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.040 the shores of the Mediterranean. You know, all these countries, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.839 so what is its alcohol? And and now you have 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.560 all these different spirits around the world who who you know, 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.120 are off shoots of alcohol, whether it's pasties in France 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.600 or San Buca and Italy, or Uzo in Greece or 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:56.120 Rack turkeyan Splura and so on. Um so, I mean 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.320 all these spirits come from this one mother spirit, which 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.800 is adduct, the oldest spirit in the world. And I 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.640 just think that, you know, the International Commune knows enough 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:06.680 about the spirit, and I don't think that it gets 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.040 the respect that it deserves. So definitely I wanted to 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.240 raise you know that the aspect of you know, are 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.480 stilling heritage and wanted that to be known. And I 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:16.880 just wanted to I said, I wanted people to know 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:18.199 that I want to the Palestine and the map to 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:23.080 let people in the Palestine produces high quality goods. Regarding 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:28.640 the policine narrative, I don't know. I mean, that's kind 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:30.400 of one of the same for me, Like I mean, 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:32.400 I try to I try not to go into the 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.880 politics of the conflict when we talk about my atticum. 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:37.199 I mean like that that's sort of it, Like I 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.200 wanted just to put ourselves in the map and let people, 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.400 you know, to share our culture with the international community 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:45.160 and um, you know, to share with the internationally, let 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.400 the local people see you know, what we can do 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.760 with you know, just the little means that we have here. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.920 I mean for me also, like I'm hyper sensitific about 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.319 into the conflict. Like not for the fact that you know, 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:04.560 everyone has a political stance. Politics, It's part of our 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.480 daily lives. You can think our pastime is sitting around 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:11.640 and talking about politics. Um. But for me, like I 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:13.240 don't want to make it like I don't want to 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.160 like ride the conflict, you know what I mean, Like 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.120 I don't want to. I don't want to talk about 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.360 like I mean sure, like I buy my grapes from farmers, 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.480 and I buy my annessey from farmers. My grapes in 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:25.400 particularly come from a problematic area. Um it's scenario where 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.120 is really settlements are expanding. And I mean I have 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.680 farmers that I buy from who frequently have settlers trustpassing 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.440 on their property. They've been subject to a tax, oftentimes 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.160 in military events them from reaching their land. But for me, 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.360 like I don't want to make it like I don't 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.480 want people to. I don't want to exploit the conflict, 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:42.840 like I don't want to make it like part of 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:44.480 my money, Like I don't want people to buy my 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.080 product because it's made in Palestine because they like Palestine. 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.560 I want to support Palestine for me. I want people 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.240 to drink my project because like I want them to 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.400 just because they enjoy it. And one of my goals 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.600 is to make you know, the Wald's most respected addict, 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.440 and I want to do it as executively as possible. 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.680 I want people to, you know, I want the quality 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.080 to to raise my product. I don't want to you know, 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.080 umously like I mean, I don't want people like I 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.360 know that sometimes the conflict here can be sexy and 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.960 sometimes people might use that when it comes to marketing. 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:16.040 They're goods locally for an international audience. That's not at 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:18.080 all for me. And I'm not even trying to target 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.680 international audience for me, like I mean, I'm barely having 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:23.640 um I'm not barely able to meet local demands, like 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.440 I released my first batch in in November and now 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.720 I'm completely sold out. So Stephen Noder has been working 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.680 to triple his output for this year, he went from 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.720 using a hobby still in his basement to opening and 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.880 renovating his own distillery with certifications and equipment. So in 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.160 order to keep up with higher production, he has to 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.720 secure more grapes from different Palestinian farmers. When I was 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.320 there with him, it was the late September of twentyteen, 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:50.480 and he was checking out the grapes at one of 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.720 the farm he uses to confirm that they were ready 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.240 for harvest and delivery, and then he took us to 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.840 the farm which was an Area C so that is 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.960 under Israeli military occupations. So there are a lot of 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:07.520 settlements around there, Israeli settlements who are illegally coming in 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:12.760 and setting up um poems. And it's yeah, he nod 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.440 makes it clear he doesn't ever want to to modify 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:18.080 the conflict for his product, but I think it's worth 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.640 noting because he has so many more obstacles to overcome 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:25.960 to produce his adduct than than someone else. I mean, 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.440 even the farm we were at, just over the fence, 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.960 there was an Israeli winery, so they're shipping that out 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.080 saying it's Israeli wine, but it's grown and produced on 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.640 Palestinian soil. In the West Bank um, which was really upsetting. 