If there’s one thing I hate about living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s the stretch of time from late October until late June, when the sun makes only the most occasional of appearances. I typically pack on an extra 10-15 pounds during those rainy months, party due to over-consumption of wintertime drinks like dark beer, egg nog, hot-buttered-anything and wassail. I wanted a drink for the winter that I could add to my cocktail menu that was more like the light, café-style cocktails I typically gravitate to during the summer.
Jerry Thomas prescribed a drink called “sangaree” that, to the best of our knowledge was a colonial adaptation of the Spanish “sangria”. The recipe, which calls for anywhere from 1½ to 4 ounces of port, Madeira, gin or brandy dolled up with sugar and dusted with nutmeg in a glass sounded less than exciting to me, but the challenge of updating this old chestnut sounded like a fun January task.
We began with ruby and tawny ports but found both way too sweet. White port got us much closer to our target, but it wasn’t until a healthy dose of dry vermouth was applied that we knew we were on to something. To provide additional depth and hint at the drink’s colonial origins we sweetened with a maple-nutmeg syrup and finished the whole thing off with a teaspoon of allspice liqueur and orange oil.
The Dry Vermouth Sangaree
3 oz dry vermouth
½ oz maple-nutmeg syrup*
1 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 large strip orange peel
Shake everything – yes, even the orange peel – with ice until well-chilled and strain into a cold cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh strip of orange peel.
*To make maple-nutmeg syrup, combine 8 ounces each of Grade B maple syrup and water, and 1 tbsp freshly-grated nutmeg. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Let cool, strain out solids, bottle and chill.
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.
The Great American Distiller’s Festival was this past weekend, and I was there on Sunday to witness some of the action with my crusty sidekick, Scott.
The first event was a seminar titled “The History of the Cocktail“, led by Robert Hess. Robert jumped right in there with a crash course on spirits, theories about the origins of mixed drinks in general, and some basic drink etymology. The team from the Teardrop Lounge mixed Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktails while Robert demonstrated the simplicity involved in creating this, the original cocktail and a surprisingly complex little number considering its spartan ingredient list.
Robert then jumped into a brief history of aromatized wines such as vermouth, and their popularity in cocktails in the late nineteenth century. The team whipped up a batch of very large Manhattans while the crowd braced themselves for a 1PM rye whoopin‘.
And in a perfectly logical move, Robert demonstrated how the Martini grew out of the Manhattan and proved it by passing around his interpretation of the original Martini, made with Dry Fly gin, Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, and Angostura orange bitters. The crowd swooned as they took another brunch-sized blast of 80 proof liquor.
Comments
13 Responses to “The Great American Distiller’s Festival: History of the Cocktail with Robert Hess”
The Munat Bros. is in the house! Nice photo of Ted’s right ear. If you’d taken that shot twenty minutes later, you could have gotten one of Ted slumped over a table littered with cocktail glasses.
(OK, he didn’t really slump over the table, but surely we’re allowed a bit of poetic license in the comments section?)
Frankly, I didn’t think the Dry Fly held up very well in the martini. Dry Fly is a very mild gin with a gentle juniper flavor. The Carpano Antica just crushed it, in my not-very-humble opinion. I’d like to try the drink again with something more potent, like Junipero. Can you arrange another distiller’s festival for next weekend so we can test that? Thanks.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to try the Martini, as Daniel skipped me as the samples were going around. But if memory serves, the Dry Fly is 80 proof, which tends to get lost in a big vermouth like Antica Formula. I’ve tried this particular drink with some London monsters like Sapphire and Westbourne Strength, and also with the muscly Junipero from California, and they all stand up well to the vermouth.
Hmm. Westbourne Strength Martin Miller sounds like a good match, especially now that I’m infatuated with the lovely and charming Emma Davis. (Doesn’t hurt that she gave me a bottle last week.)
Damn. I knew I shoulda stayed in Portland on Sunday, but I … yeah, excuses don’t cut it.
(Did you just call Scott crusty? [I wanted to italicize that but didn't know if your comments would let me.] There’s something almost creepy about that…)
25 Aug 2008 at 5:16 pm 5. dshenaut
Historically, wouldn’t a sweeter more mellow gin be more appropriate in the Martinez. Of course, the desision to serve Dry Fly may have had something to do with Kent buying me brunch.
25 Aug 2008 at 6:49 pm 6. Jo3sh
Even if the Dry Fly did not hold up well, I’d love to see the recipe Mr. Hess used for his Martinis. Even more interesting would be a post from him about it.
