Continued from previous post. Yea, I know, a bit indulgent of me.
Now that I've had some time to think about what transpired, I wanna go back and talk about the drinks a bit. Now yea, I like beards and stuff, but that's not the only reason why I enjoyed the beard off. I also enjoyed it because I was able to close out a year with an event that had a group of good drinks (see previous post to download all the drinks and their recipes). Again, speaking from the three that I mentioned previously, Joaquin's Latin Quarter (Flor de Caña 18yr, sugar cane syrup, Peychaud bitters, Bittermen's mole bitters, Deragon bitters, absinthe rinse) was an interesting mix of flavorful and aromatic and really clean and refreshing at the same time.
Allen's Beaver Puss (Flor de Caña 7yr, Allen's NY Apple Liquer, fresh grapefruit, Meyer Lemon Molasses, egg, garnished with apple and nutmeg had apple liqueur and grapefruit in it, but it wasn't really a fruity drink. In fact the presence of molasses and nutmeg made it more like...caramel? Toffee? I think part of that sort of coffee/toffee flavor came from the Flor de Cana as well. I got to try a bit of both the 18 and 7 year on their own, and both had a sort of understated toasty, coffee-like thing going on in the background.
And Brian's My Oh My Ty (Flor de Caña 7yr, La Favorite Blanc, lime, simple syrup, orgeat syrup, Creole Shrub, absinthe) was a bit of an experience because at the first sip it made me kind a go "Whoa, wait, what's happening?" in sort of a shock of flavors. I found that with each cautious sip to figure out what was going on, they were actually turning into gulps. It grew on you awful fierce.
And I listed the second B as being bartenders, but really, it was a great crowd in general. All kinds of folks stopped by. Sasha Petraske, Eben Klemm, even Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver was present. There were even folks from out of town who'd lighted upon New York for this event. Jeff Grdinich came down from New Hampshire to bear witness.
The contestants were being judged for several categories. Obviously one of them was length. Then there was also absorbability, touchability, style and etiquette.
In length, there was a tie for the runner-up position between Brian Miller and Phil Ward who both clocked in at 9cm. Allen Katz won with a whopping 12cm with a tight and dense beard that betrayed its true length. For the Asian Afro league, Don Lee managed to beat out Daniel Eun with 7cm.
The touchability part was more of a popularity contest in a way, since it demanded audience participation. People wandered around the bar feeling the beards of the contestants and cast ballots for their favorite.
The "Beardos," as they were referred to throughout the evening, got behind the bar for the absorbability test. Each contestant had to dip their beard for ten seconds in a container with a quart of beer and the remaining liquid was measured. For the Asian Afro contestants, unfortunately, it was a bucket of water. Though I could see how I'd be torn between thinking how hilarious it is that there is a bucket of beer and sad that it is a bucket of beer that would have to be thrown out.
I wasn't satisfied with Don's head dunking technique and thought he could've shoved his head in a bit more, and in the end I was proven correct when Daniel took the prize for most absorbent head of Asian Afro hair in the room. For the Beardos, Mayur Subbarao and Allen Katz tied for third, Joaquin Simo second and Phil Ward first.
For etiquette some chili dogs were procured from Crif Dogs just a couple of blocks up the road. Contestants were to eat without the use of a napkin, and at the same time down some very frothy Ramos Gin Fizzes.
I'm...I'm not exactly sure what the judging criteria for this was. I think it was some variation of the Blackpool Handkerchief Swab Test introduced by Eliazar Huffenpuffen, a gentlemen who was quite trusted for all matters style, during the 87th Annual Drone's Club Flaneur Fete. Hunffenpuffen accused George "Banjo" Barrington of not being a true man about town thanks to the disgraceful state of his moustache. However, before any of the other club members could turn around and see what all the commotion was about, Banjo faked a sneeze to wipe his face. Huffenpuffen went into an apoplectic fit and the only thing that redeemed his reputation was the fact that his valet Xavier picked up the discarded handkerchief (a nice monogrammed square of cloth that anyone should be sort lose) and quite accidentally displayed the soiled side to the room as he asked Banjo whether or not the handkerchief was his.
The above is a load of crock, but indeed a napkin was involved at the end. A dab to see how much came off the hirsute faces. For the Afro contestants, they balanced a book on their head as they tried to make daiquiris. Joaquin Simo won for the Beards and Daniel Eun for the Afros.
The belle of the ball of the events had to be the fashion show. And everyone pretty much went all out. It seemed like Don and Daniel had agreed to make this portion a dance off of sorts since Daniel b-boyed and Don discoed his way down the impromptu runway created by the crowd clearing the floor of Death and Co. Joaquin Simo created a whole accompanying video for his James Bond, er, Beard, inspired runway walk, employing his fiance Rhea Wong as deadly Bond Girl who can't help but find herself drawn to the mysterious man's facial topiary. Mayur powdered his beard for his Santa-themed performance, but then began to strip out of it to the crowd's shrieks, only to have it die down to strangely disappointed "awwws" when they realized he was wearing a smart suit underneath. Phil Ward however, took the cake for theatrics with his appearance as Jesus Christ (costume change number two, if you're following along from the previous post). Not only did he pull out huge enormous cross from out of nowhere, he got friends to act as people needed healing and I have no idea where that one dude was hiding the wheelchair.
Phil won the beard fashion show.
The touchability ballots were all counted and Phil won that as well. And with that the overall winners were announced. For the beards it was Brian Miller in third, Phil Ward in second, and living up to crowd expectations, Allen Katz took first.
Don Lee won the honor of overall awesome Asian afro.
Daniel said he wants to go on the record that he was robbed. He won more categories than Don.
Oh, and what was Phil's third and final costume change? After everything was over, he came out to the bar clad only in boxers to serve drinks. I also want my readers to know that I have photos of said sight and am willing to part with them for a small fee.
As part of his acceptance speech, Allen Katz said, "This is my first beard...and I feel like keeping it for a while." In fact, I got an email from Don earlier this week asking me if I'd seen the new version of Allen's beard. It was now in a Franz Josef style.
