“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.
The thing about bartenders is that we’re all attention whores and egomaniacs and couldn’t care less about much else than ourselves. Sure, some of us will tell you that the craft of the cocktail is the most rewarding thing about being a bartender. Others will tell you that putting on a show and giving people an exciting experience is the best part about working behind a bar.
This is a steaming load of horse shit. The real reason we do what we do is because there’s nothing quite like having someone, four gin-and-tonics deep, sitting at your bar and telling you that you do your job better than anyone else in the whole world.
I mention all of this because I’ve received a lot of love this week by being featured in two - count ‘em, two! - interviews. The first was printed by my hometown paper, and the most recent was conducted by the lovely Natalie over at The Liquid Muse.
TLM: Describe your fantasy life…
JM: I’m the Professor from Gilligan’s Island… Oh wait, what?
Natalie was very kind in her write-up of me, and she’s got a really fantastic website, so check us both out!
So when are you going to start a blog on your site? I know we’d all like to read some of your Vegas stories, they’ve got to be much more exciting than the goings-on in Eugene, Oregon…
As soon as I become a wizard of words such as yourself. Not my forte, but I’m getting there, very slowly. Not to mention the fact that a lot of my stories are so visual. Words just cannot describe them. Be sure to check out myspace, I’ve posted some new pics. You’re in a couple of them.
Something we obviously have in common is the whole whore thing… attention whore I mean, of course. Well, we have that - and booze. No wonder you’re my NBF!
;-)
[...] Jeffrey Morgenthaler has been in the spotlight lately, doing several interviews, in addition to frequent updates on his blog. He has apparently been doing a little soul-searching, because he recently got honest with his readers about the real reason he tends bar. And honestly, it’s the real reason MOST of us tend bar. Here’s an excerpt: The thing about bartenders is that we’re all attention whores and egomaniacs and couldn’t care less about much else than ourselves. Sure, some of us will tell you that the craft of the cocktail is the most rewarding thing about being a bartender. Others will tell you that putting on a show and giving people an exciting experience is the best part about working behind a bar. [...]
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 [...]
23 Apr 2007 at 1:32 pm 1. Sean Bigley
Hey Jeff.
That was a great interview! I loved all your answers to the questions. You’re starting to get awful famous, my friend.
Cheers to you!
Sean
23 Apr 2007 at 2:26 pm 2. Jeffrey
Thanks, Sean!
So when are you going to start a blog on your site? I know we’d all like to read some of your Vegas stories, they’ve got to be much more exciting than the goings-on in Eugene, Oregon…
23 Apr 2007 at 5:12 pm 3. Sean Bigley
As soon as I become a wizard of words such as yourself. Not my forte, but I’m getting there, very slowly. Not to mention the fact that a lot of my stories are so visual. Words just cannot describe them. Be sure to check out myspace, I’ve posted some new pics. You’re in a couple of them.
Cheers!
23 Apr 2007 at 5:25 pm 4. Natalie
Something we obviously have in common is the whole whore thing… attention whore I mean, of course. Well, we have that - and booze. No wonder you’re my NBF!
;-)
24 Apr 2007 at 2:04 pm 5. The Real Reason we tend bar | Joe Bartender
[...] Jeffrey Morgenthaler has been in the spotlight lately, doing several interviews, in addition to frequent updates on his blog. He has apparently been doing a little soul-searching, because he recently got honest with his readers about the real reason he tends bar. And honestly, it’s the real reason MOST of us tend bar. Here’s an excerpt: The thing about bartenders is that we’re all attention whores and egomaniacs and couldn’t care less about much else than ourselves. Sure, some of us will tell you that the craft of the cocktail is the most rewarding thing about being a bartender. Others will tell you that putting on a show and giving people an exciting experience is the best part about working behind a bar. [...]
25 Apr 2007 at 9:29 am 6. Darcy
That’s hits the mark. My wife even calls me a “media whore” whenever I get a call or email from a reporter/writer.
25 Apr 2007 at 10:08 am 7. Jeffrey
That little off-hand comment really struck a nerve with all four of my readers. I guess it’s unanimous, we’re all a bunch of attention-whores!
28 Apr 2007 at 4:42 am 8. Sean Bigley
Me? An attention whore? No way!
Oh, wait a minute, I think that’s how we met, Jeff. LOL!
Cheers!
Sean