One advantage I have in my career – and believe me, I thank my lucky stars every day for my good fortune in this regard – is that I travel a lot. And when I do travel, I get to visit the greatest bars in the world and spend time picking the brains of the world’s greatest bartenders.
The most recent drink to grace our cocktail list is the result of my travels.
Taking inspiration from many sources, my initial interest in bitter, sour and sweet with a distinctly tropical bent was taken directly from the ever-brilliant Giuseppe Gonzalez and his now-famous Trinidad Sour.
While I, and the rest of the world, was taken by the combination of bitter, herbal, sweet flavors, it never really struck me as a an extensible sort of drink style until I came across Andrew Bohrer’s amaro-based Mai Tai variation called the “Elena’s Virtue”. Now here was a drink with legs, and a hint of what was to come in the world of cocktails, in my humble opinion.
But what New York and Seattle do well, San Francisco often does better, and usually with a lot more Fernet Branca, and that’s the conversation I had with Josh Harris while competing in the Domaine de Canton finals in St. Maarten this spring. And after tasting his simple concoction of ginger liqueur, pineapple and Fernet Branca I knew it was time for me to get my feet wet and try my hand at the herbal tropical sour.
The result has been a smash hit at the bar, as it very much follows in the style of our restaurant bar, a reflection of the crafted European style of cooking that emerges from the kitchen on a nightly basis. In other words, earthy, sour, herbal flavors do very, very well where we work.
Put all of this together, throw in a desire to explore the dusty, neglected bottle of Drambuie, and an early morning racking one’s brain to come up with a drink name (the original intent was Brixton Club) and a star was born:
Kingston Club
1½ oz Drambuie
1½ oz pineapple juice
¾ oz lime juice
1 tsp Fernet Branca
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake ingredients with ice and finish with 1 oz soda water. Strain mix over fresh ice into a chilled collins glass and garnish with an orange twist.
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.
Hey folks, if you’re reading this post, then you’re officially a reader of this website. And that means that I could really use your help. In order to lure potential advertisers over to the dark side that is my, uh, sidebar, I need to prove to them that my website is mainly frequented by consenting adults.
So, whether or not you’re of legal drinking age, would you mind doing me a favor and filling out this quick survey? I’m not going to even ask for your name or email address, so rest assured that it’s completely confidential. Because more advertising means more money, more money means more liquor, and more liquor means more late-night booze-fueled ramblings both here and on my regularly-updated Twitter feed.
Thanks, folks. Stay tuned for more drinks and stories.
Maybe (and I say this in a completely non-smarmy way) if you posted more frequently you would get more visits and crank up your advertiser appeal that much more.
I know that you’ve been busy now that you’re in a real city (cough cough) and making videos and traveling the globe on someone else’s dime . . . but MORE POSTS!
Thanks for posting the tonic water recipe. I have been trying to explain to my customers exactly what you are saying for a very long time. The masses are being turned one by one. Great job!
19 May 2009 at 8:28 AM 9. Garretto
I got kind of excited when I saw a new post, but then it turned out to be a request —oh well, no problem. DONE! The least we can do! Hope it helps and looking forward to your next post and Imbibe video.
!Salud!
20 May 2009 at 4:34 AM 10. Jean-Luc D
Long time lurker here, and I quite like the idea of a little survey, however with the rather large age brackets it makes me think that the survey doesn’t really take into accout people who visit your site who are not from the States. I’m 19, thus had to tick the 14-20 bracket, and where I live (New Zealand) I’m above the legal drinking age however your survey would probably put me into the ‘underage’ box due to your higher age limit. Admittedly I’m most probably in the minority here (being both young and from the other side of the world) but thought I’d just mention it. On the flipside I suppose now that I think about it, the advertisers probably don’t care so much about us internationals anyways. XD Btw I’m loving the videos too, I must agree with previous commenters on how good you are in front of the camera.
Good one mate.
No thanks for making me really think about how much I spend on libations.
24 Jul 2009 at 10:01 PM 13. izzy
I came here for the ginger beer article and decided to have a longer look. I really like the website, especially the how to kind of stuff. Keep it up, dude.
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15 May 2009 at 12:49 PM 1. Blair, aka Trader Tiki
don’t forget to get signed up for Quantcast too.
That way you can find out that your audience is made mostly of upper income college educated latino males with 2 or less dependents.
seriously.
15 May 2009 at 3:16 PM 2. liesel
done. Thanks for not asking how many cocktails I have on average per week, like my Dr. does.
15 May 2009 at 3:29 PM 3. Chris W.
Done and done.
Don’t know why I posted to say only that, but there you go.
Now to figure out what drink to make tonight… hmmm…
16 May 2009 at 7:39 AM 4. Jeff Frane
Maybe (and I say this in a completely non-smarmy way) if you posted more frequently you would get more visits and crank up your advertiser appeal that much more.
I know that you’ve been busy now that you’re in a real city (cough cough) and making videos and traveling the globe on someone else’s dime . . . but MORE POSTS!
16 May 2009 at 1:29 PM 5. Cuco
Amigo Jeffrey is done.
best Cuco
17 May 2009 at 3:32 AM 6. Tiare
I second Blair on Quantcast.
18 May 2009 at 8:58 AM 7. francisco Saa avellaneda
i am friend of cuco, and i like fernet branca, do you know something about this delicious cocktail??
18 May 2009 at 3:05 PM 8. caskproof
Thanks for posting the tonic water recipe. I have been trying to explain to my customers exactly what you are saying for a very long time. The masses are being turned one by one. Great job!
19 May 2009 at 8:28 AM 9. Garretto
I got kind of excited when I saw a new post, but then it turned out to be a request —oh well, no problem. DONE! The least we can do! Hope it helps and looking forward to your next post and Imbibe video.
!Salud!
20 May 2009 at 4:34 AM 10. Jean-Luc D
Long time lurker here, and I quite like the idea of a little survey, however with the rather large age brackets it makes me think that the survey doesn’t really take into accout people who visit your site who are not from the States. I’m 19, thus had to tick the 14-20 bracket, and where I live (New Zealand) I’m above the legal drinking age however your survey would probably put me into the ‘underage’ box due to your higher age limit. Admittedly I’m most probably in the minority here (being both young and from the other side of the world) but thought I’d just mention it. On the flipside I suppose now that I think about it, the advertisers probably don’t care so much about us internationals anyways. XD Btw I’m loving the videos too, I must agree with previous commenters on how good you are in front of the camera.
Good one mate.
21 May 2009 at 5:30 PM 11. Ben from GarnishBar
Nice short and sweet survey.
04 Jun 2009 at 12:04 PM 12. jjm
No thanks for making me really think about how much I spend on libations.
24 Jul 2009 at 10:01 PM 13. izzy
I came here for the ginger beer article and decided to have a longer look. I really like the website, especially the how to kind of stuff. Keep it up, dude.
26 Jul 2009 at 1:41 AM 14. Mata
Done it – just for you…