jneu

I live in Milwaukee and can tell you that Nick & Ira are no longer doing the speakeasy, but I highly suggest you visit them at Bacchus and check out what they have done with the bar. Top notch. As for the speakeasy concept the fine folks at Bryant's Cocktail Lounge are continuing with something they call Blind Pig. Chad Doll is behind the Blind Pig at Bryant's and is a maestro behind the stick.

I have tried the Death's Door Gin distilled by Yahara Bay in Madison. It's OK. Not much going on. The Rehorst Gin uses 9 botanicals, including Wisconsin ginseng and sweet basil. It has a fair amount of juniper flavor, but the other ingredients shine through also, it finishes with a nice herbal (basil) note. Tasty stuff, especially in a Martinez w/ Carpano Antica.

Rehorst Gin from Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee is definitely worth a try. I think it fits the bill as a "new generation gin". It's unlike any other gin I've tried. I just got word that besides Wisconsin it is now available in Illinois, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania.

Hey Chris, great topic. This is something I am very passionate about. I've been teaching a few cocktail classes in the Milwaukee area for a couple of years so I can feel for you. I too am in a bit of a "cocktail blackhole". I've found that for the classes where I've had beginners I had success showing them popular drinks that are typically not well made at many bars/restaurants - daiquiris, margaritas, mojitos. By teaching good technique and how to pick the right ingredients they were able to make basic drinks far superior to ones they have had in the past. I was surprised at how excited they were about such simple drinks. Also, another thing I noticed is many students had questions about spirits and shopping for them. They really appreciated tips I could give them on picking out quality spirits. I think the next class I do I will try to have more variety of the same type of spirit so they can do some side by side comparison. Many people are very brand loyal without ever trying this exercise. This has got me thinking about getting back to work on an outline I started. "American History and the Cocktail" cheers

Hey EGers, I'm curious how other cocktail aficionados, bartenders and spirit geeks will be spending the holiday. As for me I will be helping a local distillery celebrate with an open house, and later on in the evening I'm trying to put together a prohibition era cocktail demo at a near by hotel bar. I'm in Milwaukee where there is not much talk about Repeal Day. How big of a deal is it in some of the bigger spirit/cocktail cities e.g. NY, SF, Chicago? I think it's important for everyone in the industry to recognize the importance of Repeal Day. Kudos to Jeffery Morganthaler it seems he has done quite a bit to promote the cause. http://www.repealday.org/

VTR was featured in the May '08 Sante magazine. It took some digging but I found my issue on my bookshelf (Ha, and my wife thinks I have way too many cocktail books and get way too many magazine subscriptions. Here's proof that sometimes they come in handy) Spicy Chica - from Sante May 2008 1oz Gosling's 1/4 oz Disaronno 3/4 oz ginger syrup 1/2 oz fresh lime juice 1/8 oz fresh lemon juice 1 egg white Vietnamese cinnamon garnish typing that has made me thirsty. Assuming my homemade ginger syrup in the back of the fridge still has some life I will be enjoying one of these shortly. Cheers

Good Morning all. FYI. I talked to the The sales and marketing guy at Great Lakes Distillery yesterday. He told me they grabbed a few cases of Great Lakes Distillery Pumpkin Seasonal Spirit and got them to their distributor in Illinois. He said more than likely a couple of cases will end up at Binny's, possibly available for order online. Might be worth a call. Hey Matt, I'm guessing that if you're in possession of some Pumpkin Spirit you might be in the Milwaukee area. Ray's Liquor on North Ave. has always been good to me. I can usually find Punt e Mes and they ordered Carpano Antica for me too.

Hey guys, I live in Milwaukee and work pretty closely with the guys at Great Lakes Distillery. They told me they originally wanted to call it Pumpkin Bierschnapps but had difficulty getting approval for the label. It seems the feds didn't like the term "Bierschnapps' so they went with "Seasonal Spirit". They only produced about 1000 bottles so grab them while you can. Really interesting stuff. Katie, funny you mention rye. Last night I was really wanting a rye old-fashioned, but only had a splash of baby Saz left. I went halfsies with the pumpkin spirit, orange and Angostura. Nice

I totally agree with slkinsey. Of all the great mixologists in NY he opts to use "Brad" as his expert. I have a funny hunch our man Brad attended the American Bartenders School.

Hello all. I've been a faithful reader for quite some time. I thought I would share my entry. I was a semi-finalist in New York. Frim Fram 1 oz Averna 1oz Partida Reposado 1 oz fresh squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice 1/2 oz wildflower honey syrup 1 tsp Champagne vinegar Shake with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy I hope this helps with everyones stockpiles of Averna