Stay golden, pony boy. Stay golden.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
2008 Papa Doble Beard Off pt. 1
Editor's note: Brevity may be the soul of wit, but I realized this thing was turning into a monster of an entry. I'm also pressed for time in the office so I don't really have the luxury of going back to prune this a little better, so I'm going to have to bisect it for now.
Dec. 30, 2008
"You're going to be at the Beard Off, right?" Don Lee asked me on Facebook. Of course I was! I would be lying if I were to say that the Papa Doble Beard Off wasn't the event of the year that I was looking forward to. If there was any better way to close out 2008, I wanna hear it. It was like a Christmas present to me. I spent an evening surrounded "The Three Bs of Great Fun": booze, bartenders and beard. That's right, beards...Man, I love facial hair.
But enough about me and my kind of creepy affinity for beards and mustaches.
I wasn't sure if I was late or early when I got to Death and Company. Sometimes it's hard to tell with events. You might show up on time only to wait about 30 minutes as you wait for more people to show up, and sometimes you show up inarguably late only to realize you're STILL one of the (only) early birds. So I was happy to see that there were some confused people being turned away from the door since they didn't a private event was taking place. No, no, not happy, because I mean, sucks to be them and all...wait, no, that came out wrong. I mean, I wasn't glad people were being turned away. I was glad because it meant I arrived pretty much in good time.
It was weird being in a lit up Death and Co. Usually when it's that bright while I'm in there I'm the only person remaining besides staff because I'm polishing off an ill-advised drink I probably should not have ordered ten minutes after last call and most probably I'm getting just a tad bit mouthy to whoever is behind the bar (usually, a very patient Alex Day because I know he'll put up with me for some unknown reason) as everyone's trying to pack up and go home. And thanks to the fortifying powers of alcohol, my quiet drinking become punctuated with unexpected bits of verbal buckshot that sounded perfectly OK in my head but come out really wrong. So this was a little different.
The official judging and competition part wasn't taking place yet and it was official mill about and talk to folks time, so I walked around and bumped into Allen Katz. I asked him which competing categories he felt confident in since he was clearly a crowd favorite. He was looking delightfully old-timey with his beard and outfit combo.
I spotted Phil Ward who seemed to be going for a sort of Warriors or biker gang type thing with his caramel-colored leather vest and hair pulled back in a ponytail. Little did I know he'd go through two more costume changes in the course of the evening.
Don Lee showed up in what looked like a leisure suit and Daniel Eun in a tracksuit and a headband.
My expectations were now quite high.
Jim Ryan, who was not participating in the Beard Off, but still gets mention because of the petit handlebars he always sports, was looking unusually laid back in jeans and a sweater. I asked him what was up with this since I'm used to seeing him in some variation of this, and he answered that it was just him toned down. Maybe I just don't hang out with the guy often enough outside of work-related gatherings but it was a glimpse into the casual side of Jim Ryan.
I even met some guys from the group Branded by Beards, who gave me a flyer for an upcoming event of theirs. The 2009 NYC Beard and Moustache Championships. I had to stop myself from shouting, "Dudes, seriously??"
As my friend Alexis later told me, "It's like your whole life was building up to this moment. Little did you know that when you started working for NRN, you'd be put on this path...writing about bartenders so you could go to this bartender beard thing and then finding out about this?"
"I know, right?!" I exclaimed in response. But once again, enough about my weird admiration of facial hair.
Ty Baker and Joaquin Simo
For those of you who don't know the story behind the Beard-Off, his is its second annual incarnation. The first year it was simply a friendly(?) wager between Brian Miller and Ty Baker. Beard Off commissioner Ty Baker said that this year 20 contestants started out in August, shaving their chins (and in some cases heads) clean, but only eight survived all the way to the Dec. 30 beard off date. Brian Miller said that he would like to thank all the girlfriends who put up with the facial hair madness and there some harumphs and "mm-hmms" of agreement from the crowd. For those who did drop out before the beard off date, a hundred dollar fine was collected from each. The event was also a charity event so these fees went towards the event's charity of choice, the American Nicaraguan Foundation.
The judges of this event were Gary Regan, Dave Wondrich and Julie Reiner. Mr. Thorn commented on how serious the judges were during their judging, and not to mention, the event managed to get some cocktailians of renown to judge not drinks, but beards.
For those who've seen Dave Wondrich in person, his qualifications for beard judging are plainly on his face since he's curator of a pretty sizable beard. And Mr. Regan? Well, just pick up a bottle of Regan's Orange Bitters. Or even better, check out this photo we used to run back in the day when he wrote a regular column for Nation's Restaurant News:
We updated to a more recent photo of him later on, but for a while, that was the face of Gary Regan that stared back at you from the pages of NRN.
The event was sponsored by Flor de Caña, and it was a bartender event, so of course there was drinking to be had. Contestants created recipes for the event using Flor de Caña. I'm pretty sure I tried most, if not all, of them. I definitely remember having Joaquin's Latin Quarter and Brian's My Oh My Ty. And I most definitely remember Allen Katz's Beaver Puss because he was talking about how he made his own apple liqueur for it and, really, the name reverted me back to middle school. I'm sorry if any of you thought I was better than that. Allen feigned ignorance in response to the giggles and said that it's an old way of referring to a bearded man, and what was wrong with that?
To be continued...
Dec. 30, 2008
"You're going to be at the Beard Off, right?" Don Lee asked me on Facebook. Of course I was! I would be lying if I were to say that the Papa Doble Beard Off wasn't the event of the year that I was looking forward to. If there was any better way to close out 2008, I wanna hear it. It was like a Christmas present to me. I spent an evening surrounded "The Three Bs of Great Fun": booze, bartenders and beard. That's right, beards...Man, I love facial hair.
But enough about me and my kind of creepy affinity for beards and mustaches.
I wasn't sure if I was late or early when I got to Death and Company. Sometimes it's hard to tell with events. You might show up on time only to wait about 30 minutes as you wait for more people to show up, and sometimes you show up inarguably late only to realize you're STILL one of the (only) early birds. So I was happy to see that there were some confused people being turned away from the door since they didn't a private event was taking place. No, no, not happy, because I mean, sucks to be them and all...wait, no, that came out wrong. I mean, I wasn't glad people were being turned away. I was glad because it meant I arrived pretty much in good time.
