Don Julio Bowling Tournament

November 24



Thanks to the fact that I seem to have a Whac-A-Mole like ability to pop up at various functions, a while ago Jim Meehan started a running joke with the PDT guys that an event isn't official until I showed up. So when I showed my mug at Lucky Strike on Monday for the Don Julio Bowling Tournament Daniel Eun spotted me and said, "Hey, I was wondering when you were going to show up and make it official."

While I protest that the rumors of my ubiquity are greatly exaggerated, I can concede to the fact that I suppose I show up in a random places quite a bit more than the average person. Though honestly, I've taken to the description of "annoying kid sister of the bartending world" that I gave to Jill DeGroff over anything too fancy, like "industry insider."

I managed to grab way more photos of bartenders hanging out and behind the bar rather than photos of them bowling. At the same time, can you blame me? It's bartenders and folks in the alcohol business! Besides, there was a whole cocktail contest component running in tandem with the bowling tournament. Teams participated with people ponying up a $50 entrance fee per person. For bars wanting to having their bartenders represent their establishment, they paid $150 in addition to the per person fee with all the money going to benefit City Harvest. The team with the highest bowling score would get to to visit the Don Julio distillery in Mexico, and the team with the winning cocktail would be treated to a nice dinner.



So as the teams bowled, those who were not bowling mixed drinks for everyone to sample. I tried to grab one or two and have a quick sip and prod some folks about what they made. I tried Dale Degroff's Spicy Abbey. James Menite of Porter House, who was on the same team with Dale and Dale's youngest son Blake, told me the drink was made with pepper jam, Don Julio Reposado tequila, lillet, lemon and lime juice and a smoked lemon peel.

"But you should check with Dale," he said, since it was Dale's cocktail. Darn, I'd just missed him.



Giuseppe Gonzalez was hanging out with Adam Harris of Maker's Mark. I'm glad the first photo didn't come out too well because the second one is hilarious.



Kenta Goto was there as part of Team Pegu Club with general manager James Tune and bartender Raul Flores.

The last time I saw Jim Ryan, he was in New Orleans and was the beverage director for Dresser, Dumont and Dumont Burger. Now he works for Hendrick's Gin. As an advocate for the promotion of dandyism and well put together personal style, I was glad to see he was still rocking the mustache hard and bringing it together with mustache-conscious outfits.



If you're a dandy-approving, facial hair aficionado, New York bartenders are totally the folks you should be hanging around. Observe the photo below of Thomas Waugh and Maxwell Britten.



I didn't get to try the Lily Pad Maxwell made with his team, but he told me it was a drink made with Don Julio Blanco, Apple Juice, Lillet Rouge, Lillet Blanc, fresh lime juice and agave nectar. It sounded good and I was sad I missed it.

Thomas was on a team with Allen Katz and Death and Co.'s Phil Ward. The cocktail they made used Don Julio Blanco, Lillet Blanc, celery bitters and a grapefruit twist.

I had to duck out early since I had to run back to the office and finish out my work day. Phil saw me scribbling in my notebook and asked me what I was doing. "Are you working??"

Yes, I'm still on the clock when I go to these things. In fact, I have to say that events like these really help me out. I can't go drinking in all the New York cocktail places to keep up with everyone all the time. This is a one person operation. Not that I haven't had friends offer to "help." Sorry, guys.

Allen & Delancey's new cocktail menu

I met up with Alex Day at Allen & Delancey to talk about the new cocktail menu he created. I got a taste of it at Death & Co. a little while ago, then had a more blurry hectic try of the menu at the Star Chefs After After party.

On the day I visited, newly recruited Maxwell Britten of Brooklyn's Jack the Horse Tavern was busy behind the bar. Alex was there to train Maxwell since he'd only signed on to consult with revamping the restaurant's bar program. The menu's official debut was at the Star Chef's party, so it was still brand new. He had just finished the last drink on the menu, the Atlantic Ruin variations, a week and a half before the debut.

