Sure, I got to shake hands with Danny DeVito, who was hand at the Drink Italy session. But even more exciting to a cocktail geek like myself was the chance to have drinks made by many of the great bartenders I’ve heard about. The Cocktail “Carnival” Happy Hour at the Presbytere was one of the best staffed bars of all time. I had drinks made by Angus Winchester, Jim Romdall, and some guy named Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Also manning tables were the likes of Wayne Curtis, author of …And a Bottle of Rum and Tales Blog’s own Paul Clarke.

Tastings were another great place to meet favorite bartenders and other experts in the cocktail world. I had several rums poured for me by Ed Hamilton, administerer of the Ministry of Rum. His table at the Raw Session: Producers Pet Projects tasting room was next to that of Eric Seed, a man much beloved in the cocktail blogosphere for bringing us spirits like Batavia Arrack. Eric let us taste Cocchi Americano, an apperativo that I can attest tastes great in a Corpse Reviver #2. He also previewed a much anticipated Swedish Punsch.

Another great place to meet people was at the bookstore run by Octavia Books. Several authors had signings. I truly enjoyed meeting the lovely ladies of LUPEC Boston, there to sign their little black book of cocktails.

And of course, there is the Carousel Bar. My first time in the bar, I met the ever entertaining Cheryl Charming. I found myself talking to cocktail historian David Wondrich one afternoon, and a day later, had a long conversation with Jay Hendrickson about his work with Sazerac to bring back the original formulation of Legendre Herbsainte.

Everybody I’ve met has been friendly and approachable, happy to share information and of course a drink. This will be the hardest part of leaving Tales, losing this fantastic concentration of like-minded cocktail lovers, ever in search of a great drink.

Related posts:

1. Tales Blogging
2. New Orleans Pharmacists
3. A Very Tales Birthday

The Sazerac Poncho

Moderator Phil Greene was joined by Lorin Gaudin, Jay Hendrickson and Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh to talk about the unique contribution that pharmacists from New Orleans have made to the history of the American cocktail.

Phil is a decedent of the family that brought us our beloved Peychaud’s bitters, an essential component of the Sazerac cocktail. Phil shared with us his latest research into the Peychaud story, and concluded by demonstrating the proper preparation of the iconic cocktail. I hope next year’s swag bags will include a Sazerac poncho, a necessary element if you want to follow Phil’s example and toss the glass in the air to achieve the optimum Herbsainte rinse.

Ted Haigh then shared his research an insights into other pharmacists from the golden age of cocktails, complete with a plea to Joe Fee to produce Stoughton’s bitters.

Lorin Gaudin shared the important history of the Ursuline nuns and their herb garden. Their convent can still be visited today, where the garden is currently maintained by local chefs. She also educated us about Nectar syrup, so now I must go track some down.

Finally, Jay Hendrickson shared the history of Herbsainte, the New Orleans absinthe substitute made by A. Lengendre. He also let us know that current brand owners Sazerac company will be launching the original recipe Herbsainte soon, which I’m really looking forward to trying.

This is the sort of session that makes Tales of the Cocktail worthwhile. And I still made the Diageo happy hour!

Related posts:

1. Name Dropping: Meeting the Stars
2. MxMo XXIX: New Orleans — Absinthe Suissesse

I was a bit trepidatious when I saw the Tales schedule and discovered it started on my birthday. I normally like to spend the week of my birthday in the remote mountains riding my horse. That ride is postponed for a year so that I can experience the sensory overload that is Tales of the Cocktail.

I started the day off with a great breakfast at Stanley on Jackon Square. At the recommendation of Matthew Rowley, I had the Breaux Bridge Benedict, which was delicious. Then I headed over to the Monteleone, after picking up an umbrella when it was obvious the sky was about to open up. And open it did, but luckily it was only my feet that got soaked.

After signing in and getting my media pass, I headed to the tasting rooms. First was the Yamazaki whisky tasting, which I missed the begining of, but did get to taste some yubari melon jelly during a discussion of Midori. I followed that with a cocktail poured by Seattle’s own Jamie Boudreau, and then headed over to the Castries tasting. They were featuring two excellent examples of how you don’t have to make an overly sweet cocktail even with a peanut creme liqueur.

