Today, on April 15th, while the United States is busy mourning Tax Day, the Argentineans are celebrating Bartender’s Day. Here’s the story as related to me by my friend Federico Cuco:

Sixty-nine years ago today, a group of young bartenders from Buenos Aires met for a dinner hosted by the magazine The Barman (the first ever Spanish-speaking bar trade magazine, founded in 1936). It was at this dinner that they decided to form the brotherhood of Argentine bartenders, baptized with the name ‘AMBA’ (Association Mutual Barmen Argentinos). A friend of the group’s designed the rooster logo (which, obviously stood for the cocktail) on a shaker with the initials of the association. Several years later, in 1947, the boys from AMBA bought a house in the neighborhood of San Cristobal that remains today as a gathering place for all Argentinean bartenders.

In those years, a boy named James Policastro, who they called ‘Pichin’ won a radio contest called “Cocktail of the Day” that aired on Sundays after football in a bar near Avenida Corrientes. The kid was fashionable, trendy, and always rocked a winning smile and an impeccable white coat. The local prize was a trip to Europe, and he later returned with a first prize trophy from the competition in Bern, Switzerland, which had been organized by the IBA (International Bartenders Association).

Upon his return to Argentina he donated the trophy to that little house in San Cristobal and urged his colleagues to connect Argentina to the rest of the worldwide comminuty and join the IBA. In 1956, Argentina entered into the IBA and we were the first country outside of Europe to be part of it, and the twelfth country in the world to join.

In the words of my friend Federico:

And that’s what we celebrate today. The friendship, which led to a group of young Argentines, to unite and try to be every day a little better in their profession. But today we celebrate all the bartenders, who work behind the bar, with pride and humility. So as we say in Spanish, “Feliz dia del barman, amigos.”

Happy Bartender’s Day, Argentina.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Feliz Dia del Barman, Amigos

While this is a topic that has been covered by pretty much every cocktail blog under the sun, I haven’t yet written about it. Why? Well, for one, I’m lazy and never got around to it. But after having made various versions of grenadine for years at my bars and after doing a little research on the web recently, I’ve wondered if the topic of homemade grenadine couldn’t use a little revisit.

There are a few key problems with a lot of the house-made grenadines out there. The first issue you can see immediately: the color is all wrong. Grenadine isn’t brown, and the good stuff, the real grenadine won’t make your El Presidente look like mud. Grenadine also isn’t pale pink, and it shouldn’t turn your Jack Rose grey. Grenadine is a vibrant shade of magenta, a rich syrup that brightens every cocktail it touches with its sweet, slightly tart, beautifully bright, rich, deep and lightly floral flavors.

A lot of grenadines call for an inordinate amount of work for very little payoff. This recipe is going to take you all of five minutes to prepare and – I promise you – will taste better than anything else you can buy in the stores. Because if there are two things you really need to know about me, it’s the following: I’m lazy and I like stuff that tastes good.

Some recipes are going to tell you you need to remove each individual seed from the pomegranate (a long, painful and finger-stainingly messy process) and either simmer them in water over heat or steep them in water overnight to extract the juice. I’ll tell you what, you want to extract the juice from a pomegranate? Do what I do: cut that puppy open like a grapefruit and press it with your juicer. Done and done. And the resulting juice is far more intense and flavorful than anything you’re going to get from those other methods that employ a bunch of water, believe me.

So now that you’ve got a bunch of fresh pomegranate juice – each full fruit should yield approximately one cup of juice – it’s time to turn it into grenadine. Many of the recipes you’ll see out there are going to tell you to boil the juice until it’s reduced by half, under the guise of concentrating the rich, fresh flavor of the pomegranate. I find this to be an unnecessary, time-consuming process that results in an end product that’s about as delicious as boiled orange juice. My solution is to heat the juice just enough to melt sugar, well below the point of boiling. You’ll still retain the fresh flavor of the pomegranate without having to do all the work of a cold-process grenadine, an ordeal that requires ten minutes of shaking until the sugar is dissolved.

You can do this in a small saucepan, but I just throw it in the microwave for a minute or two, because that’s exactly what microwaves are good for.

Heat your juice up and stir in an equal amount of unbleached sugar. I start with two cups of juice and dissolve two cups of sugar into it, stirring until the mixture is clear. Now what you’ve got is a pomegranate syrup, but not quite yet grenadine. The next step will add the depth of flavor you’re looking for, and for this you’re going to need to make a trip to your local Mediterranean or Latin American market for pomegranate molasses and orange blossom water. I add two ounces of the molasses and a teaspoon of the orange blossom water to my warm mix and stir again until everything is dissolved.

The only step left is to add one ounce of vodka – if you like – this is an optional preservative. If you’re not planning on using your grenadine pretty quickly, like over the span of a month, then add it. But if you’re serving it in a bar and plan on going through it pretty quickly, like I do, then you can just skip it.

Grenadine

2 cups fresh pomegranate juice (approximately two large pomegranates) or POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice
2 cups unbleached sugar
2 oz pomegranate molasses
1 tsp orange blossom water

Heat juice slightly, just enough to allow other ingredients to dissolve easily. Stir in remaining ingredients, allow to cool, and bottle.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

How to Make Your Own Grenadine

Wow, I apparently thought it was still late-October or something, because it came as a complete surprise to me today that my favorite drinking holiday in the whole world is next weekend. I guess that between keeping my nose to the grindstone at work and traveling extensively lately, it was bound to happen. Then I found this email in my inbox:

Jeff,

What do you have in store for Repeal Day? It’s only 2 weeks away and you’ve been as quiet as a church mouse!

All the Best,

Kris

Gulp. Well, Kris, I’ll tell you. But first, a short primer for those who might not know what Repeal Day is all about. A few years ago, I wrote a piece on this website urging people to embrace a new celebratory holiday: the day Prohibition was repealed, December Fifth. It was something I’d been celebrating in my bars for years, but just threw up onto my blog for a lark. Well, the Internet went for it in a big way and suddenly people were taking Repeal Day seriously.

And so, to answer Kris’ question, I’m headed back to Washington, D.C. for the nation’s largest, most boisterous, celebration’est Repeal Day party, hosted by the DC Craft Bartenders Guild. Here’s what they themselves have to say about the shindig:

“The DC Craft Bartender’s Guild (DCCBG) is holding the Second Annual Repeal Day Ball on December 5th from 9 P.M. to midnight, celebrating the 76th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Attendees will enjoy craft cocktails from the city and country’s best mixologists and food from renowned chef Peter Smith while dancing along to the Prohibition-era sounds of the Red Hot Rhythm Chiefs. The ball is black tie and will be held at PS7’s restaurant at 777 Eye Street, NW.

This year’s ball location is across from historic Calvary Baptist Church, the first national convention site of the Anti-Saloon League, which launched the legislative agenda for Prohibition. Of course, the DCCBG is pleased to announce our own agenda–to have fun! We will celebrate our freedom in style and have dubbed this year the “Spirit of 76” to commemorate the freedom to drink as adults, featuring our “Founding Drinkers” dressed as the founding fathers.

