eje

Oh, and, as part of their "Inside the Kitchen" programs, Mixology Weekend, the Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay will be hosting seminars from some of Northern California's most well known bartenders. Dave Nepove (Mr. Mojito) is giving a "Mixology 101", Scott Beattie (of Cyrus) will be leading "Farm Fresh Cocktails", Greg Lindgren (of Rye) will lead "Rye: Classic and Modern," Thad Vogler (of COCO 500 and Presidio Social Club) will lead "Spirits of Latin America," and Todd Smith (of Bourbon and Branch) will lead "Brunch Cocktails". Not quite "Tales of the Cocktail"; but, some of it sounds fun.

A number of bars around San Francisco offer flight nights, classes, and tasting sessions for mixed drinks and spirits. Elixir has its Cocktail Club. Absinthe has its Flight Nights. I believe Bourbon and Branch even has some sort of Beverage Academy which they will be launching in the near future. Anyone ever attend events like this? Found them worthwhile or not? Recommendations or comments on the above?

That's absolutely true. I've discovered there is almost no point to putting those thin walled glasses in the freezer. On the other hand, at room temperature, the thin walled glass doesn't suck as much heat from your drink, as a thicker walled glass would. While I am lucky that I live in a climate where it almost never gets much above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the only real answer is smaller drinks. Or to quote one of the Hints for a Young Mixer from the preface to the Savoy Coctail book, "Drink your Cocktail as soon as possible. Harry Craddock was once asked what was the best way to drink a Cocktail : 'Quickly,' replied that great man, 'while it is laughing at you!'" Though, they also recommend icing your glassware if at all possible.

Cinzano Cocktail 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters 2 Dashes Orange Bitters (Regan's) 1 Glass Cinzano Vermouth (2 oz Cinzano Rosso) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass (Build over cracked ice in a medium glass. Stir to chill. - eje), and sqeeze orange peel on top. As usual, rocks, thank you very much, for my vermouth cocktails. Got myself a fresh bottle of Cinzano Rosso and quite enjoyed this.

Well, the only sorta real deal Absinthe currently available in the US is the Lucid, and it is in very short supply. Ahem, on the other hand, with propadada like the following on their website, are you really surprised? Oh, fer cripe's sake...I feel guilty just quoting it!

"Lebron Cachaca"? Is that a new vanity Cachaca from the NBA star?

I'm not sure I've tasted enough Absinthe to really judge very well. I also haven't tried Absente or La Muse Verte. Of the various Absinthe-like products on the US market which I have tried, I do think the flavors/scents of the Lucid are closest to traditional style Absinthes I have tried (mostly Jade Pernod Fils 1901). Even the best of the bunch, Henri Bardouin, uses far too wide a selection of exotic herbs and spices to really taste like a traditional Absinthe. Almost all are too sweet and over use Star Anise. My main gripe with the Lucid, I think, comes from the beet spirit it is based on. There is a sharpness to the spirit and a funky smell which reminds me of unaged agave or cane spirits. I have a hard time getting past those aspects when drinking it in an Absinthe Drip. I will say, though, it does pretty well when mixing. The fact that the Lucid doesn't have an over the top anise character, makes it a little cooperative to mix with than many of the Absinthes and Absinthe substitutes I have tried. In any case, it is fantastic that Viridian have broken down the door for Absinthe to finally be available here. Hopefully, we will see some other products available soon from European and, cross your fingers, American distillers. Nice article here on Wired: Barely Legal: American Absinthe Passes the Taste Test

OK, one more post about Orris, then I return you to your regularly scheduled Tales of the Cocktail wrap up... All the violet liqueur recipes in Duplais were for distilled liqueurs, so perhaps the bitterness of Orris gets separated from the violet smell/flavor in that manner. Anyway, really envious of all of you who got to go to TOTC. Everything I've read so far, sounds really cool. I so wanted to go to the "lost ingredient" session. Must plan better next year!

