“Here, see if you can make me something with this”, the liquor rep taunted as he dropped a bottle of aquavit on the bar. If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t really work that well under pressure. I try, but it literally takes me weeks to come up with a new drink that I’m happy with. Maybe I’m slow, maybe I’m a perfectionist, doesn’t matter: I hate it when I have to work under pressure.
So I was especially vexed when this particular wiseass handed me a bottle of aquavit. For those of you who don’t know, is a traditional Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway and - typically - other herbs such as fennel and anise. It’s delicious, but it’s unique and isn’t known for its superb mixability.
However, I knew the liquor boob was insinuating that I might not be able to rise to the challenge, so I whipped this up (after about three false starts). A small handful of visitors to the bar at Clyde Common have suggested that it might be one of the best drinks I’ve come up with so far, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. I just think it tastes delicious.
1 oz aquavit
1 oz applejack
¾ oz sweet vermouth
¼ oz yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a large twist of lemon peel and serve.
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.
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I'm 37, 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.
On a busy night, there is always one guy lurking somewhere in the bar who will try to make you a rose out of a paper cocktail napkin as a romantic gesture.
This man is Satan and he drives a van. Do not trust him.
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 [...]
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13 Jun 2007 at 9:54 am 1. keith waldbauer
pretty funny, i’ve seen one before. my girlfriend showed her cousin how to fold a ballerina out of a napkin, and that trick introduced him to his future wife, believe it or not…
13 Jun 2007 at 2:25 pm 2. kev
That guy did it soooo wrong, he didn’t make the leaf, nor did her burn the top of the flower a bit. Wrong wrong wrong :P
14 Jun 2007 at 9:47 pm 3. Gabriel
Dude… wow, she smelled it afterwards? Like it was a real rose or something? That was agony enough in time lapse, I can only imagine the poorly lit horror in real time.
be-sexy.ru indeed.
15 Jun 2007 at 1:51 am 4. Jeffrey
“Awwww, thank you! Wait, it smells like recycled paper…”
15 Jun 2007 at 2:09 pm 5. Scooter
Sure! I can give you a ride little lady. Just move that rope and duct tape out of the front seat and hop in.
15 Jun 2007 at 2:26 pm 6. heckler
Hey, hombre. You made me the best drink of my life on September 16, 2006. It was Maker’s Mark with some sweet smooth stuff from Mexico called a Manhattan 41 or something like that.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
I remember the day because I had a gig doing standup at Peabody’s Pub (visit springfield without leaving eugene!) and had to deal with shit-faced 60 year old catholic dux fans who were delerious with job because the ducks had beaten the okies.
the night didn’t turn out so great (I got booted from Peabody’s for heckling the drunk dux fans by a bartender named Brad) but I’ll always remember your drink, bro.
Peace.
18 Jun 2007 at 11:15 am 7. Jeffrey
Wow, that’s quite a memory you have there, Heckler! The drink in question was called the 43 Manhattan, served over crushed ice with Licor 43 (from Spain) in place of sweet vermouth.
Thanks for the props. Stop in and say hello the next time you’re in the neighborhood!
26 Jun 2007 at 6:56 am 8. Rabbit
Better be careful. “Heckler” is Deb Frisch, internet verb and realife convicted stalker, out on probation in Eugene & wanted on a bench warrant in Colorado.
Google her name. I’m not kidding.