I don’t remember what proportions Robert used (I thought it was equal parts, but I wasn’t really very sober at that point), but CocktailDB has a recipe for a Rex Cocktail with those ingredients:
For some reason, the Savoy’s recipe for a Martinez is for six people! But it has equal parts gin and French vermouth, with orange bitters and Maraschino or Curaçao.
Equal parts gin and Antica Formula (ack! bottle is now empty!) is definitely preferred by 100% of the test subject(s). About 1/4 oz of Maraschino & 1 dash of Angostura Orange Bitters is mighty good. Further research will follow.
Chas, the (s) was a clue. Or a joke. One subject, but several tests in the evening. Gin used was Bombay Sapphire, based on comments about milder gins not standing up to the Carpano — and I would agree, based on this tiny sample.
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 [...]
25 Aug 2008 at 1:53 pm 1. Chas. Munat
The Munat Bros. is in the house! Nice photo of Ted’s right ear. If you’d taken that shot twenty minutes later, you could have gotten one of Ted slumped over a table littered with cocktail glasses.
(OK, he didn’t really slump over the table, but surely we’re allowed a bit of poetic license in the comments section?)
Frankly, I didn’t think the Dry Fly held up very well in the martini. Dry Fly is a very mild gin with a gentle juniper flavor. The Carpano Antica just crushed it, in my not-very-humble opinion. I’d like to try the drink again with something more potent, like Junipero. Can you arrange another distiller’s festival for next weekend so we can test that? Thanks.
25 Aug 2008 at 2:12 pm 2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Sadly, I wasn’t able to try the Martini, as Daniel skipped me as the samples were going around. But if memory serves, the Dry Fly is 80 proof, which tends to get lost in a big vermouth like Antica Formula. I’ve tried this particular drink with some London monsters like Sapphire and Westbourne Strength, and also with the muscly Junipero from California, and they all stand up well to the vermouth.
25 Aug 2008 at 2:27 pm 3. Chas. Munat
Hmm. Westbourne Strength Martin Miller sounds like a good match, especially now that I’m infatuated with the lovely and charming Emma Davis. (Doesn’t hurt that she gave me a bottle last week.)
25 Aug 2008 at 3:55 pm 4. Molly
Damn. I knew I shoulda stayed in Portland on Sunday, but I … yeah, excuses don’t cut it.
(Did you just call Scott crusty? [I wanted to italicize that but didn't know if your comments would let me.] There’s something almost creepy about that…)
25 Aug 2008 at 5:16 pm 5. dshenaut
Historically, wouldn’t a sweeter more mellow gin be more appropriate in the Martinez. Of course, the desision to serve Dry Fly may have had something to do with Kent buying me brunch.
25 Aug 2008 at 6:49 pm 6. Jo3sh
Even if the Dry Fly did not hold up well, I’d love to see the recipe Mr. Hess used for his Martinis. Even more interesting would be a post from him about it.
25 Aug 2008 at 7:04 pm 7. heckler
sazerac manhattan? what’s that/
25 Aug 2008 at 9:42 pm 8. dshenaut
Sazerac Rye
25 Aug 2008 at 11:32 pm 9. Chas. Munat
I don’t remember what proportions Robert used (I thought it was equal parts, but I wasn’t really very sober at that point), but CocktailDB has a recipe for a Rex Cocktail with those ingredients:
http://cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=1906
Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain
1 3/4 oz gin (5 cl, 7/16 gills)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (2 cl, 3/16 gills)
1 dash orange bitters
Serve in a cocktail glass (4.5 oz)
26 Aug 2008 at 6:52 pm 10. Jeff Frane
For some reason, the Savoy’s recipe for a Martinez is for six people! But it has equal parts gin and French vermouth, with orange bitters and Maraschino or Curaçao.
Clearly, some research is required.
26 Aug 2008 at 10:01 pm 11. Jeff Frane
Results from the small database research file:
Equal parts gin and Antica Formula (ack! bottle is now empty!) is definitely preferred by 100% of the test subject(s). About 1/4 oz of Maraschino & 1 dash of Angostura Orange Bitters is mighty good. Further research will follow.
26 Aug 2008 at 10:15 pm 12. Chas. Munat
Mr. Frane:
What gin are you using? And how many test subject(s) do you have?
27 Aug 2008 at 5:58 am 13. Jeff Frane
Chas, the (s) was a clue. Or a joke. One subject, but several tests in the evening. Gin used was Bombay Sapphire, based on comments about milder gins not standing up to the Carpano — and I would agree, based on this tiny sample.