Alchemist

Or the South Hampton Iced Tea.

Is the Manhattan for NY too obvious?

Not every bar needs jiggers. Sometimes they just don't look right. If you are in a regular bar, there is a juke playing Led Zepplin, the bartender is wearing a black Peaches t-shirt and ripped jeans, the jigger comes off as being stingy with the booze. Not a good look. I am instituting a program where the drink is made freepour, then tasted, then if it is out of balance, corrected with fresh lime or lemon or simple. As the "House sour mix" is in balance then the only time the drink will be out of balance is if some other componant is added, and the bartenders account for it. Toby

I agree as well. But we are going to have to accept that there is a segment of the "wealthy" class that is always going to order things because they are expensive, not for the enjoyment or appreciation of them. It is a shame to waste wonderful, and rare, things on people for whom the value is only the thrill of posession, not a deep respect for the of the product. And I agree that one does not get the pure flavor of a product once something else is added, but is that a bad thing. What if you want to know what that really expensive scotch tastes like with some honey made from flowers that bloomed on the hills of Scotland? There is something to be said for the out come of two great products combined in a thoughtful way. Toby

The Rusty Knot has been really interesting to work on as it so very very different from the style of bar I have been working in for the last 8 years. It is a jiggerless house, the juke playing Heart and AC/DC, there is flavored vodka in the speed rails, and you can get a can of Tecate (with fresh lime juice and salt on the top) for 5 bucks. But some things I just can’t change. I am making my own sour mix, using fresh squeezed juices, I have lots of good rums and whiskeys on hand, ( yeah, a 30 dollar rye to go with your 3 dollar Busch?) and three bottles of bitters in each station. It had been a challenge, and a joy to do something outside my cocktail geek zone. Toby

I wanted to switch the Laphroig out with Qi Liqueur, and I was checking if I was ever going to get Rittenhouse in again, or if I was going to go with Wild Turkey. Toby

So the menu will be ready to go on Monday april 7th. Due to some problems sourcing some components for the cocktails we had to push it back a week. Toby

I work in a bar that does not serve coffee. And I am a coffee drinker. The other night 2 people came in with lattees. I offered to pour the coffee from the paper cups into glass. I don't like the way paper cups look on a bar. They quite rudely said that they wanted to keep it in the paper so it would retain it's temp. I understand not wanting to drink cold coffee. But then drink the coffee fast. The sense of entitlement was amazing. It seems that so few people say anything that these stupid M*%$@#F&^kers feel it is their right to carry outside food in. Maybe it's time for all of us to dump the coffees as soon as they walk in the door. Toby

Here is a preview of the Spring List at The Violet Hour. We are changing 21 of the drinks. Wow, this was like doing a first list. Luckily I asked the bartenders to each come up with a cocktail, and they delivered some great ones. I thank them, for the list wouldn't be as diverse and strong as it is with out them. It will go into effect next week. Toby The Violet Hour Spring 2008 Cocktail List GIN Summer NY Sour Plymouth, Rosé Wine, Egg White, Orange Flower Water Juliet & Romeo Beefeater, Mint, Cucumber, Rose Water The Palmer D’or Beefeater, Lemon, Egg White, Orange Pekoe Tea Americano Tanqueray, Campari, Sweet Vermouth, Soda, Orange Bitters RUM Daisy de Santiago Flor de Caña, Lime, Yellow Chartreuse, Spring Bitters Julius Treacle Amour Pampero Especial, Licor 43, Parfait Amour WHISKEY Spring Sazerac Old Overholdt Rye, Herbsainte, Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur, Peychaud's Bitters Blinker Rittenhouse Rye, Grapefruit, Homemade Raspberry Syrup Fairview Manhattan Bulleit Bourbon, Pine Liqueur, Laphroig TEQUILA Pulque El Tesoro, Black Agave Nectar, Blood & Chocolate Bitters Sunburned Dane Sauza Commeritivo, Cherry Herring, Lime Juice, Orange Bitters BRANDY Spring Sidecar Landy Cognac, Orange Curacao, Lemon, Pineapple, Spring Bitters Miraflores Pisco Italia, Grapefruit, Orange Blossom Honey Syrup, Miramar Bitters WINE & SPARKLING Spring Sangria Rose Wine, Strawberry, Tropical Fruit. Sáo Paulo Jockey Club Gruet Sparkling, Pineapple, Yellow Chartreuse CORDIALS Pimms Cup Pimms, Orange, Cucumber, Strawberry, Mint The Riviera Pineapple Infused Campari, Egg White, Lemon 2 to 2 Lucid Absinthe, Lemon, Aperol The Art of Choke Cynar, Appleton Rum, Lime, Green Chartreuse, Mint VODKA Part & Parcel Luksowa, Grapefruit, St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur

I just put together the spring menu for The Violet Hour, and on it, for the first time are drinks from the bartenders. And it seemed to me that they had great fun naming the drinks. As each took center stage yesterday and presented thier cocktails for the staff, there were long explinations on the origin of the names. We are changing 19 cocktails on the list so there were some very detailed, rambling explinations near the end. I am very proud that my staff took the task so seriously and had a great time doing it. I love coming up with names for drinks. The method that I find best is to sit around late ant night after the bar is closed and drink a bunch of variations of the cocktail and bandy suggestions about. Some of my names clearly come from the muse of booze. The Tattooed Seaman comes to mind. It main ingredient is Sailor Jerry's... Toby

Color me oxodized with envy. It's still cold enough out to whip up some Blue Blazers. Toby

I am working on one for the Rusty Knot right now to roll out in the summer. The trick is to combine it so it reminds one of floral scents wafting on warm tropical breezes russling the grass skirts of a south pacific babe, not the floral scents wafting on warm breezes russling the chic skirt of a Gauloises smoking french babe. Totally different drinks if you know what I mean. Toby

Spring is upon us, and I am coming to town to do some training and be behind the stick at TVH. I am not sure what time, but a few hours on Sun, Mon, And Tue to see as many people as possible. There is going to be some heavy experimentation, and some last min. tweaking of the Spring menu. Should be fun. Hope to see any eGulleters that are bopping around Wicker Park this Week. Toby ETA: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/re...pretty-in-drink This is kinda funny I thought.

I think that if you loved the service industry, cooking, bar tending, waiting tables, you will never really get it out of your system. Like a recovering Gambler/Alkie the memories of the rush, (and the feeling that you are god after slamming through a Sat night balls to the wall and everything coming out perfect, or close to it) are hard not to go back to. The camaraderie of a restaurant is another thing that you will miss. Working all those stressful hours with people forge friendships that are deep and true. What's the hardest thing to give up when you get out of the service industry? The inhuman hours, The wicked stress, the pain, the heat... Toby

If I was making a mint syrup, I would not use hot water. I would make a simple syrup put it in the fridge, then loosely pack my blender with mint. Pulse a FEW TIMES. Let sit for 30-45 min. You will see it getting greener and greener. i would then hit it with some Angostura bitters. On not having a muddler. A bottle with a secure top on it and a long neck. It's about the only use for bottles of Belvedere, and other vodka. I use the Wray and Nephew because it fits so nicely in my shakers. Toby

A Gin Gin Mule Som dtom, with 6 chilis, dried shrimp and crab made to order on a rolling cart on somewhere on the south-west coast of Thailand by a woman old enough to be my great grandmother. a bunch of sticky rice to ball up and used to soak up the firey goodness. drumstick of fried chicken from the cart next to it. The oil it fried cannot have been changed in a month. About an hour break with a few Miller High Lifes. The bone marrow, with oxtail marmalade from Blue Ribbon. With a rose wine. Quesadillas made with El Milagro corn tortillias, Chihuahua cheese, and Herdez salsa. A Bohimia. "Boudin" of Lake Erie Walleye Pike, Wilted Arrowleaf Spinach and Preserved Lemon. White wine. Pataka Shak (curried potato) in north west India, with some Bangers. A Kingfisher and a pint of Black. Shrimp and Grits made by Monique King. Another beer. Any of the desserts from Alinea. An espresso and a rum on the rock. Toby