But where might one do that? ← Sorry for the delay, wanted to check with her that it was OK to post first. She's behind the plank at Monaghan's Bar at Pierce and Chestnut here in San Francisco. She usually works early-ish shifts Monday through Wednesday. Try to get there early, as it gets crazy and full of Marina types later on.

The Bob-Tailed Nag is good. FYI, I prefer it with either Fee's Aromatic Bitters or The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters to the Fee's Mint Bitters. If you wanted to stick with mint/menthol flavor profile, maybe try a dash of Fernet Branca instead. Probably be more interesting. I tend to stick with sipping it on its own after dinner; but, if you're intent on mixing it, you could probably use it in almost any recipe that calls for Dubonnet or Italian Vermouth. I would just dial down the amount of Barolo Chinato vs. Vermouth and probably leave out the bitters. Make an awesome Martinez. It didn't go very well with port poached pears and ice cream last night. I have been thinking cherries would go nicely, though. Maybe something with Cherry Heering?

Interesting! I'll be quite excited to compare the Rothman & Winter with the Benoit-Serres I have. However, I think violets are a bit more purple/blue than true blue. If a spirit or liqueur is a true sky blue, they are likely using Orris, not violet, to color/flavor it. Interestingly, I was reading a distiller's manual from the turn of the century, (The 1873 translation of Duplais, "A Treatise on the Manufacture and Distillation of Alcoholic Liquors,") and none of the various recipes for violet liqueur called for violets. They all used orris root exclusively.

I'm curious where anyone interested in this topic comes down on the subject of the proof of the alcohol used to make liqueurs, bitters, and infusions. A lot of folks maintain that higher proof alcohol is necessary to get the appropriate flavor extraction. I can't say I've found this to be the case. At least when it comes down to a cost benefit analysis, I don't see the advantage of using 100 proof versus 80 proof vodka. I guess it doesn't help that I don't really like the "flavor" of most of the 100 proof vodkas I've tried. To my taste/smell, they create a flaw in the finished product. Everclear, to me, is even more noticeable. Now, if something like the Gray Kangaroo could remove some of those "flavors" from the vodka or everclear, maybe, they might be worth using.

I had wanted to include an original cocktail of Victoria's with my post, sorry slipped my mind when I added the drink posts. Here is the recipe for the drink which won her the bartender recipe contest at Rye a few months ago: Valentino Makes 1 drink INGREDIENTS: 1 ounce Aperol 1 ounce reposado Tequila 1 ounce rhubarb juice* 1/2 ounce Agave Pomegranate Ginger Syrup** 3 ounces grapefruit juice (Ruby Red or Texas) 1 fresh lime Splash club soda Grapefruit and lime garnish INSTRUCTIONS: Instructions: Pour the Aperol, Tequila, rhubarb juice, Agave-Pomegranate-Ginger syrup and grapefruit juice into a chilled tumbler. Shake and strain over ice into a chilled double-rocks glass (8 to 9 ounces). Add a slight squeeze of fresh lime juice. Top with a splash of club soda. *To make rhubarb juice, cut fresh rhubarb into chunks, parboil, then steam, until the rhubarb is tender. Extract the juice by mashing the pulp through a fine-mesh sieve. **Agave Pomegranate Ginger Syrup 2 cups agave nectar 1 cup pomegranate juice 1 large finger of ginger, sliced Instructions: Pour agave nectar and pomegranate juice into a pot. Add ginger. Bring to a boil. Turn off and let steep until cool. Remove the ginger and store in a glass bottle in the refrigerator.

I have seen recipes for and bottles from "Hop Bitters". For example towards the bottom of this page on botanical.com: Hops I guess they were a popular patent medicine for a period. I'm unaware of any cocktail use which has yet been devised. I've intended to make them one or something like them one of these days.

Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Wine Digest and 96 Hours section, Friday, July 20, 2007 RIPE TIME FOR FRUIT WINE, Derrick Schneider THE SIPPING NEWS: Eau My Goodness IN OUR GLASSES Sheep feeling baaad Lafite Rothschild in a box? Jacuzzi Family Vineyards Hoppy trails to twist-offs Pairings: Show your chops with a cherry compoteLynne Char Bennett Recipe: Lamb with Savory Cherry & Tomato Compote Chronicle Wine Selections: Washington state Bordeaux-style red blends, W. Blake Gray Bargain Wines: Expand your horizons with 10 wild and wacky whites, W. Blake Gray The Cheese Course: Perfectly ripe cabecou suits salad days, Janet Fletcher Cocktailian: Command performance has an interesting finale, Gary Regan Recipe: The Interesting Cocktail Letters to Wine: Rhone wine fans cheer bargain bottles 96 Hours Bar Bites: Thee Parkside, Jane Tunks "Long a destination for the city's rock 'n' rollers, Thee Parkside recently has changed owners, with Malia Spanyol from the Mission District's favorite Pops Bar now helming this fine establishment. Although the names on the liquor license may have changed, the warm, welcoming atmosphere has not." Bargain Bite: Sultan Kebab, Stacy Finz "Just a few blocks from San Francisco's federal courthouse, in the midst of the dingy streets of the Tenderloin, stands a slice of the Mediterranean. At lunchtime, people line up at this small Larkin Street restaurant for lentil soup, stuffed grape leaves, lamb and beef doner sandwiches and kebabs."

I was reading a Recent Issue of Gary Regan's Ardent Spirits Newsletter, and I was interested to discover from his trip to the Beefeater's Distillery: Now, my impression from Alberta Straub's trip to the No. 209 distiller in the most recent "Cocktails on the Fly", Distillery 209 (Part 3), is that they do not distill a concentrated gin, and all that gets added after distillation is water to bring it down to proof.

It seems like I've been running into a lot of borderline cases lately. Cocktails that are mostly spirits and include a dash or two of juice, or aromatic cocktails with a small amount juice. I mean, you have to shake yer sours, fixes, fizzes, etc. But, I've been leaning towards stirring things like Apple Pie Cocktails, Bronx Cocktails, and Casino Cocktails. Heresy, I imagine. Still, I tend to think almost any cocktail with sweet vermouth looks more attractive stirred.

It is illegal to import (or produce) Absinthe for sale in the US containing more than a certain amount of Thujone. As such, they probably are selling liquor which has been imported into the US without paying the appropriate tariffs. It is not the FDA; but, the TTB which they would need to worry about. I've heard of Absinthe parties here in San Francisco being busted and the liquor confiscated. However, it is usually because they don't have the appropriate licenses for selling liquor, not the Absinthe per se, that is the reason the authorities notice.

Sorry, gotta agree with budrichard here. Especially if you live in a citrus growing region, bringing back fruit is a very bad idea. You never know what flies or whatever may have lain their eggs on it. You really don't want to be responsible for something like the medfly or glassy winged sharpshooter. One of the things I've read in regards to amalfi lemons and limoncello, is that they leave the fruit to hang for a really long period of time. And in that time, the skin continues to thicken and grow increasing in oil content and flavor, while the internal fruit shrinks. That's why they make such wonderful limoncello. A taste as sweet as a World Cup title

