Barton Springs Mill
founder James Brown is
a pioneer in the last
frontier of the farm-to-
table movement.he smell of fresh stone-
ground whole-grain
flour is unmistakable.
Like bread but raw. It’s
a scent that carries the
promise of pizza, pasta, cakes,
dumplings, tortillas. It’s immedi-
ately recognizable, despite the fact
that you’ve likely never smelled it
before, unless you’ve visited a place
like Barton Springs Mill.
The Hill Country’s fi rst new mill
in more than a century, Barton
Springs opened in 2017 in a fi ve-
thousand-square-foot building
on Frog Pond Lane, in Dripping
Springs. The warehouse sits in a
small industrial park with identical
buildings, but only one contains
hulking machines that include
a 1930s Clipper seed cleaner, an
imported Austrian Osttiroler mill
bearing two 1,500-pound mill-
stones, and a hammer mill that
breaks down grains for brewing
and distilling. Surrounding the
equipment are dozens of one-
ton vacuum-sealed bags full of
heirloom grains as well as chest
freezers packed with seeds to growT
30 TEXAS MONTHLY
TRENDING by Paula Forbes (^) • photographs by Jody Horton
FOOD
& DRINK