Trend-O-Meter Says: German Beers Are In, Belgians Are Out (6/29/09)

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:35:00 -0700

Just when you were finally starting to get the difference between a double and triple, a farmhouse ale and a saison, American craft brewers have moved beyond Belgian-style beers into the realm of Germans. Sierra Nevada just released a new German-style wheat beer called Kellerweis that will be available year-round.

In addition, Brooklyn Brewery in New York teamed up with the brewer from the German Schneider brewery to create Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse, a malty, darker wheat beer with pronounced hop characteristics. Yeah, Belgians are still popular. But they’re not exactly the hot new thing anymore—unless you consider Redhook, a large craft brewery part owned and distributed by Anheuser-Busch InBev, to be cutting edge. It recently released a Belgian-style triple made using a “secret monastery yeast strain.” Yawn.

How to Make Meat-Infused Liquor

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:35:00 -0700

Bacon-infused bourbon is all the rage at fancy cocktail bars these days, and you can buy bacon-infused vodka at the market now. You may be tempted to try to make meat-infused liquor yourself. But note that you shouldn’t just put the bacon fat right in the drink, because that would make it really gross and oily. Instead, you can use a process called “fat washing,” which extracts the smoky, savory flavor, but leaves behind the oil. Simply add the fat to the liquor, let it sit for a few hours, freeze it, skim off the fat (which rises to the top during freezing), and then strain the resulting liquid to extract any remaining meat bits. Read about it on Chowhound.

However, know that the results can be pretty subtle. You may want to infuse your booze with other spices to simulate more of the cured meat flavor you’re seeking. Evan Zimmerman of Portland’s Laurelhurst Market makes a mean chorizo margarita. He first infuses tequila with the spices used to make chorizo (paprika, cinnamon, chiles, salt, pepper, and sugar) before fat washing, in this case with bacon. He also makes a foie gras–infused Armagnac.

“The result is a lot more delicate than it sounds,” says Zimmerman. “[The fat-infused booze] adds a subtle, meaty note.”

Trend-O-Meter Says: Infused Vodka Is Out (6/12/09)

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:03:00 -0700

Vodka “infused” with everything from raspberry to chile peppers served as a brainless cocktail base for much of the early 2000s. It wasn’t a good thing: Most of it tasted like Jolly Rancher candy.

Thankfully it is out, out, out, in large part due to bartenders at high-end cocktail bars like Pegu Club refusing to touch it with a 10-foot swizzle stick, and in part to the waning interest in all things formerly described as metrosexual. New infused-vodka-esque products (that is, neutral, unaged spirits containing flavoring) are rebranding. Case in point: VeeV Açaí Spirit is sold as a liqueur, and it lists açaí as its main ingredient but does not say it’s infused with it. Square One Botanical is described as follows: “Square One Botanical isn’t a flavored vodka. With its broad range of botanicals and high proof, Square One Botanical takes us beyond our vodka heritage to a new category of specialty spirit.” Graphic designers are hard at work on a new symbol, which will replace the “category formerly known as infused vodka” and make all this a lot easier to understand.

See more food trends, or tell us what trends you’re spotting.

Image source: Flickr member Elin B under Creative Commons

Trend-O-Meter Says: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Still Goin' Strong (6/10/09)

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:03:00 -0700

Every major city in the USA now has a gastropub serving Duvel and chicken-liver pâté, but to quote Dennis Hopper’s oxygen-mask-wearing Frank Booth in the movie Blue Velvet: “Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!”

The never-stops-being-cool PBR has been spotted: Stuffed into the mouth of a roast suckling pig in tall boy form by the chefs at Fatty Crab, NYC, during the Cochon555 pig cook-off (they won); at fancy beer-focused restaurants, like San Francisco’s Monk’s Kettle, to keep it real; sipped by old-school graffiti writers Lava One and Shadow, who came out to watch Manfred Kirchheimer’s 1981 cult classic Stations of the Elevated at the Maysles Cinema and Film Institute in Harlem; and on tap at LA’s the Power House.

“Four and a half years ago, when my partner and I took this over, and we put Pabst on tap, NOBODY was doing it,” says Power House part-owner Jim Kalin. “Everybody would laugh! Now you go everywhere and everyone has Pabst.” As BeerAdvocate reviewer BasementBrewerSF says, “it is the best of the worst.”

See more food trends, or tell us what trends you’re spotting.

Image source: Flickr member mollypop under Creative Commons

New Finds: Cult Mole Bitters, Now Available

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:56:00 -0700

Bittermens has been making its signature Xocolatl Mole Bitters (classic bitter base flavors with deep chocolate and spice notes) for a while, but hasn’t been selling them at retail. It has been putting them in the hands of fancy bartenders. Cocktail recipes on the Bittermens site include stuff like The Right hand by Michael McIlroy of Milk and Honey, which is made with aged rum, Carpano Antica, mole bitters, and Campari. But now the company has teamed up with the German small-batch bitter maker the Bitter Truth to start selling them. You can preorder now, with shipping due to start at the end of June.

Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, about $15

New Finds: Mead That's a Cut Above the Renaissance Faire

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:49:00 -0700

Mead is experiencing a boomlet among the artisanal brewing community. This naturally sparkling treat from Heidrun, a Meadery in Arcata, California, is made using carrot blossom honey from Madras, Oregon. It’s wonderfully effervescent and crisp, with none of the clumsy sweetness I expected from mead, and a wonderfully woodsy almost chestnut-honey-esque funk on the finish.

Heidrun Madras Carrot Blossom Mead, $18

Trend-O-Meter Says: Mezcal Cocktails Are In (6/3/09)

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:30:00 -0700

Mezcal is a tequilalike spirit made from agave, but smokier and rougher around the edges. Spotted at: San Francisco’s Elixir bar, in the Isla Zapoteca cocktail (pictured), with 1.5 ounces each of Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal and lemon juice, 1 ounce clover honey syrup, 1/2 ounce Velvet Falernum, and a splash of soda water; written about on food scribe Josh Ozersky’s The Feedbag blog; and at Mayahuel, the new NYC tequila lair, where it’s mixed into drinks like the Smoked Palomino, made with amontillado sherry, mezcal, grapefuit, and lime.

H. Joseph Ehrmann, owner of Elixir, says, “There is no mezcal of quality that has a worm in the bottle.” However, in Oaxaca, Mexico, where the majority of mezcal is made, people often drink it with a side of sal de gusano, a.k.a. worm salt, a seasoning made from ground-up worms that live in the agave plant. Ehrmann sometimes uses it to rim cocktails like the one pictured.

See more food trends, or tell us what trends you’re spotting.

Wine for the Sauce, Wine for Me

Thu, 28 May 2009 10:24:00 -0700

Everyone knows the old saw about not bothering to cook with a wine that you wouldn’t drink, but ipsedixit wants to know its converse: When is a wine too precious to go in the pan?

Opinions diverged wildly, of course. Some hounds say that wine quality makes a major difference (rebs ruined a perfectly good coq au vin using Two Buck Chuck instead of a nice $35 bottle of Burgundy), while others reckon they can’t tell much of a difference either way.

Sallie breaks down her reasoning most convincingly: It’s not price that matters, it’s the character of the wine. “Something with a lower alcohol content, minimal oak, higher acidity = good for a braise,” she says. Think Chianti, Pinot Noir, Côtes du Rhône. When using whites, she advises, similarly avoid oaky tasting wine like Chablis or Chardonnay. “A lot of cheap Chards have fake oak flavoring put into them which is extremely weird tasting in a pan sauce,” she says. A better inexpensive option, she says, is Chenin Blanc, which is very neutral.

Board Link: When is a wine too good to cook with?

The Essence of Soda

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:52:00 -0700

Is all club soda the same? And is it different from seltzer water? Absolutely, says danieljdwyer. Seltzer water is just plain carbonated water; club soda has mineral salts added. “The difference is minor when one drinks them plain, but it can become noticeable when those mineral salts react with various types of alcohol,” says danieljdwyer. Some kinds of alcohol get a strange, metallic taste from the mineral salts; others benefit from them.

Different brands of club soda use varying blends of minerals, and even before the mineral blends go in, the flavor profile of the water depends on the water supply local to the brand. Confusing things still further, soda can be carbonated to different degrees. For instance, “I always found Canada Dry to be very carbonated, with very large bubbles, but also that it went flat very quickly,” says danieljdwyer. BarmyFotheringayPhipps drinks a lot of seltzer, and can definitely tell the difference between the two locally available brands: “Polar seems considerably fizzier, while Adirondack has less pronounced bubbles but a notably more mineral edge,” he says.

If you don’t find any brands to your liking, you can always make your own carbonated water. “You can also use higher quality water than the bottlers do, and still spend a tenth what it costs to buy a bottle,” says danieljdwyer. “And making it yourself allows you to customize how carbonated the water is.” He uses the seltzer maker from Soda-Club and finds it to be very economical. (CHOW likes the Soda-Club as well.)

Board Link: Is all club soda alike?

