Beverage Alcohol Resource

[marty mccabe]

After reading this in the NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/dining/1...r=1&oref=slogin

and then checking out this,

http://www.beveragealcoholresource.com/

I'm wondering how nobody has mentioned it!?!?

What a team...

[moosnsqrl]

After reading this in the NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/15/dining/1...r=1&oref=slogin

and then checking out this,

http://www.beveragealcoholresource.com/

I'm wondering how nobody has mentioned it!?!?

What a team...

←

This is news to me, too, and their wine expert is in my backyard. Thanks for the heads-up.

[Cachaca_Dave]

A little disappointed that they do not cover cachaca in the curriculum, it's only the 4th most distilled spirit in the world..... I'll have to drop them a line.

-Dave

Follow up - Dave Wondrich e-mailed me to say "we're definitely covering cachaca"

Edited February 20, 2006 by Cachaca_Dave (log)

[M.X.Hassett]

Yeh I was going to mention it considering I will be a member of the first graduating class, but you beat me to it.

Beverage Alcohol Resource, LLC

Institute for the Appreciation, Understanding

and Service of Adult Beverages

Over the last two decades America has undergone a broad culinary

revolution. In all but two aspects, culinary education for trade professionals

and consumers has kept pace. Those exceptions are distilled spirits and

mixology. These two interconnected worlds still lack an authoritative source of

knowledge and an accredited credentialing body.

Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR), an LLC corporation, aims to fill that gap.

Opening in March 2006 in New York City, BAR will be an independent

organization whose mission is to educate, guide, and propagate the

healthy, enlightened, and responsible use of beverage alcohol products.

A partnership of five of the world's leading spirits and cocktails authorities,

BAR will be in a unique position to create and teach a series of courses that

will not just train, but actually educate those who take them, be they service

industry professionals, members of the media, or curious consumers.

BAR intends to be the most trusted, comprehensive, innovative, and

autonomous source of systematic educational and consultative information in

the beverage alcohol industry. Anyone who has earned the BAR Certified

Beverage Professional (CBP) Certificate will be able to mix a balanced Sidecar,

distinguish a Speyside malt from a Lowland malt, explain in detail the difference

between Bourbon whiskey and Irish whiskey, recognize when a tequila is

overpriced, identify a potato vodka by its nose alone, explain the origin of the

Manhattan cocktail and why the bitters are an integral part of the drink, draw

up a cocktail list that matches the elegance of the establishment it's created for

and, in short, do everything that one expects from an educated professional.

BAR curriculum is organized around the following principles:

The sections are organized into modules so that students understand precisely the purpose of BAR and Issues of Moderation

Every BAR Course emphasizes the pivotal importance of moderation and the responsible use of beverage alcohol, both by the industry professionals and by consumers enrolled in BAR courses. In the interest of community safety and personal accountability, the five founding partners of BAR LLC ensure that each certified graduate fully comprehends the magnitude of employing libations only in ways that safeguard public safety. As a matter of policy, the issue of moderation will be touched upon in every session in each BAR course.

Copyright © BAR 2005

Edited February 20, 2006 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[lostmyshape]

i thought this was mentioned here before, because i had gone to the site and looked at the curriculum previously, but maybe i'm wrong. looks cool, but definately for the professional. i hope they put together the 2-4 day version mentioned in the article for us hobbyists.

in anycase, M.X.Hassett, be sure to tell us about your experience there!!!

[mbanu]

Looking at the curriculum, I'm a bit annoyed that they're buying into the vodka myth, especially if the course is designed for professionals. Ultrapremium vodka is for upselling to people who seem like they'll believe in it, not for taking seriously. (At least not without a gas chromatograph readout of impurities in hand.)

Edited February 21, 2006 by mbanu (log)

[Splificator]

Thanks for the shout out and the interest; this should be fun! And yes, as CachacaDave reports, we are definitely covering chachaca--and pisco, arrack, barack palinka, soju, kumiss, marc, mezcal, mao tai and even, if we can get our hands on some, Ugandan banana gin.

As for the vodka thing. While I think it's foolish to say "vodka x is better than vodka y because it costs more," I think it's equally foolish to say "all vodkas are the same." Sure, vodka is the boneless, skinless chicken breast of spirits. But there's Perdue and there's Bell & Evans. If I'm forced to have a grilled chicken sandwich (rather than, say, tacos de lengua), I'd prefer it to be the free-range one that actually has a little flavor and texture to it, rather than the water-and-hormone-injected one that just makes me sad. (And yes, there are plenty of high-priced Perdues in the vodka market; shame on them.) In any case, all our tastings will be blind, so the factory-farmed and the free-range will presumably identify themselves without any mythologizing on our part.

