First, I'm happy and honored to announce that I'll be participating on an all-star blog site, called Tales Blog, or Blogging Tales Of The Cocktail 2008. There are a few of us contributing, and on it we'll be previewing the events and participants of this spectacular event.
Now, if you read this site, I don't have to tell you, honestly, how awe inspiring Tales Of The Cocktail is. I missed it last year and have been regretting it. I'm telling you, I won't be missing another. Don't make the same mistake I did. Learn from my errors.
Still not sold? Let's play some word association, see if that doesn't amp you up. Okay, New Orleans. Cocktails. Spirits. History. Beachbum Berry. David Wondrich. Paul Clarke. Audrey Saunders. Jamie Boudreau. Gary Regan. Robert Hess. Julie Reiner. Simon Difford. Booze. Hooch. Giggle water.
Ahem. Tickets are on sale now. July 16-20, New Orleans. Clear your calendar. I'll see you there.
Now, more news, this one more personal to this site. As you can see, I've been messing around with the layout. New template, new pics, a listing of notable bars, Union's cocktail menu and a longer listing of blogs (you are reading through this list most days, right?). The upper right corner features something new, my recipes corner. Eventually this will include recipes for syrups, tinctures, infusions, bitters and such, so you can find quick access to these questions without having to dig through the blog. Right now, the recipe list contains my favorite cocktails as of right now, whether they've been featured on my site or not. This list will obviously expand greatly, and quickly. Each link will take you to the blog site I first heard of or discovered said cocktail, and acts as a personal repository where I can quickly find the cocktail I'm looking for, rather than trying to remember then digging through the blog. Hope this helps you as much as it will help me.
I think that's it for today. I've got to go apartment hunting now, plus plan for the wedding and finally spend time with my lovely lady.
Announcements and Such
Housekeeping and Updates
Some tidying up I've been wanting to do for some time has been finally done, and a few bits of news:
*Updated the blog log. On the left sidebar I've dramatically updated the list of blogs. Sites I've been reading that I haven't gotten a chance to add on to this site, along with some great sites I've only recently discovered. This is in advance of a post I'm planning on contributing to AOL about the wonderful amounts of spirits and cocktail information being generated these days on blog sites, along with a sampling of links. I won't be able to write about everyone as that post would be far too long, but I will be recommend that readers scroll through the blogs listed here and hopefully everyone will get a small spike in traffic and many minds will be illuminated.
*Updated the cocktail menu from Union. Jeffrey Morgenthaler used to have a PDF which highlighted the cocktail menu at his old bar, and I'm hoping at some point he'll do the same for his new bar. I would love to see current cocktail menus listed on the blog sites of bartenders as a permanent feature on their sites. I'm always intrigued by how other bars construct and diversify their offerings for their guests. On that note, I'll probably also put up a list of links to notable bars from around the world where their menus are listed, just to get everyone's mouths watering. . .
*As soon as the paperwork is processed, I will be moving from the AOL food and drink blog site to Slashfood, part of AOL Food Network and a great site I encourage everyone to check out, and not just because I'll be there eventually. They've got a host of talented writers over there and the entries come in fast and furious, so there's always something fresh to read.
*Okay, I have a question for everyone. There is one "drink" not listed on the Union menu printed on the bottom of the left sidebar which I'm thinking of adding on. I wanted to put on something called the Dealer's Choice. It'll be worded something like "you pick the booze, we'll do the rest, concentrating on utilizing seasonal fruits..." or something like that (not sure yet on the verbiage). Could putting something like this on a menu be considered a cop-out? I've considered having this as a permanent feature on the menu, just so it frees me up to use fresh fruit in season or whatever else I want to do. . .I do this anyway, as most bartenders do, suggesting to my guests that they just let us do something we're excited about, but spelling it out may liberate our guests from having to make any decisions (I'd say 75% just order what they know rather than branch out, maybe higher for Union since we get so many tourists who just walk in). Any and all comments on this would be very welcome.
*I need/want to re-design this site, moving away from the simple template. Does anybody out there have any suggestions for someone who is completely illiterate when it comes to website design and coding? I'm bored with my current layout and want to spiff the place up.
I think that's it. I've spent the better part of the last 24 hours reading through cocktail and spirit blogs and loving it. So much great stuff being put out there and I gotta say my guests are going to be bombarded this weekend with new offerings. Thank you in advance.
The Best of 2007, According to Me, Your Benevolent Host
Everyone loves a good year-end recap/awards ceremony to ballyhoo the best of the previous year and feté those who helped make it memorable. I'm no different. Of course, I'm completely unqualified for this sort of thing, but whatev. . . Here's my list of favorites from the year that was in our nerdy little pocket of the Internet.
Best Cocktail: Heck yeah I'm going to start with the best category!!! No slogging through Most Creative Use of Elderflower Liquer In A Cocktail or Obscure Ingredient Of The Year or even Least Annoying Shooter!!! Let's get right to the good stuff!!! My favorite cocktails?
Applejack Old-Fashioned from Cocktail Chronicles (via Misty Kalkofen) a cocktail which found a place on our cocktail menu at Union. Gotta give props to Paloma Mi Amante as well...
