Thinking of Drinking

TOTC2011: Nonstop to Tokyo

2011-08-18T14:52:00.012-05:00

As I mentioned previously, my favorite thing at Tales of the Cocktail this year was the Nonstop to Tokyo. It was by luck, and the kindness of my friend Nathan Luchansky, that I was even able to attend - the event was completely sold out at least two months ahead of time and Nathan gave me a ticket.

Here are some pictures from the event, as well as some details to give a sense of why it was great.

Departing NOLA
Starting out, we headed into a suite and were given a boarding pass for our trip to Tokyo. The event was sponsored by Suntory , and featured a variety of their whiskys (they don't use the "e") as well as a few other spirits that they handle in Japan. My friend Neyah White, now an ambassador for Suntory, but formerly head barkeep of one of my favorite places in San Francisco, was there as our tour guide.

On entry, we were given access to two side rooms - one where a cocktail with Hibiki 12 was being served, and one where we could sample a variety of Japanese whiskys and play a little putt-putt golf.

One of the spirits we were invited to taste was called "Chita." Not available in the US on it's own, it is used as part of the blend in the Hibiki whiskey. It's a really interesting, delicious spirit - made from 100% Japan-grown corn, and aged in used bourbon barrels. It tastes like a fine aged rum and was quite sippable.

The Main Event
After while, we were invited into the main room of the suite, where there was small bar with seven or eight seats. Hidetsugu Ueno from Bar High Five in Tokyo greeted us, and presented us with a menu of cocktail options. And then, essentially, he made us cocktails and told us a bit about cocktail culture and cocktail making in Japan.

Some of the highlights:

He cracked ice by hand, using a three-pronged ice crusher
He carved an ice block into a diamond-shaped cube for one of the cocktails
One of the cocktails was served at room temperature in a tulip glass, with undiluted honey in the bottom, so that the drinker could adjust sweetness to taste by swirling the glass.
The techniques he used, and the fluidity of his motions, were beautiful to watch.

A couple of trivia bits I learned:

Both Midori and Southern Comfort are very popular in Japan.
It is common to use knives completely up - the knife he used on the ice block was used for other things in the past, but the blade has shrunk over time and now it is only good for carving ice.

Thiswas a truly unique experience, and a wonderful introduction to the cocktail culture in Japan. And, I got to try a couple of new whiskys and get a couple of good ideas for cocktails, too.

Thanks again to Nathan for finding me and giving me the ticket!

TOTC: Day 2 Hijinks

2011-07-22T12:58:00.003-05:00

Another great day at Tales, filled with lots of great conversations, drinks and good times. Here are a few highlights from day two:

My friend Nathan Lutchansky absolutely made my Tales by offering me a ticket to the Nonstop to Tokyo event. After a false start, we were able to sit at a tiny bar and enjoy wonderful drinks and conversation with master Hidetsugu Ueno from Japan. We tried some wonderful spirits from Japan not available here, as well. It was fantastic, and I'll write a more detailed post about it shortly. Thanks Nathan!!

Great company, conversation and punches at the Spirited Dinner I attended with a good friend at Bourbon House (delicious drinks and entertainment by Bridget Albert and Jeffrey Morgenthaler). I wasn't planning to go to an official dinner, but my friend graciously secured a seat for me. It was the most fun I've had at a Spirited Dinner, despite the weirdos at our table (more on that below).

I learned a few things from the seminars. Like, for example, that it was illegal for women to work behind the bar in Chicago until March 1970. Yes, you read that right, 1970.

And just one lowlight:

Some guys showed up to the spirited dinner already three sheets to the wind, and one of them was especially obnoxious. To the point where it was required to say to him "how old are you? are you 8? because you're acting like it right now." They left, but not before popping some balloons and making them whistle, and having one more go at harassing the single girls at the table. Amateur (and immature, etc.).

It's raining in NOLA today, so it's especially sticky out. Good thing I get to stay in the Monteleone most of the day!

TOTC: The First 24 Hours

2011-07-21T12:52:00.002-05:00

After arriving in NOLA yesterday, I hit the ground running in the parties, drinks and good time departments. Perhaps a bit more than I should have, in retrospect, given that it's early on in my TOTC tenure.

Here were some highlights from Wednesday:

Running into many friends from many places, many of whom I haven't seen in quite awhile. This was honestly my favorite part.
Sipping Lagavulin 16 at the Diageo "Behind the Distillery Doors" panel. The event started late, and wasn't quite what I expected. However, I very much enjoyed the Scotch and learned a few things about how other spirits makers handle issues, and how they search for innovations.
Wonderful cocktails and dinner at Sylvain with a good friend. Several writer friends recommended it, and they were absolutely correct. Go there. Now.
The drinks at the Old Absinthe House have improved, from the looks of it. I still had a beer, but I actually considered getting a cocktail.

And a few lowlights:

The Pimm's Cup at the Napoleon House was not as good as I remembered. Tasted like bad sour mix, actually. Did not even finish it, even.
The elevators at the Monteleone are even slower than I remembered. More people in them this time around.

All in all, a great first 24 hours. Now, off to a seminar!

Planning for Tales of the Cocktail 2011

2011-07-15T12:00:00.006-05:00

It's a bit crazy for many folks in the spirits/cocktail/bar business, as we are preparing for our pilgrimage to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail. It will be a week of great cocktails, great food and great times with incredible people. And also, hot and humid weather, crowded elevators, and upset stomachs. What's not to like?

Here are a few things I'm really excited about, as well as a few things I'm not so sure about. I'll report back on both, once I see how they turn out.

Hopes are High

6 Rums You'll Probably Never Taste Again - with a title like that, who could say no? Ed Hamilton over at Ministry of Rum is running this one, and expectations are high.
Ladies Choice - Women Behind Bars - being a lady, and a member of the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, I am looking forward to learning more about my sisters in drink.
Around the World by (Brass) Rail - this one is led by David Wondrich, so you know it'll be great. And, we're talking about those intrepid pioneers who took the American cocktail around the globe.

Jury's Out

H2O Cocktails - meaning cocktails made with water. Water that you infuse with stuff. I am a bit dubious about this one, but open minded and interested to see what they're doing. Is this going to be cool, or is it going to be like the "low-cal" rum and vodka that came out awhile back, where they just lowered the alcohol content?
From Grain to Bottle - the detailed description sounds great, but there is no indication of who will be speaking. The moderator is a brand ambassador from a (very) large liquor company, but he's never been a distiller.
Spirited Dinners - some of them look fantastic (most of those are sold out), but there is one that is only vodka drinks, and one that has drinks only made with a certain whiskey flavored liqueur. My experience with them in past years has been good but not great, so this year I'm treating myself to a nice meal out with whatever I choose to eat & drink instead.

What are you excited about at Tales this year? Think I'm wrong about any of these?

We shall see...

Illinois Liquor Tax Saga - Over for Now

2011-07-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

Since I wrote about the increase in the Illinois liquor tax a couple of years back, the challenge leveled by Wirtz Beverage was successful at the appellate court level. This week, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled against Wirtz and reinstated the liquor taxes, along with a host of other taxes and fees to pay for the rest of Governor Quinn's package of projects. Alas, no tax refunds for anyone, and video poker coming your way soon.

Hello Again, and Independence Day Drinks

2011-07-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

Well hello there! Long time no write. It's been very busy at the distillery the past few months, and this blog is one of the things I've let slip. But, I'm back now and ready to get back to blogging. And, just for fun, I changed the look of the blog, too.

Have you made your plans yet for Tales of the Cocktail? I'll be there and will be blogging about all the great drinks, seminars, events and stories. So, if you can't go, you can experience a taste of it through me. But really, why aren't you going, again?

