No, really. I’m serious. In case you think I’m joking, or that you read that wrong, let me go on the record right now:
I make the best Amaretto Sour you’ve ever had in your life. No ifs, ands or buts about it, my Amaretto Sour dominates and crushes all others out there. And now, I’m going to share my secrets with you.
There are two things that impede all other Amaretto Sours from challenging mine. First off, the obvious: they’re too sweet. One does not simply use an everyday sour recipe to make a world-class Amaretto Sour, it must be adjusted for this particular liqueur.
Second, and this is a big one: amaretto isn’t strong enough on its own to stand up to a bunch of other ingredients. It’s weak. It needs help. And for this, I enlist the assistance of an old friend. One that knows amaretto’s strengths and weaknesses. Or, mainly, its weaknesses. One that works with amaretto, to complete it like Jerry Maguire completes Rene Zellwiger’s character, whatever her name was. And that, my friends, is cask-proof bourbon.
Behold, the recipe:
Amaretto Sour
Makes 1 Awesome Drink
1½ oz amaretto (I love the Lazzaroni amaretto, but DiSaronno works well here, too)
¾ oz cask-proof bourbon (I use Booker’s, from the Jim Beam distillery)
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp. 2:1 simple syrup
½ oz egg white, beaten
Dry shake ingredients to combine, then shake well with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon peel and brandied cherries, if desired. Serve and grin like an idiot as your friends freak out.
A side project, an experiment or just a simple curiosity that turned into a delicious phenomenon that we're still serving to much delight at our bar, barrel aged cocktails explore the gentle manipulation of a drink's flavors over time. This post details the inspiration, the history and the methods behind my barrel aged cocktails.
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.
Turned off by the glop you find in the grocery store, and unable to endure another long egg and cream whipping session, I set out to build an egg nog recipe from the ground up that retained the character of the orginal formula, was easy to make in a few minutes at home or at the bar, and tasted absolutely delicious. See if you agree with the result.
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 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.
I’m calling this “Day Zero” since the events don’t officially start until tomorrow. Although, you’d never know it by the sheer quantity of cocktail luminaries amassed in the French Quarter right now.
My day started with an internal miscommunication about the actual date of my departure (that’s what I get for booking the trip three months in advance and not checking my itinerary) – and this was after a full night behind the bar at Bel Ami.
After 10 hours of travel time, I was safely on my way to the hotel, sharing a cab with Chuck and Wes and longing for a lap or two around the Carousel Bar. And as much as I wanted to offend the room with my travel scent, I used my better judgement and cleaned up as well as I could before heading down to the bar.
There I spent some quality cocktail time with my old pals Natalie “The Liquid Muse” Bovis-Nelsen, Jenny Adams, and the Vieux Carré cocktail. It was an explosion of blogger-types as we rode the bar around the room in three complete cycles.
Then, the bloggers split off in search of jambalaya and gumbo at Coop’s (mmmm, rabbit, sausage, shrimp, oh my!). By this time I was feeling the effects of several cocktails, sleep deprivation and a full belly. Time for an iced coffee at Café du Monde! (Note to Café du Monde enthusiasts, they’ve got nothing on Pacific Northwest java. Seriously.)
The rag-tag group of enthusiasts then made its way down Bourbon Street (at Paul Clarke’s doing – thanks, Paul) to the French 75 bar next to Arnaud’s. We shared a round of 75s made with cognac and – I believe – orange liqueur (not my preferred recipe) and chatted with Jim Meehan.
I’d had my arm twisted into attending a tasting of La Fée Parisienne absinthe at the Old Absinthe House by Natalie (where were you?) and ran into some old friends from Las Vegas last year.
Anyway, it’s 11PM, I’ve been awake since I-don’t-know-when, and now I’m contemplating flipping a coin and braving the Carousel Bar once more before bed. This is going to be a good week.
Comments
10 Responses to “Tales of the Cocktail: Day Zero”
15 Jul 2008 at 11:56 PM 1. Wendolyn
Go to the Carousel! And did you really think you would find coffee better than we have in the Northwest?