I then headed up to the swag bag room, courtesy of my media pass to Tales. Definitely a great birthday present, a room full of liquor samples and logo gear. After stuffing my bag full of goodies, I met up with other members of the CSOWG and headed to Coop’s for lunch. Apparently Chuck Taggart is too good at making recommendations, because we ran into most of the rest of the CSOWG as well as the Seattle bartending scene already there waiting. But it was worth it, and really enjoyed my Abita Turbo Dog and bowl of gumbo.

Back to the tasting rooms. After stopping by the Ron Zacapa room, I hit the Raw Spirits room, full of new, experimental liquors, mostly from smaller distillers. This included several rums being poured by Ministry of Rum’s Ed Hamilton and a hibiscus liqueur being created by the same folks bringing us Castries. I also hit the Fresh Market tasting room, full of organic spirits, largely being poured by the distillers themselves.

I then found myself in the Carousel Bar, chatting with Camper English and meeting David Wondrich, among others. Rhum Clement treated us to straw hats and ti punch. We then wandered over to the Roosevelt Hotel where we had a Sazerac at the beautiful Sazerac bar (featuring Sazerac rye, natch!). I decided to skip the Beefeater reception, largely because I forgot to bring my ticket. I found myself with my CSOWG friends for the evening.

All in all, a great way to spend a birthday. While I tasted a lot of different liquors, I was careful to follow the best advice for drinking all day without getting too drunk. I’m happy to report that I felt pretty good in the morning, ready to hit more great seminars and tastings as Tales continues.

A huge thanks to everybody who helped me celebrate my birthday this year. Sure was kind of y’all to throw me such a huge party!

Related posts:

1. Off to Tales of the Cocktail
2. Tales Blogging
3. Name Dropping: Meeting the Stars

What does that mean for you, dear reader? It means next week you can expect to see several updates from me about all the fun I’m having things I’m learning about cocktails, spirits, and blogging. And it’s not just me. Be sure to check out the Tales Blog for coverage of the entire event from all my wonderful co-Tales bloggers.

I am really excited to be attending Tales this year. I learned about Tales last year just about the time I started getting serious about my cocktail blogging, and decided to give it a pass. Based on all the wonderful stories I read on last year’s Tales Blog, I knew I couldn’t make the same mistake twice. When I was invited to join the Tales Blog this year, I couldn’t possibly say no.

So I hope you’ll check back here (and the Tales Blog) to keep in touch with all the fun. And if you have any suggestions for places to eat while I’m in New Orleans, leave me a comment to let me know. I haven’t been to NOLA in almost ten years!

and by crack of dawn I mean I need to leave my house for the airport by actual sunrise and better be up before civil twilight.

1. Tales Blogging
2. A Very Tales Birthday

Fin de Siècle

I can tell you after receiving a sample bottle, and having enjoyed it in many fine establishments, that gimmick or not, Martin Miller has put his name on a fine gin.

As the story goes, in 1999, British entrepreneur and bon viveur Martin Miller and two friends set out to create the finest gin possible, no expense spared.

Their recipe, apparently formulation number 7, combines juniper, orange and lemon peel, coriander, licorice, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg, angelica, and orris root. These botanicals are batch distilled in a century-old copper still in England’s Black Country before the aforementioned 3,000 mile round trip to Iceland.

Martin Miller is making two gins; my sample bottle is of the 80 proof (40% ABV)  version.

On the nose, there is the slight scent of violet from the orris root, and a general pleasant spiciness. This plays through on the taste. I don’t find the citrus to be very strong, instead, there’s a confident bitterness from the juniper and licorice, along with a general interplay of all the spices. This gently eases into a balanced aftertaste that doesn’t linger. The mouthfeel is quite soft. Maybe there is something to that glacial Icelandic water.

In preparation for this week’s TDN, which is sponsored by Martin Miller’s gin, I wanted to try a new drink. SeanMike of Scofflaw’s Den sent me a bottle of his take on Jamie Boudreau’s recipe for Amer Picon, so I thought I’d finally try the Fin de Siècle. This cocktail was created in the 1920s, and refers to the19th century.

Fin de Siècle Cocktail

1.5 oz English dry gin (Martin Miller’s gin)
0.75 oz sweet vermouth
0.25 ounce Amer Picon
1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice in a mixing glass while dreaming of the 19th century, then strain into a cocktail glass.

This is a nice balance of bitter and sweet, and I think it suits the Martin Miller’s well. This cocktail wouldn’t work as well with a more citrus-forward gin.