Alex explained that cocktails sometimes get categorized with terms that don't exist in the true culinary world. He wanted to reflect that with his menu as well as get away from the what he described as the "ego issue" that sometimes comes with giving cocktails clever names well as making a more well-rounded cocktail menu that was accessible and not intimidating for the customers.

"It's drinking. It's about more than making a name for yourself." Alex said.

For the new Allen & Delancey cocktail menu, Alex lists five different categories of drinks, each with two variations that are connected by a theme.

"Sometimes you're in the mood for something boozy or sometimes you're in the mood for something refreshing," Alex said about the dual-nature of each drink category.

As the preamble to his menu states: "Instead of simply providing a catalog of drinks, our cocktail menu is a little different...No. 1 is light and festive, with citrus and fruit meant to refresh the mind and whet the appetite, while No. 2 showcase base spirit, a stirred cocktail best enjoyed with thought, time and good conversation."

He explained, "The first four are connected by base...also with modifiers such as spice or rinse."

For example, the William and Mary variations both contain gin, but overall connecting theme of the drinks, so to speak, is listed as "Juniper, spice and alchemy."

Variation one contains gin, lime, yellow Chartreuse, Maraschino liqueur, rose and lavender bitters, while the second is gin, vermouth bianco, green Chartreuse and a dash of cinnamon bark tincture.

Before the revamp, the previous menu was "pretty basic," but Alex said he worked out the numbers to show the exact cost of how using a variety of ingredients doesn't have to mean very expensive ingredients and cocktails without much return. Even with pricier modifiers, the menu balances itself out.

"Some drinks are more expensive, but it's paid for by other ones and the menu," Alex said. "And the menu has a lot of different things."

"I wanted to do something different. I don't want to give them a list and a Kold-Draft machine and end it there."

According to Alex, his intentions with this "first experiment" of a format was to make it easier for the customers as well as for any bartender who would be working with this menu in the future.

While for a cocktail enthusiast it'd be easy to point out exactly what they wanted or what they are looking for, for those who are not well-versed in cocktail geekery the menu gives them a basic structure of flavor and components that makes it easier for them figure out what they enjoy. From there, they have a better way of conveying what they want to their bartender.

At the same time, the revamped menu along with changes in the bar works as a jumping off point for any bartender who will work with the menu and the restaurant. However, you could see his fingerprints here and there, from housemade tinctures and bitters to the use of maple syrup.

Alex said he luckily got a lot of freedom in doing what he wanted to do, but he still worked with what was already in the bar. He filled in the shelves behind the bar with more bottles. Glasses line the wall and tools such as jiggers and shakers are front and center where the guests can see the bartender working on their drinks. The changes are both aesthetic and practical.

The menu itself is using a wide variety of spirits and ingredients, but fuller stocked shelves appeals to the eye with the different bottles with different contents and labels. Alex added that the stacked glasses are all used for the drinks, but they also add to the atmosphere. The guests have something interesting to look at while hinting to the fact that this is a professional bar and what htye can expect, whether it's by seeing what spirits are on-hand or that juices are fresh-squeezed from the juicer in the center of the bar.

How's the response so far?

"Pretty good," Alex answered.

The important thing was, "Overall, people are more enthusiastic about cocktails here."

Allen & Delancey's new menu:
WILLIAM AND MARY
~Juniper, Spice and Alchemy~

1 Gin, lime, yellow Chartreuse, Maraschino, rose and lavender bitters

2 Gin, vermouth bianco, green Chartreuse, dash cinnamon bark tincture

ATLANTIC RUIN
~Cain, Molasses and Heritage~

1 Tea infused white rum, Batavia Arrack, lemon, maple

2 Aged rum, Batavia Arrack, demerara, Angostura bitters, roast coco bean tincture, orange twist

TINKER'S STAND
~Grain, Oak and Revolution~

1 Bourbon, Amaro, lemon, honeyed ginger syrup

2 Rye, Amaro, sherry, elderflower, Benedictine, aromatic bitters

JALISCO TRAIL
~Agave, Pacific Winds and the Jimadors~

1 Blanco tequila, acacia honey, lime, Angostura bitters, rinse of Luxardo bitter

2 Reposado tequila, antica, green Chartreuse, orange bitters, rinse of Campari, orange twist

L'HEURE VERTE
~Wormwood and Company~

1 Old Tom Gin, lemon, egg white, absinthe, bitter orange foam, seltzer	2 Reposado tequila, Isly whisky, agave nectar, absinthe, Peychaud's and Angostura bitters, discarded lemon twist

Why hanging out after hours can pay off

You witness some cool things. My camera batteries were about to crap out, but I managed to capture these...





