For Our Foodies & Mixologists

Thank you for considering Spruce On Tap! We just wanted to let our culinary artists have a little heads up about our products when using them with food recipes and as pretty garnishes. Please note some of the following:

• On Appearance: Our processing and preserving techniques will slightly change the appearance of the spruce tips. Yes, they looked like the ones we offer on our store when we harvested them, but after freezing and shipping some of the needles get knocked off of the bough. Note the photo to the left, the tips look a little frazzled. They were broken apart while the package was still frozen. We estimate that normally about 20-25% of the tips will lose some or most of the needles. That said, they are normally the tips on the outer most portions of the bag that may be coming in contact with ice packs, etc. There will still be plenty of tips that are in tact. To preserve the best looks of the original growth, be sure to allow the spruce tips to fully thaw (1-2 days in the refrigerator) before trying to open the package and break them apart.
• On Texture: So many people we have spoken with are used to using Sitka spruce for the garnish. We have harvested Sitka spruce as well, and can tell you that even though we are harvesting our Colorado Blue and Engelmann spruce trees right at the perfect time of fresh, young, soft growth - ours needles are still more stiff than Sitka. Also, the freezing of the product stiffens the tips. So even though when we harvest they are nice and soft as they should be, after being frozen and then thawed out, they will not be as soft as they were at the time of harvest. We have seen this with both the Colorado species as well as the Sitka species harvested in the Pacific Northwest. Freezing them hardens them even after being thawed back out. Some customers have experimented with doing a salt water blanching to soften them up a bit more. The best bet is to blend or emulsify them and use that with your recipe.
• On Flavor & Aroma: Now the good news! Although our processing and preserving techniques have some effect on the physical condition of the spruce, we have not noticed any degradation of flavor or aroma when using these techniques. Be certain that you will get spruce with full flavor! Guaranteed.
• We estimate there are around 150 spruce tips per pound.

For more ideas on using spruce in beverages and dishes, see the link at the top of the page called Recipes and More!