At any rate, here are a couple of ideas for cocktails for this Fourth of July holiday. One of 'em we served at the distillery tasting room this weekend, and the other was inspired by a recommendation from my new friend J. over at Words, Words, Whisky to make some raspberry syrup.

Watermelon Fizz
Independence Day makes me think of watermelon, so this one uses fresh watermelon puree.
1-1/2 oz Vodka (North Shore)
2 oz Fresh Watermelon Puree
1/4-1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice (depending on relative sweetness of watermelon)
1/4 oz oz Simple Syrup (or Raspberry Syrup)
Fresh Mint
Club Soda
Muddle several mint leaves in a mixing glass. Add vodka, puree, lime and simple. Shake with ice. Strain into chilled coupe glass, and top with a splash of soda. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Hum Blush
This is a takeoff from the Maiden's Blush, replacing the absinthe with a liqueur called hum. In the interest of full disclosure, we actually produce the liqueur for the Hum Spirits Company at our distillery, who markets and sells it. It's a lovely liqueur, with hibiscus, cardamom, kaffir lime and ginger.
2 oz Dry Gin (used our No. 11)
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 oz hum
1/2 oz Raspberry Simple Syrup
Dash of Grapefruit Bitters (Scrappy's)
Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a fresh raspberry.

Raspberry Syrup
To make the raspberry syrup, here's the recipe J. gave me:
Puree three cups of fresh raspberries. Pour into a saucepan, and add one cup sugar and one half cup of water. Bring to a simmer, then allow to cool. Double strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth, then store in the refrigerator.

And, if you want another great drink for that raspberry syrup, try the Albermarle Fizz, a variation on a gin fizz that is delicious on a hot summer day. You can find a few more ideas for Independence Day drinking in my post from a couple of years ago on the subject.

Chicago Drinks News

2011-02-28T14:40:00.001-06:00

Lots of great things are happening in the Chicago cocktail world, but I often forget to write about them. Every night, fantastic drinks are being made all across this city, and it's wonderful to be part of this growing, thriving culture. This month, three of our most accomplished mixologists brought home some more awards and honors:

Charles Joly - James Beard Award Nomination
In addition to winning a variety of cocktail competitions over the past months, Charles has just been named a nominee for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional by the James Beard Foundation. Congratulations to Charles on this great honor, and thanks for continuing to help build the profile of Chicago's mixology scene! You can find Charles behind the stick at the Drawing Room. (photo from The Boozehound)

Bridget Albert - Good Eating Award
Loved by everyone in the industry, Bridget Albert is truly the inspiration behind much of what has happened in Chicago in the last five years, not to mention throughout the country. She is an expert on spirits, cocktails and bar operations, and continues to mentor and guide most of the best bartenders in Chicago. Last week, when the Chicago Tribune announced their 2011 Good Eating Award winners, Bridget was among them. Congratulations to Bridget, and thanks! (photo from Chicago Tribune)

Debbi Peek - National Mixing Star for Disaronno
Late last year and early this year, the folks at Disaronno solicited recipes from bartenders across the US, and invited many of them to seminars and in-person competitions. Besting some great competitors here in Chicago, Debbi's cocktail advanced to the national round. And she won! Debbi's Italian 57 sounds delicious, and this certainly isn't the first time she has won a competition. Way to go Debbi! You can find Debbi behind the stick at The Bristol. (photo from Imbibe Magazine)

More Ginger Beers - Goose Island, Diet, and More

2011-02-24T11:05:00.011-06:00

One of the most frequently searched topics on this blog is "ginger beer." A couple of years ago, I wrote a review of our comprehensive tasting of ginger beers. You can find those posts here:

Taste Test Ginger Beers Part I, listing and describing the contenders, which included the following ginger beers: Cock 'N Bull, Bundaberg, Barritt's , Ginger People, D&G, Fentiman's, Reed's, Sioux City, and one ginger ale: Fever Tree

Taste Test Ginger Beers Part II, where we rated the ginger beers, and rated Bundaberg the best overall.

Ginger Saga Part III, where we added Blenheim's into the mix, and liked them, but they didn't edge out the Bundaberg.

Since then, I've continued using ginger beers in a variety of cocktails, and have tried a few more varieties. Here are some additions to the list, with comments:

Goose Island Spicy Ginger Soda - this brand is owned by a Chicago company that makes some great beers, so we tried it out. And we liked it. It's made with cane sugar, but with "natural flavorings," so not necessarily any real ginger in there. Nonetheless, it has a nice balance of sweet to spice, and makes a good Moscow Mule and appeals to a wide range of palates. We also like it a lot in the drink below, which we served at a recent cocktail pairing dinner. Plus, it runs about $4 a four-pack and is fairly widely available in the Chicago area.

Fever Tree Ginger Beer - much better for cocktails than their Ginger Ale, which I wrote about previously. Made with ginger root, as well as "natural flavor," and cane sugar. Nice, bright and versatile. Harder to find though, and more expensive.

Maine Root Ginger Brew - found at Whole Foods, this ginger beer is very spicy and rich. While we really like it, it is a bit too much for some folks because of it's intensity. I don't have any on hand right now, so I can't tell you the exact ingredients, but they use cane sugar and at least some real ginger.

Gosling's Diet Ginger Beer - various reports have indicated that Gosling's ginger beer is a repackaging of Barritt's. It is very similar to Barritt's in taste and ingredients, so that might very well be the case. I found the diet version to be about as good as diet tonic. Which, suffice to say, is not so great. If you are worried about calories, and are OK with a rough approximation, then go for it. Otherwise, just take it easy with some of the ones that have sugar in 'em - it'll taste better.

Housemade Ginger Beer at Heartland in St. Paul, MN - Peder Schweigert, the head bar man at this fantastic restaurant, brews his own ginger beer from scratch. While it can be extremely carbonated (read: opening a bottle resulted in a wide spray all over my hubby), it is absolutely delicious and one of our favorites of all time. Rich ginger, spice, a balance of sweet, with lots of bubbles. Wonderful, and totally worth asking about if you're in the area.

If you see the Goose Island Spicy Ginger Soda, we'd recommend giving it a try. Same for the Fever Tree Ginger Beer and Maine Root. Apparently Bundaberg makes a diet version also, but I've never seen it. Have you?

Here's a fun cocktail we served at a recent event, adapted from this cocktail over at Cocktail ~~Virgin~~ Slut:

Parisian Mule
1 oz Sirène Absinthe Verte
1 oz Housemade Orgeat (also good with Trader Tiki orgeat)
1/2 oz Rosehip Liqueur (also good with Orange Curacao)
1/2 a lime, cut into wedges
Ginger Beer

Muddle lime wedges in glass. Add absinthe, orgeat and liqueur. Fill with crushed ice, then top with ginger beer. Garnish with lime wedge.

Our friend Cleetus Friedman at City Provisions paired this cocktail with a chocolate almond waffle with honey whipped cream and candied ginger. Yum!

Picture of drink is by Christina Noel Photography.

Ilinois Liquor Tax Saga Revisited

2011-02-04T13:00:00.001-06:00

Back in 2009, I wrote a post about the quickly proposed and passed increase to the liquor tax rates in Illinois, which was rather dramatic. In my second post, on August 25th, I wrote that Wirtz Beverage had challenged the constitutionality of the law.

Recently, the Illinois Appellate Court actually agreed with Wirtz and ruled the "Illinois Jobs Now!" act was unconstitutional. The Illinois Constitution requires that any new legislation address a single subject, and the court found that a bill covering as wide an array of topics as was included in this law did not satisfy the requirement. (Full text of opinion here - loads as a .pdf)

If the opinion stands, Wirtz stands to receive a significant tax refund. Of course, the State of Illinois is appealing, and the Supreme Court has granted a stay, pending the appeal. Which means the liquor tax, as well as the other taxes included in the package, are still being collected for now.