I've just received a bottle of AOB in the post (courtesy of Mickael Perron). I've yet to try them in drinks but hope to do so in the next few days. Having tried a dash of it on it's own, they have an initial sweetness (similar to that of Cointreau), followed by a long finish of Cardamom and another spice that I can't put my finger on right now?!? They are exactly what you'd want/expect from a bottle of orange bitters, the sweetness and 'tang' of orange followed by a long bitter finish. I think the Cardamom will work well with any liquor that has pronounced Vanilla flavours (Sailor Jerry for example), as Cardamom and Vanilla work really well together. I tried them a while ago at a bar here in NYC, and found them very oily and curry-like. I belive they were lower proof than the reg. and have a hard time imagining how they would incoperate in a stirred cocktail. Toby Rum Old-Fashioned with Sailor Jerry and AOB anyone? Ciao, Adam ← I tried them a while ago at a bar here in NYC, and found them very oily and curry-like. I belive they were lower proof than the reg. and have a hard time imagining how they would incoperate in a stirred cocktail. Toby

There is a quicker easier way to get this result. It's called fat washing. Render the fat from a pound of (Bentons) Bacon. Take a bottle of bourbon, rye, or rum. (F*%k vodka) Combine. Put in freezer. Scrape off fat. Rebottle booze. Make a Manhattan or old fashiond. Breakfast of champions. Toby

It's The Violet Hour. The Velvet Hour, was in the 70's. Toby

Firstly there is nothing you can do to make someone “like” food. As a case in point I went t India with my mother (who had been in the Peace Corps there) and my father. I was thee. He was a bit older. Since we were traveling the back roads, visiting her friends, my mother made sure that I would not “hate” any food. It was what was what your host put in front of you or nothing. Because there was NOTHING ELSE. These people had taken food out of the mouths of their children to feed you so you better… My poor dad HATED the food. He smuggled in Slim Jims so he wouldn’t collapse on the street. I had my epicurean epiphany. I think that if you keep eating something in front of someone with visible enjoyment, you can hope they jump on the band wagon. For the love of god, hope they don’t jump on “the wagon” as well. Or if you want to get nasty (children excluded) make them feel like shit for being a neophobe. Make sure they know all the "cool" kids are doing it. Uni is awsome. Cucumbers are what built the British empire. And there is no sex until they get over the "allergy" to raw onions and kimchi. So that is my advice. If somebody hates olives, anchovies, and garlic… take them to Sicily. Degrade and humiliate them. Make it their mission to expand their palate. But when it comes down to it. It’s food or starvation. If not they can write a diet book. Maybe not subtle, but it works. Sometimes. If not... You will have a very skinny lover. (children excluded)

So, I have switched to non navy proof rum and I will try to answer this question. The color of the rum has only a little bit to to with the flavor for a couple of reasons 1.) Sometimes rums will be aged and the "bleached" so you get the flavor and not the color. 2.) Once in awhile some scurvy dog will add carmel color to try to fool a land lubber like you. 3.) On a rare occurance, yummy additives will be added to make something...yummy. 3 1/2.) Note to self, stop hanging out with girls younger than the rum you are drinking. I am drinking 23 year old Zacapa. Really. 4.) When the sun is going down off the coast of Pangdangaran, and the parrot is screaming "liquor, liquor, I didn't even bring her" in your ear, and the eye patch is giving you hives... 5.) Some products are better than others. (a cop out as I have forgotten the question) How shall we drink the stuff... Mt. Gay. Three lime wedges and soda. Wicked on a hot night when you have graduated from rum & coke-ah-co-la. The Classico. A glass, a bottle, a mouth and an arm to connect 'em. Appleton. Hmm. But also on the Classico, I like to use it when a drink needs a little rounding. If there is some clawing in the throat, bring in the Math. My glass of Sailor Jerry's is empty... Toby

