Hilary Charlotte
What happens when the city’s top bartenders are forced to choose? Introducing the ultimate five-bottle bar, perfectly sized for apartment dwelling.
Tasting Panel Magazine, June 2010. Page 58
Here's my new story in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, June 30.
Coffee liqueurs make a splash in cocktails
by Camper English
The craze for organic, shade-grown,
micro-roasted slow-drip coffee has percolated into the cocktail world.
Bartenders are improving classic coffee drinks, finding ways to harness
the beans' bitter, aromatic qualities rather than just the caffeine
kick. Most cold coffee cocktails served in the past 20 or so years
have been variations of the vodka espresso (better known as the espresso
martini) credited to British bartender Dick Bradsell and made with
vodka, espresso and Kahlua and Tia Maria coffee liqueurs. Nopa bar
manager Neyah White updated this drink about three years ago, creating
the Blue Bottle martini with Blue Bottle espresso, vodka and Araku
coffee liqueur. It was, and is, "a ridiculously big seller," White says. Coffee
liqueur got a good bit more serious with the April release of Firelit
Spirits Coffee Liqueur, made with coffee from Oakland's Blue Bottle
coffee roasters and brandy from distiller Dave Smith of St. George
Spirits in Alameda.
In the June 2010 issue of Wired magazine I have a short piece on how to make crystal clear ice. The story is online here.
“You can find brands in every segment of the category that are growing and brands that aren’t. Despite the economic downturn the positive momentum in gin still seems to be there,” says Bill Topf, vice president of marketing for gin at Diageo.
Read the rest of the story for the May 2010 issue of Beverage Media here.
I wrote a piece on the new cocktail menu at Ozumo in San Francisco
for Tasting Table. Bar manager Joshua Haney has one cocktail made with
with candy cap mushrooms and another with Kobe beef and apple syrup.
(Mushroom in the glass and salted almond garnish.)
The Ultimate Five-Bottle Bar, Perfect for Apartment Dwelling
Hilary CharlotteWhat happens when the city’s top bartenders are forced to choose? Introducing the ultimate five-bottle bar, perfectly sized for apartment dwelling.
via 7x7.com
By Camper English
I have a story in the new March/April issue of Fine Cooking magazine. It's about the variety of ways to sweeten cocktails with raw sugars, maple syrup, agave, honey, etc.
Make it a double
These bars within bars offer patrons a choice of drinking styles.The
hottest haute cocktails require a range of syrups, bitters, fresh
herbs, several types of gin, a lot of storage space, and extra time to
make every drink. One way in which bar owners are handling the demand
is by dividing and conquering, opening two bars in a single venue—one
to promote quick service, the other for slow sipping.
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impressive for quantity--but not creativity.
Even though many of the city's best destinations for superb cocktails are only open at night, if you're strategic, you can drink well at noon. Here, a road map to a tension-free (and unproductive) afternoon:
via tastingtable.com
Over the years, we've watched whiskey labels become increasingly specific; single-malts, small-batch, limited edition and single-barrel options abound. But it doesn't get any more exclusive than a single barrel sold to a single person--you.
via tastingtable.com
The former Jade Bar space has been transformed into an over-the-top, three-story nautical theme bar by owner Martin Cate, one of the nation’s top tiki cocktail experts. Fitting with tiki tradition, the place is designed to be an escapist fantasyland, although Smuggler more elaborate than most in this campy genre, packed full of South Seas island and pirate ship props and a two-story waterfall tying it all together.
Gin that bruises, 500-year-old secret recipes and miracle hangover cures. The world of cocktails is rife with myths and misinformation. As we slowly move out of the Dark Ages and into the cocktail Enlightenment, bartenders are starting to use scientific methodology to disprove hearsay and improve drinks.
Some of that science will be explained Jan. 20 at the Exploratorium. A one-night event (sold out, though the Web site promises to share details for home experiments) will include exhibits on the science behind layering a pousse-café, why absinthe turns white when water is added and how cocktails are affected by the shape of ice.
via www.sfgate.com
A common sight in the nation's speakeasy-themed bars is a list of rules about what one can and cannot do - and can and cannot order. But among a newer batch of bars, the trendiest design feature is dialogue.
via www.sfgate.com
Bottle talk with the CEO behind San Francisco's favorite shot, Fernet-Branca.
Relatively few classic cocktails call for tequila or mezcal, as those spirits weren’t popular in the States in mixology’s first golden era.
Today, however, San Francisco’s tequila-loving bartenders have been swapping out bourbon and Scotch for south-of-the-border spirits in both vintage and modern cocktails.
via tastingtable.com
What makes a cocktail a cocktail? The earliest answer comes from an 1806 newspaper story, which states that the difference between this new-fangled invention and other alcoholic drinks is the addition of bitters. The ingredient was a bar staple during the 19th century, but up until recently most bartenders treated it like an optional garnish.
The truth is bitters are much more than ornamental and actually serve a purpose.
via liquor.com
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