The tax is/was assessed on the wholesaler, who in turn collected it from the retailer (who passed it on to the consumer, in most cases). If they get a big fat refund, do you suppose Wirtz Beverage will pass that back to the retailers?

Trusting a Blogger

2011-02-03T16:14:00.011-06:00

Earlier this week, in one of the industry update emails I receive, I noticed the following headline: " Wine drinkers trust merchants over bloggers." I scanned the article, thought to myself "huh" and kept going. Yet, for some reason, during the "Blizzard of 2011" here in Chicago, I kept coming back to this article in my head. So today, I actually pulled the article, as well as the press release on which it was based.

Provenance of the Claim
The email I received said the article was from "Harpers." So, I was thinking Harper's, you know, the magazine that's been around since the 1840's. No, in fact, it was in Harpers Wine & Spirit Trades Review, which appears to be an industry magazine published by a UK publishing company. The article was a summary of the press release put out by the folks at Wine Intelligence, a UK-based company "[c]reating value for wine businesses through strategic advice, branding and research."

The Gist of the "Research Results"
The Harpers article was pretty much a retelling of the press release, in which the following conclusions were asserted about US wine consumers:

20% of regular wine drinkers trust what independent bloggers write about a wine
80% of regular wine drinkers trust what their wine merchant tells them
66% of wine drinkers look for wine information online, and 33% of them use social media to do so
The most used websites are those run by "wine shops, newspapers and smaller wine producers"

The summary quote says that "It looks as if the trust levels built up over time by local wine merchants are transferring into the growing power of the Internet, while word-of-mouth recommendations are also migrating into the Facebook era. Clearly bloggers will have a role to play in this new world, but this research shows how important it is to build up trust levels among your audience."

And So What?
The tone of the press release, and the article, clearly imply that bloggers are not widely trusted, and at least one writer took it as an attack. Another responded by pointing out why in fact some bloggers should not be trusted. I happen to agree with him in some respects - there are some bloggers out there who don't really know what they're doing. That's pretty much true of everything.

I also think there is another way to look at this discussion. In a study, by a UK-based company that works and is likely funded primarily by larger wine interests, and likely to have used a very broad brush in the study (we've only got the press release, after all, it's ₤1,300 for the full report), they're saying that 1 in 5 drinkers trust a blogger for information on what to drink! 1 in 5! Of the group comprising all regular wine drinkers, you've got all those people who love white zinfandel and/or other things most wine connoisseurs would not touch, and all those people who don't use computers regularly, let alone read blogs. Yet 20% of the audience not only reads, but also trusts, at least one blog! And of course that number is growing, as everything moves online.

It's a Question of Trust
Just as the press release, as well as the other writers, point out, the fundamental issue is trust. People take recommendations from those they trust. There are good bloggers, and bad bloggers, just like there are good retail wine folks and bad ones. Most people aren't going to trust Joe Schmoe liquor clerk who just started working there part-time. But they should (and I do) trust our guy at the local wine store, Keith, who is one of the most knowledgeable, thoughtful guys we've ever known in the wine business.

Bloggers can build up trust - many have already done so. It takes time and effort, just like building up a reputation as a trustworthy retailer does. And those folks have had many more decades to do so than the blogging community.

Go bloggers!

Crickets and a Cocktail Competition

2011-01-24T21:40:00.005-06:00

Well, it's been crickets chirping here for a few months. I cannot believe how fast time flies by - it's just like my parents said it would be. Well, I'm going to do better on the blogging front, and I'm starting off with a post about a recent cocktail competition here in Chicago.

42 Below Vodka sponsors a cocktail competition each year in a variety of cities around the globe, and the Chicago round was last week. Unlike many competitions, this one is judged based primarily on the taste of the drink and the competitor's performance while making it. I've missed the competitions in past years, but have heard stories of costumes, singing throughout the 5-minute time limit, and various other stunts to win. So I had to go this year and check it out.

The event did not disappoint - it was fun and fast-paced, with a variety of cocktail styles and performances. Since the sponsor is a vodka brand, of course all recipes involved vodka, and interestingly, many used the straight version, not the flavors, which are a bigger differentiator for the brand (Manuka Honey, Kiwi, Feijoa, etc.).

A quick recap of the ten competitors and their drinks:

James Keener from the Signat ure Lounge
"The Beet Martini" made with the straight vodka, beets, caraway syrup, grapefruit zest, and creme fraiche caviar. Much to my surprise, it did not taste very "beet-y," which was a good thing because I don't like beets.

Milan Mijatovic from the Silversmith Hotel
"Fall in Loooooooove" made with cinnamon and cranberry-infused vodka, fresh lemon, bitters, and agave syrup. Delicious and seasonal, with dominant cinnamon notes. Milan wore a fantastic mask, and managed to make all of his drinks on time and without spilling, despite the mask.

Edith Rubicala from the Signature Loun ge
"The Black Widow," made with the manuka honey flavor, horchata and some other ingredients that I unfortunately missed. It was a classic dessert-style drink, sweet and creamy.

Andy Gold from Bonny's Bar a/k/a the "Boston Brawler"
Andy was fun to watch, he was witty and funny while making "The Pigeon and the Squirrel." He used the straight vodka and Koval rose hip liqueur, Chartreuse, fresh grapefruit and egg white. It was herbaceous and complex, with nice texture.

Dante LoPresti from Double A
I missed the name of Dante's drink, but he used Bonal Gentiane-Quina, jasmine tea, and egg white, with a fresh orange zest garnish. The drink was balanced and tasty.

Andre Cunningham
Andre was quite funny and energetic during his cocktail-making session, and had the crowd laughing. For his cocktail, he used the plain vodka infused with pear skins, Luxardo Maraschino, red chili simple syrup, rhubarb bitters and fresh lime juice. His garnish was a bruleed pear in vanilla sugar.

Bryson Ryan from the University Club
Bryson's "The Sweetest Light South of the Equator" contained an unusual combination of ingredients, using the plain vodka, blanco tequila, creme de banana, spiced rum, and icewine. I must admit I was skeptical on hearing the ingredients, but it was better than I had expected. Sweet, but with some interesting, complex flavors.

Tim Lacey from the Drawing Room
Tim was the only competitor to bring on-stage assistants, and he took the event's "Cocktail Carnival" theme to heart. He brought his very ow n carny with a bull horn, as well as a lovely assistant making cotton candy garnishes (played fantastically by his wife Lisa). Tim used the Manuka Honey flavor, as well as honey syrup, lemon juice, apricot liqueur, ginger beer and tiki bitters. His "All Sales are Final Void Where Prohibited by Law" was delicious, balanced, and complex, and seemed to actually play to the flavor of the vodka.

Sergio Serna from the Drawing Room
While he didn't have on-stage help, Sergio instead brought Capoeira dancers to accompany his drink making and music, and they were great. He used the Kiwi flavor, along with fresh lemon, green tea syrup, falernum and a flamed thyme garnish (soaked in Chartreuse). Unfortunately, I didn't get to taste this one - I'm sure it was great.

Tim Williams from Province
While he didn't have dancers or stagehands, Tim was funny and witty, and brought his mom along for good luck. Tim used the plain vodka, ancho chile-infused honey, Cherry Heering, fresh lemon juice and candied lemon peel for garnish. His "The Federale" was spicy, smooth and complex.

And the Winner Is....
The competition was fierce, and the judges had some tough decisions to make. And the host made it tough on the two Tims when he announced the winner. He said it's "Tim........." and drew it out for a long time. Luckily, the winners were Tim Lacey AND Tim Williams.