It was weird being in a lit up Death and Co. Usually when it's that bright while I'm in there I'm the only person remaining besides staff because I'm polishing off an ill-advised drink I probably should not have ordered ten minutes after last call and most probably I'm getting just a tad bit mouthy to whoever is behind the bar (usually, a very patient Alex Day because I know he'll put up with me for some unknown reason) as everyone's trying to pack up and go home. And thanks to the fortifying powers of alcohol, my quiet drinking become punctuated with unexpected bits of verbal buckshot that sounded perfectly OK in my head but come out really wrong. So this was a little different.
The official judging and competition part wasn't taking place yet and it was official mill about and talk to folks time, so I walked around and bumped into Allen Katz. I asked him which competing categories he felt confident in since he was clearly a crowd favorite. He was looking delightfully old-timey with his beard and outfit combo.I spotted Phil Ward who seemed to be going for a sort of Warriors or biker gang type thing with his caramel-colored leather vest and hair pulled back in a ponytail. Little did I know he'd go through two more costume changes in the course of the evening.
Don Lee showed up in what looked like a leisure suit and Daniel Eun in a tracksuit and a headband.
My expectations were now quite high.
Jim Ryan, who was not participating in the Beard Off, but still gets mention because of the petit handlebars he always sports, was looking unusually laid back in jeans and a sweater. I asked him what was up with this since I'm used to seeing him in some variation of this, and he answered that it was just him toned down. Maybe I just don't hang out with the guy often enough outside of work-related gatherings but it was a glimpse into the casual side of Jim Ryan.
I even met some guys from the group Branded by Beards, who gave me a flyer for an upcoming event of theirs. The 2009 NYC Beard and Moustache Championships. I had to stop myself from shouting, "Dudes, seriously??"
As my friend Alexis later told me, "It's like your whole life was building up to this moment. Little did you know that when you started working for NRN, you'd be put on this path...writing about bartenders so you could go to this bartender beard thing and then finding out about this?"
"I know, right?!" I exclaimed in response. But once again, enough about my weird admiration of facial hair.
For those of you who don't know the story behind the Beard-Off, his is its second annual incarnation. The first year it was simply a friendly(?) wager between Brian Miller and Ty Baker. Beard Off commissioner Ty Baker said that this year 20 contestants started out in August, shaving their chins (and in some cases heads) clean, but only eight survived all the way to the Dec. 30 beard off date. Brian Miller said that he would like to thank all the girlfriends who put up with the facial hair madness and there some harumphs and "mm-hmms" of agreement from the crowd. For those who did drop out before the beard off date, a hundred dollar fine was collected from each. The event was also a charity event so these fees went towards the event's charity of choice, the American Nicaraguan Foundation.
The judges of this event were Gary Regan, Dave Wondrich and Julie Reiner. Mr. Thorn commented on how serious the judges were during their judging, and not to mention, the event managed to get some cocktailians of renown to judge not drinks, but beards.
For those who've seen Dave Wondrich in person, his qualifications for beard judging are plainly on his face since he's curator of a pretty sizable beard. And Mr. Regan? Well, just pick up a bottle of Regan's Orange Bitters. Or even better, check out this photo we used to run back in the day when he wrote a regular column for Nation's Restaurant News:
We updated to a more recent photo of him later on, but for a while, that was the face of Gary Regan that stared back at you from the pages of NRN.
The event was sponsored by Flor de Caña, and it was a bartender event, so of course there was drinking to be had. Contestants created recipes for the event using Flor de Caña. I'm pretty sure I tried most, if not all, of them. I definitely remember having Joaquin's Latin Quarter and Brian's My Oh My Ty. And I most definitely remember Allen Katz's Beaver Puss because he was talking about how he made his own apple liqueur for it and, really, the name reverted me back to middle school. I'm sorry if any of you thought I was better than that. Allen feigned ignorance in response to the giggles and said that it's an old way of referring to a bearded man, and what was wrong with that?
To be continued...
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Cleaning out the closet pt. 2: Not just grape juice and kids
Dec. 2
I'd received an invitation from Jonathan Pogash about a cocktail event. A cocktail even hosted by Welch's.
"Intriguing," I thought to myself. The event was in the middle of the day, but luckily it was being held someplace within walking distance, so around 2 pm I made my way east to the World Bar at Trump World Tower.
The event was specifically catered towards the company's refrigerated juice cocktails. According to the good folks representing Welch's that I met there, based on a consumer study they had done, they were surprised to find out that many bartenders were purchasing their juice for use behind the bar. The line features flavors such as mango, guava and passion fruit, and some bartenders who wanted these flavors, but either couldn't access them readily and conveniently in fresh form or found these fruits to be out of season, were purchasing these juices for their use. Welch's wanted to acknowledge that avenue of using their juice cocktails so they decided to hold the event at the World Bar at Trump World Tower and hired Jonathan Pogash to create some cocktail recipes using the juices from the refrigerated line. The recipe cards provided at the event even included fun facts regarding cocktail history and trivia.
Leti Taft-Pearman, product marketing manager for the refrigerated line, explained that for this group of products, the number of flavors available goes through changes. About one flavor a year is introduced and slower moving flavors are retired.
The event wasn't just interesting because, "Hey, it's Welch's and remember when you were a kid and drank their grape juice all the time? Well, here's some cocktails." It was interesting because it was another company putting in their marketing dollars towards cocktails. Again its hard not to make comparisons with how the whole foodie culture is a big part of consumer advertising nowadays. Watch an ad for Swanson broth and you see chef Christopher Lee as the spokesperson letting the home cook know food can get a boost of flavor from stock. The ad even makes a point of mentioning that he's a winner of the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef award. A sort of pitch that wouldn't have made all that much sense to a good chunk of the population a couple of years ago. Go on Welch's site or watch TV and you can see foodie geek favorite Alton Brown talking about polyphenol antioxidants in Concord Grapes.
While this event was geared more towards the industry, this product is available in supermarkets as well. And with the availability of recipes for these cocktails, what's to keep from home bar enthusiasts from trying their hand? You kind of already see the sort of bar expert marketing geared towards consumers in liquor ads.