[Gary Regan]

Thanks for the shout out and the interest; this should be fun! And yes, as CachacaDave reports, we are definitely covering chachaca--and pisco, arrack, barack palinka, soju, kumiss, marc, mezcal, mao tai and even, if we can get our hands on some, Ugandan banana gin.

As for the vodka thing. While I think it's foolish to say "vodka x is better than vodka y because it costs more," I think it's equally foolish to say "all vodkas are the same." Sure, vodka is  the boneless, skinless chicken breast of spirits. But there's Perdue and there's Bell & Evans. If I'm forced to have a grilled chicken sandwich (rather than, say, tacos de lengua), I'd prefer it to be the free-range one that actually has a little flavor and texture to it, rather than the water-and-hormone-injected one that just makes me sad. (And yes, there are plenty of high-priced Perdues in the vodka market; shame on them.) In any case, all our tastings will be blind, so the factory-farmed and the free-range will presumably identify themselves without any mythologizing on our part.

←

You're not going to believe this, Dave, but I just used a pint of Ugandan gin in a batch of cocktails I made up for a party 2 weeks ago! No lie.

I just wanted to say that, not only is it about time somebody created this course, but I don't think anyone could ask for a better group of experts to learn from.

These guys are the cream of the crop.

Be prepared, though, for Wondrich to make you buy the first round after class is over. He's very good at that . . .

[Splificator]

Be prepared, though, for Wondrich to make you buy the first round after class is over.  He's very good at that . . . 

Jeez, you let a person get one round of drinks.... That's it--next time I'm definitely bringing my wallet...if i can just find it...maybe in my other pants...the laundry hamper?...it's around here somewhere, I know it is...hang on a sec, I'll be right back....

[Splificator]

I'm kicking this up to let those who might be interested know that we've got a couple of slots left in our Spring course, which will run from May 20 to May 24th at the legendary Keens' Steakhouse, on 36th St in New York. It's five intense days of blind tasting (totaling a couple hundred spirits), cocktail mixing (both basic and advanced--Blue Blazers, anyone?) and absorbing bar lore and history. Application form and more details are available here:

Beverage Alcohol Resource

[Splificator]

Kicking this up yet again to let anyone who might be interested know that you can have what amounts to a little taste of the B.A.R. experience next Thursday, June 12th, at Morrell & Co here in New York. Paul Pacult, our head poobah (and author of, most recently, the monumental and awe-inspiring Kindred Spirits 2) and I will be leading a spirit and cocktail tasting. Paul chose the spirits and I chose the cocktails that we'll make from them. Should be fun. Plus you get signed copies of both books.

[misterdyer]

Excellent news here, Dave, but the Morrell & Co. site lists some other event that day. What gives, Doctor W?

When I read the post from the fellow upthread that was "annoyed" by the B.A.R. partners being hoodwinked by the "vodka myth", I shat myself. I can be as elitist about vodka as anyone here, but seriously man, set down the bong, and look at the names of the folks that teach the B.A.R. course. These guys are unmatched in their depth of spirits and cocktail knowledge. Unmatched. They're not being fooled by any marketing crap, not being influenced by price points, and not being distracted by shiny bottles. If anyone here is disappointed in what they see in the curriculum listing, I'll be pleased to show them the exhaustive course text and my equally lengthy written notes from the lectures/discussions/tastings. It's some serious stuff.

[Splificator]

Excellent news here, Dave, but the Morrell & Co. site lists some other event that day.  What gives, Doctor W?

Website glitch. It's back there--try the link again. Oh, and when I said "both books," I meant Kindred Spirits 2 and Imbibe!--a $75 value right there.

When I read the post from the fellow upthread that was "annoyed" by the B.A.R. partners being hoodwinked by the "vodka myth", I shat myself.  I can be as elitist about vodka as anyone here, but seriously man, set down the bong, and look at the names of the folks that teach the B.A.R. course.  These guys are unmatched in their depth of spirits and cocktail knowledge.  Unmatched.  They're not being fooled by any marketing crap, not being influenced by price points, and not being distracted by shiny bottles.  If anyone here is disappointed in what they see in the curriculum listing, I'll be pleased to show them the exhaustive course text and my equally lengthy written notes from the lectures/discussions/tastings.  It's some serious stuff.

Thanks, Mr.D, for the kind words about BAR, in whose hallowed precints you are well remembered.

About vodka. Down the road here in 2008, I'm feeling a little embarrassed about some of the intemperate statements I've made about the stuff. Five or ten years ago, when just about all new cocktails were based on it, there was cause for resentment. Now, not so much, at least not where I live and tipple. There are plenty of good vodkas out there among the mediocre ones, and when deeply chilled and served in little shots alongside plates of zakuski, they can make for a truly sublime drinking experience.

That said, Paul and I will be dissecting rye, cognac, tequila and rhum agricole, and not vodka.