Inspired by a visit to see Tony Conigliaro at the unnamed bar at 69 Colebrooke Row in London last fall, where Manhattans are aged in glass vessels to sublime and subtle effect, the barrel aged cocktails I’ve been serving at Clyde Common this year are a decidedly American curiosity.
The rub of aging cocktails in a glass bottle is that the whole premise is built upon subtlety, as we know that spirits aged in glass or steel do so at an unremarkable pace. Being from the United States, where – as everyone is aware – bigger equals better, I pondered the following question: what if you could prepare a large batch of a single, spirit-driven cocktail and age it in a used oak barrel?
A hundred some-odd dollars in liquor later, I was nervously pouring a gallon of pre-batched rye Manhattans into a small, used oak cask whose previous contents were a gallon Madeira wine. I plugged the barrel and sat back in anxious anticipation; if the experiment was a success I’d have a delicious cocktail to share at the bar – if it was a failure then I’d be pouring the restaurant’s money down the floor drain.
Over the next several weeks I popped open the barrel to test my little concoction until I stumbled upon the magic mark at five-to-six weeks. And there it was, lying beautifully on the the finish: a soft blend of oak, wine, caramel and char. That first batch sold out in a matter of days and I was left with a compelling need to push the process even further.
Now, three gallons of Negroni might not be practical for the home enthusiast, but the average bar or restaurant should be able to afford that sort of quantity quite easily. For those of you trying this at home, try searching the internet for one-gallon charred oak casks (stay away from the fancy lacquered kind meant for display in dens and 1980s wine bars) and be sure to let us know what you find in the comments section below.
We procured a small number of used whiskey casks from the Tuthilltown distillery and proceeded to fill them with a large batch of Negronis; and that’s when the magic of barrel aged cocktails grabbed our attention. After six weeks in the bourbon barrel, our Negroni emerged a rare beauty. The sweet vermouth so slightly oxidized, the color paler and rosier than the original, the mid-palate softly mingled with whiskey, the finish long and lingering with oak tannins. We knew we were on to something unique and immediately made plans to take the cask aging program to the next level.
Negronis are now prepared in five-gallon batches and poured into multiple bourbon barrels. Robert Hess’ ubiquitous Trident cocktail is currently resting inside single-malt barrels. The El Presidente (à laMatt Robold), Deshlers, Remember the Maines, they’re all receiving the oaked treatment in a little storage room in the basement of the restaurant that I refer to as my “office”.
Once the cocktail is aged long enough for my taste, I then drain the bottle, straining out any charred bits of wood, and bottle the contents for use by my bartenders. To order, the cocktail is then measured out and poured over ice in a mixing glass, stirred, strained into a cocktail glass, and then garnished with the appropriate garnish. It’s quick and simple, as all of the real work has already been done by the barrel.
Anyway, on to the recipes. As simple as it seems to do, I figured not everyone is going to want to do the math to get started on some of these recipes, so here are a few I’ve figured out:
Negroni
Makes Three Gallons
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) dry gin
128 oz sweet vermouth
128 oz Campari
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel. Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Manhattan
Makes Three Gallons
256 oz (approximately ten 750ml bottles) rye whiskey
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) sweet vermouth
7 oz Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel (I prefer a barrel that has previously stored sherry, Madeira, or port wine). Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Trident
Makes Three Gallons
128 oz (approximately five 750ml bottles) aquavit
128 oz dry sherry
128 oz Cynar
7 oz peach bitters
Stir ingredients together (without ice) and pour into a three-gallon oak barrel (I prefer a used single malt barrel). Let rest for five to seven weeks and pour into glass bottles until ready to serve.
Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section below.
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.
Since I was deep in the thick of competition and couldn’t take notes, I enlisted the services of Portland, Oregon food writer Ms. Lizzy Caston. Following is her report.
What does a group of creative bartenders do with bags full of promotional alcohol samples, mixers and condiments? Hold a contest to determine who can make the best drink using nothing but the swag handed out at Tales of the Cocktail.
Welcome to Swag Off ’08.
In true rogue spirit, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Daniel Shoemaker from the Teardrop Lounge in Portland, Oregon and Eric Adkins from the Slanted Door in San Francisco met Friday night on the roof the Monteleone Hotel by moonlight, in what is sure to become a legendary annual event.
The rules were simple. Gather together a group of three judges; in this case Keith Waldbauer, bartender at Union in Seattle and author of Moving at the Speed of Life, Lauren Clark from Drink Boston and Misty from LUPEC http://lupecboston.blogspot.com/. The lovely and vivacious Liquid Muse, Natalie Bovis-Nelson agreed to MC.
Ingredients included a hodge-podge of liquors not limited to airplane sized bottles of Bluecoat Dry Gin, G’Vine French Grape Gin, Pearl Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Veev Acai Spirit, Poli Grappa and the most prominent swag at Tales this year: Canton French Ginger Liquor.
Yikes.
In lesser hands these drinks could have been small disasters, yet each contestant showed skill, inventiveness and their own personal touches. Jeff’s strategy was to, “take one of everything on the table and mix it together” in a technique reminiscent of a savant teenage mixologist at a house party. Eric on the other hand, took the molecular cocktail approach by smoking an inverted drinking glass over a Navan liqueur vanilla-scented aromatherapy candle. Daniel simply grabbed a few different ingredients and like a mad scientist on speed mixed and tasted and mixed some more.
