February 2012
4 posts
Old Fashioned 101 →
A handy (and curmudgeonly) step-by-step guide courtesy of Martin Doudoroff.
“As a bartender, I find [The Boulevardier] so useful because, with just the...”
– Case Study | The Boulevardier - NYTimes.com
Pretty much the same point I made about Negroni variations awhile back! The Negroni is a wonderful template.
January 2012
9 posts
Scotch: A Pronunciation Guide →
And one final video (or rather series of videos), via Mr. Peter Vidani: actor Brian Cox demonstrates the proper pronunciation of leading single malt Scotch names. I’ll confess I’ve always been a bit intimidated to ask for Auchentoshan or Bruichladdich in a bar.
WatchHere’s a really well-made bit of video cocktail porn, courtesy of a recently opened Detroit craft cocktail bar I’ve been following for awhile now: Sugar House. There’s some great Blue Blazer footage around the 2:15 mark.
They also have a great blog with lots of interesting recipes.
“I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept...”
– John Steinbeck from Travels With Charley (via Briana Mowrey)
A Brooklynite on the Ice: Will work for rum →
It’s exciting to see Daric Schlesselman going legit with the Van Brunt Stillhouse—his (I believe previously underground) Red Hook, Brooklyn rum distilling operation.
December 2011
11 posts
WatchFamed Japanese barman Hidetsugu Ueno explains the Japanese bartending technique known as “the hard shake.”
“When it comes to innovation, the whiskey business is like the auto industry: it...”
– Bourbon’s All-American Roar - NYTimes.com
“In 1930, there was a speakeasy on every block and the local bootlegger stretched...”
– Why Craft Booze Is Booming - Lifestyle - GOOD (via Tristan Willey)
“Husband and wife team Shane Covey and Jennifer Gavin opened Upstate a little...”
– Off-the-Menu Whiskey Cake at Upstate Craft Beer & Oyster Bar | Serious Eats : New York (via Courtney Lewis)
I’m a sucker for this kind of clubby hospitality. And for baked goods made with whiskey.
November 2011
8 posts
Art of Drink: Bitter Recipes Archive →
Darcy O’Neil has published a really cool archive of publicly available bitters and amaro recipes. I’m really tempted now to try my hand at a homemade Fernet.
“Don’t you drink? I notice you speak slightingly of the bottle. I have...”
– Ernest Hemingway: Postscript to letter to critic, poet and translator Ivan Kashkin (19 August 1935)
“I read through the book and the first thing I tried to do was find a recipe I...”
– Erik Ellestad’s Review of “Left Coast Libations”
I love this critique of a recent Bay Area cocktail compendium by SF bartender Erik Ellestad (the man behind the Savoy Cocktail Book project) because to me it articulates what I’ve come to find a bit cloying about a lot of the...
“When I ordered a whisky on the rocks [at Oil] expecting scorn and derision from...”
– Camper English: Whiskey Bars in Japan
Julian Van Winkle's Old Fashioned
In the second issue of “Lucky Peach,” Julian Van Winkle, heir to the Van Winkle bourbon dynasty, discusses Old Fashioneds:
A lot of people treat the addition of anything to bourbon or good single-malt scotch like treason. They treat bourbon like this virgin substance that you don’t want to mess with. That’s a mistake. When you dilute the whiskey just a bit - not too much - you open...
“To achieve the desired non-whiskeyness in Kansas Whiskey, Goldman and the team...”
– Finally A Whiskey For Horrible People | Food Republic
(via Sother Teague)
“Middle-aged yuck factor”—or as some like to call it “flavor.”
“The Wisconsin brandy old-fashioned is not just a refreshment but an institution,...”
– The old-fashioned: a complete history and guide to this classic cocktail. - Slate Magazine
I knew about Wisconsin’s state drink, but I was unaware of its historical association with so many bizarrely savory garnishes. It’s hard to imagine Brussels sprouts or picked eggs going well with...
October 2011
12 posts
“There is a good measure of social control in Iran, and that is the price of...”
– Hope for Iran from Marginal Revolution
“Fox Liquor Bar had been open for less than a week when we visited on a Saturday...”
– Bibulo.us - We plead the 21st.: Fox Liquor Bar
Note to self if I’m ever in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“This fall, Peels…will introduce a switchel. Modeled on a popular early...”
– Vinegar Cocktails Are Making the Rounds - NYTimes.com (via Prime Meats)
I’ve been convinced the new line of drinking vinegars from Portland’s Pok Pok will eventually find an audience in the cocktail world since I got a bottle from my friend Neven awhile back.
“Biderman also put plenty of thought into his small selection of cocktails....”
– Company Burger pours unexpectedly high-quality drinks | NOLA.com (via Cure)
This is all genius. I fully expect to see Coke Old Fashioneds on New York drink menus by spring.
September 2011
5 posts
The Vichy Catalan Negroni
One of the things I love about the cocktail world is the way its cherished formulas are endlessly revised, expanded, and riffed upon. More than any other quality, what endears a drink recipe to bartenders, and thus secures its status as a classic and template for future variations, is simplicity. Weary barkeeps love a drink they can mix for themselves without a lot of fuss, and more than likely...