Drinks from the Welch's Mixer at the World Bar (recipes courtesy of Welch's from the event):
Welch's Punch Cocktail
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. dark rum
1 1/2 oz. Welch's Berry Pineapple Passion Fruit
juice of 1/2 a lime
dash of bitters
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain over ice into a rock glass.
Garnish: Grated nutmeg
*NOTE: this can be made in large, punch-bowl
Independence Sparkler
1 oz. Welch's Strawberry Breeze
1/2 oz. vanilla liqueur
3 oz. premium Brut Champagne
Add ingredients to mixing glass with ice and stir briefly. Strain into chilled champagne flute.
Garnish: Strawberry slice on rim of glass
Kuava Martini
1 1/2 oz. Welch's Guava Pineapple
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. elderflower liqueur
juice of 1/4 lemon
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish: Edible flower
Cherry Smash
2 oz. Welch's Tropical Cherry
1 1/2 oz. bourbon
3 lemon wedges
handful of mint leaves (approx. 8-10(
Muddle the mint and lemon in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients with ice and shake briefly. Pour into rocks glass.
Grapes and Pears
1 oz. Welch's Grape
1 oz. pear cognac or pear liqueur
3 oz. premium Brut Champagne
Stir ingredients briefly in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled champagne flute.
Garnish: Pear slice and sliced grapes
I'd received an invitation from Jonathan Pogash about a cocktail event. A cocktail even hosted by Welch's.
"Intriguing," I thought to myself. The event was in the middle of the day, but luckily it was being held someplace within walking distance, so around 2 pm I made my way east to the World Bar at Trump World Tower.
The event was specifically catered towards the company's refrigerated juice cocktails. According to the good folks representing Welch's that I met there, based on a consumer study they had done, they were surprised to find out that many bartenders were purchasing their juice for use behind the bar. The line features flavors such as mango, guava and passion fruit, and some bartenders who wanted these flavors, but either couldn't access them readily and conveniently in fresh form or found these fruits to be out of season, were purchasing these juices for their use. Welch's wanted to acknowledge that avenue of using their juice cocktails so they decided to hold the event at the World Bar at Trump World Tower and hired Jonathan Pogash to create some cocktail recipes using the juices from the refrigerated line. The recipe cards provided at the event even included fun facts regarding cocktail history and trivia.
Leti Taft-Pearman, product marketing manager for the refrigerated line, explained that for this group of products, the number of flavors available goes through changes. About one flavor a year is introduced and slower moving flavors are retired.
The event wasn't just interesting because, "Hey, it's Welch's and remember when you were a kid and drank their grape juice all the time? Well, here's some cocktails." It was interesting because it was another company putting in their marketing dollars towards cocktails. Again its hard not to make comparisons with how the whole foodie culture is a big part of consumer advertising nowadays. Watch an ad for Swanson broth and you see chef Christopher Lee as the spokesperson letting the home cook know food can get a boost of flavor from stock. The ad even makes a point of mentioning that he's a winner of the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef award. A sort of pitch that wouldn't have made all that much sense to a good chunk of the population a couple of years ago. Go on Welch's site or watch TV and you can see foodie geek favorite Alton Brown talking about polyphenol antioxidants in Concord Grapes.
While this event was geared more towards the industry, this product is available in supermarkets as well. And with the availability of recipes for these cocktails, what's to keep from home bar enthusiasts from trying their hand? You kind of already see the sort of bar expert marketing geared towards consumers in liquor ads.
Drinks from the Welch's Mixer at the World Bar (recipes courtesy of Welch's from the event):
Welch's Punch Cocktail
1 oz. light rum
1 oz. dark rum
1 1/2 oz. Welch's Berry Pineapple Passion Fruit
juice of 1/2 a lime
dash of bitters
Shake well in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain over ice into a rock glass.
Garnish: Grated nutmeg
*NOTE: this can be made in large, punch-bowl
Independence Sparkler
1 oz. Welch's Strawberry Breeze
1/2 oz. vanilla liqueur
3 oz. premium Brut Champagne
Add ingredients to mixing glass with ice and stir briefly. Strain into chilled champagne flute.
Garnish: Strawberry slice on rim of glass
Kuava Martini
1 1/2 oz. Welch's Guava Pineapple
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. elderflower liqueur
juice of 1/4 lemon
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
Garnish: Edible flower
Cherry Smash
2 oz. Welch's Tropical Cherry
1 1/2 oz. bourbon
3 lemon wedges
handful of mint leaves (approx. 8-10(
Muddle the mint and lemon in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients with ice and shake briefly. Pour into rocks glass.
Grapes and Pears
1 oz. Welch's Grape
1 oz. pear cognac or pear liqueur
3 oz. premium Brut Champagne
Stir ingredients briefly in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled champagne flute.
Garnish: Pear slice and sliced grapes
Cleaning out the closet pt.1: Vanilla liqueur and amaro
I think it was Gore Vidal who said, "I'm sorry mama, I never meant to hurt you, I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I'm cleanin' out my closet."
...Wait, that was Eminem. And that's not exactly the sentiment I was going for.
Anyhow, I know there was sort of a chasm there for a couple of weeks to make it almost reminescent of the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments. Year end things and hectic schedule in general made me very terrible about updating and I realize that there is now a small backlog of odds and ends. So, rather than let these experiences go to waste, and in the spirit of releasing all the old things of this year, I'm cranking out as many entries as I can using these odds and ends as the new year rings in. Working backwards in chronological order.
Vanilla liqueur and Amaro, or Two out of three ain't bad
Dec. 15
My first stop of the evening was at Pranna, where Navan was hosting a cocktail pairing dinner. The thing I find kind of interesting about Navan's events are they're rarely just a "Hey, here's our product, try some of it," type of thing. The events always try to bring in different elements that seem to make it more like an overall atmospheric lifestyle marketing in a way. With heavy emphasis on vanilla or the whole exotic angle of where vanilla comes from.
For example, at a previous Navan event I went to, besides cocktails, but there was also food, a little vanilla educational area, as well as a sort of booth/set up from a New York flower shop that specializes in rare and exotic flowers and arrangements.