Come celebrate too with cocktail creations from local favorites Gina Chersevani, Derek Brown and Todd Thrasher, to name a few, along with special guests–bartending legend Dale DeGroff, nationally-renowned bartender Tad Carducci, and toastmaster Jeffrey Morgenthaler. We will also feature top spirit brands and a special rum and cigar lounge.

Tickets are $100 for general admission ($150 for VIP) and can be purchased online at www.dccraftbartendersguild.org. A portion of the final proceeds will go to benefit the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Repeal Day is December Fifth

I’m back from Europe and getting ready for Art of the Cocktail next weekend. No, I’m not talking about the book by Philip Collins. Nor am I talking about this blog by Darcy O’Neil. I’m also not referring to Anthony Caporale’s long-running video series.

No, this Art of the Cocktail is a new cocktail-centric event in Victoria, British Columbia. Distillery ambassadors, representatives and lounges will be offering tastes of their products or creating sophisticated cocktails for sampling. Wander around the Tasting Room sampling the cocktails that appeal to you while catching tips from mixologists (I guess this is where I come in), authors and reps. Take in ongoing demonstrations on the side stage that will run throughout the Tastings. One-dollar-each tasting tickets may be purchased on the website and are only available in advance – no tickets will be available at the door.

I’ll be there teaching you how to make your own cocktail mixers like ginger beer and tonic water in person, so if you’re in the Pacific Northwest please do stop by what promises to be a great event. Oh, and I’d be remiss not to mention the immense involvement in this event by the hardest working bartender in the business, Mr. Shawn Soole. Try to watch this video of my friend Shawn, if you can get past the fake English accent:

See you at the show.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Art of the Cocktail

I’m packing my backs, loading up the camera with virtual film, charging the phone and (possibly) the laptop for New York city tonight after work. I’ll be there witnessing the first Master’s Competition put on by Martin Miller’s Gin, and pitting some of the best bartenders in the United States against some of the United Kingdom’s finest. Aw, hell, I’ll just start copying and pasting the press release, that’s what a real blogger is supposed to do, right?

Unlike other competitions which reward bartenders on their ability to perform for a mere snapshot of their careers, the Martin Miller’s Gin Masters Competition is rewarding the industry stalwarts who have spent a decade or more behind the stick and continue to tend bar or support the industry as an ambassador, trainer, supplier, or just a very good and consistent drinker! As a brand, we believe in timeless quality in everything we do, and so the Martin Miller’s Gin Masters Competition upholds our tradition of eschewing fads and short lived trends.

So let’s see who’s coming…

From the United Kingdom:

Jake Burger – “Johnny Cash meets rugby league” Jake is one of the most respected bartenders in the UK and has held court in Leeds for well over a decade. His bar, Jake’s, has won multiple awards for its incredible cocktails and peerless spirit selection. As well as being a shrewd operator and top bartender, his, is always the warmest welcome. Beware you might not get out alive!

I can personally attest to this…

Ben Reed – Ben opened and tended bar in some of London’s most infamous nightspots including Mezzo and the Met bar before forming IPbartenders with Tai Altman and Angus Winchester. As well as training thousands of bartenders over the past 7 years, Ben also has a range of bestselling cocktail books and starred in the BBC’s ‘Shakermaker’ TV show.

Jason Scott – Jason comes from Edinburgh, Scotland where he is the head Superhero at Bramble Bar & Lounge where he was recently named “Top Mixologist” by the Drambuie Chef’s Association. In addition (we have been told), Jason has spider like abilities including superhuman strength and the ability to cling to most surfaces (including bars). Jason is also extremely agile and has amazing reflexes – we are also told he also has a, “spider sense,” that warns him of impending danger (and bad cocktails).

Sean Muldoon – For 15 years Sean has overseen the bar at Belfast’s beautiful Merchant hotel, home of the $750 original Wray & Nephew 17 y.o Mai Tai. Without doubt, it is one of the slickest and most well run bars in the UK; Sean’s encyclopedic cocktail list is both ambitious and brilliant.

Giles Looker – Giles has been bartending in London for the past 13 years working alongside the likes of Dick Bradsell, Dale DeGroff and Sasha Petraske. Six years ago, Giles established a company alongside Michael Butt by the name of Soul Shakers Ltd. Since that time, Giles has set up numerous award winning bars including, Trailer Happiness, Mahiki, The Player, Lace Market Hotel, Quo Vadis, Whiskey Mist, Kukui , 30/7 (Moscow), Myhotel, Coco club (Switzerland) and Cantaloupe group. In addition, Giles has worked with Virgin Atlantic Airlines in developing the world’s first onboard mixology service, designing service systems and signature cocktails for the airline’s Lounges and Upper class bar service.

And from the United States:

Daniel Shoemaker – Daniel is a 14-year bartending veteran from San Francisco who now owns the Teardrop Lounge in Portland, Oregon. Daniel’s passion for mixology showcases what Teardrop is all about – creating innovative cocktails with local spirits which draws almost as much attention in foodie circles as the city’s top chefs.

Vincenzo Marianella – Vincenzo is often referred to as the “Cocktailian Deity of Los Angeles”. Vincenzo has been named Best Bar Chef in 2006 by Starchefs.com and LA’s Best Bartender in 2006 by Anthony Dias Blue of The Tasting Panel Magazine. Vincenzo is currently behind the stick at Gordon Ramsey’s recently opened London in Los Angeles.

Giuseppe Gonzalez – Giuseppe is currently the head bartender of Clover Club in Brooklyn, the newest venture from Julie Reiner of New York’s Flatiron Lounge. Giuseppe’s approach is simple – he brings awesome drinks, trains awesome bartenders and make sure everyone leaves that bar with an amazing feeling. Giuseppe is a second generation bartender, who has lived in Europe and the Caribbean before coming to New York City. Giuseppe provides a cocktail menu that educates the guest while still making it easy for them to order off menu.

Thad Vogler – Thad has been bartending for almost 20 years and has worked in the spirits industry in Paris, Ireland, Tokyo, Guatemala, Cuba, Belize and of course San Francisco. Thad has helped design, open and then manage the bars at the Slanted Door in the Ferry Building, Coco 500, the Presidio Social Club, and the Lounge at the newly remodeled Jardinière. Quite recently, Thad helped to design the bar at Camino restaurant in Oakland.

Jamie Boudreau – Jamie hails from the beautiful Pacific Northwest and more specifically the Emerald City, Seattle, WA, where he is the lead bartender at Vessel, an upscale Seattle bar. Jamie’s cocktails have been published in publications from the New York Times and Playboy to Difford’s Guide to Cocktails and The Wall Street Journal. In 2007, Jamie was named Seattle Magazine’s Bartender of the Year. Jamie’s big mark on the industry came at the Giffard West Cup, where he was part of the first team of three North Americans to be invited to this 50+ year old event held in France.

Erik Adkins – Erik is bar consultant to Flora restaurant in Oakland and the beverage manager at the Slanted Door restaurant on the pier in San Francisco. Erik’s cocktail technique highlights the use of the freshest herbs and spices from the kitchen at the Slanted Door which has established Erik as a bay area standout behind the bar.