Congrats to Tim and Tim, who are off to New York City next month to fight for the national title and a trip to New Zealand!

Liquid Nitrogen in a Cocktail. In Rockford.

2010-08-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday, I was in Rockford, Illinois for a tasting event at a great little wine, spirits & beer store (the best one in Rockford, as far as I know). I have a friend who grew up in Rockford, and the last time I saw him, he mentioned that there was a new restaurant doing great cocktails in Rockford. This I had to see.

Low and behold, I found Social, which looks to be a great restaurant (the pork belly tacos were delicious). They have several people behind the bar who actually know a few things about cocktails, even! In talking with them, it turns out they took inspiration from a few places in Chicago in developing their approach to food and drink, and they are offering something completely different for Rockford.

Full disclosure - they do carry our absinthe behind the bar, which was my first beverage of the night. Then, I asked Greg and Jeff for whatever they felt like making. Greg made me what they call a JFK. Essentially, it was classic daiquiri (reportedly JFK's favorite drink). However, rather than serving it the traditional way, they actually chilled it with liquid nitrogen.

They shook the drink with ice quickly, strained it into the glass, and started adding in liquid nitrogen with a ladle. You can see from the pictures just how cold the ladle was, and when a drop of liquid nitrogen scattered across the bar, they warned me to steer well clear of it. It's so cold, it will freeze alcohol (and do some damage to you too).

The resulting drink has a smooth, icy texture, reminiscent of a well-blended frozen daiquiri, without all that extra dilution. It was fantastic on a hot day, and a real delight to try, especially in Rockford.

If you find yourself in the area, you must go there.

Not at Tales Cocktail Crawl

2010-08-01T17:09:00.005-05:00

This year, I did not attend Tales of the Cocktail. Instead of sitting at home drowning my sorrows alone while looking at all the updates and pictures on Facebook, I invited some friends out for a "We're Not at Tales" cocktail crawl. Granted, most of the great bartenders and mixologists in town were not around, but a few were left behind to hold down the fort, and a couple even joined us for the crawl.

Stop No. 1: Sepia
The lovely lady behind the bar, Logan Lavachek (at right), wowed our group with her mixing skills. We tried variations on the Aviation, Moscow Mule, French 75, and some of Logan's own creations too. All delicious. And only some of 'em were made with my stuff.

Stop No. 2: 160 Blue
Rich Szydlo was holding down the 160 Blue fort, and we enjoyed more great cocktails. I had a Corpse Reviver No. 2, and several Manhattans were enjoyed, along with a few of Rich's original creations. Plus, Thursdays are $4 burger night at 160 Blue, so we had some delicious burgers, too.

Stop No. 3: The Drawing Room
Charles, Tim and Cristi were all at Tales for various events and competitions, so Grant Hurless was left to hold down the fort. He invited guest bartenders each night to join him, and on Thursday Al Klopper from the Elysian Hotel was making cocktails. More Manhattans, some Ethels, and a Blackthorne or two were enjoyed, along with a few bartender's choice libations.

At one of these places that shall remain nameless (ahem, DR, ahem), a drink was attempted. The High Life 75, to be exact. It was a failure. Not. Good. At. All. Do not try this at home.

Unfortunately, it was a school night, so most of the crowd had to depart after the third stop. Next year, we'll go longer, and to even more places. Or perhaps I'll be at Tales, and reading about this on Facebook instead.

Terroir of Tequila?

2010-07-19T14:05:00.002-05:00

Boy, time is going fast these days - I have a lot going on, and not enough time being spent writing! Has it been over three months already since I wrote anything? Sheesh.

A few months ago now, I attended a great seminar on tequila. Gary Shansby, the President & CEO of Partida Tequila (on the right in the picture below) and Tomas Estes, an official Ambassador for Tequila and one of the creators of Tequila Ocho, teamed up for this seminar. In addition to a tasting of their tequilas, we also discussed the concept of terroir in relation to tequila. It was a fun afternoon, full of tasty drinks and good discussion.

Given that these two companies do not have common ownership, and do not have the same distributor in most markets, it was unique to see them team up in this way. For me, it was also a very interesting demonstration of two markedly different styles of promoting and marketing a brand. More on that in another post.

Talking Terroir

Introduction
The room was filled with educated drinkers - the audience included many members of the local US Bartenders Guild chapter, as well as a few members of the local drinks press. Therefore, we did not spend significant time on the concept of terroir in general. We did, however, begin with a wine tasting to highlight the differences, contrasting an Oregon pinot noir (rich mushroom and fruit notes) with a Burgundy (earthy, mineral, more restrained with notes of "barnyard").

As a starting point, both speakers stated that like wine grapes for wine, the agave piña provides the primary source of flavor in tequila, and that the flavor varies with age, climate, soil and weather conditions. The growth process is slow; it takes 7-10 years for an agave piña to mature. At maturity, a piña is 30-40 kilograms and contains 27% sugar, on average.

A Quickie Primer on Making Tequila
After harvest, the piñas are cooked. Partida uses a stainless steel autoclave (pressurized cooker), while Ocho uses stone or clay brick ovens, which are more traditional and less pressurized, but they can become coated with soot and are harder to clean. Next, the piñas are crushed and pressed to extract the aguamiel (honey water), which will be fermented. Yeasts are added, and the mash ferments - the duration depends primarily on temperature at the fermentation facility. Partida uses a proprietary strain of yeast from their agave fields, whereas Ocho uses wild, freeborn yeast.

After fermentation, the mash is distilled. Both producers distill their spirits twice (as required by Mexican law). On the second run, Partida's tequila is 53-54% alcohol by volume, whereas Ocho's is 47-48% abv. Neither speaker would comment about whether there is any other processing, filtering, etc. after distillation but before bottling. Given the final proof of the spirits, at a minimum, water is added.

Aging Tequila
Both producers age some of their tequila into Reposado and Añejo expressions. To label tequila Reposado, it must be aged a minimum of 2 months, and no more than 1 year. For Añejo, it must be at least 12 months, but no more than 3 years (there is also an Extra Añejo category, for over 3 years). Interestingly (at least to me), the distillers used the exact same distillant for the expressions they produce - the only variation is the length of time in the wood.

Both producers utilize used bourbon barrels for their aging (Partida uses Jack Daniels barrels, Ocho uses mostly Jack Daniels barrels). They each take different steps to prepare the barrels, and age for different periods of time. Ocho strives to age for only the minimum time, to preserve the maximum flavor from the agave - 2 months for Reposado, 12 months for Añejo. They age their barrels in a one-story warehouse, where the barrels are stacked. Partida ages their Reposado for 6 months, and 18 months for the Añejo.

Highland vs. Lowland
Partida's Terroir
Partida is a lowlands tequila, meaning the agave is grown in a lower-altitude area, in a valley below a dormant volcano, at approximately 5,500 feet in elevation. The temperatures are higher there, both during the day and at night, than in the highlands area. The speakers asserted that lowlands tequilas are traditionally more masculine, more robust and forward in flavor. Partida was most definitely more masculine and more robust than Ocho.

Ocho's Terroir
In contrast, Ocho is a highlands tequila, grown higher up on the hills, where it is cooler in temperature, especially at night (it's 1,000 to 1,500 feet higher in elevation). Highlands tequilas were asserted to be more feminine, smooth and restrained. And Ocho was more restrained and feminine that Partida, clearly demonstrating their point.

So Did I Buy It?
Well, sort of. These two tequila producers are making very different products, but I am not buying into attributing the differences primarily to terroir. Admittedly, I have not studied the concept of terroir in-depth, but I struggle to see that as a primary driver for these differences.

