According to journalist/writer Andy Rooney, “If some of our great decorated trees had been grown in a remote forest area with lights that came on every evening as it grew dark, the whole world would come to look at them and marvel at the mystery of their great beauty.”

Christmas trees can warm our hearts and brighten our holidays. But they’re not the only thing that can do that.

“Alcohol… it’s fuel for the Yule!” You know which journalist/writer said that one? Ernest Hemingway.

Okay, Hemingway didn’t say that. But he might as well have. Ever hear about his infamous cocktail, “Death in the Afternoon”? The man watered down his champagne with absinthe. He clearly understood the conviviality of a carefully crafted Christmas cordial.

And now a partnership in Michigan between a tree farm and a distillery is helping Mitten Staters make merry.

Blake Shelburne is the owner and operator of Antioch Tree Farm, located on 450 acres in Wexford County’s Village of Mesick.

“My dad (Wade) started working in Christmas trees when he was 15,” said Shelburne. “He continued on through high school and used Christmas tree work to pay his way through college. He and his friend Ron Cochrane started planting their own trees, along with doing contract work for other farms and landowners, while Dad was still in graduate school. He graduated with a master’s degree in English in 1972 and partnered with Ron in starting the Cochrane Tree Company.”

In 1986, Wade struck out on his own and founded Antioch Tree Farm. Shelburne was quick to point out that the split was amicable: “Dad and Ron still talk nearly every day, even during the winter when we are enjoying our off time!”

Shelburne started working for Antioch Tree Farm in 1992 when he was 10 years old. The next year, at 11, he worked all summer, five hours per day. “At the ripe old age of 12, I worked full-time, often more than 40 hours per week, all summer long,” he said. “I continued to work summers and harvest season weekends through high school and college. I came back from college to join the farm when I graduated in 2004.”

New trees are planted each April at Antioch Tree Farm. Photo courtesy of Blake Shelburne

At Antioch, Blake grows concolor fir, Fraser fir and Black Hills spruce, with the Fraser fir being the best seller. “We used to grow Scotch pine, Colorado blue spruce and Douglas fir, but have jettisoned those varieties over the years because of disease and other assorted issues that made them cost prohibitive to raise,” he explained. “The cut tree market has mostly turned to Fraser fir nationwide so a focus on that variety is a necessity for us.”

The trees are watered by over 300 miles of trickle irrigation on the ground.

Shelburne currently has six full-time employees and he always picks up a few more to help during harvest season. “Growing up, our extra harvest season help was always local but we have turned more and more to migrant labor for our short-term needs as hiring local people has gotten tougher and tougher,” he said.

Antioch’s season usually starts the first week of April when Shelburne and company plant the new trees. “After planting season, we transition into weed control and cone-picking. Pruning follows, usually starting around the Fourth of July and continuing on up until harvest season starts near the end of October,” he said. “Our wholesale harvest season starts near the 20th of October and is mostly wrapped up by Thanksgiving as all of our clients like to be set up for Black Friday sales, which has become something of a tradition.”

The farm has a small U-cut operation that opens Black Friday and continues until mid-December. The Black Friday tradition has gotten so popular in the area that Antioch sells almost 50% of its U-cut trees on the first weekend after Thanksgiving.

Another Kind of Warm Christmas Spirit

Shelburne detailed how his farm began its partnership with Iron Fish Distillery, also located in Mesick, MI.

“A few years ago, a friend and I went to Iron Fish for the first time. We happened to be the only people in the bar that night, so one of the owners sat down at the bar to chat with us. The conversation got around to what we did for a living and when we explained that I grew Christmas trees, he replied, ‘like con-a-color?’ I said, ‘Yes, we grow concolor fir.’”

The distillers use the tips of concolor fir trees to flavor their Woodland Gin. Photo courtesy of Iron Fish Distillery

He explained that they had spoken to a brewer who had always wanted to try something with concolor fir because of its very citrusy smell. He asked if Shelburne would bring them a sample and, being a gin drinker himself, he said that he would bring a sample the very next day.

“Our wholesale business had wrapped up by then, so I only had choose-and-cut responsibilities the next day. Dad could cover that. I went and clipped them a gallon bag’s worth of the new growth of concolor fir and delivered the sample,” he said. “Their distiller opened the bag, stuck his face in, took a big whiff and the rest is kind of history!”

Shelburne really enjoys the gin. His father? Not so much. “I do enjoy it but Dad can’t get it past the end of his nose,” he laughed. “He claims he has spent way too many days pruning concolors in 90º heat when the citrusy odor can be almost overwhelming to be able to enjoy drinking it.

Kyle Behenna has been the production manager at Iron Fish since January 2024. Of the addition of the concolor to the gin, he said, “Concolor tips have great aromatics… the citrus is incredible! It’s been super popular.”

The demand for the concolor-infused gin has gotten so high that the distillery has started growing its own trees in an effort to supplement what it gets from Antioch. “Some of ours are now five to six feet,” said Behenna, “but most are still very tiny.”

When it comes to using the concolor tips, timing is everything. “You need to make sure that the tips are at that stage when the citrus flavors are most locked into the sap,” Behenna explained. “We then macerate the tips overnight with other botanicals in neutral green spirit in the still.”

The gin has netted Iron Fish a number of awards, including a Cigar & Spirits Legacy Award.

Behenna recommends trying the gin in a customer favorite cocktail dubbed “The Wile E. Coyote.” He said, “It’s a great mix of citrus and spice.”

by Enrico Villamaino