Ah, there is the rub. Rum has no international ruling body imposing rules on it so it is almost impossible to categorize except like this Swill that shouldn't even be poured out on the ground unless you are looking to kill the local flora, and elicit a heafty fine from the EPA. Stuff that you can bring to a party of people you don't perticularly like. Your flask tucked neatly in an inner pocket. Something that is not nearly as bad as you think it's gonna be. But make sure that the mixers are strongly flavored. Eh, You would drink that if it was 3am, and everything else was gone. And you'd had a few. Ok, not what you would buy but it'll do. Hey, do you have fresh lime wedges to make this a Cuba Libre? Cool, do you have some limes, and a juicer, I'll whip up some classic Mai Tais. Ok, stand back. I need some brown sugar from between the tropic of cancer and capricorn, some ice, twice filtered, and some artesinal bitters STAT. And you had better have a channel knife for a proper pigtail twist. How is your ice? Because there is a special place in hell for people who contaminate this nectar with ANYTHING ELSE. Put down that bottle or I will chew your f&%king arm off. Does that help? The only authority on rum is you. You are blind now but you will see the light...Hallauah!!! Edited because of serious rum drinking.

• Light-bodied rum (or white or silver): spends up to a year in barrels and is filtered before bottling. Very subtle. Example: Bacardi Light. • Medium-bodied rum (or gold or amber): richer and smoother as result of production of compounds during fermentation called congeners, or the addition of caramel, or aging in wood barrels. Examples: Mount Gay, Appleton Gold, Mathusalem Classico (my favorite). • Heavy-bodied rum: includes blended and colored dark rums like Myer’s, Cruzan Blackstrap, Coruba and full-bodied, well-aged “brandy style” or sipping rums like Angostura 1824 and Barbancourt 15 year. Does this help? toby

Sorry, Schwa re-opened Wednesday; we went on Friday... ← And? ← Right--Once again, I wish I had the menu to share with you. We had 12 courses, with the addition of the quail egg ravioli that I'd had back in August. Quite seriously, everything was amazing!. The room was rockin, the wine and champagne were flowing, and everyone seemed really happy. Followed up by incredible cocktails at The Violet Hour. Perfection. ← jonah crab bananas, celery, coriander beer cheese soup chimay, pretzel pad thai arctic char roe pumpernickle. lemon, rutabaga kona kampachi galanga, lime, maple liver & onions antelope butternut, white chocolate cheese dessert That is what the menu looked like.

Ok, cocktail geeks and sophisticated palates stop reading NOW. It is a cold, wet, snowy night in NYC. I wanted a poolside, or better yet, a "swim up bar" cocktail. With no vacation in sight I decided to whip up something that would transport me to tropical climes. I wanted a drink that would allow me to hear palm fronds whispering in a warm breeze, as well as the lapping of clear blue water. Simple, straight to the point, no esoteric ingredients. Complexity, who needs it? Seriously, if you like Aviations, Casinos, Old Fashionds, Close your eyes and go to another thread, hell report me to a moderator. I open a can of Coco Lopez. Goddamn, it’s so greasy and sweet. I consider just this, a bottle of Mathuesalem, a tarp and my girlfriend. Damn, she is in Chicago, and the hardware store is closed. So dealing the hand I’ve been dealt, I have the rum and the Coco lopez… So Coco Lopez, Pinapple juice, some lime juice (fresh squeezed for you geeks peeking through your fingers) some simple syrup, and a couple of dashes of bitters. Two handfuls of ice (Kold-Draft) go in the blender. Yes I said blender you got a problem with that? I frappe the living crap out of it and put it in a brown plastic glass. Brown plastic, just like you get in that swim up bar. I stick in an umbrella, hang a plastic mermaid on the edge (her arms hanging outside like she is in a hot tub) and two thick straws. It’s as close to the equator as you can get without leaving the isle of Manhattan. I had more than one you might be able to tell. Toby