The dinner at Pranna, one of several that Navan holds, wasn't an exception. Scarves and Panama hats were set out as party favors.
Aisha Sharpe of Contemporary Cocktails, the outfit that created Pranna's beverage program, and Pranna bar managers Elba Giron and Justin Noel created the drinks served for the evening.
Before the dinner itself, two seperate cocktails were served with hors d'oeuvre. The Jayakarta was made with kaffir lime leaves, yuzu juice, guava puree, freshly extracted giner juice, Navan, and Aperol. The drink was then topped with brut sparkling wine and grated kaffir lime leaves. The Winter Punch was made with Sialor Jerry spiced rum, Navan, fresh pressed apple juice, fresh lemon juice freshly extracted ginger juice and angostura bitters. The drink was then garnished with pomegranate seeds and freshly grated nutmeg.
The dinner's first course of Penang Chicken Spring Rolls, Spinach Potato Curry Puffs and Crispy Paneer Lollipops was paired with a first course flight of cocktails were served amuse-bouche style in small shot glasses. The three different drinks reflected sweet, spicy and sour flavors. The Berry Twist for Thailand reflected sweet and was made with strawberries, Thai basil, fresh lemons and Navan, garnished with a strawberry heart and Thai basil sprig.
El Diablo, the Spicy Spice of the trio, got its heat from Thai Bird chile-infused Navan. Additional ingredients were Navan, El Tesoro blanco, fresh pressed pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice and Calamansi honey. Then a sprinkl of dried chile powder and sea salt for garnish.
The third drink, the Luzon Sour, was made with Granny Smith apples, fresh yuzu juice, fresh lemon juice, Tio Pepe Fino Sherry and Navan.
For the second course, we were served with several dishes family-style. There was Pandan Warpped Halibut with Navan Red Curry Sauce, Ancho Airline Chicken with a Navan Lemongrass sauce as well as Cumin-crusted Hanger Steak with a red wine peppercorn sauce.
The cocktail paired with this course was the Pandan Smash. Pandan Leaves, lemongrass syrup, fresh lemons and Navan was topped with sparkling water and garnished with a lemon wheel and Pandan strips.
I couldn't stick around for the third course that featured the rich-sounding dessert trio of Chocolate Fudge Cake with a Navan Chile Zabaglione, Navan Caramel Ice Cream and Banana Ginger Cake with a Chocolate Navan Cream and Vanilla Caramel. The drink for this course was called Winter Island. And the menu told me that this particular cocktail was to be made with Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, Navan, ripe bananas, green cardamom, Moscovado syrup, and angostura bitters.
Though I was curious, sadly, I had to leave that final drink untasted because I was scheduled to make an appearance at the Averna Appreciation Party and the dinner was running a little later than expected. The party was at Louis 649 all the way down on 9th street between avenues B and C.
I managed to pop in just as Bret Thorn was making his escape.
"Do you guys work in shifts or something?" Tad Carducci asked me as he saw me pop up at the bar with Bret heading out the door.
Tad and Damon Dyer were working the bar that evening. Don Lee was supposed to make an appearance since the party was supposed to congratulate him on his winning cocktail, La Cola Nostra, from the Averna competition a while back. Unfortunately, continued medical care for the arm he broke right before the aforementioned competition kept him from the event.
Damon was making toddies the good old-fashioned way that grandma used to make them when you had a cold, or maybe you couldn't fall asleep (or extra strong for those nights when she really needed you to sleep now), Blue Blazer style. Come on, everybody loves fire. I know I do.
I tried Don's La Cola Nostra Punch (Amaro Averna, Fantinel Prosecco, Zapaca Centenario rum, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, lime juice, simple syrup and lime wedges as garnishes), as well as two different toddies. I chatted a bit with Thanh-Nam Vo Duy (Hennessy) and J.C. Iglesias (Grand Marnier), talking about various fun topics, like having the three-tier system broken down for me.
There was another cocktail/bartender industry event planned at Pranna later in the evening, but I called it a night after the Averna Appreciation Party. It was drizzly and my shoes were killing me.
...Wait, that was Eminem. And that's not exactly the sentiment I was going for.
Anyhow, I know there was sort of a chasm there for a couple of weeks to make it almost reminescent of the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments. Year end things and hectic schedule in general made me very terrible about updating and I realize that there is now a small backlog of odds and ends. So, rather than let these experiences go to waste, and in the spirit of releasing all the old things of this year, I'm cranking out as many entries as I can using these odds and ends as the new year rings in. Working backwards in chronological order.
Vanilla liqueur and Amaro, or Two out of three ain't bad
Dec. 15
My first stop of the evening was at Pranna, where Navan was hosting a cocktail pairing dinner. The thing I find kind of interesting about Navan's events are they're rarely just a "Hey, here's our product, try some of it," type of thing. The events always try to bring in different elements that seem to make it more like an overall atmospheric lifestyle marketing in a way. With heavy emphasis on vanilla or the whole exotic angle of where vanilla comes from.
For example, at a previous Navan event I went to, besides cocktails, but there was also food, a little vanilla educational area, as well as a sort of booth/set up from a New York flower shop that specializes in rare and exotic flowers and arrangements.
The dinner at Pranna, one of several that Navan holds, wasn't an exception. Scarves and Panama hats were set out as party favors.
Aisha Sharpe of Contemporary Cocktails, the outfit that created Pranna's beverage program, and Pranna bar managers Elba Giron and Justin Noel created the drinks served for the evening.
Before the dinner itself, two seperate cocktails were served with hors d'oeuvre. The Jayakarta was made with kaffir lime leaves, yuzu juice, guava puree, freshly extracted giner juice, Navan, and Aperol. The drink was then topped with brut sparkling wine and grated kaffir lime leaves. The Winter Punch was made with Sialor Jerry spiced rum, Navan, fresh pressed apple juice, fresh lemon juice freshly extracted ginger juice and angostura bitters. The drink was then garnished with pomegranate seeds and freshly grated nutmeg.
The dinner's first course of Penang Chicken Spring Rolls, Spinach Potato Curry Puffs and Crispy Paneer Lollipops was paired with a first course flight of cocktails were served amuse-bouche style in small shot glasses. The three different drinks reflected sweet, spicy and sour flavors. The Berry Twist for Thailand reflected sweet and was made with strawberries, Thai basil, fresh lemons and Navan, garnished with a strawberry heart and Thai basil sprig.