Sam Ross – Recently nominated for global “Bartender of the Year” at the 2008 for Tales of the Cocktail, Sam is now behind the bar at the famed Milk & Honey. Sam’s cocktail journey began when he helped his mother and sister open a cocktail bar in Melbourne, Australia called Ginger in 2001. Ginger was very successful in Australia and was/is considered one of the front-runners for cocktail culture in Australia. Upon arrival in New York City, Sam teamed with Sasha Petraske and was part of the opening bar teams at both Little Branch and East Side Company Bar.

And of course, the judges:

Dave Wondrich – Dave Wondrich is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on cocktails and their history. The New York Times has labeled him “A living iPod of drink lore and recipes”. Dave also helped to found the Beverage Alcohol Resource, America’s first serious training program in spirits and mixology. In 2003, his first book, Esquire Drinks: An Opinionated and Irreverent Guide to Drinking (Hearst Books, 2002), was awarded a Silver Ladle at Australia’s biennial Jacob’s Creek World Food Media Awards. In 2005, Wondrich published his second cocktail book, Killer Cocktails: An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking (HarperCollins), which Glamour named the “Year’s Best Drinks Guide.” His most recent book, Imbibe!, about the life and drinks of “Professor” Jerry Thomas, was published by Perigee books in November 2007, and was an instant success among cocktail aficionados and mixologists across the country.

Gary Regan – Gary Regan writes The Cocktailian, a bi-weekly column, for The San Francisco Chronicle. In the past he has written regular columns in The Malt Advocate, Nation’s Restaurant News, Cheers Magazine, and The Wine Enthusiast, concentrating on cocktails, bartenders, and the cocktailian craft. His work is also published in magazines in the U.K., Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Gray is also the author of many books, including “The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender’s Craft.” Together with his wife Mardee, Gary hosts www.ardentspirits.com, publish a free e-mail newsletter, Ardent Spirits, and maintain a Worldwide Bartender Database that serves to put spirits companies in touch with their most important ambassadors: The men and women who hold forth from behind slabs of mahogany all over the globe.

LeNell Smothers – LeNell Smothers owns LeNell’s Ltd, a wine and spirit boutique in Red Hook that specializes in American whiskey, cocktail education, bitters, and small family wineries from around the globe. Her background includes work in many aspects of the beverage industry such as bartending, managing a restaurant, retail liquor sales, and even wholesale wine sales. LeNell’s Ltd has been recognized by numerous publications including GQ Magazine as one of the “Best 50 Stores in America”, and also by New York Magazine as “Best Liquor Store” in New York City.

Paul Clarke – Paul Clarke is a Seattle-based writer specializing in spirits and cocktails. He is a contributing editor to Imbibe magazine; the spirits and cocktails columnist for the online food journal Serious Eats; and contributes articles on spirits and cocktails to the San Francisco Chronicle. Since May 2005, Paul has documented his exploration of fine spirits and mixology on The Cocktail Chronicles (www.cocktailchronicles.com), one of the first exclusively cocktail-related blogs on the Internet. Over the past three years he has written in-depth essays covering nearly 200 drinks, along with details of his exploration and home-brew of classic and sometimes obscure cocktail ingredients. Clarke is also the founder and moderator of Mixology Monday, a monthly online cocktail party that has attracted scores of participants from around the globe.

Sasha Petraske – In 2000 Sasha Petraske made his mark by opening the now legendary Milk & Honey in Manhattan’s lower east side. He helped to revive the lost art of classic 19th century style mixology. Since then, Sasha has opened Little Branch in the west village, further solidifying his place amongst the cocktail millieu. Milk & Honey and Little Branch are recognized internationally for being on the cutting edge of the cocktail industry. Sasha has been written about in major publications around the world for his contributions to cocktail culture. New York Magazine named him one of the most influential New Yorkers of 2006.

Ann Rogers – Ann is the founder of Tales of the Cocktail, an annual spirits and culinary event celebrating the history of the cocktail in New Orleans. She has planned, implemented and promoted the event since its inception in 2003. Now in its sixth year, Tales of the Cocktail, through Ann’s leadership, has attracted countless culinary and cocktail celebrities as presenters and hosts of the event and several top liquor brands and national magazines as sponsors for Tales of the Cocktail. Tales of the Cocktail is now considered by many to be the premier cocktail event in America.

I’ll try to blog while I’m there, but just in case I don’t get to post until after the trip, be sure to follow every play-by-play of the smackdown on my Twitter feed.

See you in New York!

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Heading to New York

It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I must say goodbye to Germany tomorrow morning, and I wanted to thank everyone I met here for all of the kindness, grace and generosity I encountered while here.

The BCB team put on an incredible bar show, so far the best I’ve attended. I’d like too thank all of the German bartenders who put up with me, my notebook, my camera and all of my stupid questions during the past week. And I’d also like to thank them all for teaching me that the United States has got a long, long way to catch up not only in terms of bar and cocktail quality, but also service and humility.

There’s still a lot of stuff I haven’t had an opportunity to post yet, such as my time with Gonçalo at the Victoria Bar and a wonderful evening with Mario and Jörg at Le Lion, so stay tuned for more Germany updates once I return home.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutsche Freunde!

I grew up in California in the 1970s and 1980s. I never really understood water when I was growing up. Water was in the ocean, but you couldn’t drink it because it was too salty. There was water in the garden hose, but that was for hooking up to a sprinkler and playing in. My mother would take water from the tap, but then mix it with instant lemonade powder, or Kool-Aid or something like that. Water wasn’t really something you drank on its own.

It wasn’t until the bottled water craze hit in the late 1980s that I ever considered drinking water – plain water. Because, when you opened up that kitchen faucet in California, you got a nice cold glass of liquid that you couldn’t see through. Liquid that wasn’t colorless, and very possibly might have had little bits of toilet paper floating in it. It didn’t look like something you’d want to put in your mouth.

One of the first times I visited Europe, I found myself in Zurich, Switzerland – dying for a glass of water after a long climb up a hill to the hostel I was staying in. Against my better Californian judgement I poured a glass from the tap and to my surprise found it more than drinkable – it was quite delicious. I remember coming home and telling everyone that would listen that the most incredible thing I saw while there was that you could actually drink the water in Switzerland from the tap! I’ve since moved to Oregon, where the water is pretty good and we all drink it from the tap with only the mildest of reservations.

I’m really not a fan of cheesy marketing gimmicks and am always a pretty skeptical guy, especially considering I work in the drinks trade. So when I met the people from Martin Miller’s Gin in New Orleans this summer, my cynical side kicked in and I told them I loved the gin but wasn’t buying the whole Icelandic water bit on the back of the bottle. Later they invited me to come to Iceland and drink a glass of water with them.

And I found that Icelandic water really is pretty incredible. Apparently the closest you’ll find to the original recipe of two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen, there is something along the lines of 5 parts per million other stuff in there with the H and the O. I drank it in my coffee in the morning, I filled bottles from the tap and took it on excursions with me during the day, and guzzled it at night with dinner to stay hydrated after all those Martinis. I even sat in it while snowmobiling.

They took me to the site of their spring, where the water flows out of the mountains and into an aquifer, which is then pumped (note the little shed) to the bottling plant in Borgarnes. And then the gin is shipped to the US and the UK, which is where the story of Martin Miller’s gin ends.