This is the first of what I hope is an ongoing series in the Savoy Topic. I experimented by asking the bartender at Montgomery Place to make me a Bombay Cocktail No. 2 earlier this year; but, this just seemed to result in a grumpy bartender. To make it less of a shock, I thought I would contact some local bartenders and give them a choice of one of the 5 of the Savoy Cocktails that might be coming up in the next week. Surprisingly, some actually seemed game. Victoria Damato-Moran's Bio: The likely upcoming cocktails this week included the Champs Elysees, Chanticler, Charles, Charleston, and Cherry Blossom. Victoria picked the Chanticle(e)r and I also convinced her to make the Champs Elysees. Champs Elysees Cocktail (6 people) 3 Glasses Cognac (3 parts Hennessy Cognac) 1 Glass Chartreuse (1 part Green Chartreuse) 1 1/2 Glasses Sweetened Lemon Juice (A little more than 1 part Sour Mixer) 1 Dash Angostura Bitters Shake well and strain into cocktail glasses. There was some discussion here about which Chartreuse to use. Victoria thought yellow would probably make a more attractively colored cocktail with the Cognac. Unfortunately, we only had green on hand. With Green Chartreuse, the herbal character is pretty out front, overshadowing pretty much everything else in the cocktail. All the same, if you like Green Chartreuse, this isn't a bad cocktail at all. If you don't know if you like Green Chartreuse, it may not be the best place to start. Chanticle(e)r Cocktail Juice of 1/2 Lemon 1 Tablespoon of Raspberry Syrup (Victoria made from scratch) The White of 1 Egg 1 Glass Dry Gin (2 oz Plymouth Gin) Shake well and strain into medium size glass. This seems to be a variation on the Breakfast or Pink Lady Cocktail with Raspberry Syrup instead of Grenadine. As Chanticleer is a rather well known rooster, (Nun's Priest's Tale from Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales",) I suspect this particular cocktail's DNA comes from the Breakfast Cocktail. I have to say, even if raspberry syrup makes this a bit girly-er than the Grenadine version, the flavor of the fresh raspberry syrup definitely made this cocktail a keeper. Now if I can only get her to give me the recipe for the syrup... While I was there, she also made me a really tasty tequila and watermelon smash with a touch of cayenne. Mmmmm! If you're lucky enough to find Victoria behind the bar from you, ask for one of her original cocktails. She is one of the rare bartenders who brings both the people skills to make anyone feel comfortable on the other side of the bar from her and the taste to make truly outstanding original cocktails.

Article in today's NY Times Dining and Wine section about Maraschino style cherries: Cherries’ Garish Glory Revived, Melissa Clark Includes associated recipes for "Maraschino Cherries" and "Spiced Brandied Cherries".

TBoner... I've never seen a hop liqueur. I believe I've seen dusty bottles of a beer eau de vie from Sierra Nevada from time to time. Is that what you mean? I forget what it is called. I don't think they still make it.

Well, that will be interesting. I don't think I've tried combining Junipero with Absinthe. I've found it to be hit or miss in cocktails. It works really well in some, and ruins others. I think it was an Aviation I tried with Junipero, that I thought was awful. Though, a half an ounce of liqueur may start to tilt the cocktail towards sweetness. Really, it should be closer to a dry martini. What violet liqueur are you using? Seems weird to me you can't taste it. Another thought: Do you have pernod, ricard, or herbsaint you could use instead of the Eduard?

Chorus Lady Cocktail The Juice of 1/4 Orange 1/3 Dry Gin (1 oz BlueCoat Gin) 1/3 Italian Vermouth (1 oz Cinzano Rosso) 1/3 French Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry) Shake well and strain into medium-size glass. Add slice of orange and a cherry. A few people have told me that BlueCoat mixes well with citrus, so I thought I would try it in this Bronx-like cocktail. I think my taste might have been a little off the night I tried this; but, my initial reaction was that the Cinzano Rosso completely overwhelmed the cocktail, and that I might as well have been using vodka for all the BlueCoat added. After the cocktail warmed a bit, it seemed like there was some sort of bitter menthol/eucalyptus aftertaste. I dunno if that was the Eastern Mediterranean organic Juniper berries or the leftovers of a slight overdose of Thai Basil in the Phở I had for dinner. Something seemed weird. Anyway, to me, BlueCoat didn't seem to work in the Chorus Lady.

Oh, by the way, there's no question the ATTY is a really fiddly cocktail. The type of gin, vermouth, violet liqueur, and absinthe you use can all affect it in pretty significant ways. The Absinthe and Violet Liqueur are particularly difficult to balance. The last time I made it at some friends', we had available: Beefeater Gin, M&R Dry Vermouth, Lucid Absinthe and Benoit-Serres Violet liqueur. In that case, the Violet Liqueur dominated the cocktail in kind of a weird way. If you've got one of the milder violet liqueurs and one of the stronger absinthe's you might need to tweak it. 2-1 Gin to Vermouth also helps a lot to moderate the proceedings. If you're using 2 oz Gin, I would use 1 oz Vermouth.