El Diablo, the Spicy Spice of the trio, got its heat from Thai Bird chile-infused Navan. Additional ingredients were Navan, El Tesoro blanco, fresh pressed pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice and Calamansi honey. Then a sprinkl of dried chile powder and sea salt for garnish.
The third drink, the Luzon Sour, was made with Granny Smith apples, fresh yuzu juice, fresh lemon juice, Tio Pepe Fino Sherry and Navan.
For the second course, we were served with several dishes family-style. There was Pandan Warpped Halibut with Navan Red Curry Sauce, Ancho Airline Chicken with a Navan Lemongrass sauce as well as Cumin-crusted Hanger Steak with a red wine peppercorn sauce.
The cocktail paired with this course was the Pandan Smash. Pandan Leaves, lemongrass syrup, fresh lemons and Navan was topped with sparkling water and garnished with a lemon wheel and Pandan strips.
I couldn't stick around for the third course that featured the rich-sounding dessert trio of Chocolate Fudge Cake with a Navan Chile Zabaglione, Navan Caramel Ice Cream and Banana Ginger Cake with a Chocolate Navan Cream and Vanilla Caramel. The drink for this course was called Winter Island. And the menu told me that this particular cocktail was to be made with Cruzan Single Barrel Rum, Navan, ripe bananas, green cardamom, Moscovado syrup, and angostura bitters.
Though I was curious, sadly, I had to leave that final drink untasted because I was scheduled to make an appearance at the Averna Appreciation Party and the dinner was running a little later than expected. The party was at Louis 649 all the way down on 9th street between avenues B and C.
I managed to pop in just as Bret Thorn was making his escape.
"Do you guys work in shifts or something?" Tad Carducci asked me as he saw me pop up at the bar with Bret heading out the door.
Tad and Damon Dyer were working the bar that evening. Don Lee was supposed to make an appearance since the party was supposed to congratulate him on his winning cocktail, La Cola Nostra, from the Averna competition a while back. Unfortunately, continued medical care for the arm he broke right before the aforementioned competition kept him from the event.
Damon was making toddies the good old-fashioned way that grandma used to make them when you had a cold, or maybe you couldn't fall asleep (or extra strong for those nights when she really needed you to sleep now), Blue Blazer style. Come on, everybody loves fire. I know I do.
I tried Don's La Cola Nostra Punch (Amaro Averna, Fantinel Prosecco, Zapaca Centenario rum, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, lime juice, simple syrup and lime wedges as garnishes), as well as two different toddies. I chatted a bit with Thanh-Nam Vo Duy (Hennessy) and J.C. Iglesias (Grand Marnier), talking about various fun topics, like having the three-tier system broken down for me.
There was another cocktail/bartender industry event planned at Pranna later in the evening, but I called it a night after the Averna Appreciation Party. It was drizzly and my shoes were killing me.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Vino de Jerez sherry competition
December 9
I showed up at Clover Club around 7-ish. It kind of worked out because I wasn't really sure if I was going to be allowed into the live competition part and the live competition started at 5 p.m., so that was going to be a little hard for me to make, what with having a regular office job.
I found myself a bit confused when I first showed up because it looked like business as usual in the front bar area. I figured that the competition was going on in the back bar and that I'm supposed to hang out here after all until the after party started at 8:30.
But to make sure I wasn't there on the wrong day or something I asked the folks up front where I should be for the Vino de Jerez competition.
"Are you a friend or here to see a competitor?" the hostess asked.
Good question, I thought. "Um, hmm...well, no, I suppose. I don't know. I just got an invite and RSVP'ed so I'm kind of not sure."
But somehow it was cool for me to be back there and I got ushered to the back. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw though. The place was lit up with video cameras and dudes with like headphones and laptops and stuff. It was a huge production.
"Dude, I wasn't expecting it to be like this," I said to Daniel Eun, who'd I'd just missed.
"Yea, the presentation is part of the judging process too," he answered.
So the finalists in this competition were:
Marshall Altier, Insieme and Terroir, New York
Joel Baker, Bourbon and Branch, San Francisco
Nathan Dumas, Clover Club, New York
Matt Eggleston, The Milk of Paradise Spirits Co., Los Angeles
Daniel Eun, PDT, New York
Chris Hannah, Arnaud's, New Orleans
Perez Klebahn, SUBA, New York
Timothy Lacey, The Drawing Room, Chicago
Carlos Olarte, Jaleo, Washington DC
Antonio Trillo, Nora’s Cuisine, Las Vegas
Neyah White, NOPA, San Francisco
And our judges for the evening: Dale DeGroff, Dave Wondrich, Julie Reiner, Andy Seymour, Jacques Bezuidenhout (who won last year) and Steven Olsen.
I snuck in all kinds of awkward and quickly said hi to folks before settling down on a bar stool to see what sort of things the competitors were bringing to the table. I'd come just as contestant Matt Eggleston was getting ready to do his thing.
His El Toro en la Colina, or Bull on the Hill, cocktial made with oloroso sherry, gin and bitters demerara and chartreuse. Now, where does the "bull" in the name come in? Believe it or not, this cocktail has some demi-glace in it.
Dale DeGroff asked Matt, "How does the chef feel about you using the demi-glace?"
"He doesn't know about it yet," Matt answered.
The cocktail also uses peppers in it so it's got a lot of flavors going on, but once Matt was done with his presentation, Julie called me over and told me to try it a bit and the thing was actually balanced and subtle. And there really was a beefiness hiding in the background. Well, beefiness doesn't sound right. More like a pleasingly phantom savory meat presence lurking in the background.
He'd even brought along his own antique glassware that the judges commented on. Dale said he liked the length of the stem as well as the size of drink the glass held.
Besides the actual taste, the cocktails picked had to be featured on a "working, existing restaurant or bar cocktail program" and the contestants were also judged by their written explanations of: "Why their cocktail is great. When to serve, and how. The precise recipe, proper garnish and ideal glass. The exact preparation method and steps of assembly. The perfect (bar) food match (and why?)"