It’s simple, really. It’s amazing gin made by a brilliant distiller, cut with really excellent water, and sold by some really good people. Not a bad way to spend a week.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

The Water in Iceland

If you’re going to be taken halfway across the world to learn about the clarity of Icelandic water, you’re probably going to be shown some of the stuff in its natural state. So at 8 this morning, after a night of dinner and a few Brennevins at one of the many bars near the hotel, Superjeeps picked up this slow-moving pack of fools and whisked us off to the Icelandic wilderness.

Our first stop was Thingvellir, a massive rift in the land where the North American and Euroasian plates are slowly tearing Iceland in half.

They somehow convinced this wise-assed crowd to sit down in the visitor’s center and watch an instructional video about the area, but sarcasm seemed to be everyone’s specialty at the moment, so we were taken out of the building and loaded back into the jeeps. Next stop, Langjökull, the second largest glacier in Iceland for some snowmobiling.

Our driver explained to me that we were going to get very cold out on the ice, but being cocky and from the Pacific Northwest, I didn’t really understand what that meant until I was standing on a glacier in the freezing rain, contemplating what we were about to actually do.

Let me just say that there’s nothing quite like that moment when the waterproofing on a ski jumper finally gives under the pressure of pure, icy, Icelandic water that’s been accumulating in one’s lap and every inch of one’s body from the waist down is bathed in pure, icy, Icelandic water. It’s a really incredible sensation that I hope to never experience again soon.

But then we poured ourselves into the warm jeeps and were taken back to a more temperate climate for lunch and a peek at Gullfoss, a breathtaking waterfall.

So what does all this mean for gin? I’ll talk about that in my next post, but I think the whole point of showing us around the island was to demonstrate that Iceland is very natural, very pure, and very cold. And the water that comes from here is of an incredible quality – this is the water that cuts the distillate in Martin Miller’s gin, and it’s an important part of the reason that the gin tastes so damned good.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Iceland, Day Two: You’re Going to Get Very, Very Cold…

The car arrived early this morning to pick us up and take us to Heathrow Airport for Iceland. After an unfortunate hour spent on the runway, we were soon up in the air and enjoying a scrumptious lunch of cold chicken and raspberry yogurt.

Landing in Iceland can be a little rough, considering the main export here is weather. But all bumps and bruises aside, the scenery was immediately pretty breathtaking and we were quickly whisked away from the airport to the Blue Lagoon.

Blue Lagoon is a gigantic outdoor spa, with hot water provided by the output of the local geothermal power plant. The waters are rich in minerals and reportedly quite therapeutic to the skin. And a nice hot soak was a pretty ideal way to rinse off a day’s worth of air travel.

Fairly immediately after arriving at the hotel, it was time for an incredible dinner at Sjávarkjallarinn, or Seafood Cellar. This very well might have been one of the best meals I’ve had in my life. Incredible food and brilliant chat.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

First Day in Iceland

Yesterday was all about a glamourous cocktail competition, an exquisite dinner in a private salon, and an exclusive tour of some of London’s most luxurious bars. Today was about a wretched hangover, six hours spent in a cramped Peugeot with three other people, driving in the pouring rain, miserable traffic, discovering the hard way that I’m allergic to airborne botanicals in a cold Birmingham distillery storage room, being fed cheese and pickle relish sandwiches from a gas station (twice) and being subjected to some very, very bad singing.

It was also my favorite day of the trip and I’d never give back a single second of it.

Our 8 AM distillery tour time was delayed in typical London fashion by several hours due to the various hangovers, traffic issues, communication problems and breakfast woes that seem to often accompany scheduled events in this city. However, things eventually made their way back on track and I found myself in the seat of that cramped little Peugeot with three of the ladies from Martin Miller’s gin on our way to the distillery in Birmingham.

London doesn’t like to see you leave, however, and makes it as hard as possible to get out of the city. So at a snail’s pace we wove our way through the towns and highways west of London. I was pleased to see that there really is a Slough (from The Office) and that it looks about as lovely as I imagined.

Slough might have been the site of the auto plaza where Martin Miller’s treated me to my first meal of the day: a cold sandwich, cut on the diagonal and encased in one of those triangular plastic sandwich containers we have back in the States. However, unlike the gas station sandwiches back home, the English varieties only come in flavors such as egg salad with smoked fish, chicken with boiled potato, bacon with butter, and aged cheese with pickle chutney. Being the brave soul that I am, yet fearing anything containing convenience store meat, I opted for the cheese and pickles.

And let me tell you, oh-my-god, I have a new favorite sandwich. I am not kidding. Cheese and pickle sandwiches from the BP in Slough are really, really good.

Back on the road, and fortified by our bizarre sandwich selections, we braved another hour of English-style directions (“follow the garden wall until you see the pub with the fox on the door, then turn into Butterbank road”), nonsensical roundabouts and near-misses, until we happened upon the distillery, which was set apart from its other Industrial Revolution-era brick neighbors by a small sign in block letters that read “Alcohols”.

This is the home of Alcohols, LTD, and is where Martin Miller’s gin is made,

We were greeted by Peter McKay, and Master Distiller Rob Dorset and given a brief introduction to the company. Alcohols, Ltd. is owned by W.H. Palmer, a family-owned firm that is 203 years old. This particular site has been part of the family since the 1970s, but the buildings themselves are the remains of what used to be a brewery in the 1700s. It was sometime during the Seventies that a still was discovered on site, and the English being the English, they started making gin here.

Over the years, more stills were added and additional contract accounts were added (Peter wouldn’t tell me the names of any other gins that are produced there, such information is held pretty close to the vest). Martin Miller’s Gin has been produced here for nearly ten years.

Each still is given a female name, and each is cared for with a great amount of love and respectful attention. The still that makes Martin Miller’s Gin is named Angela, she’s 105 years old and has a 3,000 liter capacity. Angela’s neck is handcrafted from a single thick sheet of copper, and Rob went on at great length to me about his refusal to use metal polish on any of the stills or brass fittings around the distillery, as he worries it would disrupt the integrity of these special, antique stills.

Each of these old stills has their own particular quirks and needs, and Rob seems to have formed a very personal attachment with each and every one over the course of his 27 years making gin. Rob is a dying breed in England: a master distiller that does everything by hand and nose, never aided by a computer but always by an assistant who will one day become a master craftsman like him. Together they inspect the arrivals of neutral spirits by climbing atop the tanker truck and smelling its insides. They run their hands, eyes and noses through the bags of botanicals that arrive, and weigh them on a big analog scale before they’re loaded to soak in the still over the course of 24 hours before being distilled (Miller’s is not made with the Carterhead process, and they’re very adamant about it).

Everything is so accessible, and analog, and personal here. We were able to reach into the bags, smell and taste the botanicals, taste the neutral spirits made from genetically unmodified wheat, and feel the thickness of the still walls with our hands. It’s a hands-on process, and not a product cranked out by a giant machine. It’s a really beautiful thing to be surrounded by.

