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.
Every once in a while I’ll get a letter from someone in the business, and I just can’t help but share it with you all. Today I received this in the mail from the good people at Dewar’s Scotch:
As you know, December 5th will mark the anniversary of Repeal Day; it was on this date in 1933 that the 21st Amendment was ratified and Prohibition was terminated. And, Dewar’s Scotch – the first legal whisky to arrive in the U.S. – hit New York’s South Street Seaport docks the moment the law was put into action. Joseph Kennedy, Sr. (JFK’s father) happened to be the US agent for the brand.
Now, a lot of people have suggested that Joseph Kennedy was a bootlegger, which he may or may not have been. But what he really was, was the owner of a company named Somerset Importers. Somerset owned the exclusive rights to import Dewar’s Schotch and Gordon’s Gin, and right before Repeal, Somerset stocked up. Big time. Once Prohibition was over, they sold the premium liquors for a hefty profit, and Joe was a rich man.
Why not celebrate this significant day in American history with some vintage cocktails – The Dewar’s Old Fashioned; Dewar’s Highball; Ward Eight; and the Rob Roy. Try out the recipes, and enjoy at your favorite speakeasy.
Lesley
Now, I can’t vouch for the quality of the recipes she sent along, because I’m not intimately acquainted with the flavor of Dewar’s Scotch. This may have something to do with the fact that Dewar’s Scotch has never flown me to Scotland to tour their facility and then write several articles about the experience. They have also never sent me a box containing their entire product line to sample and review. So, until I’m more familiar with their products through one of these methods, I’ll just have to explore other liquors.
Next up, Dewar’s has taken things one step further for all of us and our very important cause. They’re taking out a full-color insert in the December 5th edition of The New York Times announcing their commitment to Repeal Day. Here’s a preview:
Wow! I’d love to stop and say thanks right now, but Dewar’s had to take it to the next level for us. Watch this video they put together.
Thanks for all of your support, Dewar’s! Now, can we get any other liquor companies on board?
Comments
3 Responses to “Repeal Day Information from Dewar’s Scotch”
*cough cough* and of course there would have to be meal pairings…
and luggage carrying?
28 Jan 2007 at 6:02 pm 2. Florian
Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog :-)
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day :)
27 Oct 2008 at 7:57 pm 3. JudoChop
Jeff, I just read through your 2 year old Repeal Day blog. Good stuff! I see you are in Eugene and I just wanted to shed some light on some things for you regarding Repeal Day, most of what you probably already know.
1st. The Dewar’s product line for you to sample…This simply will never happen, I wish it could. Not even in the perfect world. One, you live in Oregon and that makes it impossible and against the law for Dewar’s to just give you product since you are a bartender and run a site that is all about drinking. The next time I am in Eugene I will gladly stop in and let you sample the Dewar’s line if you would like to taste it. I can even invite you to a blending seminar that I will be hosting here in Portland next week with the global ambassador from Dewar’s proper from Scotland. Perhaps you will even leave with a bottle of D12 or D signature. Good stuff!
Dewar’s White Label holds repeal day in the highest of regards because we were the first here and the only whiskey for quite sometime after the ban was lifted. All American companies stopped making whiskey when prohibition went into effect. I will be holding a celebration this Dec.5th at the Bagdad in Portland and I would like to invite you to be my guest . Drinks and food and entertainment provided. Awesome site. I will forward it out to some of the folks I work with around the globe.
Cheers and I hope to hear from you soon.
J. McKelley
Dewar’s Scotch Whisky
Portland-Oregon, USA
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 [...]
Every once in a while I’ll get a letter from someone in the business, and I just can’t help but share it with you all. Today I received this in the mail from the good people at Dewar’s Scotch:
28 Nov 2006 at 6:21 pm 1. McAuliflower
*cough cough* and of course there would have to be meal pairings…
and luggage carrying?
28 Jan 2007 at 6:02 pm 2. Florian
Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog :-)
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day :)
27 Oct 2008 at 7:57 pm 3. JudoChop
Jeff, I just read through your 2 year old Repeal Day blog. Good stuff! I see you are in Eugene and I just wanted to shed some light on some things for you regarding Repeal Day, most of what you probably already know.
1st. The Dewar’s product line for you to sample…This simply will never happen, I wish it could. Not even in the perfect world. One, you live in Oregon and that makes it impossible and against the law for Dewar’s to just give you product since you are a bartender and run a site that is all about drinking. The next time I am in Eugene I will gladly stop in and let you sample the Dewar’s line if you would like to taste it. I can even invite you to a blending seminar that I will be hosting here in Portland next week with the global ambassador from Dewar’s proper from Scotland. Perhaps you will even leave with a bottle of D12 or D signature. Good stuff!
Dewar’s White Label holds repeal day in the highest of regards because we were the first here and the only whiskey for quite sometime after the ban was lifted. All American companies stopped making whiskey when prohibition went into effect. I will be holding a celebration this Dec.5th at the Bagdad in Portland and I would like to invite you to be my guest . Drinks and food and entertainment provided. Awesome site. I will forward it out to some of the folks I work with around the globe.
Cheers and I hope to hear from you soon.
J. McKelley
Dewar’s Scotch Whisky
Portland-Oregon, USA