Jeffrey Morgenthaler

We’re fortunate to have some great minds in absinthe here in the Pacific Northwest, and on Sunday a few of them came together to share their extensive knowledge with the attendees of the Great American Distiller’s Festival in a panel titled “Q&A on Northwest Absinthe”

The panel featured Gwydion Stone, founder of the educational organization The Wormwood Society and creator of the soon-to-be released Marteau absinthe, Marc Bernhard, creator of the soon-to-be released Pacifique absinthe, and Rich Phillips from Integrity Spirits, producers of the first Oregon absinthe, Trillium.

I’ve done a fair amount of reading about absinthe and tried to learn as much as possible on my own, but the panel was still informative and provided me with some great facts to fill in for the gaps in my knowledge. I’ll recap here:

Absinthe was banned in 1912 by Food Inspection Decision 147 of the USDA. It forbade the manufacture, sale or transportation of absinthe. Several events contributed to our rediscovery of absinthe:

• An understanding of the term “thujone-free”, which relies on a test that comes with a 10 ppm (parts per million) margin of error.
• The discovery that real, legitimate, pre-ban French and Swiss absinthes often contained less than 10 ppm.
• A greater amount of interest in classic cocktails and lost ingredients, which was certainly fostered by communication between enthusiasts on the internet.

I wasn’t aware that sagebrush is a member of the same plant family as wormwood (artemesia), and that culinary sage actually contains more thujone than wormwood.

I didn’t really know where the green color present in verte absinthes came from, and now I do: after the final distillation, hyssop, lemonbalm and Roman wormwood are macerated in the absinthe to provide additional flavor and a pale green color. There was no mention of what might produce a neon blue color.

This one I knew, but I’d like to reiterate it here: The ritual of lighting a sugar cube on fire and dropping it into absinthe is inauthentic, a recent invention, and a potentially dangerous ceremony centered around the consumption of illegitimate absinthes of inferior quality. As Marc so eloquently put it, “Friends don’t let friends burn absinthe.“

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The Great American Distiller’s Festival was this past weekend, and I was there on Sunday to witness some of the action with my crusty sidekick, Scott.

The first event was a seminar titled “The History of the Cocktail“, led by Robert Hess. Robert jumped right in there with a crash course on spirits, theories about the origins of mixed drinks in general, and some basic drink etymology. The team from the Teardrop Lounge mixed Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktails while Robert demonstrated the simplicity involved in creating this, the original cocktail and a surprisingly complex little number considering its spartan ingredient list.

Robert then jumped into a brief history of aromatized wines such as vermouth, and their popularity in cocktails in the late nineteenth century. The team whipped up a batch of very large Sazerac Manhattans while the crowd braced themselves for a 1PM rye whoopin‘.

And in a perfectly logical move, Robert demonstrated how the Martini grew out of the Manhattan and proved it by passing around his interpretation of the original Martini, made with Dry Fly gin, Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, and Angostura orange bitters. The crowd swooned as they took another brunch-sized blast of 80 proof liquor.

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Things are really starting to ramp up for the 75th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition on December 5th! Today I received a package from the folks at Old Forester bourbon, who are showing their support of my favorite day by releasing a limited edition Repeal Day bottling of their whiskey.

From the press release:

“Repeal Bourbon is bottled from a special selection of Old Forester barrels that exhibited a more robust character that is similar to the Old Forester that was bottled during Prohibition,” added Chris Morris, Master Distiller for Old Forester. “The flavor, presented at Prohibition’s required 100 proof, is a full, deep, charred oak character that will appeal to bourbon-lovers everywhere.”

Old Forester has long been one of my go-to bourbons, as it explores the savory side of whiskey without an overload of sweetness. I love using it in a Manhattan as it sets off the orange and caramel of a good sweet vermouth while providing a solid, spicy backbone.

Check out more information about the bottling (due sometime in late November or early December) here, and as always, visit the home of Repeal Day here.

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Last year, I had the tremendous fortune to stumble upon the Great American Distiller’s Festival in Portland and meet up with some really excellent Portland-area bartenders. That afternoon in August, coming together with so many talented individuals that I hardly knew existed prior to that day, laid the foundation for the Oregon Bartenders Guild.

Click here to continue reading »

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For those of you not in-the-know, I’ll be heading to Berlin at the end of September to give a presentation at the BCB (Berlin Bar Conference). It’s an annual event put on by Mixology Magazine, which I’ve been contributing to for several months now.