As I mentioned before, the site was originally a brewery back in the days of the Industrial Revolution. Breweries were special back then, because they were very location-specific: you had to have access to clean, fresh running water. So as you’d expect, this site is sitting on top of an underground river, one we were allowed to inspect only by first crawling down a very cramped, rickety ladder into something resembling a cold, damp cave with a little creek running through it. This water helps provide steam power to fuel the distillery, but due to its high concentration of metals and minerals isn’t the water they use to cut the gin. No, we’ll have to wait for the second part of that story, which takes place on a glacier in Iceland later this weekend.

At any rate, the day was growing long and we’d taken up more than plenty of Rob’s time with our curious questions and open-mouthed fascination, so London was calling us home. And so, with another three hours of traffic jams and torrential downpours, a second round of cheese and pickle sandwiches and a very strange bag of potato chips that resembled fried calamari, we finally made it home to London and collapsed. A terrible, beautiful, exhausting and energizing day.

I’m on my way to Iceland as I write this, so stay tuned for more in the story of how Martin Miller’s gin is made. And thanks for reading.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

In the Heart of the Black Country…

UK/Iceland

Martin Miller’s Gin has graciously brought me to London and Iceland for a week of gin education, touring, and merriment at some of the finest bars in the world.

While I can’t bring each and every one of you with me, I’ll be sharing everything I learn here with you over the next week. So continue to check back for updates and information as I experience them first-hand.

“You’re in for a real treat tonight.” That came from Liam Davies late in the afternoon as we snuck out back for a nip before the festivities began. In retrospect, I’m not sure if he was referring to the very formal dinner upstairs at Miller’s Academy, expertly prepared by Fifteen alum Harry Cummins, or if it was to be the tour of London’s upper echelon of bars until the wee hours.

Either way, he hit the nail right on the head.

First was an exquisite meal that got off to a proper start with some Westbourne martinis (I hope I’m not ruined for gin after this trip), wine of course, and a salad of roasted beets and the finest ricotta cheese I’ve ever tried. Next up was a Welsh lamb tenderloin and some fantastic conversation with the rest of the Americans, who had only today showed up to join in on the fun.

While the real highlight of the night should have been getting the call that my bag had finally arrived and I’d be allowed to excuse myself pre-dessert to at long last slip into some clean clothes, that historic event was actually overshadowed by what was to come next.

First we enjoyed a delightful London evening stroll through Notting Hill to Trailer Happiness. I’d been wanting to experience the fun, campy vibe and the masterfully-prepared Tiki-inspired cocktails of Trailer H for a long, long time. Bartender Tim Stone didn’t disappoint me with a more-than-perfect rendition of a classic Mai Tai. The only disappointment is that given their posh neighborhood surroundings, Trailer closes at 11 PM.

So we wandered down the road to Jake Burger’s newest venture, the Portobello Star, where we would eventually stumble back upon the UK’s most famous cocktail blogger, Jay Hepburn. Jake was behind the bar, slinging up some classic White Ladies, brilliant blender-less Piña Coladas, and a beautiful classic Daiquiri made with El Dorado 15 year old rum. At this point, things are starting to look up, the crowd is energized, and we’re ready to see what else London can throw at us.

So we high-tailed it to Quo Vadis, SoHo’s latest and most decadent private club. One of my new favorite bartenders, Paul Mant gave us the full tour, whipped up a quick Cava-spiked creation, and demonstrated the coolest little machine I’ve seen in a long time, a non-motorized, non-electrical brass ice-baller that uses gravity to punch out the perfect ice ball in seconds. The crowd stood around and watched, agape.

If you’re going to roll, I highly recommend rolling with the team from Martin Miller’s. One quick phone call later, and we were all set up with a table at Milk and Honey (not always something the average human can do on such short notice, I’ve heard tell) and it was on. Soon Pisco Punches, Old Fashioneds, Brambles and other worldly delights were finding their way to our table as the bartenders took over one side of the booth and argued the delicate intricacies of the craft cocktail movement and the merit of the enthusiasts’ contributions to the bar renaissance.

That’s a lot of heavy drinks and dialogue to digest in one night (I can’t believe I’m leaving for Iceland tomorrow) so it was Bedtime for Bonzo to catch a quick bit of beauty rest before leaving in the morning to take in the distillery, two hours away in Birmingham.

More to come, friends, stay with me!

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Dinner with Martin Miller and a London Bar Crawl!

UK/Iceland

Martin Miller’s Gin has graciously brought me to London and Iceland for a week of gin education, touring, and merriment at some of the finest bars in the world.

While I can’t bring each and every one of you with me, I’ll be sharing everything I learn here with you over the next week. So continue to check back for updates and information as I experience them first-hand.

Sometimes the best laid plans don’t always work out. What we had originally intended was to show up in London and try to – at the very least – make a favorable impression on fifteen of the best bartenders in the UK. By the end of the night, we were hoping not to make fools of ourselves and escape with our reputations intact.

Jon Santer and I came to London with bags packed full of neat tricks. Jon was going to carbonate some Negronis with a homemade apparatus, all gauges and hoses and valves and whatnot. I packed a bottle of homemade lemongrass tonic syrup and a batch of orange bitters I’d been aging in a Madeira cask for four months prior.

But whether it was fate or irony, the airlines didn’t want to cooperate. For obvious reasons, Jon wasn’t going to be allowed to ship a full steel tank of carbon dioxide underneath the plane, and British Airways lost my bags altogether.

So we ended up upstairs in Simon Difford’s kitchen, Jon whipping up a batch of raw ginger syrup for his take on a Gin-Gin Mule, me cooking down albariño for some East of Edens before we headed down to the Cabinet Room to put our already-fatigued skills to the test.

The crowd seemed accepting of our offerings (you’ve got to love the English – even if they didn’t like the drinks, they were damned polite about it) and soon the party was in full swing. I’ll need to come back with a full listing of the London (and yes, Brighton too, Jason) cocktail luminaries in the comments section, but rest assured that we were surrounded by the best in the country.

There were well over two hundred combined years of bartending experience in the room, we figured, as we watched bartender after bartender climb back behind the bar and try to one-up the previous participant.

But here’s the rub, dear reader. Maybe we’re all just a jaded lot. Maybe we’ve all had so many perfectly-balanced margaritas, crystal-clear Manhattans, proper Sidecars and original-recipe Mai Tais that we’re no longer amused with a proper drink. Whatever the reason, I was shocked to discover that the one drink that inspired the most dialogue, the drink that got Ben Reed behind the bar for the first time in years, the drink that was passed around again and again?

The Jägerita. A margarita made with Jägermeister.

Sometimes bartenders just want to have a good time. Cheers.

And thank you for having us, Simon. I had an incredible time and hope we didn’t leave too much of a mess.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

The Cabinet Room

UK/Iceland

Martin Miller’s Gin has graciously brought me to London and Iceland for a week of gin education, touring, and merriment at some of the finest bars in the world.

While I can’t bring each and every one of you with me, I’ll be sharing everything I learn here with you over the next week. So continue to check back for updates and information as I experience them first-hand.

The driver that picked me up at Heathrow almost didn’t find the place. I definitely didn’t see it, but after nit-picking through the library of buildings packed together on Westbourne Grove it suddenly appeared to us, like something out a Harry Potter tale. Ten feet wide and six stories tall, Miller’s Residence is packed to the rafters with a display of antiques amassed by lifelong collector Martin Miller.