How to Make the Perfect Bloody Mary

Wed, 20 May 2009 08:55:00 -0700

A perfectly balanced Bloody Mary is made with about three parts Absolut Vodka to about two parts dry sherry, says paddydubai. “I think the sherry makes all the difference, adding a savoury dryness.” Lots of celery salt, limes and lemons squeezed in, and just a tiny bit of Tabasco complete the mix.

paddydubai likes to use Clamato instead of tomato juice (which, says Sooeygun, technically makes the drink a Bloody Caesar rather than a Bloody Mary). The resulting concoction is “just gorgeous! Punchy, tasty, packed with multi-layered flavour,” says paddydubai. But the flavor gets better and better if it’s allowed to marinate. Left alone in the fridge for a couple of days, the flavor “improved 1000%,” claims paddydubai.

Board Link: Marinating your Bloody Marys.

Dumb Product Launch: Ferran Adrià's Special Beer

Tue, 19 May 2009 09:50:00 -0700

Señor El Bulli could not find any really great beers to drink with his food apparently, so with Barcelona brewer Estrella Damm he created Inedit, a “beer specifically created for food pairings.” The BeerAdvocate community says: “Average at best. Hardly drinkable as well. Too watery. Avoid.”

New Finds: Gin for Gin-Haters

Mon, 18 May 2009 18:00:00 -0700

The newest product from Square One—an organic neutral rye spirit infused with pear, rose, chamomile, lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, coriander, and citrus peel—is a delicate, floral riff on gin. Geared for most summery cocktails.

Square One Botanical, $38

My Desert-Island Cocktail Book

Wed, 06 May 2009 10:40:00 -0700

I like my copy of the Savoy Cocktail Book for its recipes, but I always wished it gave more advice on cocktail making theory and had a decent index. Recently my boyfriend and I inherited David A. Embury’s book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks from his late, wonderful martini-mixing grandfather. And it’s everything I was looking for in a cocktail book.

Embury’s style is great: conversational, funny, opinionated, and, most importantly, highly informative. The book has a hefty chapter titled “Roll Your Own” dedicated to cocktail theory, and the functions different components (base spirit, modifier, and special flavoring or coloring agents) play in drink creation. It’s a great starting point for learning to create your own drinks, with plenty of tips.

There is also a ton of info on different types of spirits, liqueurs, and other ingredients in cocktail making (some is out of date, but interesting none the less). And of course recipes. Last night I wanted to figure out something to make with Bénédictine, so I looked it up in Embury’s book and came across a drink called “the bourbon.” The cocktail was one part Bénédictine, one part Curaçao (didn’t have it, so I used some Triple Sec), two parts lemon juice, and six parts bourbon, shaken with cracked ice, and topped off with a dash of angostura bitters. It came out so balanced, it was dangerous: way too easy to drink and way too delicious.

The paperback version appears to be out of print, but you can still get it in hardback.

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, by David A. Embury, $39.95.

Subtle Elderflower, Forceful Absinthe

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:43:00 -0700

MC Slim JB likes to make a cocktail called l’amour en fuite (love on the run). It’s made with Plymouth Gin, Lillet Blanc, and Chowhound favorite St-Germain elderflower liqueur. “Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass given a rinse of Kübler absinthe (pastis, like Henri Bardouin, will do, too),” says MC Slim JB. “Garnish with a shaving of lemon peel. Very smooth.”

Elderflower liqueur has a nice, light, unique taste, says Cinnamon, and its subtle presence does great things for cocktails. Absinthe, on the other hand, has a very strong flavor—nothing subtle about it. white light thinks that even a wash of absinthe, as in l’amour en fuite, overwhelms the cocktail. MC Slim JB suggests using an eyedropper to add just a tiny drop of the strong-tasting absinthe. JMF has an even more involved process for adding just a hint of flavor: “Try using a spray mister to cover just the surface of a drink with hint of absinthe or bitters, liqueurs, etc. Works better than an eye dropper,” he says.

Board Link: St. Germain Elderflower Liquer

Breathe In Your Booze

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:50:00 -0700

Why drink your booze when you can don a hazmat suit and stand around breathing in gin fumes? That’s the question London bar/art installation Alcoholic Architecture asks. Open only for two three-day sessions (one last week and one lasting through Saturday), the bar is a project of prankish British design firm Bompas & Parr, known for its custom-molded bespoke jellies and “flavour tripping” parties at which participants consume miracle fruit.

Apparently, standing in the stinky mist for 40 minutes is about the equivalent of one drink. But I agree with Dlisted, which snarks: “Now, do you get to drink gin as well as breathe it in? ... After 20 minutes of not getting drunk by breathing in booze vapors, I’d sniff out the source and stick my mouth on the damn mister. 40 minutes sober in a bar feels like ten lifetimes to a drunk!”

This video, by ITN’s This Is Genius, will tell you more, but be warned: You’ll really want to punch the guy who says, “Hence, ‘Alcoholic Architecture,’” with an astonishingly smug expression.

Wine: It's Bad for You Again!