I have not yet had a gin cocktail with MM that I didn’t enjoy. It makes a wonderful martini and gin and tonic. It’s an overall solid gin. Its list price is $33.99, which puts it in the same price range as other premium gins I enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Right Gin and the Zummy Cocktail
2. Voyager Gin and the Gin-Gin Mule
3. Bluecoat Gin and the Corpse Reviver No. 2a

Find or concoct a cocktail recipe that uses ginger in one of its many forms as an ingredient.  This can be muddled ginger, sliced ginger, ginger syrup, ginger beer (commercial or homemade), ginger liqueur, ginger candy, or pieces of a shredded photo of Ginger from Gilligan’s Island.

Gingered Rum Old Fashioned

To me, ginger is one of the most magical of flavors. It is one of the first things I turn to when feeling bad. Ginger in all its forms can make me feel better. But unlike most medicines, ginger actually tastes great.

Still, I find that many recipes rely on ginger as a panacea. I like to joke that Thursday Drink Night needs to have a “ginger beer free” night. A dose of ginger beer always tastes great – and hides many sins in your drink invention skills.

While I do like drinks with ginger beer, I find it takes more skill to mix a drink that uses the flavor as a highlight and not a major element.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur. While this has been a darling of the cocktailian world for a while, I’ve only recently acquired a bottle of my own. In that sense, it is still new to me. I appreciate how it manages to capture the heat of raw ginger.

I’ve found it particularly useful as a replacement for rich simple syrup. In honor of this month’s host, I thought I’d use it in a rum Old Fashioned. And since RumDood would be willing to use Zaya on his pancakes, I thought I’d go high end with this one.

Gingered Rum Old Fashioned

2 oz Zaya Gran Reserva
0.25 oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash Angostura orange bitters

Mix ingredients in old fasioned glass, add ice, and sip with greatest enjoyment.

I find the ginger compliments the spicy richness of Zaya, and really enjoy sipping this drink. I hope you will to!

Thanks, Matt, for a great topic. Be sure to check out Rumdood.com for the roundup post!

Related posts:

1. Ginger Syrup
2. MxMo: Rum — Nassau Cocktail
3. MxMo XXXVII: First Time — The Daiquiri

You’re in luck! Because on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 6 pm, Pacific Distillery will be hosting its first ever Distiller’s Dinner at Prohibition Grille, in Everett, WA!

For $50 (plus tax and gratuity), you’ll receive a five course meal paired with premium cocktails. Be sure to make your reservations now by calling 425.258.6100!

Hope to see you there!

View Larger Map

Related posts:

1. Voyager Gin and the Gin-Gin Mule

Pearl Button with Boca Loca Cachaça

Boca Loca (”Crazy Lips” in Portuguese) comes to us from the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. On the nose, the scent of sugar cane is dominant. On the tongue, it’s quite sweet, with some melon flavors and maybe even some peach, with some additional vegetal flavors that I find I like in a quality cachaça.

Boca Loca makes a fantastic caipirinha, but we’ve already covered that drink at Two at the Most, so I wanted to discover something a little different. Most cachaça recipes stick to a fairly tried and true, narrow range of pairing the spirit with fruit and lime juice.

That’s why the recipe for the Pearl Button caught my eye. The inclusion of Lillet, one of my favorite fortified wines, made me interested to try this highball recipe created by Naren Young for Bobo Restaurant.

Pearl Button

2 oz cachaça (Boca Loca)
0.75 oz Lillet
0.5 oz lime juice
4 ounces San Pellegrino limonata (sub sparkling lemonade)

Shake cachaça, Lillet, and lime juice and strain into ice filled highball glass. Top with lemonade, and garnish with grapefruit wheel.

I rarely find grapefruit I like here, so I substituted a lime wheel and a dash of grapefruit bitters.

I found the result to be pleasantly dry. It allows the flavor of the Boca Loca to come through in a very pleasant way. This will definitely enter the rotation of cachaça drinks in my home bar.

Boca Loca is a quality affordable cachaça, retailing for around $20 a bottle. Pick up some of your own to celebrate International Cachaça Day. What’s your favorite cachaça drink?

