Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Last month, I followed seven other bartenders into the Teardrop Lounge on a cold December afternoon in Portland, Oregon. The eight of us had previously spent a lot of time talking online about our common interest in craft bartending, advanced techniques, housemade ingredients and specialty spirits, but this was going to be a different sort of conversation.

We sat around a table and worked out the details of a unique concept in this country: a standalone bartender’s guild, the Oregon Bartenders Guild. Our mission is focused and simple:

1. To establish a collaborative community of bartenders within the state of Oregon.
2. Increase the overall knowledge of beer, wine, spirits and cocktail production for the betterment of their craft.
3. To promote awareness of the craft within the public community, through both a developed relationship with the media and an educational platform to the general populace.
4. To secure a congenial relationship with the OLCC, its agents and liquor companies to advance the procurement of more specialized and artisanal spirits in their portfolios.
5. To promote a wider, i.e., national and international recognition of Oregon’s premier mixology.

The other item on our agenda was the organization of our first event: Gin Class. And so on Sunday, January 27th, against all odds (such as a group of bartenders being able to organize anything whatsoever), we presented our first in what will become a regular series of events.

We started with a blind tasting of the four gins we were going to be working with while Lance Mayhew introduced everyone to the concept of the gin tasting.

First, Lee Medoff of House Spirits Distillery introduced the crowd to Oregon’s own beautiful Aviation Gin, and provided some valuable information about the process they take to produce the product. Then the Guild presented Kevin Ludwig, who talked about the history of gin and the use of gin in cocktails, while Kelley Swenson mixed up a batch of early-recipe Martinis with Plymouth gin, Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth, Regan’s Orange Bitters and Luxardo maraschino liqueur. Everyone sipped while Bend Distillery talked about the very unique process that defines their gins.

Next up was newcomer Twelve Bridges gin, presenting a unique Oregon product in that they infuse cucumber into the vapor stream during distillation (not unlike Hendricks gin out of Scotland). The gin smacks you across with face with a strong cucumber/melon nose, with a big, creamy mouthfeel to match. Dave Shenaut cranked out a big batch of Paul Harrington’s Jasmine cocktail while the crowd socialized.

To bring it all home, we brought out heavy-hitter Kevin Ludwig to present an original gin creation, the OBG #1, featuring Aviation gin, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, and Kevin’s own green walnut nocino, which was rich and oily, with heavy cardamom and cumin notes.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out and attended our inaugural event. You can visit the Oregon Bartender’s Guild website here, or pop in at our new forum here.

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Well, here we are at Mixology Monday time again. Our host for this round is Marleigh over at Sloshed! and in my mind she’s picked a real winner of a theme: brandy.

I love brandy. I love to consume it, I love to sell it, and I love to mix with it. A few months ago, someone suggested I come up with a great Oregon cocktail, and as I scanned the backbar at work my eyes landed on one of my most beloved Oregon spirits, Clear Creek Apple Brandy.

If you come to Oregon for the first time, you’ll likely land in Portland. And while spending some time exploring that great city of ours should be one of the first things on your list, please take a day to explore an area nearby that is often overlooked, even by Oregonians.

From Portland, take Highway 84 east for about an hour and a half, following the breathtaking Columbia River valley to the town of Hood River. After lunch, take some time to explore the valley south of town. It’s a luscious region that lies in the shadow of Mount Hood, full of apple and pear orchards, and little family farms selling fresh berries on the side of the road. You can still buy a Coke in a glass bottle at the general store here, and spend hours exploring as you sip. It’s an incredible little place to lose yourself in during those perfect Oregon summer days.

This wonderful setting is where Clear Creek grows the apples used in their apple brandy. This drink is my humble tribute to that place.

The Cascade Crush

2 oz Clear Creek apple brandy
1 oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
1 tsp Marionberry jam

Shake ingredients over cracked ice until combined. Strain over ice in a double-rocks glass. Garnish with fresh Marionberries when in season, or with lemon peel during the cold, rainy months when you long to return to that little valley on a warm summer afternoon.

I love this drink. Thank you for reading.

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A couple of months ago, my friend Kevin from The Scotch Blog sent me a bottle of Pig’s Nose scotch in the mail.

As an aside, I highly recommend making friends with people who do things like, say, run the world’s biggest blog on scotch whiskey. Really.

Anyway, Pig’s Nose is a fun, easy-to-drink, everyday whiskey with some relaxed caramel notes, a little orange thrown in there, and - oddly enough - figs and raisins. Oranges, figs, and raisins? That sure does remind me of one of my favorite dessert wines, Pedro Ximenez… Sounds like it’s time for a cocktail!

2 oz scotch
¾ oz Pedro Ximenez
1 dash orange bitters
1 large strip orange zest

On the inside of a double rocks glass, rub the outside of the orange zest until the oils have coated the interior of the glass. Fill glass with ice.

