Charlotte’s culinary scene has been getting much more TV time lately, with chefs across the town competing on Food Network shows such as Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay. Earlier this month, however, the city’s beverage industry took the attention. Mena Pratt, the master distiller of The Unknown Brewing Co.’s spirits offshoot Wood & Grain, competed on Moonshiners: Master Distillers earlier this month. (Find the full episode here.) The show pits three distillers against one another as they try to make the winning spirit, and this weekend, Unknown will be selling Pratt’s winning spirit. 

Pratt’s episode, titled Absinthe Makes Hearts Fonder, aired on Jan. 5. Her absinthe earned her a win — and the honor of being the first female champion on the show. 

When Tattoo bar opened inside KiKi Bistro in November 2018, Pratt worked as a bartender/alchemist, creating infusions and extractions that would make the small craft cocktail bar stand out. The bar menu each month would also feature a study of a specific spirit, and Pratt used that study to learn more about absinthe and making drinks with it. 

“Any time somebody would just give me full range on a cocktail, I would incorporate absinthe and try interesting, different ways to use those flavor profiles,” Pratt says. “I really developed a passion for absinthe not only, but all amari in general, they’re very herbaceous and bitter and sweet.”

Tattoo bar was forced to close with the rest of the state’s restaurants and bars as the pandemic hit last March, but Pratt wasn’t without work for long. She heard that The Unknown Brewing Co., a craft brewery off Mint Street just past Panthers stadium, was looking for a distiller to work with them to help with hand sanitizer production. In April, Pratt joined the team as distiller of The Unknown Wood & Grain, the brewery’s spirits brand, to help produce small batches of one-time release craft spirits. Made using a 100-gallon still, the absinthe was preceded by a barrel-rested gin and agave spirit aged in Spanish oak. 

This Saturday, Jan. 16, The Unknown Wood & Grain will release Project No. 3, Pratt’s absinthe. Though slightly different from the Discovery show recipe due to seasonality, it was made with herbs Pratt has grown and foraged herself, and only 100 bottles will be released. One bottle per person can be purchased at the tap room starting at noon for $50.

Pratt expects the next release to be rum, she says, but she has several spirits aging right now, including a Bloody Butcher Bourbon and pumpkin-based spirit. The release depends on how the barrels are sampling. 

“We’re tasting them and like waiting for them to age to perfection,” Pratt says. “And once the lights turn on, then we’ll definitely be releasing, but we’re not sticklers about what exactly is coming next.”

She’ll also be barrel-resting some of the absinthe and adding more summer botanicals to help achieve that bright green color many have come to expect from absinthe. For those lucky enough to purchase a bottle, Pratt recommends drinking it with a 1 to 1 ratio of water. 

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