Raspberry Caipirinha from Spirits and Cocktails, as well as the Chartreuse Swizzle, the Rosewater Rickey and the Berry Shrub. All of which I sampled at Vessel, all of which I loved. Great work Jamie.
Richmond Gimlet from Jeffrey Morgenthaler. I think this drink has been kicking around a bit, but I discovered it this year.
The Mojito from Married with Dinner. Okay, what Cameron and Anita did here was outline how Murray does his at the Zig Zag. But this prep was new to me this year and even though I'd never order it, now I can least make a decent one for myself!!!
Best Rant: I soooo thought I was a shoo-in for this one. But Darcy over at The Art of Drink completely eviscerates this cretin who wrote in, and, well, you just gotta read it if you haven't already...Darcy's response on October 17th in a piece entitled 'Fan Mail' is the funniest blog entry I've read this year.
Best Photos: I'm not the only one who loves the pics over at Kaiser Penguin. Kaiser also nabs the award for best Tales of the Cocktails coverage.
Best Layout: I'm a huge fan of how Gabriel designed his site over at Cocktail Nerd. Nice and bright with flashy colors. Morgenthaler and Boudreau have great sites, and Dr. Bamboo's artwork is amazing, but for overall splash, Gabriel gets the nod.
Coolest homemade ingredient: Lots to choose from. Falernum? Pimento Dram? Amer Picon? Berry Shrub? Gastriques? Perhaps Swedish Punsch, if/when Jamie gets around to it? I'm going with Amer Picon, but probably because that's what I'm making right now.
Best Disappearing Act: Well, I thought yours truly would get this one, too. But heck, I'm not even close. Haven't seen the Bottle Gang in awhile, and Pegu Club is apparently on hiatus, but Matt from My Bar Your Bar (best blog title award too) hosted a great Mixology Monday event then promptly went MIA.
Best Mixology Monday roundup: Lots to choose from, but I rather liked the way Gabriel did his. The mini-photos were great, even if I had the ugliest one there.
Cue the music, as that wraps it up. No need to thank the Academy. We're too liquored up to acknowledge anything.
New Post at AOL
Thought I'd pitch my new posts at AOl over here, just to add volume. I listed six books for AOL readers as decent places to begin to increase their knowledge on cocktails and drinks. Thought I'd open the floor and see if anybody strongly disagrees with my picks. I wanted to keep it at five, with my personal favorite (Dr. Cocktail's book) thrown in because I couldn't resist. Anybody else insist on a different top five? Keep in mind I was trying to suggest books for newbies to our field...ok, I'm ready, let 'er rip!!!
A Brief Moment of Sobriety
As some of you may know, I do some blogging at AOL. I just put up a post recently which I'd also intended to put up here. As writers who write about drinks, I think it is also imperative to mention the very real consequences of the alcoholic jewels we rave about, even as just a gentle reminder not to enjoy these gems a little too much. Despite all the media that has been devoted to the perils of drinking and driving or even over-consumption, the statistics still show an alarming amount of incidents involving alcohol. Some might point to declining fatality stats as a sign of progress, but my answer to that would be to point out the window on the corner of 1st and Union outside our restaurant late on a Friday or Saturday night.
In other words, be safe out there this New Years.
Okay, okay...
Has it really been that long since I posted something? Really? September? Well, I'm settling in to my new digs, finally, and do have a backlog of cocktails, rants and miscellaneous stuff to share. I promise, some new stuff is on the way.
In fact, I'll make it my New Years resolution...I'll get started...um, tomorrow.
Have a happy and safe New Years, everyone.
What a Long Strange Trips It's Been
Well, I missed the party this Monday, and I never miss a good party, especially when it's thrown by people who know their way around the sauce. And for the second month in a row I managed to squeak out three measly posts and have barely had time to read through my favorite blogs.
So what's up? Plenty, my friends, plenty.
The weather's been great, the Mariners are in playoff contention, I 'pulled a Waldbauer' and dropped my digital camera (so no pics for a bit), a family reunion in Oregon, extra days tending bar, family dropping into town, my 20th year high school reunion (sheesh), brainstorming ideas to improve the bar and update the cocktail menu at Union, planning my wedding, studying and plotting the cocktail books I'm writing, trying to quit smok. . . woops, what was that????
Did I say wedding? Yup. I'm happy to announce that Christine and I have gotten engaged!!! After three and a half years, I finally get to call her my fiancé.
Right now we're planning on a Caribbean beach wedding (I'm just gone on the idea of a barefoot, tropical beach reception, whooping it up with some aged rum and a steel pan band in the background). And I wish I could invite every one of you, but since space is limited for us down there, I'll have to find another way to share a round of drinks with my favorite drinkers.
Oh, how about an engagement party?
Keep your ears open in the next month (in other words, once I can catch my breath), I'll be announcing an engagement cocktail party similiar to the Mixology Monday events, and you're all invited. Theme? I'm open to suggestions, but I have a few ideas.
Oh, and Dr. Bamboo, just wanted you to know I celebrated my engagement with . . . ta da! A gin and tonic. (and having just finished reading your recent post, I toast your newborn and your new life as a father with one as well)
Lenell's
Yup. That's me, staring longingly at a bathtub chock-filled with hooch. Let me explain....