Rather than being like wine from grapes (that vary with terroir), this is more akin to comparing brandy from grapes (or, for another base material, beer from barley vs. whiskey from barley). The grapes have an impact, but it is meaningfully less so than in the wine. In addition to the differences in the piñas themselves, there are also differences in the cooking processes, yeast, maximum alcohol percentage at the end of distillation, additional processing (which was not disclosed), as well as aging durations and aging materials.

What do you think?

And in a future post, tasting notes on the tequilas, as well as more on the marketing approaches.

Sodas, Sodas, Everywhere

2010-03-09T15:11:00.009-06:00

I've written in the past about a variety of sodas, and have a habit of collecting sodas that sound interesting. Unfortunately, I sometimes let them sit around awhile before I get to drinking them.

So on the last Saturday of February, in honor of "Open That Bottle Night," I opened a bunch of sodas that I have been meaning to try. I know, I know, that isn't what they meant, but I don't do very well in the "save this for a special occasion" department when it comes to wine and spirits - I seem to have no trouble finding special occasions to open the good stuff. Sodas, on the other hand...

Here are the sodas we tried, in no particular order, with some tasting notes and comments.

Zota Green Tea Sodas
My friend Daniel Sviland at Prairie Grass Cafe recommended these sodas to me awhile back, and even gave me some to try. We tried these varieties:

Ginger - fresh ginger aroma and taste, not all the way to ginger beer, but more flavorful than most ginger ales. The tea aspects come through nicely and marry with the ginger, creating a spicy finish. My favorite of the three.
Raspberry - very sweet, with the smell of berries; the raspberry flavor reminded me of lambic beers. The berry notes dominated; very little, if any, of the tea came through.
Orange - great orange soda flavor, with hints of tea and spice; like a (somewhat) grown up version of the orange soda I loved as a kid. Yum.

As you might expect, the ginger plays well in cocktails. We found some ok, but not fantastic, uses for the other flavors. Here's a cocktail we came up with on the fly with the ginger:

Rye-o-Zota
2 oz Rye Whiskey (used Sazerac 6 yr)
1/2 oz Triple Sec (used Cointreau)
Dash of grapefruit bitters (used Scrappy's)
Zota Ginger Green Tea Soda
Combine first three ingredients in rocks glass with ice; top with Zota soda. Garnish with swath of orange peel.

Unfortunately, the company's website isn't working, and I can't find much about them - I'm not sure you can find these anymore. Apparently, the company went out of business in 2005, then was relaunched in 2007 (in the comments), so I don't know what the status is now. I've had these bottles since about mid-2009, I would guess, and they tasted just fine.

Dry Sodas
I tried some other varieties before, but hadn't yet tried the kumquat and rhubarb flavors of Dry Soda. Unfortunately, I think my bottle of rhubarb sat around too long, it was pretty blah, without any discernable rhubarb flavor. The kumquat, however, had very nice orange/kumquat flavors, and was a dry, light soda. Definitely could be used in place of soda in drinks if you want more orange notes. Gotta get another bottle of that rhubarb, and open it sooner, next time.

Cricket Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea Soda
Cricket makes/made their colas using actual kola nuts, among other all-natural ingredients. This one had more pronounced tea notes than any of the Zota sodas, and nice fruit notes. It was not overly sweet, and was one of my favorite sodas for consuming on it's own. I tried mixing it a few ways, with light rum, dark rum, and gin as the base, and nothing really wowed me. I might just have to keep this one for drinking on it's own.

According to the all-knowing wikipedia, the company was sold, and the buyer no longer lists their products on the website. You might have trouble finding this one too, unfortunately.

Kristall Swedish Raspberry Soda
The Kristall beverage company actually makes a variety of fruit-flavored sodas, but I've only ever seen (and now tried) the raspberry version. It was light and fruity, with nice raspberry flavor. It is a bit on the sweeter side, but might make for a nice change of pace in a drink requiring soda that contains complementary flavors.

Well, there you have it. Now my collection of unopened sodas is much smaller, at least until I see some more new ones on my travels.

MxMo XLVI - Absinthe Abundance - Part II

2010-02-24T17:40:00.004-06:00

Before the rest of the drink submissions (part I is here), I wanted to mention one comment we received from Myriam at the Detours blog. She is a writer living in Sydney, and just visited an absinthe salon in Sydney, and wrote about her absinthe explorations. No cocktails here, but some great photos, and a place to put on your must-visit list for Sydney.

Without further ado, the rest of the cocktails!

Easy Does It
Many people wrote about recipes calling for a barspoon or absinthe or less. This group has enough absinthe for it to be noticed in a meaningful way, but less than those drinks listed above.

Chris at Urbane, not Cosmopolitan uses his local absinthe in a reworking of the Foggy Day, resulting in his Foggy Day in Kingston Cocktail. Using gin, limoncello, and Jamaican bitters, it sounds delicious.

Last month's MxMo host, Frederic over at Cocktail ~~Virgin~~ Slut, introduces us to the Lusitania, which was printed before the ship became infamous. Primarily a vermouth-based cocktail, it sounds like a wonderful aperitif.

Paul & Steve from Cocktail Buzz write about the Old Mule, with dark rum, ginger beer, bitters and some absinthe. Sounds like a nice change of pace.

Hobson describes a cocktail created by Joaquin Simo at Death & Co. in NYC, the Latin Quarter over on Hobson's Choice. In this riff on the Sazerac, he uses aged rum rather than whiskey.

Rocky was put on the spot to name a new drink he was working on, so he dubbed it the Rye-se and Shine. Using his local absinthe, Rocky combines rye with cognac, sweet vermouth and bitters. Read about it over on NW Vivant.

Kevin at Cocktail Enthusiast writes about the Chrysanthemum, a great classic. His version has different ingredient proportions than the other version posted - there seem to be several variations on this one. A lovely drink all around.

In another use of sloe gin, Filip at Adventures in Cocktails wanted to tone down the absinthe and used rye, sloe gin, lemon and simple along with his 1/2 barspoon of absinthe in the Sloe Envy. Sounds and looks great.

On Liquidity Preference, Jacob admits he's not a big absinthe drinker, so he went searching. He found a good one - the Atty Cocktail, with gin, dry vermouth, and some creme de violette. Yum.

Over on Wo rdsmithing Pantagruel, our guide Pantagruel posted a very fun video with his balancier, and also introduces an original cocktail, the Elegance. He uses gin, sake, orange liqueur and bitters.

Maria, the Bubbly Girl, admits she only likes her absinthe in small quantities. She gives us Killing Me Softly, which incorporates elderflower liqueur, sugar and sparkling wine.

Bluewolf Pete, a member of the Wormwood Society, contributed the Garden Party, with gin, elderflower liqueur, bitters and a bit of absinthe.

From the folks in Toronto, we received these two with absinthe accents:

Nishan created the Snowbird, with ginger liqueur, Czech-style absinthe, lime and orgeat. Sounds like a tiki-style drink in the making, perhaps!

Scott used a spirit I've not yet seen or heard of - "Zoladkowa Gurzka bitter vodka" - along with blueberry jam and rosemary to create his The Purp. And it's topped with absinthe foam. Hmm. Wonder what that one tastes like? How bitter is that vodka?

Barkeep at Drink of the Week wrote about a well-known absinthe cocktail, the Monkey Gland. With it's use of gin, orange juice and grenadine, as well as it's history (that name!), it's certainly memorable. I also mentioned the similar Dixie Cocktail. It has more absinthe, and some dry vermouth, but a similar style. Both are fun drinks to share with people who don't know absinthe at all.

Over on eGullet, we got some great ideas that have absinthe as an accent:

Haresfur suggested the Martha, inspired by a cocktail he saw on cocktaildb - it features a float of absinthe. Martha is my mother's name, so I'm going to have make this one for her next time she's here. Unfortunately, since she's not much of a drinker, I'm going to have to drink it too, but that's OK.

