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.
You may or may not have known this, but I like making cocktails out of wine. Or things that were once wine. Or things that were made from wine. However you want to say it, I like making cocktails out of wine. So when I saw that there was a cocktail competition coming up that called for the use of sherry (a type of wine made from white grapes grown around the town of Jerez, Spain and fortified with brandy), I was like, “I’m all over this.”
So I reached for the Morgenthaler Standby Formula book and grabbed this old chestnut. First, I bolstered the sherry with something bitter, put in a touch of something sweet, and finished it with something absinth-y. Then I dumped that one down the sink and tried about ten other combinations. The result is this cocktail, The Solera Club.
I like wine-based cocktails, because they don’t punch you in the face the way, say, a 94-proof gin-based cocktail is going to. This means these drinks are going to be more versatile, and drinkable on more occasions than a big spirit-driven monster. A lot of my customers like to end the night with one of these low-proof sippers, but I take a more European tack myself and delight in them during the late afternoon, noshing on Marcona almonds and watching the sidewalk traffic without getting falling-down drunk.
So in the spirit of early autumnal afternoon sipping and enjoying the sunshine while it still lingers, here’s the recipe:
2 oz sherry (cream for a sweeter, rounder drink, dry sherry such as an amontillado for a more drier, more austere drink)
1 oz Cynar
½ oz creme de peche
1 tsp absinthe
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If you’re going the cream sherry route, I’d recommend garnishing with a lemon twist as I’ve done here. If you’re using the drier, nuttier sherries, try using an orange twist.
Comments
14 Responses to “The Solera Club”
18 Sep 2009 at 1:48 PM 1. suzi
that looks right up my alley! too bad we didn’t get to try that one at the cocktail shoot the other day. maybe next time…nice photo, too!
What’s the go to brand for creme de peche? Wanted to play with some ever since Faithful Scotsman at Death Co. This sounds really good, just had a Bamboo at Drop.
Great drink Jeffrey. Just tried it. I got the Cynar at Cask in San Francisco on Third St. Their website is caskstore.com. If you haven’t tried this you really have too! Thanks again.
28 Sep 2009 at 5:54 AM 12. Lexi
I don’t normally comment on blogs, but the last two days have been filled with a witchy amount of Cynar and I feel like I have to tell someone about it. I saw a bottle of the stuff for the first time yesterday morning at a small coffee bar in northern Italy. I thought it looked weird. Last night, I was eating dinner with an Italian family and they pulled out a bottle of Cynar with the limoncello. For the past week they’ve only served limoncello. Weird coincidence. Today I decided to do a little research on the stuff. The first place I check is your blog, and bam! a cocktail with Cynar in it at the top of the page. Where is all this going to end? (Somewhere delicious I hope…)
Sounds absolutely delicious. I love mixing wine also. When I took over the bar at the Blacksmith, the last bar manager had ordered 17 cases of rosé so I made a cocktail to move through all of that wine. It was one of the most popular drinks on that list. I also love Cynar, which used to be available for purchase through the OLCC – it’s a shame that they’ve limited their inventory so much this past year. A pleasure to meet you a couple of weeks ago and best of luck to you, although luck might not be needed as the recipe and the name are brilliant.
15 Jan 2010 at 1:45 AM 14. butters
finally got around to trying this drink and it was delicious! although I didn’t have the recipe in front of me and guessed on the amount of creme de peche as I basically remembered the other ingredients. I used 1/4 oz mathilde peche liqueur. Another 1/4 oz would have been overkill. Really nice drink!
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18 Sep 2009 at 1:48 PM 1. suzi
that looks right up my alley! too bad we didn’t get to try that one at the cocktail shoot the other day. maybe next time…nice photo, too!
18 Sep 2009 at 2:35 PM 2. Awesomepants Magoo
Now THAT is a classy name for a cocktail…
18 Sep 2009 at 3:05 PM 3. jenny Adams
what? where’s the egg white?! I’m calling nonsense ;)
(in all seriousness … looks and sounds delish)
18 Sep 2009 at 4:48 PM 4. Mata
That sounds nice! Maybe I’ll actually like it? xxx
19 Sep 2009 at 12:19 PM 5. Mark
Sherry competition? With whom? And is it too late to enter? Details if not too late?
20 Sep 2009 at 6:47 AM 6. TwoBlindPigs
Great recipe will definitely be giving it a whirl!
20 Sep 2009 at 11:33 AM 7. dshenaut
AKA Wine Geek,
No reason to enter this comp any more. This the winner.
d
20 Sep 2009 at 12:04 PM 8. Alan
What’s the go to brand for creme de peche? Wanted to play with some ever since Faithful Scotsman at Death Co. This sounds really good, just had a Bamboo at Drop.
20 Sep 2009 at 9:41 PM 9. Matthew
I can’t find Cynar for love or money around here. Is there an acceptable workaround?
22 Sep 2009 at 10:28 PM 10. Jennifer Colliau
Jeffrey, I love you. Your drink-invention procedure is exactly like mine. Hope you win that trip to Jerez!
23 Sep 2009 at 10:40 PM 11. Tim
Great drink Jeffrey. Just tried it. I got the Cynar at Cask in San Francisco on Third St. Their website is caskstore.com. If you haven’t tried this you really have too! Thanks again.
28 Sep 2009 at 5:54 AM 12. Lexi
I don’t normally comment on blogs, but the last two days have been filled with a witchy amount of Cynar and I feel like I have to tell someone about it. I saw a bottle of the stuff for the first time yesterday morning at a small coffee bar in northern Italy. I thought it looked weird. Last night, I was eating dinner with an Italian family and they pulled out a bottle of Cynar with the limoncello. For the past week they’ve only served limoncello. Weird coincidence. Today I decided to do a little research on the stuff. The first place I check is your blog, and bam! a cocktail with Cynar in it at the top of the page. Where is all this going to end? (Somewhere delicious I hope…)
29 Sep 2009 at 2:29 AM 13. Columbine Quillen
Sounds absolutely delicious. I love mixing wine also. When I took over the bar at the Blacksmith, the last bar manager had ordered 17 cases of rosé so I made a cocktail to move through all of that wine. It was one of the most popular drinks on that list. I also love Cynar, which used to be available for purchase through the OLCC – it’s a shame that they’ve limited their inventory so much this past year. A pleasure to meet you a couple of weeks ago and best of luck to you, although luck might not be needed as the recipe and the name are brilliant.
15 Jan 2010 at 1:45 AM 14. butters
finally got around to trying this drink and it was delicious! although I didn’t have the recipe in front of me and guessed on the amount of creme de peche as I basically remembered the other ingredients. I used 1/4 oz mathilde peche liqueur. Another 1/4 oz would have been overkill. Really nice drink!