You couldn't just spit good game on paper, you had to talk it to the judges as well. They did ask questions about what food they would go with or how they'd simplify the recipe for service. Questions by the judges, cameras and lighting all sound like things that would make me supremely nervous as separate entities, but the finalists I got to watch held up pretty well.
Nate Dumas got some good-natured ribbing from the judges about his "homefield advantage" because he works at the Clover Club (and you can catch him at PDT on sometimes).
Nate said that his cocktail, The Crossing, is pastry-inspired, taking into account flavors present in the Don Nuno oloroso like molasses, cocoa and coffee. Nate also explained that it's a nod to Don Nuno, since in his research (on Google, he added), he found that Don Nuño was an archbishop in the sherry region.
Nate chose the Don Nuño because of it's nutty and molassesy characteristic, and its dryness allowed him to be in control of the sweetness. Lemon and orange juice provided acidity, demerara sugar syrup for complexity and Laird's Bonded Applejack boosted the fruit flavors of the sherry, Amaro Carciofo. And to bring out some body and richness, egg whites.
Nate explained that previous he double-strained to get rid of the coarse bubbles, but found out that if he strained slowly, there's no need for him to take that extra step.
Nate finished off the drinks with a cross of Fee's aromatic bitters as well as some nutmeg.
Miguel Trillo of Nora’s Cuisine in Las Vegas also presented an egg white cocktail, and used cantaloupe and rosemary in his as well as bourbone and agave nectar. The drink had a bit of Vegas showiness to it with some flame action and a garnish skewer of candied cantaloupe, candied lemon and rosemary.
Joel Baker from Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco intrigued the judges with his use of Scotch for his Matador cocktail (name derived from his favorite 80s movie, "The Breakfast Club"). Joel said "the writing was on the wall...or on the bottle in this case" for his idea because the scotch he chose to use was aged in sherry barrels.
OK, but you don't want to hear me yammer on and on, you wanna hear who won. So we got shooed out for a bit while the judges had time to deliberate. I do best when left to my own devices. I make a nuisance of myself. I bugged Eben Freeman about some ridiculous theories and and half-baked conjectures I had been hashing out after being presented with a random cocktail question from somewhere else, Willy Shine and I asked Matt Eggleston about cocktails in Los Angeles, Alex Day told me he sent me an email that got lost in the ether about the new D&C menu was out and I jokingly accused him that he probably didn't want to tell me, then I forgot Pegu bartender Scott's name again even though Kenta Goto introduced me to him and mentioned his name to me more than once, and I demanded that Giuseppe Gonzalez make me some alcohol.
The back bar area finally opened up people got to sample the finalists' drinks. Thomas Waugh and Leo DeGroff busily made the drinks using batches the finalists made.
After folks got a chance to try out the drinks and nosh a bit, Steve Olsen announced the winners. The scoring was tough and close enough to result in a tie for third place between Daniel Eun and Joel Baker. Second place went to Nate Dumas and first place was Neyah White.
"California represent," Daniel Eun said, since he and Nate are originally from the West Coast.
The industry party in the back bar was supposed to go on in the wee hours, but I ducked out early (seeing a pattern here?). I wish sticking around longer was an option, but it was a school night.
I showed up at Clover Club around 7-ish. It kind of worked out because I wasn't really sure if I was going to be allowed into the live competition part and the live competition started at 5 p.m., so that was going to be a little hard for me to make, what with having a regular office job.
I found myself a bit confused when I first showed up because it looked like business as usual in the front bar area. I figured that the competition was going on in the back bar and that I'm supposed to hang out here after all until the after party started at 8:30.
But to make sure I wasn't there on the wrong day or something I asked the folks up front where I should be for the Vino de Jerez competition.
"Are you a friend or here to see a competitor?" the hostess asked.
Good question, I thought. "Um, hmm...well, no, I suppose. I don't know. I just got an invite and RSVP'ed so I'm kind of not sure."
But somehow it was cool for me to be back there and I got ushered to the back. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw though. The place was lit up with video cameras and dudes with like headphones and laptops and stuff. It was a huge production.
"Dude, I wasn't expecting it to be like this," I said to Daniel Eun, who'd I'd just missed.
"Yea, the presentation is part of the judging process too," he answered.
So the finalists in this competition were:
Marshall Altier, Insieme and Terroir, New York
Joel Baker, Bourbon and Branch, San Francisco
Nathan Dumas, Clover Club, New York
Matt Eggleston, The Milk of Paradise Spirits Co., Los Angeles
Daniel Eun, PDT, New York
Chris Hannah, Arnaud's, New Orleans
Perez Klebahn, SUBA, New York
Timothy Lacey, The Drawing Room, Chicago
Carlos Olarte, Jaleo, Washington DC
Antonio Trillo, Nora’s Cuisine, Las Vegas
Neyah White, NOPA, San Francisco
And our judges for the evening: Dale DeGroff, Dave Wondrich, Julie Reiner, Andy Seymour, Jacques Bezuidenhout (who won last year) and Steven Olsen.
I snuck in all kinds of awkward and quickly said hi to folks before settling down on a bar stool to see what sort of things the competitors were bringing to the table. I'd come just as contestant Matt Eggleston was getting ready to do his thing.
His El Toro en la Colina, or Bull on the Hill, cocktial made with oloroso sherry, gin and bitters demerara and chartreuse. Now, where does the "bull" in the name come in? Believe it or not, this cocktail has some demi-glace in it.
Dale DeGroff asked Matt, "How does the chef feel about you using the demi-glace?"
"He doesn't know about it yet," Matt answered.
The cocktail also uses peppers in it so it's got a lot of flavors going on, but once Matt was done with his presentation, Julie called me over and told me to try it a bit and the thing was actually balanced and subtle. And there really was a beefiness hiding in the background. Well, beefiness doesn't sound right. More like a pleasingly phantom savory meat presence lurking in the background.
He'd even brought along his own antique glassware that the judges commented on. Dale said he liked the length of the stem as well as the size of drink the glass held.