Eric took inspiration from the Tuxedo Cocktail No. 2 in the Savoy, and created the Tailcoat, using genever, sweet vermouth, maraschino and bitters. Sounds delicious.

And a few folks who submitted more than one drink have some in this category as well:

The folks at 1022 South give us the HR 1022, where they pair bourbon, maraschino, dry vermouth, and interestingly, a lapsang souchong syrup. Hmmm... I think I have to try making that one.

Alan from Real Absinthe suggests the Green Devil, with a tequila-lemoncello-absinthe combination, and The Sun Also Rises, with rye, sloe gin, lemon and more. Both recipes were developed by his mixologist friends in Colorado.

In addition to the Green Fairy Sour, Marshall at Scofflaw's Den also mentions the Cocktail a la Louisiane, another great one.

Just a Rinse, Please
Four folks wrote about rinsing their glass with absinthe.

Jessamyn over at Food on the Brain loves anise, pastis and absinthe. However, they've been playing with Cynar lately, and have given us the Gin & Sip, with gin, Cynar and absinthe. Sounds very interesting indeed.

Daniel at Gin not Vodka mentions a carbonated Corpse Reviver No. 2, which sounds darned interesting. He also discussed the Long Line, with a base of brandy, accented by sweet vermouth, absinthe and two types of bitters.

In his drink with tequila as the base, Anthony at Abelha Cachaca writes about the Tequila Sazerac, using agave nectar for the sweetener and a touch of lime rather than lemon.

And the most flamboyant rinse award goes to Gavin in Toronto, with his GF Twizzler. He use 30 ml of absinthe, and "brulees" the glass. This is our first instance of fire in this MxMo, used with a Czech-style absinthe. Has to be a heckuva show, but sounds dangerous!

(Edit) The award for most absinthe rinses in a month goes to Erik over at Underhill Lounge, who has been doing a complete set of Sazerac experiments this month using a variety of spirits and combinations. (Apologies to Erik for omitting this the first time I hit publish - I had meant to mention it.)

Only a Dash (or Two), No More
The last (but certainly not least) group used only one or two dashes of absinthe in their recipes. Nothing wrong at all with using absinthe in these quantities, but in these cases it is truly an accent in the drink, and nothing more.

In this group, we have two great mixologists/bartenders from Chicago (welcome to MxMo, gentlemen!) -

Billy from the Whistler (a great cocktail & live music venue) gives us the Fleming, which includes Scotch, sloe gin, honey and absinthe (and he uses my favorite absinthe, too - I'm only slightly biased on that account).

James from Gioco (a great Italian restaurant with a nice cocktail menu too) emailed me his favorite absinthe drink - a twist on the Sazerac. His Ghost of Tom Joad contains 2 oz Ransom Old Tom, 1 oz Cointreau, Squeeze of 1 lemon wedge, dash of Angostura, dash of absinthe. Chill a cocktail glass, coat with absinthe. Stir remaining ingredients with ice; strain into glass. Garnish with orange twist.

Stevi over at Two at the Most is a woman after my own heart. Her blog name, her love for absinthe in the traditional drip, and the fact that she's always looks for new things. She found a new (to her) cocktail, the Atlantic. With gin, white rum, Cointreau and just a two dashes of absinthe, she found a new drink that demonstrates what a little absinthe can do.

James over at Alcoholiday gives us the only drink using Mezcal as the base, in the Smoking Saints Cocktail. Mezcal, St. Germain, lime, simple and absinthe - what's not to love?

And last on this list, but first in my book for starting this whole MxMo thing, is Paul Clarke over at The Cocktail Chronicles. Paul remembers that when MxMo started back in 2006, we couldn't have absinthe as our theme - look how far we've come. With the Modern Cocktail, Paul revisits a recipe from Hugo Ensslin using Scotch, lemon, and a bit of rum and bitters.

Cheers everyone, thanks for all the great posts and all the inspiration. I am going to incorporate more Scotch, Calvados, maraschino, and sloe gin into my absinthe drinks - those seemed to pop up in several entries. Now where's that mixing glass and bar spoon...

MxMo XLVI Roundup - Absinthe Abundance - Part I

2010-02-24T15:20:00.008-06:00

Wow! By my count, there were 39 entries, and more than 50 recipes, submitted for Mixology Monday this month on our topic of absinthe. We have some new participants, including a couple of great bartenders from my hometown, a few entries from the fine folks at the Wormwood Society, some fun ideas from eGullet, and entries from cocktail writers and fans around the globe.

A few themes and trends - most folks used classical French/Swiss style absinthes (and a couple used substitutes). We had a few blanches and many vertes in use, but no rouges. Most of our recipes from friends to the north in Toronto used Czech-style absinthe. A wide variety of base spirits, liqueurs, fruits and herbs were used in these cocktails - really showing the breadth of absinthe's use in cocktails. So many great drinks to try!

In the interest of readability, I have roughly sorted the entries by intensity of absinthe. As many noted, it's a bit polarizing - some of us love it, and are happy to have a lot of it, but others prefer it only as an accent.

This post has all the cocktails where absinthe is a dominant or prominent ingredient. The next one will have those where it is a small or large accent.

Love My Absinthe
These folks love their absinthe, and their drinks reflect it.

Jenn over at Nightcapped had her first experience with the traditional absinthe drip, and she loved it. She has some fun history and absinthe artwork in her post too.

Nabokov used an ingredient that I used in my drink too - passion fruit - in his Tea of Samurai. He writes about how absinthe is "magic, glamorous, dangerous," and includes a great Russian proverb, too.

Tiare at a Mountain of Crushed Ice made the Chocolate Suissesse, which looks and sounds decadent and delicious. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we can get one of the key ingredients here in the US, but I plan to try.

The fine folks 1022 South submitted two recipes, and one of them is heavy on the absinthe. Their Devil's Handshake, with equal parts Fernet Branca, absinthe and ginger syrup, is intended as a shot. And an intense one, at that!

Andy over at Sybaritic Wanderings gives us a great story about being in an earthquake, and writes about the Earthquake Cocktail. Luckily, there was no damage done to Andy or his home, by the actual earthquake, at least. Sounds like a good (stiff) drink of gin, whiskey and absinthe.

Rob from Toronto used a Czech-style absinthe as the dominant ingredient in his Ghostface Killah cocktail, described by Gavin over at Intelligent Bartender. He also used Macadamia nut syrup, cream, egg white and more. Sounds intriguing!

Marshall over at Scofflaw's Den gives us two drinks, one of them heavy on the absinthe - the Green Fairy Sour, taken from the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail book. Sounds delicious, and uses some common (and easily found) ingredients for an absinthe drink - citrus, egg white, and plain simple syrup. Just look at the beautiful foam on that drink!

Chris over at eGullet gives us the Mud in Your Eye, which sounds intensely flavorful and interesting. 2 full ounces of absinthe, with some Branca Menta and gum syrup for good measure. Wow!

And last but not least in the "heavy on the absinthe" category, is my Passion Fairy. Don't love the name (and am open to suggestions), but really liked the drink. Absinthe, passion fruit, brandy, and some citrus.

Like my Absinthe
This group of folks has absinthe as a prominent ingredient in their drink, but not the most dominant ingredient or flavor, as best I can tell.

Chris over at Cocktail Welten recommends the Ante Cocktail, with a blend of Calvados, Cointreau and absinthe. I have never put absinthe with Calvados, but hope to soon. Unfortunately my German is poor, but Google Translate tells me that Chris wrote "The ante is simply a cocktail told to kneel down! Maybe it'll help the absinthe get the attention he deserves. Sante!"