Maxwell Britten making a Blue Blazer at Jack the Horse Tavern,
in the wee hours crossing August 15th/16th, in the year of Our Lord 2008.

Venture out to Brooklyn: Jack the Horse Tavern

So, now that we're back to our regularly scheduled program after the Tales info dump...

Aug. 2
I'll be the first to admit that I might abuse my "this is research" privileges to occupy a stool at a bar for hours on end. I can only hope that my ability to really put it away mitigates any ill-will I might incur from my reluctance to leave my seat.

Having said that, I found myself yet again spending another couple of hours at the corner of a bar. I initially planned on stopping by Jack the Horse Tavern months ago. Now that I finally got around to it, I figured I should make up for lost time.

After getting just a tiny bit lost I ambled about the fruit-named streets until I got to the corner of Hicks and Cranberry. It was a restaurant with a trim storefront, wood floors and a large bar. The staff ferried about in denim shirts. The impression I got was "we just want to give you a hint of rustic, a mere whiff, but not look ridiculous while doing it."

I asked head barkeep Maxwell Britten, if the place was mostly a neighborhood haunt after a couple next to me explained that the friendly challenge they issued for a new drink at the end of their meal was a regular thing. Despite being slammed by an early evening rush, Maxwell obliged and created a cocktail for them to go with their dessert. Maxwell said that while it was a neighborhood joint, the place had been getting a lot of attention and increasing traffic from outside of Brooklyn Heights.

Maxwell tries to change the menu pretty often since he has room for only twelve or so cocktails on the menu. The easiest way for him to make regularly changes is through the weekly featured cocktail.

"It's a way to try stuff and if it's a hit I put it on the menu," he said. The one's that don't exactly make the cut get written down for future reference. "Sometimes in the dining room someone will ask for a drink from four years before."

Currently, he's excited about this week's featured cocktail, the Carthusian Shish (Ocucaje pisco, fresh mint, fresh ginger, fresh grapefruit juice, whiskey aged barrel bitters, yellow chartreuse float).

The resulting drink was a very light bright refreshing drink. Something my brain wasn't expecting after pulling out the flavors from the flavor vault as it read over the ingredients.

Maxwell told me the story behind the drink's fanciful name. First off, a little background. The word "punch" comes from the Farsi word for five (panj) because the drink was made with five different ingredients. The sailors of the East India Company took a liking to the drink, brought it back home, and that's how we got punch. So, taking his cue from the origin of the word punch, Maxwell christened his six-ingredient drink by looking up the Farsi word for six (shish) and while he was at it, tipped his hat to the Carthusian monks who first began producing chartreuse.

Maxwell said the drink was already doing decently so there was a chance it'd go on the menu proper.

I then tried the JtH Old-Fashioned (Rittenhouse Rye, house bitters, brandy poached cherry, scorched orange twist). I noticed the Maxwell first scorches the orange twist into the glass and muddles it with the cherry before adding the other ingredients. The scent of orange with a sort of fruity scent and sweetness kind of hits you on the front of your tongue and once it rolls back down your throat, the smell of bitters kick in.

The Royal Swagger (Famous Grouse Scotch, Grand Marnier, fresh lemon juice, topped with Prosecco and garnished with a lemon twist) was next and after I polished that off, I started mapping out the rest of my drinks for the evening. I blew through three cocktails with nary a food past my lips and I know my limit in such situations is six at the most.

"Which one do I really need to try before I go?" I asked.

"You should try the Robbie Robbie, but I suggest that you have that last," Maxwell answered after a brief moment of thought.