All drinks were served up, and Eric’s had a whopping 2 oz of gin, a full oz of Veev, an undisclosed amount of grappa and the above mentioned “smoke of the vanilla candle”. Daniel chose chili powder, 7 whole dashes of Angostura bitters, agave nectar, 1.5 oz gin, ¾ oz grappa and ½ oz of Campari for his “Seat of the Pants” cocktail. Jeff could not resist muddling the Sour Green Apple Cocktail Candy http://www.cocktailcandy.com/ccandy/ccandy.html for his “Green Mile”, adding it along with 4 dashes of Campari, dashes of Angostura, with some of the gin, St. Germaine, Bitter Lemon and a float of Lemoncello.
While the judges reactions were mixed, no one “spat” which is surely a good sign. Feedback was generally positive with all judges agreeing that each certainly had the Spirit of the Cocktail in them. Yet a clear winner did emerge; Daniel Shoemaker’s Seat of the Pants. Look for it at a Bennigan’s or TGIF Fridays soon.
So congratulations Daniel. And remember, we are all winners at Tales of the Cocktail.
I can’t believe you f@#kers didn’t let me in on this!!! That’s a competition I’d actually consider competing in.
Son of a BITCH!! It pisses me off that someone who lives in Washington’s “Mexico” and California’s “Canada” actually won this thing!
‘Til next year…
(I’ll be the guy making a cocktail from the four different airplane bottles of vodka–blending vodkas adds complexity, don’t you know)
21 Jul 2008 at 6:37 pm 2. laura tran
omg that was so funny i will have to buy the person a drink at the carousel bar next year who came up with the idea of swag off.
21 Jul 2008 at 8:23 pm 3. Jennifer Colliau
you guys are f’n rock stars! and it was a pleasure spending the week with all you.
Jamie, you’re very much invited to next year’s Swag Off. Although, there is some speculation that you’d have too tough of a time without your little collection of bitters, flamethrowers, powders etc., I think another year of not bartending will give you plenty of time to practice.
;)
And Jennifer, we had a great week with you as well.
I, like my fellow media whore Jamie, am disappointed to have missed out on this event. I feel like I could have offered something valuable to the proceedings, as I spent a great part of the week swagging off in my hotel room. There were some spectacular results, but no one to share them with.
Oh, sure, Kathy… the *one* post I don’t actually write myself…
I might have to change the site to LizzyCaston.com!
24 Jul 2008 at 5:12 pm 9. Lizzy Caston
Yes, it is true. As of NOW I am taking over Jeff’s site, although tell them the truth Jeff. I’ve been writing his damn blog for months now anyway, because Jeff is too busy being a superstar to write it himself. Kidding. Jeff, it was fun writing this. If you ever want another guest blog post, count me in! And Natalie, it was a pleasure meeting you. Stay in touch!
If you have, in fact, been writing this blog for several months now, then you’ve some serious explaining to do for both the quantity and the quality of posts in those months. I, for one, am offended by the work.
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 [...]
21 Jul 2008 at 2:13 pm 1. Jamie Boudreau
I can’t believe you f@#kers didn’t let me in on this!!! That’s a competition I’d actually consider competing in.
Son of a BITCH!! It pisses me off that someone who lives in Washington’s “Mexico” and California’s “Canada” actually won this thing!
‘Til next year…
(I’ll be the guy making a cocktail from the four different airplane bottles of vodka–blending vodkas adds complexity, don’t you know)
21 Jul 2008 at 6:37 pm 2. laura tran
omg that was so funny i will have to buy the person a drink at the carousel bar next year who came up with the idea of swag off.
21 Jul 2008 at 8:23 pm 3. Jennifer Colliau
you guys are f’n rock stars! and it was a pleasure spending the week with all you.
22 Jul 2008 at 9:26 am 4. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Jamie, you’re very much invited to next year’s Swag Off. Although, there is some speculation that you’d have too tough of a time without your little collection of bitters, flamethrowers, powders etc., I think another year of not bartending will give you plenty of time to practice.
;)
And Jennifer, we had a great week with you as well.
22 Jul 2008 at 10:36 am 5. Natalie - The Liquid Muse
This was one of the highlight events of the 5 days. Hilariously fun (if not a bit sweaty on the rooftop pool bar)
Thanks to Lizzie for writing this great coverage. And, thanks to Jeffrey Morgenthaaaler for coming up with such a creative and fun idea.
All six “Daily Recap Webisodes” will be on my homepage (and SSNetwork,and Tales) by tonight. The Swag Off is featured in Episode 4!!!
xooxxoxoo The Liquid Muse
22 Jul 2008 at 11:34 pm 6. Ted Munat
I, like my fellow media whore Jamie, am disappointed to have missed out on this event. I feel like I could have offered something valuable to the proceedings, as I spent a great part of the week swagging off in my hotel room. There were some spectacular results, but no one to share them with.
(sigh)
24 Jul 2008 at 1:41 pm 7. Kathy Casey
Loved the story and pics – I felt like I was there! Thanks!
24 Jul 2008 at 2:47 pm 8. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Oh, sure, Kathy… the *one* post I don’t actually write myself…
I might have to change the site to LizzyCaston.com!
24 Jul 2008 at 5:12 pm 9. Lizzy Caston
Yes, it is true. As of NOW I am taking over Jeff’s site, although tell them the truth Jeff. I’ve been writing his damn blog for months now anyway, because Jeff is too busy being a superstar to write it himself. Kidding. Jeff, it was fun writing this. If you ever want another guest blog post, count me in! And Natalie, it was a pleasure meeting you. Stay in touch!
24 Jul 2008 at 5:24 pm 10. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Lizzy
If you have, in fact, been writing this blog for several months now, then you’ve some serious explaining to do for both the quantity and the quality of posts in those months. I, for one, am offended by the work.
Jeff