You see, just before the 4th of July weekend, I went to NYC for the wedding of one of my best friends in the whole wide world. At the pre-wedding dinner, Christine and I mentioned we had bought the bride and groom a bottle of Lucid, the new legal absinthe being sold in the city, to Kat, one of those electric human beings you run into every now and then who seems to know everybody and everything. She told us we simply had to go to this one liquor store in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. The way she described this little place, I felt my life would be lesser if I didn't make the trip.
And wouldn't you know it, it probably would have.
First, we couldn't find a cab driver who even knew how to get us to Red Hook. You should know we were already in Brooklyn, staying at the Marriott near the Brooklyn Bridge. I had to get us there, reading the map for the cabbie. What should have been a ten minute ride from the hotel ended up being closer to 30 minutes. Beginning to sound like the quest for the Holy Grail?
In a way, yes. Welcome to Lenell's, the coolest liquor store on the planet.
You want bourbon? They've got the largest selection in NY. Rye? In addition to their own (which, apparently, kicks all kinds of ass), they've got a hefty amount. The gin is stored in a bath tub, seen in the picture above. There are tastings every day, Chartreuse VEP when I went.
I was duly stunned. My gast was flabbered.
I don't have the space to go into everything they do, or everything they have. Go to the website, browse around, peruse the gallery and their selections. Plonk yourself on their mailing list. And for the love of King Arthur and his Knights, embark on the quest the next time you're in NY.
When a Fizz is a Collins and a Smash is a Julep
Fizzes and fixes and flips.... well, I was gonna finish that with the Wizard of Oz ditty, but I'll take whatever shred of dignity and taste I have remaining and spare everyone.
This post is a selfish one, wherein I try to get these categories settled. There's some convolution here, in that some of the categories blur into one another depending on the cocktail book you're reading, exactly the same as how cocktail recipes vary from book to book. I would love some feedback if someone's definition is different than posted here.
Let's dig in.
Buck: spirit, lemon or lime juice, ginger ale (or ginger beer?) I'm unsure if ginger beer excludes a cocktail from the buck category. Does this mean a Moscow Mule and a Gin-Gin Mule is actually a buck???
Cobbler: wine or sherry, simple syrup, crushed ice, gobs of fresh fruit as garnish.
Collins: spirit, sugar (simple syrup), lemon juice built in a highball, topped with soda water with a lemon or orange twist and a cherry as garnish. A different spirit changes the name of the collins...
Tom Collins: London dry gin.
John Collins: in London, Holland gin. In America, bourbon or whiskey.
Pedro Collins: white rum
Rum Collins: dark rum
Captain Collins: Canadian whisky
Sandy Collins: Scotch whisky
Colonel Collins: bourbon
Mike Collins: Irish whiskey
Pierre Collins: Cognac
Joe Collins: Vodka (why it's not something like a Boris Collins is beyond me)
Rueben (or Pepito) Collins: tequilla
Pisco Collins: Pisco (natch)
Cooler: this one's a snap. Spirit, carbonated beverage over ice, citrus twist.
Daisy: spirit, fruit syrup or grenadine, crushed ice, topped with soda water.
Fizz: spirit, citrus juice, simple syrup, soda water. Sound familiar? Yup, the ingredients are exactly the same as a Collins. The differences lie in the garnish, preparation and glass. A Collins is built in the glass it is served in, a highball. A Fizz is shaken (prior to adding the soda water), strained into a rocks-filled old-fashioned glass, then topped with the soda water. Fizzes also frequently contain an egg. Here's a list of the different Fizzes, according to egg component:
Silver Fizz: egg white
Golden Fizz: egg yolk
Royal Fizz: whole egg
Flip: wine, spirit, liqueur, or even beer, whole egg, sugar and sometimes cream, straight up in a wine goblet, either hot or cold, fruit garnish.
Gimlet: spirit, simple syrup, Rose's lime juice. Not fresh squeezed lime juice, but Rose's specifically.
Julep: spirit, mint, simple syrup, crushed ice. The word julep comes from the Arabic (julap) which means 'rose water'. The irony of course is that there is no rose water in a julep.
Rickey: order a gimlet in my bar, and this is what you'll get...spirit, fresh lime juice, simple syrup.
Sling: spirit, juice, bitters, fruit brandy, soda water, fruit garnishes.
Smash: spirit, mint, simple syrup. Now this sounds just like a bleeping julep, to me. I've read that lemon juice is added to differentiate it from a julep, and also that crushed ice is actually the difference-maker. Sigh. Any help out there???
Sour: spirit, lemon juice, simple syrup. Not so hard. Quite a few recipes include egg white. Obviously, there are a lot of people who take issue with the egg. What I do is top it off with soda water in the shaker, then shake the crap out of it as if it contained egg white. Then you get foam without the textural and trace flavor of the egg. Personally, I like the egg... in some sours.
I skipped over a few (highball, crusta, swizzle, toddy), but I think I hit the majors. And maybe, just maybe, I cleared up these terms for myself.