On my bed, I found a note:

To the uninitiated, this is an intimate 18th century style boutique hotel nestled in the heart of London that will transport you into the romance of a bygone era. Here you will see for yourself the sumptuous antique furnishings and exquisite decoration that belie my fascination with the past. The hotel is the essence of a welcoming private residence and I am confident that your stay will be a comfortable and interesting one.

My room is on the very top floor, overlooking Notting Hill. I’m surrounded by antique plates, etchings of fox hunts, and layers of rich embroidery and tapestry. There are also framed political cartoons and a picture of Jerry Hall.

Some delight in calling me an eccentric but I rather like to think of myself as more of a traditionalist in most things. The wonderful thing about tradition is that it exists to be subverted and this is what I have done in the creation of my Martin Miller’s Gin.

I can already tell that this is going to be a most interesting trip.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

So That’s Martin Miller…

I don’t know how food writers do it. Talking with Andrew tonight, he told us about their last-minute pairing dinners and the challenges of putting together an article the night before the Washington Post’s due date.

And so here I am, trying to write a simple blog post after six courses, complete with wine pairings and an after-dinner sampling of Blue Gin graciously brought to me by Matt Lanning and Chris Bailey.

(If you don’t know what dinner I’m talking about, hear me gush here.)

Anyway, I’m going to shoot off-the-cuff and put this thing out, grammar and prose be damned. Here’s my play-by-play of the dinner at Marché tonight.

Amuse Bouche

Northwest oyster with cucumber granita

Domaine Meriwether Brut
Thomas Jefferson Prestige Cuvée, Oregon 1998

What a great pairing to start with. This oak-aged sparkling reached into the fattiness of the oyster and carried the sweetness of the cucumber granita down the palate into a long, luxurious finish. A complete dish with a lot of playful acid. Boo-ya.

First Course

Albacore crudo with capers, lemon, arugula and olive oil

Three Wives Pinot Blanc
Yamhill-Carlton District, Oregon 2007

This was a bright white wine with toned-down fruit, a light body and some slight bitterness. The black pepper from the arugula pulled out the hidden fruit, and the salt from the capers removed the bitterness to show a beautiful, light white wine. On the backside the bright acid cut through the fat of the tuna. A+, snap!

Second Course

Handkerchief pasta, pork belly, sweet corn, spot prawns and summer savory

Roxy Ann Winery Viognier
Rogue Valley, Oregon, 2006

Whoa, what up, pineapple? A great wine on its own, but picturing it with food was a tough challenge for me to wrap my brain-belt around… until the food arrived. Here’s a case of food improving wine, as the herbal punch of the summer savory washed away the tropical fruits and exposed those naked, shivering acids hiding just beneath the surface. It was enough to make the crowd feel dirty. In a good way.

Main Course

Duck breast and duck liver with blackberries and wood oven-roasted root vegetables

Territorial Vineyards Pinot Noir
Stone’s Throw, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2004

Hey, sometimes you bat a thousand, and sometimes you don’t. The big ripe blackberries in the wine clashed with the big not-so-ripe blackberries on the plate. Roasted parsnips seasoned with sea salt would have brought out the earthiness of the wine, and the orange oil in the pate should have taken a backseat. Moving right along…

Cheese Course

Rogue Creamery bleu cheese and toasted hazelnuts

Spangler Vineyards Syrah
Southern Oregon, 2006

Okay, we’re back on track at this point. Sitting at the table with the winemaker, Patrick Spangler, and my friend who put together all of the pairings for tonight, Ryan Stotz, is helping me understand the intricacies of the pairing. I wouldn’t have thought about the tannins in the hazelnuts sitting against the delicate tannins in the wine, nor would I have known about the viognier co-fermented with the syrah. What I would have figured out on my own, however, was the sourness of the cheese lighting up the big, juicy fruits in the wine.

Dessert

Peach napoleon with frozen caramel mousse

Apolloni Viognier
Dolce Vino, Columbia Valley, 2007

I don’t care for matchy-matchy pairings (raspberries with raspberries, etc) but the peach in the napoleon was mellow enough to bring out the stone fruits in the wine. Add in some caramel and acid and the whole mix is crazy delicious. Note to self: Use these ideas for a late-summer cocktail.

That’s my report, and I’m sticking to it. You’ve got my new-found respect, food and wine writers.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Pairing Dinner with Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

This subject has been covered many times before, but after numerous requests and some positive encouragement from a good friend this weekend I have decided to post my version of homemade tonic water.

The base for this recipe came from my friend Kevin Ludwig, who pioneered craft tonic water in Portland. His recipe can be found on page 76 of the March/April 2007 issue of Imbibe Magazine. This version is all mine.

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.

4 cups water
1 cup chopped lemongrass (roughly one large stalk)
¼ cup powdered cinchona bark
zest and juice of 1 orange
zest and juice of 1 lemon
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp whole allspice berries
¼ cup citric acid
¼ tsp Kosher salt

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and strain out solids using a strainer or chinois. You’ll need to fine-strain the mixture, as it still contains quite a bit of the cinchona bark. You can use a coffee filter and wait for an hour or more, or do as I do and run the whole mixture through a French coffee press.

Once you’re satisfied with the clarity of your mix, heat it back up on the stovetop or microwave, and then add ¾ cup of agave syrup to each cup of your hot mix. Stir until combined, and store in the attractive bottle of your choice.

You now have a syrup that you can carbonate with seltzer water; I use my iSi soda siphon for some nicely-textured bubbles. To assemble a gin and tonic, use ¾ ounce of syrup, 1½ ounces of gin and 2 ounces of soda water over ice.

Once you’ve mastered your own tonic recipe, you can begin to experiment with different spices and fruit flavors to pair with specific gins. For instance, I’ve found that beefing up the orange peel results in a tonic that pairs nicely with Hendrick’s, but try playing off the coriander or cardamom in other gins and see what happens.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

How to Make Your Own Tonic Water

The mint julep is another of those drinks shrouded in mystery, so in an effort to clear up some of the confusion (and possibly contribute to it) I’m going to offer up some of my ideas about what makes a spectacular drink, based on my knowledge and my palate. Feel free to take or leave the following advice as you will.

Okay. Some people are going to tell you to infuse either simple syrup or bourbon with mint. Most arguments are for ease-of-use, and that’s certainly going to be the case when you’re making 500 of them. But if you’re making a mint julep at home or for a single customer, there’s really nothing easier than measuring out a little simple syrup and quickly pressing a few sprigs of fresh mint. It’s fast, it’s the freshest method possible, and next weekend you’ll be able to make yourself a whiskey sour that doesn’t taste like old mint.

You’ll hear that the perfect mint julep is straight bourbon on the rocks, garnished with a sprig of mint. You’ll also hear that the perfect martini is merely cold gin garnished with olives. Let’s discard both of these ideas, as neither is a proper cocktail but rather cold alcohol with garnish.