I certainly wasn't going to stop now, so slipped in the Nearly Water onto my dance card before I went for the Robbie Robbie.

The Nearly Water is made with grappa, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, fresh lemon juice, orange Curacao, and topped with Prosecco. Grappa was on the brain since I'd gone to a grappa seminar at Tales and recently we had a little office discussion about grappa. Well, actually it began about vodka, then we were talking about gin, then sloe gin. I busted out my two sample bottles of pacharan since we were talking about sloe berries, then somehow we wound up talking about grappa.

When I took a first sip of it there was almost a vegetal scent. After two more sips I figured out that it reminded me of how the discarded grape peels and seeds would smell once the neighborhood herbal/medicinal place squeezed all the juices and liquids out of grapes and seal it in little individual plastic pouches with the same machine they'd package the Chinese herbal medicines in. In Korea, a Concord-like variety of grape is most commonly consumed as opposed to the seedless reds or greens you see here sold as table grape so the mashed up grape skins would make the grape liquid thick and purple and the pouches would come out very warm from the sealing machine. It actually tasted better to me warm with it slightly tart and very grapey flavor. The color, viscosity and even warmth would make it look almost like liquid burgundy velvet sloshing around in the plastic pouch and the whole thing had a thick vegetal grape smell thanks to the peels and seeds that got pulverized in the process.

"Ah, that would be the grappa," I thought after that kind of weird Proustian moment rushed through my head.

Finally, it was the Robbie Robbie's turn (Famous Grouse scotch, Luxardo Amaro, dry vermouth, Regan's Orange Bitters and a flamed orange twist). It definitely was a nice end, but then it made me thirsty for a Manhattan...so I went ahead and ordered one. What was one more?

Tales of the Cocktail announces Spirit Awards Nominees

(Note: Photos courtesy of Tales of the Cocktail)

May 12

The place was spookily calm and quiet when I arrived at the Flatiron Lounge for a Tales of the Cocktail event compared to the last time I'd been there for a Tales event.

I sipped on a Punch & Judy, the winning cocktail for the Tales of the Cocktail Official Cocktail Competition, and talked a bit with Francis Schott as well as Hanna Lee of Hanna Lee Communications Inc., whom I run into often and finds it ridiculously cute that I speak Korean. I mostly knew Mr. Schott through emails about drinks that I regularly receive from Stage Left Restaurant, and we talked about his podcast radio program, "The Restaurant Guys," which he hosts with his partner Mark Pascal.

Then all of the sudden the doors burst open and it was instant chaos. The bartenders had arrived. They were returning from a croquet tournament that started at 11 in the morning.

I said hello to Mr. Dale DeGroff and spotted Gary Regan who looked (awesome) like a weathered Texas Ranger out of a spaghetti western version of Gandalf the Grey with his long coat, hat and flowing locks. This means that so far I've seen Gary Regan in three different incarnations.

There was a lot of new people meeting. Jonathan Pogash was there. I hadn't seen him since the Grand Marnier summit in Vail, Colo. There was also Maxwell Britten, who you can find behind the bar at Jack the Horse Tavern in Brooklyn. I didn't really get to talk to him when I saw him previously at the Rhum Clement event, so I was glad to chat. I finally met the other half of the Tippling Bros., Paul Tanguay, as well as the third founding member of Contemporary Cocktails Inc. who was always mysteriously absent, Kristopher Karr (he explained that he had been out of sight because he was working with a bar out of the country for the past 14 months).

As more people pressed in I was soon buffeted about like I was inner tubing down some rapids made out of people and bar fixtures. I tried very hard to stay out of the way, but that wasn't happening anytime soon. I even found myself cornered into a pocket created entirely by people and was trapped. Several times I landed myself in spots briefly enough to talk to people, but I was starting to get claustrophobic.

Throughout all this, I noted that the interesting thing about both times that I went to a Tales of the Cocktail Event at Flatiron Lounge is it feels very different from other events I go to. You feel like the bartenders and mixologists know they can let their hair down.

