“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.
About Me
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.
In case you’ve missed all the hoopla, it’s time for another Mixology Monday! This month, we’re being hosted by Gwen over at Intoxicated Zodiac. Gwen has chosen orange as the theme for the month.
I had originally planned on doing a post about one of my cocktails that uses orange bitters. However, I figured that many of my fellow internet drink dorks cocktail enthusiasts would be doing the same thing, so I decided to change it up a bit.
I hear a lot of positive feedback at work whenever I garnish a drink (I’m looking at you, Negroni) with one of my big orange ribbon twists. So, here’s a big first for me: an instructional video.
If you’re reading this in an RSS reader, you’ll have to come over to the site to see the video for yourself.
I didn’t have to got to the website to view the video…
Why not just use a channel knife, that just seems like a lot of work for something that doesn’t really do much other than garnish and a teeny tiny bit of flavor. Using the channel knife you also get the spray of oils into the dring from rupturing all those little oil cells.
And please, turn on some lights, it was really, really hard to see.
I use a channel knife all the time, but it only puts out an eighth-inch strip of citrus. Sometimes I like to use a larger garnish, especially with larger glassware.
I’ll see what I can do about lightening up the video.
Nicely done, jeffrey! I think that has some very good uses in both wide-bowled cocktail glasses and chimney-style glasses alike.
I can see bracing it against the side of a collins glass with ice, having it stick out the top a bit, and then topping it with a cherry tucked into the top. Is it hefty enough or any thoughts on that?
Oh, it’s hefty enough. And if you can find some larger lemons (right now isn’t really the time for huge, juicy lemons, however) it makes a wonderful garnish for a Horse’s Neck!
I loved the instructional video. I think there are a lot of cocktail methods that are simple that people make into mystical and crazy processes. You know, like Pearl Diver’s Mix … oh, wait. That is mystical and crazy.
Thanks for the video, I’ll totally have to give that a try! Video format works great for something like this, and thanks for sharing it.
If we’re lucky enough that you’re thinking of doing more you might want to keep your moves relatively slow. Good for instruction, but mainly lets the camera-person track your movements a little easier.
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In case you’ve missed all the hoopla, it’s time for another Mixology Monday! This month, we’re being hosted by Gwen over at Intoxicated Zodiac. Gwen has chosen orange as the theme for the month.
13 Aug 2007 at 9:19 am 1. Mark Fleser
I didn’t have to got to the website to view the video…
Why not just use a channel knife, that just seems like a lot of work for something that doesn’t really do much other than garnish and a teeny tiny bit of flavor. Using the channel knife you also get the spray of oils into the dring from rupturing all those little oil cells.
And please, turn on some lights, it was really, really hard to see.
13 Aug 2007 at 9:34 am 2. Jeffrey
Mark
I use a channel knife all the time, but it only puts out an eighth-inch strip of citrus. Sometimes I like to use a larger garnish, especially with larger glassware.
I’ll see what I can do about lightening up the video.
13 Aug 2007 at 11:04 am 3. Anita
Nice! We make our ‘big’ twists with a Y-peeler (as opposed to little ones made with a channel knife). I think yours looks a lot more festive. :D
13 Aug 2007 at 1:20 pm 4. Gabriel
Nicely done, jeffrey! I think that has some very good uses in both wide-bowled cocktail glasses and chimney-style glasses alike.
I can see bracing it against the side of a collins glass with ice, having it stick out the top a bit, and then topping it with a cherry tucked into the top. Is it hefty enough or any thoughts on that?
13 Aug 2007 at 1:25 pm 5. Jeffrey
Oh, it’s hefty enough. And if you can find some larger lemons (right now isn’t really the time for huge, juicy lemons, however) it makes a wonderful garnish for a Horse’s Neck!
13 Aug 2007 at 1:31 pm 6. Alex
You should make a DVD, but this time with dancers to your left and right.
Any kind of dancers will do, really.
13 Aug 2007 at 1:50 pm 7. Rick
Jeffrey,
I loved the instructional video. I think there are a lot of cocktail methods that are simple that people make into mystical and crazy processes. You know, like Pearl Diver’s Mix … oh, wait. That is mystical and crazy.
In short, make more instructional videos!
13 Aug 2007 at 3:10 pm 8. Smach
Yes, DANCERS! And perhaps a bad Russian accent.
14 Aug 2007 at 10:04 pm 9. Scooter
Wow. That bar looks really clean.
16 Aug 2007 at 11:03 am 10. Natalie (aka: The Liquid Muse)
Hey Jeffrey-
Love the vid! It’s almost like we’ve actually met, in person, now!
And, of course, your twist is a marvel to behold. ;-)
xo The Liquid Muse
23 Aug 2007 at 12:49 am 11. Ardenstone
Thanks for the video, I’ll totally have to give that a try! Video format works great for something like this, and thanks for sharing it.
If we’re lucky enough that you’re thinking of doing more you might want to keep your moves relatively slow. Good for instruction, but mainly lets the camera-person track your movements a little easier.
Thanks and cheers!
28 Aug 2007 at 9:02 am 12. Jeffrey
I will definitely slow the next one down and turn the lights up. Now if only I can think of something to take a video of, I’d be in great shape!