What we’re looking for in a mint julep, as in any cocktail, is the perfect balance of several flavors. In an ideal mint julep, the alcoholic punch and rich caramel notes of bourbon should be set against the delicate bitterness and spicy herbal aromas of fresh mint. There’s your base. To carry these flavors further down the palate (and open up a few undiscovered notes), we’re going to add a touch of sugar. And to present this in a palatable fashion, we’re going to cool the whole mixture with crushed ice. The crushed ice is going to bring more water to the fire than cubes will, and you’ll cool some of that heat from the bourbon and the mint.

To help strengthen my point of view, I offer three very different videos. First, this one from the Small Screen Network illustrates how to put together a mint julep with Robert Hess’ usual technical precision.

Second, Chris McMillian waxes poetic about this great American gift to the world of cocktails and builds the drink with the elegance and sophistication that are his hallmarks:

Finally, for those of you who haven’t participated in this thread, here’s a brilliant rendition of everything you shouldn’t do when making a mint julep (save for adding the Woodford Reserve):

Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny, too.

Anyway, to wrap things up, a friend was asking where she could find some mint julep cups. I looked around and found this real pewter cup that looks great for $45, or this KegWorks guy that look like it’ll get the job done for $18.

Happy Derby Day, everyone.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Mint Julep Roundup: Kentucky Derby Edition

Remember when guest star Jared from Subway was on the show? It seems so long ago, doesn’t it? Read it again, for the first time.

If you haven’t already, be sure to glance through my Top Ten Favorite Drinks Of All Time and post your ten favorite drinks in the comments. Interactive re-hashed crap!

Then there was the farewell-to-the-spinoff episode when D.C. Drinks went off the air. Didn’t you cry? I totally did.

I may have not gotten to travel to Tales of the Cocktail last month, but I’ll bet you a million bucks that I got to see more gratuitous sex during sweeps week than my colleagues did.

Last season was rife with special guest stars! Sure, we didn’t have a lot of A-list stars on set, but Ralph Macchio was here, at least in spirit, right?

Then things got dirty that one time. Ew.

Also, if you didn’t know it, Oregon rocks.

Then, that national monument closed and nobody stood up and took notice. Thanks, Superbowl.

And finally, do you remember that time Jeff gave that high school senior some really awful career advice? Wasn’t that hysterical?

Ahhh, that was the best five minutes ever. So, drink bloggers, where are your almost-the-end-of-summer recaps?

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Summer’s Here, Can You Smell The Reruns?

From time to time, I’ll pop in to Paul Clarke’s liquor cabinet to see what I should have to drink. The only problem is, he lives several hundred miles away and I can’t actually have any of the goodies located therein. However, I can post a list of what’s in my liquor cabinet so that you, too, can peek into my inner sanctum. Unlike Paul’s esoteric list, this is pretty much straightforward, but there are a couple of winners to be discovered…

Gin

Junipero
Sarticious
Hendrick’s
Old Raj

Tequila/Mezcal

Sauza Gold
El Señorio Reposado
Clase Azul
Zapata Blanco
Zircon Azul Resposado

Whisk(e)y

Bush Pilot’s Private Reserve
A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 Years Old
Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve, 20 Years Old
Seagram’s 7

Vodka

Trump Vodka
Van Gogh Blueberry-Açai
Belvedere Pomarancza

Liqueurs

Get27 Creme de Menthe
John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
Bols Dark Creme de Cacao
Herbsainte
G. Miclo Creme de Mirabelle
Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Amari, Bitters and Vermouth

Averna
Carpano Punt e Mes
Fee Brothers’ Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6
Fee Brothers’ Orange Bitters
Fee Brothers’ Mint Bitters
My Housemade Grapefruit Bitters
Angostura Bitters

Mixers

Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Mix
Patrick Henry’s Revolutionary Bloody Mary Mix
Dirty Sue Dirty Martini Mix

So, what’s in your liquor cabinet?

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

What’s In My Liquor Cabinet?

End of story, right? Wrong.

Okay, so do you remember that time you broke your ankle right before the big pool party in high school and you had to stay home, and the phone was ringing off the hook all night with people being all like, “Where are you, we’re having so much fun here drinking and partying without you!” and you were all, like, “Thanks for calling.” Well, it was like that.

Rick at Kaiser Penguin is like my high school friend Rick who made the flyers for the party because he could draw better than anyone else in school. But internet Rick made his own road-trip penguin graphic and wrote a series of posts from the party to remind me how much it sucked to have to stay home. Thanks for that, Rick.

Then my so-called best girl friend Natalie was having all this fun meeting and hanging out with everyone and writing all about it, which is like high school Natalie drunk-dialing me from the kitchen going, “Woooooooooo!!!!!” and waking up my parents every time the phone rang.

And then there’s Jamie Boudreau, who showed me how to do that cool thing where he taped a bunch of fireworks together and we almost blew up a whole dumpster together that time when we were seven and I thought we were still friends in high school but he bailed on me to hang out with the cooler kids. He was at the party, too, and this time he made a dry-ice bomb and put it in the pool.

Then Lauren, the yearbook editor, was all like, “Everyone get together for a photo!” and then sat in the corner with her notebook and wrote down everything that happened that night so that I could at least get everyone to sign the picture with the caption, “You should have been there, Dude!”

And although I made it through three years of high school without any idea we had a high school newspaper, that didn’t stop the babes from the El Imbibo press from running amok and taking pictures and writing articles and interviewing everyone but me because I was propped up on my dad’s La-Z-Boy all night, elbow-deep in Cool Ranch Doritos and watching TV.

But remember how that same weekend your best friend Jimmy Patrick who lived next door had the chicken pox and couldn’t go either? And remember how you totally forgot about him because you were so selfish and only thinking about how much you wished you could go to that party? And didn’t you feel like a dick when he called and was all, like:

From: Jimmy Patrick
Subject: These guys are killing me!

Yeah, it’s really great and fun here. all the cool kids are here drinking and making drinks and talking about drinking and talking about making drinks blah blah blah. boring…..

I wish we were there.

But I couldn’t hang out with him because his parents wouldn’t let me come over so we talked on the phone all night about what was on TV.

But then I had to hang up on poor Jimmy because Stephen Beaumont, the guy who made me laugh so hard that time at recess that I peed my pants a little but then he made fun of me on the bus all the way home when it was his fault I peed my pants in the first place, he called and was screaming in the phone reminding me how lame I was for being a puss and not coming to the party.

And Camper English, who nobody ever made fun of for having a weird name because his parents were cool hippies who let him stay up late and watch R-rated movies and he always threw a big rager every spring break that everyone was invited to because he was cool enough to hang out with the jocks and the dorks at the same time, he was right there in the middle of everything being awesome as usual.

What really sucked, though, was that my older brother Paul went to the party even though he graduated the year before and everyone was all like, “Yeah, Paul’s here!” because he made a giant piñata full of airplane bottles of Jäger for everyone at the party they and forgot that we were even brothers because he was the center of attention, telling all these great stories the whole time.

But it was nice to hear how everyone took Darcy, the exchange student from Canada who was staying with us, under their wing and showed him around and introduced him to the cool kids even though his English wasn’t that good. But he came home and told me all about it and even took some really fun pictures.