(l-r: Julie Reiner, Charlotte Voisey and Ann Rogers)


I finally rooted myself in a spot long enough to hear Ann Rogers, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, announce the Official Cocktail Competition winner and runners up. Charlotte Voisey, who won $1,500 for her winning Official Cocktail entry, said during her acceptance speech that she would be giving her prize money back to Tales of the Cocktail.

Nominees announced were for categories of:

Best Drink Selection
Cantina - San Francisco, USA
Death & Company - New York City, USA
Der Raum - Melbourne, Australia
Doheney - Downtown Los Angeles, USA
The Merchant Hotel - Belfast, Northern Ireland
Salvatore's Bar at Fifty - London, England
Trio Bar - Berlin, Germany
Matterhorn - Wellington, New Zealand

Best Classic Cocktail Bar
American Bar - Connaught Hotel, London, England
Bramble - Edinburgh, Scotland
Death & Co. - New York City, USA
Dukes Bar - Dukes Hotel, London, England
Experimental Cocktail Club - Paris, France
Flatiron Lounge - New York City, USA
Milk and Honey- New York City, USA
Bar Le Forum - Paris, France
The Merchant Hotel - Belfast, Northern Ireland
Montgomery Place - London, England
Widder Bar - Zurich, Switzerland

World's Best Cocktail Bar
The Flat Iron Lounge - New York City, USA
Le Lion - Hamburg, Germany
The Lonsdale - London, England
The Merchant Hotel - Belfast, Northern Ireland
Milk & Honey - New York, USA
Milk & Honey - London, England
Paparazzi - Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Salvatore at Fifty - London, England
Star Bar - Ginza, Tokyo, Japan

Best New Cocktail Bar
Bar Milano, New York City, USA
Beretta, San Francisco, USA
Death & Company, New York City, USA
Le Lion de Paris, Hamburg, Germany
02 Lounge, Ritz Carlton, Moscow
PDT (Please Don't Tell), New York City, USA
Ruby, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mixologist/Bartender of the Year
John Gerstern - No.9 Park, Boston, USA
Kenta Goto of Pegu Club - New York City, USA
Charles Joly - The Drawing Room, Chicago, USA
Duggan McDonnell - Cantina, San Francisco, USA
Erik Lorincz - Purple Bar, London, England
Jim Meehan - PDT, New York City, USA
Ago Perrone - Montgomery Place, London, England
Sam Ross - Milk & Honey New York City, USA
Nick Strangeway - Hawksmoor, London, England
Charles Vexenat - The Lonsdale, London, England
Philip Ward - Death & Company, New York City, USA

Other categories included Best Cocktail Writing, Best New Product, Best Cocktail Menu, Best Drinks Brand Representative/ Brand Ambassador. New award categories were also announced along with the nominees. There was the Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book Category and the Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award.

Here are the recipes from the Official Cocktails Competition:

Best of Show
Charlotte Voisey, mixologist, Hendrick's Gin brand champion

Punch and Judy
1 oz Martell VSOP
1/4 oz Old New Orleans Crystal Rum
1/2 oz Hendrick's Gin
1/2 oz Bols Orange Curacao
2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lim juice
1/2 oz orange juice
1/2 oz Partida agave nectar
2 dashes Angostura bitters
4 mint leaves

Second Place
Debbi Peek, master bartender, The Drawing Room at Le Passage

Nola's Nectar
1/2 oz Martell VSOP
1 1/2 oz Old New Orleans Amber Rum
3/4 oz Partida Agave Nectar
1/2 oz fresh grated ginger
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz water

Third Place
Kristi A. Svane, bartender, Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa

Big Easy Milk Punch
3/4 oz Martell VSOP
3/4 Old New Orleans Amber Rum
3/4 brown sugar simple syrup
2 oz milk
2 dashes cinnamon
1 dahs nutmeg
1 slice orange
1/2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice (no pulp)

Honorable Mention
Erana Hardy, bartender, Cafe Giovani

Hardy Punch
100% Blood orange juice not from concentrate
1 shot Old New Orleans Amber Rum
1 shot Martell
5 oz Mereo Red Wine