Scomorokh over at Science of Drink wrote about two similar cocktails, the Chrysanthemum, and the Duchess - the key difference is the first has Benedictine, the second has Sweet Vermouth in it's place. I haven't yet had the Duchess, but expect the absinthe will be more prominent in that one - sounds delicious. Большое спасибо.

Continuing the drinks from cocktailians outside the US, Elan from Toronto developed the Two in the Pink using Alize red, amaretto, cranberry and egg white.

Two real absinthe aficionados weighed in with cocktails this time around - First, we have Brian from Rantings of a DC Gourmand (and also Review Editor and Advisory Board Member over at the Wormwood Society) giving us the Purring Schubie, named for a friend's cat. This drink is intended to be "tasty, complex and still refreshing, " a fitting description.

Second, we have Alan from the Real Absinthe Blog and La Clandestine Absinthe weighing in with three cocktails from mixologist friends around the world, one of which contains a meaningful amount of absinthe. The Bramble Ramble from a friend in Malaysia sounds delicious, with fresh berries, vodka, grapefruit and vanilla.

Jake over at Liquor is Quicker (Drink Snob) gives us the More Improved Scotch Cocktail, and writes about something that happens to many of us now and then - we work on a cocktail for awhile, only to realize that someone else already came up with something darn close. Nonetheless, his drink sounds intriguing, with two different types of Scotch.

The fine folks over at eGullet give us three drinks that contain a moderate amount of absinthe. Three unique takes, and interesting ways to use the spirit.

Chris introduces us to the Wax, which he says is mildly reminiscent of these
BMDaniel gives us the Green Hour Rum Punch, a variation on the classic milk punch.
Katie goes with the Absinthe Martini, which she says is a good way to introduce absinthe into your cocktail repertoire.

Inspired by strange dreams about Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon, Nat at Alphacook developed An Untimely Death. In addition to the absinthe, he uses Cherry Heering, lemon and sparkling wine. (unfortunately technical problems prevented Nat from sharing a photo this time around, but I'm sure it looks delicious)

And last but not least in this category, Wes in Toronto gives us the Pour la Premiere Fois, with Calvados, pomegranate liqueur, and dry vermouth. Another absinthe & calvados cocktail - I have to give that a try.

Whew, this is a bigger job than I realized. Stay tuned for the next post, with the rest of the great cocktails!

MxMo XLVI - All About Absinthe

2010-02-22T13:00:00.002-06:00

The posts have started rolling in for this month's Mixology Monday. In what might be my earliest post ever (usually I'm posting around 11 pm or so on the Monday), here's my contribution to this month's online cocktail party.

Adoring Absinthe
I love the stuff. It always amazes me to see how different one brand is from another - the first sip might be very similar, but after that they are totally different. Usually I just add some water, and maybe some sugar (depends on the brand). If I want a frappe, some crushed ice too. From time to time, I'll go for a classic cocktail - there are some great ones out there.

One of my favorites recently is the Dixie Cocktail. I probably found it here originally, and some friends have mentioned it before. It's an herbaceous, delicious drink if you like absinthe. My version includes the orange juice & grenadine from the Cocktail DB version, with slightly different proportions. It's also nice without them, mind you, but this is my favorite of the variations.

Dixie Cocktail (my version)
¾ oz Gin (Distiller's Gin No. 6)
½ oz Absinthe (Sirène Absinthe Verte)
½ oz Dry Vermouth (Vya)
2 dashes real Grenadine
1 oz fresh Orange Juice
Shake all ingredients well with ice, strain into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

And a New One Too
And for fun, and to get me out of my rut, I came up with a new drink. I am really happy with how this came out, after working on it for several days. It's definitely an absinthe lovers drink (no mistaking it), but with an interesting blend of fruit, spice and deeper flavor tones.

Of course, I used our absinthe for this one too - I know, it's shocking.

Passion Fairy
2 oz Absinthe (used Sirène Absinthe Verte)
2 oz Passion Fruit Puree (Funkin)
1 oz Brandy (Paul Masson Grande Amber)
3/4 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
Two dashes Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a long orange twist.

Cheers and happy MxMo! Stay tuned for the recap, hopefully here sometime tomorrow.

Reminder - MxMo on February 22!

2010-02-20T12:27:00.002-06:00

The entries have started arriving, and you've got a few days left to get your entry in for Mixology Monday this month! Can't wait to see what absinthe drinks you come up with! All the details for participating are here.

I'll get the recap up sometime on Tuesday, hopefully. Cheers!

Small-batch Cocktail Supplies

2010-02-11T11:17:00.001-06:00

There are some great little companies making quality cocktail ingredients and supplies these days. You can use them to make better drinks, without going to all the effort of making these things yourself (and potentially not making them as well as these folks). Unfortunately, very few of these products are making it to Chicago (yet). Luckily, you can order them online.

Here are my favorite sources for the more esoteric ingredients, as well as a couple of new discoveries:

Small Hand Foods - San Francisco-area bartender Jennifer Colliau started this company to provide local bartenders with great ingredients for classic cocktails. I first found out about her company when I was in SF last spring, and I have since had an opportunity to use the grenadine and pineapple gum syrup. The syrups are great, as good as you'd want them to be if you were making them, without having to go to the effort (and have less than stellar results). The website lists a Chicago-area distributor, but I haven't seen these anywhere yet. Hopefully they'll start showing up soon.

Trader Tiki - Portland area cocktail enthusiast and bartender extraordinaire Blair Reynolds (aka Trader Tiki) started this company to provide great ingredients for quality Tiki cocktails and other libations. He got started late last year, and I am anxiously awaiting my first order of
cinnamon syrup, Don's mix, and orgeat. I see some great Tiki drinks in my future, which I need after my last tiki bar trip. Blair is one of the first people I met at my first Tales of the Cocktail, at which time he gave me a small bottle of his house-made bitters (which are great). I always knew we'd be friends after that! And besides, who can resist this description: "A brilliant combination of Barbados grapefruit and Asian cinnamon creating a newfound flavor which is best tasted to be believed. Best used in the Donga Punch, this recipe applies perfectly to a Zombie and creates a wonderful punch with just rum, lime, and ice!"

Scrappy's Bitters - I just found these at Provenance in Logan Square, and picked up the grapefruit bitters. Unfortunately, that was all they had in stock at the time - apparently the chocolate bitters and some of the others have been popular with a couple of local mixologists. I really like these bitters so far, although I have just started working with them. I can't tell from the website who is behind these, but Joe at Provenance said they're coming from Seattle.

Cocktail Kingdom - I haven't ordered from these folks yet, but they have a great array of bitters, syrups, books, and tools on their website. You can order most of the above products at once from them, and more, if you wanted. I've got my eye on a couple of things on there, and my birthday is coming, so..... fingers crossed!

Cheers to Chicago Mixologists

2010-02-10T11:00:00.003-06:00

I have been remiss in writing about the achievements of our local mixologists lately, even though some great things have been happening. Here are some highlights:

National Sherry Cocktail Competition
Charles Joly from the Drawing Room won the 4th annual Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition in December, beating out prominent mixologists from around the country in the finals. He won a trip to tour the Jerez region, along with a scholarship to the BAR Masters program. Congrats Charles!