So thanks for nothing, Other Drink Bloggers. All I did was sit around and watch a Love Boat reunion show and drink a whole thing of Mountain Dew by myself. But I promise you, next year I’m not going to ride my skateboard for a whole week before the party so that I can join you in the fun.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Those Other Drink Bloggers Get to Have All the Fun

10. Water.
When I’m not treating myself to a cocktail, I’m drinking water. It is the single-most important ingredient in every single one of the following beverages, and its absence or misuse can make or break an otherwise fine cocktail.

9. The Martini.
I’ve had more than my share, and it’s damn-near impossible to get a good one unless you make it yourself, but the Martini will forever remain close to my heart.

I take mine with half Vya dry vermouth, half Boodles gin, stirred until Arctic cold and garnished with a large, thick lemon twist. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

8. The Negroni. Bitter is my bag, baby, and the Negroni’s got it in spades. Gin? Check. Campari? Check. Sweet Vermouth and a nice orange peel garnish? Cha-ching.

As an aside, I think the Negroni is the one clear drink that can stand up to a shake, rather than a stir. Just let the drink settle in the shaker before you pour it.

7. Egg Nog. When I was a kid, I would beg my mother to get the big container of egg nog, and for some reason she’d aquiesce (I think she likes it as much as I do). But then when we got home, she’d spend the next three days trying to keep me out of it.

Although I can’t stomach the grocery store variety any longer, when I put together this light, fresh, mildly-boozy version, I was hooked all over again.

6. The Richmond Gimlet. I can’t have a list of my favorite drinks without including my most famous creation, can I? The truth is, after all these years together, I still love sharing a warm summer evening with my baby, the Richmond Gimlet.

5. Gin and Tonic. What other drink says “Hey, it’s June!”to you more than a crisp, cool, refreshing G&T? Just keep the sweet stuff away from me. I’ll take mine with Q, Stirrings, Fever Tree, or better yet, my housemade cinnamon-cardamom quinine syrup and soda.

4. The Manhattan.
A college roommate of mine taught me about these, well before I ever even set foot behind a real bar. We’d always start the night off with a couple of these, only to regret the last one the next day.

Tough, grizzled, and surly as hell after the third round, she still always managed to remain a lady. Just like her drink.

3. The Sidecar. It’s a little sweet, it’s a little tart, and it’s real strong. It’s the grandfather of half the drinks you consume, from the Margarita to a Cosmopolitan.

And it’s got a lot of brandy in it, which always spells Goodnight Nurse for yours truly.

2. Beer and a Shot. I don’t drink that much during the week, but I usually belly up to the bar after working a busy weekend night. And while I’m certainly in need of a stiff drink to calm my nerves, I also need a cool quaff after running around a sweaty mess all night.

And when I say sweaty mess, I’m referring to the other bartender.

Enter the beer and a shot. Half of it is cool, light, and refreshing, and the other half smells like Jim Beam. Kinda like your parents.

1. Champagne.
Champagne is the perfect alcoholic beverage. It has built-in bubbles, so it doesn’t require any special equipment. It’s nice and dry, so you can be sure to avoid the extra-strength headache you’re going to get from sweet drinks. And the buzz you’ll get from Champagne is light and refreshing.

But here’s the thing I love the most about bubbly: It’s socially acceptable to consume at any time of day. Really, here’s proof: Have you ever thought twice when you were offered a Mimosa at seven in the morning? How about a Wild Turkey and Coke?

See what I mean about social acceptance?

I’d like to hear what your favorites are, so post them on your site or leave them in the comments below!

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

My Top Ten Favorite Drinks

But then you’d go, “Five?”, and I’d be all, “Yeah, five!”

And then you’d be all, “Like, where else?”

And then I’d be all, “Japan, dude!”

And you’d be all, “No way!”

And I’d be all, “Fully!”

And then for proof I would show you Chris Bunting’s blog Nonjatta, which means “I drank it all”. Like, literally. Nonjatta is all about Japanese whiskey, which is really helpful when you live in BFE and can’t get any where you live, because then you can learn all about it and sound smart anyway.

Check out Nonjatta here.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Nonjatta

Camper English is a cocktails and spirits writer for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, Imbibe Magazine, Out Magazine, Wine & Spirits Magazine, and Stuff Magazine. This blog is a celebration of drinks, drinking venues, drink making, drinking, and drunks, including home bartending experiments, visiting venues in San Francisco, and sharing universal booze news.

The writing is as informed as it is hysterical. You can see his full website here, and be sure to check out the Hate Blog:

People who say, “I love your Hate Blog, Camper!” Get a life, InterNerd.

Oh, so busted.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

If You Don’t Have Enough to Do, You Can Always Read This

The thing about bartenders is that we’re all attention whores and egomaniacs and couldn’t care less about much else than ourselves. Sure, some of us will tell you that the craft of the cocktail is the most rewarding thing about being a bartender. Others will tell you that putting on a show and giving people an exciting experience is the best part about working behind a bar.

This is a steaming load of horse shit. The real reason we do what we do is because there’s nothing quite like having someone, four gin-and-tonics deep, sitting at your bar and telling you that you do your job better than anyone else in the whole world.

I mention all of this because I’ve received a lot of love this week by being featured in two – count ‘em, two! – interviews. The first was printed by my hometown paper, and the most recent was conducted by the lovely Natalie over at The Liquid Muse.

TLM: Describe your fantasy life…
JM: I’m the Professor from Gilligan’s Island… Oh wait, what?

Natalie was very kind in her write-up of me, and she’s got a really fantastic website, so check us both out!

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

The Real Reason Why I Tend Bar

I’ve spent weeks testing and refining these drinks, and I think it’s my best menu yet. Stop in sometime and try one out, or make one at home. I promise I’ll have every one of these recipes up here soon.

Click here for a downloadable PDF of the menu.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

New Cocktail Menu at El Vaquero

We were at our local dive bar, playing some video golf and having a beer. The bartender, who had obviously been behind the stick for a whole six months, offered us a sample pair of the new shot he had been tirelessly working on all night,

“It’s called a Starburst, because it tastes just like a pink Starburst”

We glanced cautiously at one another and gulped down our pale pink shots. Sure enough, they tasted like pink Starburst candies. At least, I think they did. I haven’t been in a 7-Eleven in a long time, but I’m pretty certain it’s still as brightly-lit and full of miscreants, fake cheese and junk food as it was the last time I was there.

We thanked the barkeep, tipped appropriately, and continued our eighteen holes at Pebble Beach while we discussed the awkward taste in our mouths.

Why is it that cocktails these days have to relate back to junk food? Are we not smart enough to talk about flavors any more, or do drinks just not stand on their own merit any longer? Why, in order to impress a customer or be impressed as a customer, do cocktails have to “taste just like a…”?

Are there people in the world that interact with food like this? “You should try this beef roulade, it taste just like a Big Mac without the bun”

Can you imagine the uproar? Why is this not outrageous when applied to drinks? I gave a sample of Parfait Amour to someone tonight, and she spent a half hour trying to figure out what candy it reminded her of. This is a gorgeous liqueur made from Seville oranges, and she was trying to conjure up the taste of Necco wafers in her mind!

I don’t know. I’d be interested in hearing what you all think.

Post from: Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Follow me on Twitter.

Tastes Just Like A…