16 Jul 2008 at 6:44 AM 2. Erik
The dirty little secret about New Orleans coffee is that it’s often “Coffee and Chicory”, which makes it dark, opaque and bitter. I grew up in New Orleans and was accustomed to the taste, but once I moved away, I realized that I really, really dislike Chicory. For the best coffee chains in New Orleans, I’d recommend PJ’s or CC’s; I preferred the latter (caveat: I’ve also been gone for five years). Cafe du Monde is for beignets and atmosphere (everything slightly sticky from powdered sugar) more than coffee.
If I recall correctly, Chicory was originally added as a cheap filler around the civil war when coffee was in short supply due to the Union blockade. People got used to the taste and stayed with it, but it’s actually nasty.
What did you think of La Fee?
16 Jul 2008 at 4:41 PM 3. John Claude
Not really related to your trip, but have you picked up a copy of Everyday Drinking by Kingsley Amis? I’ve always been a fan of his novels and just got this in the mail today. One of the best treatise on drinking I’ve ever read.
That must be because you were always arriving just as I was getting ready to leave, Day.
22 Jul 2008 at 4:59 AM 8. Jimbo Walker
…Speaking of the Carousel Bar, does anyone agree that they should give out “Frequent Rider Miles”? I should be up to a couple nights at Montleone after a week at Tales.
I actully arrived on Monday. I must of put in at least 25 miles on Monday Night. (Tuesday Morn…Ugly)
I would rather sit and spin with Natalie and Jeffery than any other people…ever.
Whoa, that actually sounds pretty dirty. Hee hee.
Oh – and I am off Vieux Carre’s for the next year. No more!
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15 Jul 2008 at 11:56 PM 1. Wendolyn
Go to the Carousel! And did you really think you would find coffee better than we have in the Northwest?
16 Jul 2008 at 6:44 AM 2. Erik
The dirty little secret about New Orleans coffee is that it’s often “Coffee and Chicory”, which makes it dark, opaque and bitter. I grew up in New Orleans and was accustomed to the taste, but once I moved away, I realized that I really, really dislike Chicory. For the best coffee chains in New Orleans, I’d recommend PJ’s or CC’s; I preferred the latter (caveat: I’ve also been gone for five years). Cafe du Monde is for beignets and atmosphere (everything slightly sticky from powdered sugar) more than coffee.
If I recall correctly, Chicory was originally added as a cheap filler around the civil war when coffee was in short supply due to the Union blockade. People got used to the taste and stayed with it, but it’s actually nasty.
What did you think of La Fee?
16 Jul 2008 at 4:41 PM 3. John Claude
Not really related to your trip, but have you picked up a copy of Everyday Drinking by Kingsley Amis? I’ve always been a fan of his novels and just got this in the mail today. One of the best treatise on drinking I’ve ever read.
17 Jul 2008 at 5:25 PM 4. Jeff Frane
Been awfully quiet around here. I hope Morgenthaler didn’t just fall asleep and miss the whole event.
17 Jul 2008 at 8:39 PM 5. John Claude
He’s probably sloppy drunk on Sazeracs.
21 Jul 2008 at 10:44 AM 6. alex
Hmm, I seem to recall seeing you at Absinthe House MUCH later that evening.
Interesting.
21 Jul 2008 at 10:57 AM 7. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
That must be because you were always arriving just as I was getting ready to leave, Day.
22 Jul 2008 at 4:59 AM 8. Jimbo Walker
…Speaking of the Carousel Bar, does anyone agree that they should give out “Frequent Rider Miles”? I should be up to a couple nights at Montleone after a week at Tales.
I actully arrived on Monday. I must of put in at least 25 miles on Monday Night. (Tuesday Morn…Ugly)
22 Jul 2008 at 4:56 PM 9. alex
You mean, the night was just getting started?
Sissy.
23 Jul 2008 at 9:05 AM 10. Jenny Adams
I would rather sit and spin with Natalie and Jeffery than any other people…ever.
Whoa, that actually sounds pretty dirty. Hee hee.
Oh – and I am off Vieux Carre’s for the next year. No more!