Bread & Wine, by Charles Joly
(Photo courtesy of Iñaki Vinaixa via the Sherry Council of America)
1 oz Lustau “Don Nuño” Dry Oloroso
1½ oz Balvenie Scotch Doublewood 12 year
5 dashes Absinthe (preferably Sirene Absinthe - thanks Charles!)
½ oz fresh lemon juice ¼-1/3 oz maple syrup (depending on
tartness of lemons)
Fill Old Fashioned glass with ice, dash with absinthe and set aside
to season. Combine Sherry, Balvenie, lemon juice and maple
syrup in mixing glass. Add ice and shake well. Empty Old
Fashioned glass, coating sides with absinthe. Add Kold Draft or
large pieces of ice. Strain cocktail into glass. Cut a strip of orange
zest using a vegetable peeler. Mist top of glass with orange oil,
rub rim and place decoratively in glass. No straws please.

National Benedictine Competition
Lynn House from graham elliot took second in another huge national competition sponsored by the fine folks at Benedictine with her drink The Grail, finishing ahead of a number of prominent mixologists around the country. She was featured in Esquire in January, and has been mentioned in a number of other major publications recently. Go Lynn!

The Grail, by Lynn House
2 oz Benedictine Liqueur
1/4 oz Esprit Orange Liqueur
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz Fevertree tonic water
3 dashes of Fee brothers orange bitters

Local Competitions
Debbi Peek, the portfolio mixologist extraordinaire for Bacardi USA, won the local Best Bartender contest sponsored by Domaine de Canton in November, and she won a trip to St. Martin to compete in the nationals. Congrats Debbi! Hope that trip is coming up soon, it's cold around here!

There have been a few other local competitions recently as well, with more to come. Daniel de Oliveira of Crimson Lounge and Double A won the latest, sponsored by Absolut, and Todd Appel of Crimson Lounge made to the finals of a recent late-night tv show on mixologists (also sponsored by Absolut).

Best Cocktail Lounge is in Chicago!
And last but not least, The Drawing Room was named the Best Cocktail Lounge in the US for 2010 by Nightclub & Bar Magazine. If you haven't been there yet, you're missing out!

Congrats all! Great things are happening in our cocktail scene, with more to come.

You Fibber McGee, You

2010-02-05T12:10:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, we found a recipe on CocktailDB for a drink called a Fibber McGee, and we tried it. We liked it, so we've been making it every now and then for awhile now. It's a variation on a sweet Martini, with a bit of grapefruit juice. Few people know it, so it seems to be a fairly obscure drink. I'm not sure when it was developed or how it came about - it may have something to do with a certain radio show, but I haven't been able to determine it's origins.

It appears in print in only one book I've found so far, and it was a recent one - 2005. It was also mentioned in a NY Times article back in 1990, and one other blogger friend wrote about it a few years back.

Well, we made it again recently, so I wanted to suggest it to others - it's a nice drink. Herbal, complex and a tad sweet. Especially so if you use a red grapefruit instead of a white grapefruit. Cheers!

Fibber McGee
1½ oz Gin (I use Distiller's Gin No. 11 of course, but any traditional London dry should work well)
½ oz Sweet Vermouth (Carpana Antica)
½ oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Mixology Monday XLVI - All About Absinthe!

2010-02-03T10:00:00.002-06:00

This month, I have the privilege and pleasure of hosting Mixology Monday. The amazing Paul Clarke started MxMo in April 2006, and it's been going strong ever since. Each month, cocktail bloggers and writers from around the globe chime in on that month's topic, all on the designated Monday. This month, it's Monday, February 22nd.

The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800's and early 1900's - the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2... I'm getting thirsty.

So let's celebrate absinthe's history, and it's future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe.

Here's how to participate:

Find or concoct a recipe using absinthe as an ingredient.
Make the drink and write about it. Include the recipe, ideally a photo, and something about how you liked (or didn't like, or tweaked, or...) the drink. If you don't have a blog, you can submit your recipe on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
Include in your post the MxMo logo and a link back to both Mixology Monday and Thinking of Drinking. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be most appreciated (thanks for that idea, Frederic).
Post a link to your submission in the comment section here, or send an email to sonjakassebaum (at) gmail (dot) com.

The due date is Monday, February 22nd, which I will interpret as whatever gets submitted before I get to the office on Tuesday the 23rd to start workin' on my wrap up (for those procrastinators in the bunch, I usually show up at 10 am CST). I'll take entries late too, if it gets in before I finish the wrap up. But I might give you a rough time for being late.

And if you want to learn more about the history of absinthe, here are some links.

Cheers and see you on the 22nd!

Joy and Suffering at the Hala Kahiki

2010-02-02T22:18:00.001-06:00

Recently, we went to the Hala Kahiki in River Grove, IL (just as an aside, you get a very different website if you leave out the hyphen on the web address).

The Hala Kahiki has long considered the best tiki bar in Illinois, and one of the best vintage tiki bars in the country by some. So it's been on our list of places we needed to visit for a long time. Of course, since it's in River Grove, and keeps somewhat limited hours, we hadn't made it there. Until now.

The Good News
We were amazed by the decor and ambience. Truly a beautiful oasis in the middle of nowhere, will lots of great decor items, down to the small details like the puffer fish lights. It's a really big place, even without the outside patio space. The parking lot was packed, but there were still tables, so we got lucky.

Great ambience, great vibe, good crowd.

The Bad News
The drinks were not good. I know I'm a cocktail snob, and they're trying to hold their prices down in the tough economy, but the drinks were not what we expected based on the decor.

I ordered a Mai Tai (foreground) and Derek ordered a Fog Cutter. Our drinks tasted very similar to each other, with tons of crushed ice. Unfortunately we were not at the bar and did not see how they were made, but mine tasted like vodka with cheap sour mix - no rum flavors whatsoever, no orgeat, no fresh lime. And it seemed like they used lots of foaming bar sugar.

Maybe they were busy and took shortcuts, or maybe it was an off night. I'll probably go one more time and see if I can sit at the bar next time so I can see what's happening. But this was a disappointing introduction to the Hala Kahiki.

Holiday Cocktails

2009-12-23T12:55:00.004-06:00

This time of year is pretty crazy in the distillery business, so this post is going to be to the short and sweet. My blogging friends have posted some great holiday cocktails already, such as the Snowshoe, classic Eggnog and Hot Buttered Rum, and Glogg, for starters.

Here are a few more holiday cocktail ideas - one with vodka, one with gin, and one with whiskey. They whiskey one is from our friend Charles Joly at the Drawing Room, he serves them this time of year and they are great. The other two have been featured at our tasting events this season, which means they are easy to make in batches, and appeal to a broad range of people. Not exactly high-brow mixology, but delicious just the same. In fact, I'm off to go pour some of these today.

Happy holidays everyone!

Apple Cider Punch
2 oz (North Shore) Vodka
3 oz High-grade Apple Juice
1/2 oz German Apple Schnapps
Dash of Ground Cinnamon
Dash of Ground Nutmeg

Pour ingredients in mixing glass, stir. Fill tall glass with ice, pour contents into glass. Garnish with slice of fresh apple and dash of ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Also delicious served warm instead.

Cranberry-Ginger Gimlet
2 oz Distiller's Gin No. 6
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Cranberry and Ginger-infused Simple Syrup

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and slice of fresh orange for a fun, festive look. For the syrup, use 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries and 2" of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced. Simmer 5 minutes, then mash cranberries. Cool completely, then strain. Can be made ahead, and stored in refrigerator for a few weeks.

The Guild Meeting, by Charles Joly
1.5 oz White Sugar
12 oz Hot Tea (orange or chai is nice this time of year)
2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
5 oz Fresh Orange Juice
2 oz Domain de Canton ginger liqueur
2 oz honey liqueur (Drambuie, Wild Turkey American Honey or even Benedictine is nice)
5 oz Rittenhouse 100
2 oranges

Use a vegetable peeler to cut 4-5 strips of orange peel. Place peels and sugar in bowl and muddle to allow sugar to absorb orange oils. Add hot tea and stir to dissolve sugar, then add remaining ingredients and stir.