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:21:00 -0700

“Average wine drinker puts on half a stone of fat a year, says campaign group,” whatever that means. Ah, it’s British—in American English the headline would read, “Average wine drinker puts on seven pounds of fat a year, says campaign group.”

That’s a fair bit of weight. But the British government’s campaign is based on the somewhat dubious assumption that all alcohol consumption comes in addition to a full day of calories, abetted by the idea that alcohol consumption demands the additional eating of fatty/salty snacks. The Telegraph compounds the damage with odd math, suggesting that “the average wine drinker consumes an extra 2,000 calories a month—the equivalent of 184 bags of crisps.” Crisps are potato chips, but is any bag of chips a mere 11 calories?

Two facts are apparent after reading the story: One, yes, alcohol has calories, and anyone who doesn’t understand that is probably dealing with bigger problems than unexpected weight gain. And two, the British government seems absolutely heedless of enhancing its reputation as the world’s most clucking, scolding nanny state.

Tea Has Arrived

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:38:00 -0700

Specialty tea is the hot new drink of hot young techies, says Wired magazine. Is this news? I dunno. Tea’s been around for ages, and now it seems like just another niche market to get people to spend egregious amounts of money on obscure varieties of something that has supposed cachet.

But serious tea connoisseurs certainly exist, and they’ve got some tips on how to properly steep your tea if you wanna be serious about it too.

Long Island Iced 401(k) Anyone?

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:07:00 -0700

The New Yorker speculates that 2009’s economic climate will inspire a new breed of cocktail. Some of its recipe ideas:

“Long Island Iced 401(k): Put hopes in shaker. Add dreams. Shake until dashed, then drink all the vodka, gin, tequila, and rum left in liquor cabinet.”

“BlackBerry Sling: Discover that your BlackBerry doesn’t work because you haven’t paid the bill. Sling it against the wall, then buy a prepaid phone and make some rum in your toilet.”

Other recipes include Trickle-Down Punch, Nasdaiquiri, and Tequila Slumlord.

Table Taps Are Less Fun than You'd Hope

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:53:00 -0700

The idea of draft beer pourable at your restaurant table conjures up visions of putting your mouth on the spigot and reliving your finest collegiate moments.

Not so, for better or worse: A report from an Irish bar in Lexington, Kentucky, gives all the details on Table Taps, and they’re far more sane than you’d think.

All that’s currently on offer is a selection of four crappy macrobrewed domestics; at the Kentucky pub, an initial purchase gets the patron 32 ounces of sudsy, flavorless beer, the equivalent of 16 ounces of decent imported stuff or 12 ounces of serious Belgian brew.

After that initial 32-ounce rush is tapped out, further beers need to be requisitioned from the servers, which sort of defeats the purpose of having the power of unlimited beer in the first place. Management can even cut off the flow of beer by pressing a button in the back, a lot easier than wresting a drink out of a belligerent patron’s hand.

The 32-ounce limit isn’t built into the Table Taps system; each drinking establishment sets its own limit on how much the spigots will dispense. One Georgia establishment, for example, drew the line at 180 ounces of beer per table.

Image source.

Fruit-Flavored Firewater with Finesse

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:37:00 -0700

Web magazine Table Matters explores eau de vie, the fruit-based digestif that many Americans associate with the expression “tastes like burning.”

But the unaged brandy, when done well, cuts an impressive gastronomic figure:

“‘If the fruit doesn’t have it, the eau de vie never will,’ said Lance Winters [from] St. George Spirits. In making eau de vie, ‘you’re taking an aromatic and flavor profile of a moment in time and place. It’s a time machine.’”

And it also calls to mind another question: Why, precisely, does the United States lack the digestif after-dinner ritual that makes European dining so damned civilized?

Image source: flickr member sashafatca under Creative Commons

Recent posts for 'Wine and Drinks'

Trend-O-Meter Says: German Beers Are In, Belgians Are Out (6/29/09)

How to Make Meat-Infused Liquor

Trend-O-Meter Says: Infused Vodka Is Out (6/12/09)

Trend-O-Meter Says: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Still Goin' Strong (6/10/09)

New Finds: Cult Mole Bitters, Now Available

New Finds: Mead That's a Cut Above the Renaissance Faire

Trend-O-Meter Says: Mezcal Cocktails Are In (6/3/09)

Wine for the Sauce, Wine for Me

The Essence of Soda

How to Make the Perfect Bloody Mary

Dumb Product Launch: Ferran Adrià's Special Beer

New Finds: Gin for Gin-Haters

My Desert-Island Cocktail Book

Subtle Elderflower, Forceful Absinthe

Breathe In Your Booze

Wine: It's Bad for You Again!

Tea Has Arrived

Long Island Iced 401(k) Anyone?

Table Taps Are Less Fun than You'd Hope

Fruit-Flavored Firewater with Finesse