Thimbleberries, while a summertime staple of the Copper Country, have a short shelf life. But that means people can enjoy a small taste of summer even during the winter with locally made jams and jellies.
Throughout the Keweenaw Thimbleberry Festival, local jams have found their way into creative concoctions at different restaurants, shops and bars across the region. The Wood’n Spoon supplies some of the region’s thimbleberry jams that visitors and residents will pick up before the end of summer.
“That’s one spoon, and we do carry four different sizes of thimbleberry jam,” said Bruce Beaudion, owner of The Wood’n Spoon. “It’s very popular with everyone. It was a good year this year for thimbleberries. So we have the jam. We also have syrup and vanilla sauce, and we make a thimbleberry walnut cookie.”
Beviamo Vino created a gin thimbleberry cocktail special for the festival week. Jill Passanisi, owner of Beviamo Vino, says the tart berry surprises customers in the best way.
“Surprise people with things they’ve never tried before that, oh, I’m not going to like that. That smells weird. But then they try it they’re like, wow, I do like that,” Passanisi said. “And it’s funny because people think that they want sweet, sweet, all the time. And actually, a perfectly balanced cocktail, it plays on both on all your taste buds.”
Other local businesses are joining the celebration. Carmelitas in Calumet offers thimbleberry mojitos, Copper Island Bagels has infused thimbleberry jam into cream cheese, and The Copper Scoop in Calumet features thimbleberry ice cream.
Festivalgoers can find more participating locations using the Visit Keweenaw digital passport. Through that website, visitors can collect points and enter a raffle for a special thimbleberry gift basket. Find more information here.
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