Hair of The Dog, December 2nd 2010
Let’s get this started with a cocktail which can be categorized as either a royale or a fizz: the Doc Daneeka Royale. They choose to use the excellent Leopold’s gin with lemon juice, maple syrup, and champagne. They garnished the drink with grapefruit(highly appropriate for Leopold’s since one of the botanicals is a similar citrus fruit in the pomelo). This post really does a great job discussing the nuances of the drink throughout the ingredients. One thing I’d like to add is that all of the botanicals are distilled separately in Leopold’s gin, and then blended to flavor. The gin has a lighter juniper flavor, and is extraordinarily smooth gin.
Fernet Cocktails are always a scary proposition. I’m not sure either one is really bound to match the Fernet Flip, but the Cocktail Chronicles does an excellent job of discussing the best ways to use Fernet in a drink. The biggest thing I’ve found is that Fernet actually works exquisitely well as a bitters substitute. The overpowering herbaceous bitter qualities actually round out a cocktail well and offer nice hints of more pleasing mint qualities. The two drinks here were created by Jim Romdall.
77th Repeal Day Party on December 5th at the new Cocktail Bill Boothby Center For the Beverage Arts. I may or may not go, but I definitely want to attend. We’ll see if I can’t find a way in the old-fashioned way.
Just heard about about.com’s tea cocktail contest. The deadline for entries have been extended until December 15th. I think I might try entering, so I’ll do my best to come up with a winter drink. I think I’m going the route of a toddy..
Virginia Miller has a recent article about the Independent Spirits ExpoI’ll soon be writing about. She mentions a few of my favorites from the event, and the Old World Spirits Rusty Blade Gin as well.
John Hansell talks oak-aged beer. We’re also seeing various bars experiment with oak-aging in general. Jeffrey Morganthaler in Portland has aged various cocktails, and I know H. at Elixir has aged beer a few times.
Albert Trummer has been ahead of the game, but he’s got to stay two steps ahead of the law men. He pissed off his partners at his last New York bar venture by playing with fire, and this excellent New York Times article discusses the impact he’s had in bartending and how the fire scandal unfolded. I’ve certainly never shied from having fun with fire making Spanish Coffees, and I’m pretty sure everybody who has ever watched me has enjoyed the show. Usually, I’d get several more orders, only sometimes to my disappointment(when I’ve drink tickets wrapped around my neck).
Duggan McDonnell, Walter Moore, and Carlos Romero are getting their proper due with their phenomenal Encanto de Campo Pisco. They just won best pisco in Peru, and it’s entirely merited.
The clusterfuck of legalities surrounding the labelling of bottles. I know there’s numerous producers and distributors who really hate all the laws surrounding booze, since they are often arbitrary and contradictory. You can’t just produce one product for all markets, and this just further muddles things. Lawyers are perhaps the only winners, unless they fancy a drink.
New York Times article discussing the physical perils of bartending. I’ve read numerous bartenders use this as fodder against shaking cocktails, but the article also mentions the amount of stirring as part of the problem. Ultimately, the point is that long hours on your feet filled with repetitive motions is a good way to encounter injuries. I remember having major tendonitis in my wrist when I was working two jobs and fourteen or fifteen hour days on Saturday and Sunday. Yoga is brilliant when you’re all wound up, and many more bartenders would keep their health with regular practice. Although I’m advised to not give real medical advice on a bartending blog, and why would you see a bartender for medical advice. Or something the FDA advised me to say.
Cask age whisky bitters launched. Why let your bitters mask the natural flavors in the spirits? These are designed to compliment the typical flavors. Would love to try these out in a few cocktails.
Quick review on “101 Whiskies To Try Before You Day” and Mitch Albom didn’t write it.
Book suggestions on wine books. I’ve read the Zraly book, and I’m trying to get to the Kramer book(though it keeps getting buried under other books I’m acquiring. Plus the library has limits on how long you can keep the books). Also, get a bottle of wine with the book you give.
SF MOMA’s got an exhibit on how wine became modern