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add scotch, Pedro Ximenez and orange bitters. Stir until well chilled. Strain contents into ice-filled glass, garnish with orange zest, and serve.

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It’s official! Starting on Monday, January 7th, my co-bartender Scott Butler and I will be officially heading up the bar at Bel Ami, located in the Midtown Marketplace at 1591 Willamette Street here in Eugene, right across the street from the bar where I learned to mix cocktails all those years ago.

This is a great way to start off the new year, and we’re excited to be working with everyone at Bel Ami. In the 3-or-so years they’ve been open, they’ve done a tremendous business and built up a loyal clientele. Now they’ve graciously allowed Scott and me to step in and run their bar and infuse it with our own sort of, uh, charm. We’ll be continuing our education and exploration of classic cocktails, modern flavors and timeless techniques.

Owned by local track hero and businessman Roscoe Devine, Midtown (and Bel Ami) is already at the top of the list in Eugene for their perfect coffee, an incredible selection of wines, the finest food, attentive service, and elegant atmosphere. Here’s to hoping that we can help make the bar an even more enjoyable place than it already is.

The bar at Bel Ami is open at 4:30, Monday-Saturday. Scott and I hope to see you there!

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One of my favorite things about the holidays is getting to spend a lot of time in airports. Since I’m usually stuck safely behind a bar five nights a week, it’s nice for me to get right in there with a swarming throng of people and be corralled through a series of lines for an hour or more.

So, to rinse off whatever anxieties I’ve accumulated during a day’s travel, I like to unwind by doing a little bar research once I arrive at my destination. Being in Los Angeles to visit my sister, and knowing where I’d go if I were Chuck Taggart, I headed downtown to sit at Southern California’s shrine to whiskey: Seven Grand.

When I’m visiting a bar of this caliber, I usually like to start with one of the classics, just to get a feel for the place. So my first cocktail was an expertly-prepared Sazerac, with Rittenhouse rye and Pernod. While I’ve got to say that I usually prefer Herbsainte to the syrupy-sweet Pernod, it became less of an issue with the punch of the 100-proof whiskey. In place of the traditional lemon peel, they used orange peel. Nice touch, dudes.

Next I decided to take a chance and venture onto the house specialty portion of the menu, something I almost never do unless I’m in a reputable establishment such as this (really, you have no idea what sort of abominations have been placed in front of me under the guise of ‘mixology’). So I ordered up an Elder Fitzgerald, which I’m guessing went something like this:

2 oz Old Fitzgerald 12 year-old bourbon
1 oz lemon juice
¾ oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
½ oz simple syrup
1 egg white

…but I could be wrong. Old Fitzgerald is light and spicy, and a perfect compliment to the elderflower liqueur. The lemon adds the right amount to tartness, and the egg white builds a nice, creamy mouthfeel and a foamy head on the drink.

All good things must come to an end, and after four ounces of whiskey in me and very little sleep on the plane, it was about bedtime for Bonzo. Seven Grand is a little oasis in a desert of low-carb vodka/sodas and Red Bull drinks. I’ll be back, and next time I’m taking you with me, Taggart.

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Yes, these are the words that I hear ringing in my ears as I find myself reading the news that Forbes Traveler has sympathetically chosen to include me in its very illustrious list of Cocktail Movers and Shakers this year.

Another drink-slinger who’s putting the Pacific Northwest on the cocktail map is Jeffrey Mortgenthaler[sic], bartender at El Vaquero in Eugene, Oregon. “There are amazing drinks being made in this region right now and people don’t really know about it.” He’s doing his best to change that. Of late, his favorite drink is an Old Fashioned using house-made orange bitters and his own brandied cherries.

I’m honored, truly. Thanks, Kirstin.

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While minding my own business yesterday, checking out free Dilbert cartoons and looking for sexy Pilates vlogs, I was rudely interrupted by Cate O’Malley of the Well Fed Network with the following announcement:

Just a heads up that your site is officially in the running for the 2007 Food Blog Awards - head on over to www.wellfed.net for the news.

I clicked my mouse or whatever on the blue words to download my trophy when I discovered that I was not alone: apparently there are others out there who write about beverages and such! Teeth gnarled, fists clenched and toes curled, I decided to check out the competition.

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When I travel, I have a list of bars and bartenders that I want to see in whichever city I’ll be visiting. My recent trip to Manhattan was no exception, and after the Repeal Day party I made a point of heading out into the snowy night in eager anticipation of having some world-class cocktails.

The first bar on my list was the Flatiron Lounge, near Gramercy Park. All of the reviews I’d read told me that this was the place to be treated to some serious bartending, and judging by the cocktail menu that was placed before me, I was going to be in for a treat.

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