If there’s one thing I hate about living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s the stretch of time from late October until late June, when the sun makes only the most occasional of appearances. I typically pack on an extra 10-15 pounds during those rainy months, party due to over-consumption of wintertime drinks like dark beer, egg nog, hot-buttered-anything and wassail. I wanted a drink for the winter that I could add to my cocktail menu that was more like the light, café-style cocktails I typically gravitate to during the summer.
Jerry Thomas prescribed a drink called “sangaree” that, to the best of our knowledge was a colonial adaptation of the Spanish “sangria”. The recipe, which calls for anywhere from 1½ to 4 ounces of port, Madeira, gin or brandy dolled up with sugar and dusted with nutmeg in a glass sounded less than exciting to me, but the challenge of updating this old chestnut sounded like a fun January task.
We began with ruby and tawny ports but found both way too sweet. White port got us much closer to our target, but it wasn’t until a healthy dose of dry vermouth was applied that we knew we were on to something. To provide additional depth and hint at the drink’s colonial origins we sweetened with a maple-nutmeg syrup and finished the whole thing off with a teaspoon of allspice liqueur and orange oil.
The Dry Vermouth Sangaree
3 oz dry vermouth
½ oz maple-nutmeg syrup*
1 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 large strip orange peel
Shake everything – yes, even the orange peel – with ice until well-chilled and strain into a cold cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh strip of orange peel.
*To make maple-nutmeg syrup, combine 8 ounces each of Grade B maple syrup and water, and 1 tbsp freshly-grated nutmeg. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, strain out solids, bottle and chill.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
The flavors of the Richmond Gimlet are imbued with sunshine. Fresh mint mingling with the herbaceousness of gin and the tartness of lime have made this drink a Eugene classic for many years now.
You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
Well, the response to Repeal Day hasn’t been this good since the first Repeal Day. I’ve talked to bartenders, bloggers, mixologists, and ordinary drink-minded people all over the country who are getting excited about celebrating December Fifth with me.
Paul over at Drink This Blog is behind us all the way, and is spreading the word to bartenders in person and with his brand-new classic cocktail blog.
The folks behind Modern Drunkard Magazine love Repeal Day. They’re talking about it in their forums, they’ve linked to us, and they’re even working on a story for the next issue! If you’ve never visited Modern Drunkard, do yourself a favor and read up, it’s a brilliant tongue-in-cheek look at modern drinking culture.
The guys over at DC Drinks are my kind of guys. Not only do they write one of the best-written drink blogs on the ‘net, replete with brilliant cynicism and witty commentary, but they’re so behind Repeal Day that they’re making me look bad. They’re going to be celebrating the Fifth at Billy Martin’s Tavern in Washington, D.C., which opened its doors on December 5, 1933. Repeal Day O.G.!
The Art of Drink is the mothership of drink blogs. Darcy O’Neil has put together a site that collects the best of what’s out there and I’m so glad he’s decided to join me in celebrating Repeal Day. Hi, Darcy!
I wish I had a lot of time on my hands – like Michael from Days that End in ‘Y’ – because if I did, I’d certainly try to put together a site that was as comprehensive as his. He’s got one of the most frequently-updated sites out there, and he knows it. He even suggested to me that if he doesn’t do something for Repeal Day, we should all let him have it.
There you have it, folks. We’ve got almost 20 more days left until the big day, so get out there and exercise your First Amendment right to uh, talk about the, uh, Twenty-First Amendment. Something like that.
I’m looking forward to Repeal Day myself, and since the Dewars team is having such fun promoting it, I might have to get a bottle of Dewars for my celebration.
Next year, I hope to get my act together in time for a party.
A Special Repeal Day here in Glasgow, Kentucky indeed, friends. For this past November 6, just a week ago, mind you, we had a vote to legalize alcohol sales in Glasgow Kentucky’s restaurants. Yes, a dry county in the Bourbon Distillers Country. Sad, sad, yet, we have overcome Prohibition in Glasgow, Kentucky and we ask you on December 5 to lift your glasses with all of us here in Glasgow for a wonderful thing called Repeal Day. May we all celebrate many, many more in friendship and peace.
I celebrate repeal day last year and had a blast. This year I wanted to get some repeal day t-shirts and couldn’t find any on the web. So I made this cafepress site with a design. http://www.cafepress.com/repealday
I absolutely hate it when someone sends me a box full of sex toys in the mail. Sure, it might sound like fun to some of you (you know who you are), but receiving a big box of free sex is much more trouble than it’s worth. Believe me. So I get a [...]
04 Dec 2006 at 10:06 am 1. Michael Dietsch
I’m looking forward to Repeal Day myself, and since the Dewars team is having such fun promoting it, I might have to get a bottle of Dewars for my celebration.
Next year, I hope to get my act together in time for a party.
13 Nov 2007 at 8:48 pm 2. Missy Staples
A Special Repeal Day here in Glasgow, Kentucky indeed, friends. For this past November 6, just a week ago, mind you, we had a vote to legalize alcohol sales in Glasgow Kentucky’s restaurants. Yes, a dry county in the Bourbon Distillers Country. Sad, sad, yet, we have overcome Prohibition in Glasgow, Kentucky and we ask you on December 5 to lift your glasses with all of us here in Glasgow for a wonderful thing called Repeal Day. May we all celebrate many, many more in friendship and peace.
15 Nov 2007 at 11:02 am 3. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Missy, I assure you that this year we will all be toasting you and the great news that Glasgow is no longer living under Prohibition!
Congratulations, and Happy Repeal Day, Glasgow!
13 Nov 2008 at 7:10 pm 4. Meg
I celebrate repeal day last year and had a blast. This year I wanted to get some repeal day t-shirts and couldn’t find any on the web. So I made this cafepress site with a design. http://www.cafepress.com/repealday
Feel free to share.