Related posts:

1. Leblon Cachaça and the Caipirinha
2. Beefeater 24
3. Blinker Cocktail Redux

Gin-Gin Mule

Voyager is a single-batch gin that is distilled from 100% neutral grain spirits using a 500 liter copper alembic still. In addition to juniper, Voyager’s botanicals are coriander, licorice root, cardamom, aniseed, lemon, orange, orris, angelica, and cassia. After the botanicals are added to the spirits and distilled, the gin is brought to 84 proof (42% ABV) and bottled.

Pacific is a small, new distillery, and everybody pitches in on bottling day.

Marc Bernhard has put a lot of love into this product, and it shows. On the nose, the citrus and juniper dominates. Straight, there is some hotness from the slightly higher proof, but also a luxurious richness from the base spirits. This is a fairly citrus forward gin, perhaps most similar to Beefeater 24, but I find Voyager more balanced between the citrus and the juniper.

I’ve yet to find a gin drink I don’t like using Voyager. It makes a delightful gin and tonic. It’s great in a martini and even better in a martinez.

I’m not the only one in love with Voyager, either. Robert Hess has featured is on the Small Screen Network in a drink he created called the Clipper Ship.¹

Several great Seattle Metro bars are also using Voyager frequently, including Zig Zag. Last time I asked Murray for bartender’s choice, something with gin, he made me an Alaska Cocktail using Voyager, and it was fantastic.

But we’ve been having something of a heatwave here in Redmond, and a friend gave me a new bunch of mint from his garden, so I thought I’d go with something refreshing. The gin-gin mule, created by Audrey Saunders, is a great drink.

Gin-Gin Mule

2 oz gin (Voyager gin)
0.75 oz lime juice
0.25 oz rich simple syrup (2:1)
8 mint leaves
ginger beer
mint sprig for garnish

Shake gin, lime juice, simple syrup and mint leaves. Strain into ice-filled collins glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with slapped mint. Sip on a sultry evening.

Voyager Gin is available in many Washington State Liquor Control Board stores. If yours does not have any, be sure to ask them to stock it. Voyager is also being carried by DrinkUpNY, which may be able to ship to your state.

[1] He had already created a cocktail called the Voyager, so he named this one after the ship on the gin’s label.

Related posts:

1. Sobieski Vodka and the Mazowse Mule
2. Pacific Distillery Dinner at Prohibition Grille
3. Martin Miller’s Gin

Ramos Gin Fizz

This New Orleans classic was created in the 1880s by Henry C. Ramos for his bar at Meyer’s Restaurant. He started with a blend of gin, citrus, and cream, then added some orange flower water for a burst of exotic, floral scent and flavor. Egg white is then added and shaken hard and long for a fabulous, light drink.

To get the light frothiness requires a heck of a lot of shaking. At least a minute, and more like five or six if you want to really experience how gloriously light this drink can be despite the heaviness of the cream. In the drink’s heyday, multiple boys would be on hand to take over shaking a drink if the one in front became too exhausted.

I love this drink, especially when it is shaken properly, but I can’t make it too often myself. As a computer programmer, I have a touch of RSI in my wrists, and shaking for several minutes can be painful.

The dry shake method can help limit the shaking necessary once the ice is added, but even then, I find that at least two minutes, dry and iced combined, is the bare minimum.

That was until I got my new milk frother. I’ve see seen these in use at Vessel and Rob Roy, and finally decided to get one myself. What a great time saver. I was able to dry froth my mixture for sixty seconds, then shake with ice for 40 seconds, well within my comfort zone. And the result was probably the best Ramos Gin Fizz I have ever made at home. If I didn’t know there were two full ounces of milk in this drink, I’d make another, because within 15 minutes, I had downed the whole thing, it was so light and refreshing.

I take my standard Ramos Gin Fizz recipe straight from Chuck Taggart at the Gumbo Pages:

Ramos Gin Fizz

1.5 oz old tom gin
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz lime juice
1 oz rich simple syrup
3-4 drops orange flower water
2 drops vanilla extract
2 ounces cream
1 egg white
soda water

Combine all but soda water in shaker. Froth for 1 minute with milk frother. Add ice, shake until well chilled (at least 30 seconds, go for a minute or more). Strain into collins glass and top with soda water.

We’re looking at a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend here in the Pacific Northwest, and this light drink is a great way to kick it off.

What’s your favorite way to save effort in making drinks?

Related posts:

1. Right Gin and the Zummy Cocktail
2. MxMo XXIX: New Orleans — Absinthe Suissesse
3. Voyager Gin and the Gin-Gin Mule