[PLAN] eGullet Classic Cocktails Workshop in Providence

[Chris Amirault]

On Sunday August 15 6-8p at Cook & Brown Public House in lovely Providence RI, we restarted our classic cocktails workshop series. This topic is for reports from the workshop.

[Mithril]

I went to the workshop last night and had a great time! First, the drinks were tasty. Second, the snacks the restaurant provided were wonderful. Third, Chris is a knowledgeable and helpful instructor.

Aside from having the chance to make one of the best martinis ever, I was really blown away by the difference in making a true classic 'sour' cocktail versus using the phosphorescent sour mix that most bars use. It's like the difference between Crystal Light and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Chris said that he and the restaurant will be hosting a whole series of workshops. I recommend that anybody who enjoys a cocktail should attend one of these. It really makes you think differently about what you drink.

Now I'm off to source celery bitters so I can recreate my new favorite martini.

[Dave the Cook]

A complimentary and informative article on the workshop popped up on the Go Local Prov site.

This wasn’t a “here are some recipes class” but a good lesson in how to build basic cocktails from which you could go off and create your own drinks or work off a recipe with a better understanding of why the ingredients and procedure work the way they do.

Read the entire piece here.

[Mithril]

Chris, if you are still reading this, I have a question.

Monday night. I bought the ingredients to make the martini I liked so much: Junipero gin, new vermouth, celery bitters, and a lemon. I measured out the ingredients and stirred gently. The drink was not even half as good as what we made in the workshop, and I am 90% sure that it's an ice issue.

At home, we have the same ice cue trays as everybody else. The ice that I use therefore has a larger mass:surface area ratio and won't melt as quickly when in contact with the other ingredients. So, is my best bet just to stir longer, or should I find some ice cube trays with better shapes, or should I just buy an occasional bag of ice to keep in the freezer?

[Chris Amirault]

Happy to chime in, Mithril!

I bought the ingredients to make the martini I liked so much: Junipero gin, new vermouth, celery bitters, and a lemon.

Just checking: that was Noilly Prat vermouth and Scrappy's celery bitters? Or did you use the Fee's? The Fee's is much, much more one-dimensional -- CELERY -- whereas the Scrappy's is a more nuanced, complex product. That would make a big difference, especially in a drink with so few other components.

Speaking of which:

I measured out the ingredients and stirred gently. The drink was not even half as good as what we made in the workshop, and I am 90% sure that it's an ice issue.

At home, we have the same ice cue trays as everybody else. The ice that I use therefore has a larger mass:surface area ratio and won't melt as quickly when in contact with the other ingredients. So, is my best bet just to stir longer, or should I find some ice cube trays with better shapes, or should I just buy an occasional bag of ice to keep in the freezer?

So let's talk a bit more about ice. As you remember, ice does three things:

1. It mixes stuff up. Not a likely culprit in this situation.

2. It dilutes. Do you think you had approximately a 25% dilution? Was it watery? Too strong?

3. It makes things cold. Do you think you got down around that 27F range?

We'll figure it out!

[Mithril]

Chris,

I have the Noilly Prat vermouth but did get the Fee's bitters. I didn't write down the name of the bitters that you had so I guessed. The liquor store that I went to (Julio's in Westborough, MA) is the biggest one around, but they had only a fairly complete line of Fee's and of The Bitter Truth. The Fee's does definitely have a more dramatic celery note to it than the bitters we used. One dash didn't give me the flavor I was looking for, and two dashes was way too strong.

Maybe tonight, I will make the drink again with the same methods, but use aromatic bitters. I'll take the temperature of it after I'm done stirring. Also, now that the vermouth is refrigerated instead of room temperture (I broke into it as soon as I got home from the packy), the product should be a bit colder.

[Chris Amirault]

Yeah, I suspected Fee's was the culprit. Scrappy's are hard to find; Adam at Boston Shaker has them back in stock, so I'd start there.

Maybe tonight, I will make the drink again with the same methods, but use aromatic bitters.

You might want to try orange bitters, especially if you can find Regan's.

I'll take the temperature of it after I'm done stirring. Also, now that the vermouth is refrigerated instead of room temperture (I broke into it as soon as I got home from the packy), the product should be a bit colder.

"Packy." Haven't used that word in a while...!

[LoriZig]

Please tell me that there will be another one of these coming up soon?! Day late, dollar short... sigh.

[weinoo]

Do you generally crack the ice by hand before adding it to the mixing glass?

[Mithril]

Martini update:

I took the temperature of the drink in the tin, and found that it took 2-3 times as long to get down to 27°F than I had given it before. So, with extra stirring, that improved. Also, I haven't had time to get new celery bitters, but went ahead and tried the Fee's aromatic bitters that were in the liquor cabinet. This is now a very good martini, although not as new and interesting as it is with the good celery bitters.

On a side note, a group of us went to Firefly's (BBQ) on Saturday night, where I ordered a gibson. It took two trips from the waitress to get my drink. First, the question was, "Vodka, right?", at which point I banged my head on the table (and a friend who has taken a bartending course said, "WTF?"). Second, they were out of cocktail onions, would olives be OK? Olives, being little obliong balls of poisonous yuck, are not OK; however, since Chris's workshop, at least I knew to ask for a dash of bitters instead.

weinoo, I did not crack the ice. How does one do that? A ziploc and a mallet? I was concerned that I would wind up with flakes of ice if I did that.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Mithril (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Folks, I think we have a repeat of the classic cocktails basics session coming in early October. More details soon.

[Chris Amirault]

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that we're announcing the next three workshops as part of the Classic Cocktails Course sponsored by Cook & Brown Public House and the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. Here's the lineup, all on Sundays from 6-8 pm:

October 10: Classic Cocktail Basics

November 14: Gins and Rums: You Like Them More Than You Think

December 12: Classic Holiday Cocktails (to coincide with a RI Monthly shoot on the same topic!)

You can make reservations through OpenTable or at the restaurant's website.

I've attached the flyer, which has more details. As always, feel free to ask questions!

Classic Cocktails Basics Oct 10.pdf

[Chris Amirault]

New cocktail workshop scheduled for Sunday, February 13, loosely linked to Valentine's Day. "Cocktails For Lovers" the working title. More soon!