Anyway, I’ll be delivering my presentation on the topic of “The Web’s Influence on the Global Bar Scene” on Tuesday, September 30th at 1:30 PM alongside the fabulous Helmut Adam.

Mixology.eu has been posting brief presenter bios on their blog all week, and today I’ve been given the spotlight. So if you’d like to know more about what we’ll be discussing, head on over to the site and be sure to see the list of other presenters (I’m in some quite amazing company)

And if you’re anywhere near Berlin at the end of September, be sure to come to the BCB!

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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.

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I see a fair amount of liquor in my average day. I work in a bar and am surrounded by 200+ bottles of the stuff for ten hours a day. Liquor reps drop by the bar and leave me samples of new products on a regular basis. I get press releases, forwarded emails, RSS feeds, swag, and sometimes full-bottle liquor samples in the mail. And it seems to me that everyone wants to talk about the versatility of their product.

“Try this new absinthe! It’s $80 a bottle and doesn’t taste like anything. It’s very versatile, great in cocktails.”

“This vodka is different than all the others. It retails for $49.95, it’s distilled eight times from fresh organic kiwifruit. It’s very versatile.”

“The latest berry liqueur! It’s made from six types of berry and was developed by three out-of-work cocaine addicts. And it’s only $14.99 a bottle! It’s super versatile!”

Let me tell you something about a truly versatile liquor, the kind you reach for every day. The real beauty doesn’t come from the fact that it’s cheap. It isn’t brilliant because it mixes well with every kind of fruit juice you can throw at it. Versatility doesn’t happen when a liquor doesn’t taste like anything.

The greatest, most versatile products out there find themselves in my hands more often than not because they’re simply perfect and are priced with a tag we all can afford.

When I received this bottle of Matusalem Gran Reserva, I was naturally skeptical. But after blowing through an entire fifth of the stuff over the course of the past week, I can honestly recommend it - not just because it tastes great, and not because the price point is exactly where it should be, but because it is truly a versatile rum.

I poured it straight, I poured it on the rocks with a dash of orange bitters. I made mai tais, I made daiquiris, I mixed it with cane-sugar Coca-Cola from Mexico and fresh key limes. It was sensational in a Beauty Beneath, and it shined in a rum old-fashioned. It took everything I threw at it and asked for more. It’s got butter and vanilla up front, an understated mid-palate without a lot of heaviness, and a nice, quiet finish that begs for another sip.

I’m lucky: I get to buy bottles every week with someone else’s money. But I have this thing, this horrible, horrible thing that kicks in when I feel like I’m ripping someone off. And it won’t let me sell you a $10 shot that’s only worth $3, I just can’t do it. So finding new products in this sea of PR is kind of a nightmare for me.

And that’s why this rum is so versatile: it’s 35 bucks! You can buy it, you can use it, and you can pick up another bottle when you’re done. You don’t have to horde it, you don’t have to keep in hidden in the back of the liquor cabinet. It’s a truly versatile rum because you can actually use it.

And that’s my review. Thanks for reading.

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I spent the week leading up to Tales of the Cocktail revisiting the Vieux Carré cocktail, which was created at the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone by bartender Walter Bergeron in 1938. I tried several of the recipe variations out there on unsuspecting customers all week long, perfecting the Vieux Carré before getting on the plane and heading to the Carousel Bar to have one for myself.

Okay, so the Vieux Carrés I found at the hotel weren’t that great. But the novelty of being able to walk into a bar and ask for this venerable old drink was enough to keep me satisfied.

One of the first things people asked me upon my return to work was, “How were the Vieux Carrés at the hotel?”

“Okay,” I’d reply, “but I think ours are better.”

My over-confidence came around and bit me on the backside when I realized that I hadn’t ordered enough Benedictine to make more than a handful of drinks that first night back. Fortunately I’m a resourceful lad from time to time, and I reached for the bottle of Strega to stand in for Benedictine. Switching out apple brandy for the cognac and some housemade cinnamon tincture in place of the bitters, I’d inadvertently built a drink for our coming fall drink menu…

I’m going to start breaking these Mixology Monday posts into two parts, the second half containing the bit about the actual drink (let’s see how that works). Continue reading below, or click here for the recipe.

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