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.720 But then we got to see the farm where he 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:48.160 harvests from, and then he had this um table set 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:50.160 up with all this mesa and we were able to 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:54.000 eat and drink together, and it was it was absolutely incredible. 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:09.840 But jo Joshi, I live in area see so area 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.280 see it's I live in a Palastinian village, but the 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:15.720 area I live in it's under is really military control. 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.200 And all of the areas west of where I live, 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.480 which are the villages that I'm getting from, they're also 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:22.919 under military control. There are there are like checkpoints in 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.080 the area. I live right next to a military base. 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:29.879 But I mean it depends on the situation on the ground. 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:32.280 When things are tense, there'll be a lot more checkpoints, 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.639 in sort of flying checkpoints. They'll be stopping people a 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:37.320 lot more often. It's they don't have so many problems 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.239 delivering the grapes to me as much as they do 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:41.880 have problems trying to care for the grapes. That's kind 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:43.639 of how I frame it, because I mean, for me, 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:45.600 it's not very for it's like a five minute drive. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:47.119 I can be like any I can be like more 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:51.119 of my first vineyards Um, but for me, it's more 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.320 of a problem for them really, I mean to be honest, 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:55.679 they faced a lot of problems because they live in 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:59.000 like a very sensitive area where is really settlements are 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.119 trying to expand and take over as much territory as 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.520 they can, so they're constantly having you know, settlers invade 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:09.800 their property, either uprooting vines, tearing down vines, bulldozing vines, 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.800 burning vines. Sometimes they're attacked for for being in their land. 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:15.800 They try not to stay out there late, so they 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.840 can only work during specific hours out of fear being attacked. Um. 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:21.800 A lot of like the settlements, they have like a 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.880 peripheral security or buffer zone, and oftentimes, you know, it's 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.280 difficult for them to get into their their vineyards in 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:31.000 those areas because if they do, they might be arrested 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.720 by the military. So sometimes they do it unlike you know, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.040 it's the Jewish holiday or if it's a Saturday, it's 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:38.960 the holy day for the you know, so that settlers 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.520 there aren't necessarily out it's more safe. They feel more 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.000 safe going out to their vineyards that sort of thing. Yeah, 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.360 I wanted to I'm obsessed with authenticity and doing things 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:54.040 a traditional way. So in Palestine we have twenty three 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.520 indigenous species of grapes about maybe you say eight or 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.760 nine of them are suitable for wine, three of which 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.040 are white parietals. So that I used my attic. I 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:08.680 used primarily the bookie, but there's also m Danny and genderly. 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.000 The genderly you can tell that the berries are smaller, 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.879 but they're much sweeter. The sugar component and them is crazy. 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:22.119 You're just talking like roughly, like the sugar apper leader. Um. 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.400 But yeah, so I common to check periodically. Every week, 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:26.640 I come and I take samples of all the berries. 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:28.760 I try and get like one from each corner of 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.760 an year, one in the center, different areas, and we 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.639 decide on a weekly basis which winds the pick and 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.040 how we go about. In general, what I do is 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.199 I just take the grapes, I crush them, and then 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:48.800 I throw them in barrels. And then after that second 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.639 distillation that's the most complicated. Um, then we get in 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.520 the third distillation. For the third distillation, I take that 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.040 purified spirit, I put it back in the still. Um. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.439 I reduced it down the thirty every time, because more 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:05.399 than year at risk of making an explosion. Um. Yeah, 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:08.240 so I put it back in the steel. Easily it's 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.359 about like sevent um, so I water it down to 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.280 about thirty. I put it back in the steel, and 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:17.639 then I put aniseed in it. And what happens is 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:19.919 the aniseed as it soaks. I'll let it so for 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.480 a period about twenty four hours, it will absorb the 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.120 ethanol and it will release annimal, which is anas oil. 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:28.520 And then the next day when I come back and 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.120 instill it, basically the anti fall and the ethanol will 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.000 be both the vaporizes together simultaneously. And when I cool 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:37.840 that paper back into a liquid, now it's become one 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:42.000 intertwined liquidum, which is the basis of auduct. And then 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:44.480 from there I'll take it. I'll load it into clay casks. 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:48.800 I age it for a year, and roughly after a 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.240 year or so, um, I'll just start taking samples towards 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:54.200