Besides the actual taste, the cocktails picked had to be featured on a "working, existing restaurant or bar cocktail program" and the contestants were also judged by their written explanations of: "Why their cocktail is great. When to serve, and how. The precise recipe, proper garnish and ideal glass. The exact preparation method and steps of assembly. The perfect (bar) food match (and why?)"
You couldn't just spit good game on paper, you had to talk it to the judges as well. They did ask questions about what food they would go with or how they'd simplify the recipe for service. Questions by the judges, cameras and lighting all sound like things that would make me supremely nervous as separate entities, but the finalists I got to watch held up pretty well.
Nate Dumas got some good-natured ribbing from the judges about his "homefield advantage" because he works at the Clover Club (and you can catch him at PDT on sometimes).
Nate said that his cocktail, The Crossing, is pastry-inspired, taking into account flavors present in the Don Nuno oloroso like molasses, cocoa and coffee. Nate also explained that it's a nod to Don Nuno, since in his research (on Google, he added), he found that Don Nuño was an archbishop in the sherry region.
Nate chose the Don Nuño because of it's nutty and molassesy characteristic, and its dryness allowed him to be in control of the sweetness. Lemon and orange juice provided acidity, demerara sugar syrup for complexity and Laird's Bonded Applejack boosted the fruit flavors of the sherry, Amaro Carciofo. And to bring out some body and richness, egg whites.
Nate explained that previous he double-strained to get rid of the coarse bubbles, but found out that if he strained slowly, there's no need for him to take that extra step.
Nate finished off the drinks with a cross of Fee's aromatic bitters as well as some nutmeg.
Miguel Trillo of Nora’s Cuisine in Las Vegas also presented an egg white cocktail, and used cantaloupe and rosemary in his as well as bourbone and agave nectar. The drink had a bit of Vegas showiness to it with some flame action and a garnish skewer of candied cantaloupe, candied lemon and rosemary.
Joel Baker from Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco intrigued the judges with his use of Scotch for his Matador cocktail (name derived from his favorite 80s movie, "The Breakfast Club"). Joel said "the writing was on the wall...or on the bottle in this case" for his idea because the scotch he chose to use was aged in sherry barrels.
OK, but you don't want to hear me yammer on and on, you wanna hear who won. So we got shooed out for a bit while the judges had time to deliberate. I do best when left to my own devices. I make a nuisance of myself. I bugged Eben Freeman about some ridiculous theories and and half-baked conjectures I had been hashing out after being presented with a random cocktail question from somewhere else, Willy Shine and I asked Matt Eggleston about cocktails in Los Angeles, Alex Day told me he sent me an email that got lost in the ether about the new D&C menu was out and I jokingly accused him that he probably didn't want to tell me, then I forgot Pegu bartender Scott's name again even though Kenta Goto introduced me to him and mentioned his name to me more than once, and I demanded that Giuseppe Gonzalez make me some alcohol.
The back bar area finally opened up people got to sample the finalists' drinks. Thomas Waugh and Leo DeGroff busily made the drinks using batches the finalists made.
After folks got a chance to try out the drinks and nosh a bit, Steve Olsen announced the winners. The scoring was tough and close enough to result in a tie for third place between Daniel Eun and Joel Baker. Second place went to Nate Dumas and first place was Neyah White.
"California represent," Daniel Eun said, since he and Nate are originally from the West Coast.
The industry party in the back bar was supposed to go on in the wee hours, but I ducked out early (seeing a pattern here?). I wish sticking around longer was an option, but it was a school night.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
What I did for Repeal Day
Honestly? Not that wild. In fact, I was trying to see how much I could get done before midnight so I could be home at a reasonable hour. I wasn't planning on upping the punx or anything like that. I was tired, man. By the time Friday rolled around I was just not in the mood for putting up with ridiculousness, so when you add Friday night crowds with Repeal Day, that's too many possibilities for ridiculousness. I wish I had some crazy party stories about me drinking out of a comically huge martini glass and doing body shots of George T. Stagg or something, but I was in grumpy old mode.
Regardless of my grumpiness, I wanted to go and check out the DISCUS party at the Back Room since Jonathan Pogash was nice enough to invite me and I wanted to see what kind of shindig DISCUS would throw. When I got there, a band was playing away and I spotted Jonathan busily making Mary Pickfords. He said he marinated his own cherries using pitted dark cherries you can buy in a jar and letting it sit with some Jerry Thomas Decanter bitters and Woodford Reserve for 24 hours.
I asked Jonathan if he had an insane night planned, hoping to live vicariously through him, but he said he was probably going to finish up the DISCUS event then go home to celebrate it with his family his own way. Considering up until a day or two ago, my plans for celebrating Repeal Day was to go home and sample all the random bottles of booze I had (it's called spirit EDUCATION), I nodded in agreement. But Jonathan said I should try and stick around since Dave Wondrich was going to give a brief talk about his bathtub gin.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Toby Cecchini was there as well and making Manhattans. He also brought along his own homebrew cherries. His recipe called for half of maraschino liqueur and half rhum agricole with some vanilla bean pods added for extra flavor. He asked me if I wanted a Manhattan. Who was I to argue with Toby Cecchini? I knocked back the rest of the Mary Pickford in my teacup.
After the Manhattan, I strolled up to the bar and asked for a Girl Friday. The fruity sloe gin and crisp cucumber flavors perked me up a bit.
Terence Miller was there, and I hadn't seen him since the Marie Brizard event. It took me a second or two to recognize him and I stared at him for a bit thinking over and over in my head, "That dude is way tall and totally looks familiar."
"Is it just more does it seem like more people are celebrating Repeal Day?" he asked me.
I KNOW, I thought then explained to him how I made a similar observation in a blog post previous to this one.
Dave Wondrich got up to give a little talk about the significance of Repeal Day. How immigrants helped to perfect the art of creating single-serving drinks. How the use of ice was also a very American thing. The art of the cocktail mirrored the melting pot aspect of America.
Thanks to Prohibition, the bartender, considered to this point a gentleman with a trade that the learned, became a criminal.
This meant many went on to foreign ports like Europe or Asia, but some stayed. Maybe working for private country clubs.
Nonetheless, they had to get the wares for their trade from other criminals, and this usually meant booze with quality that couldn't be accounted for, sometimes adulterated. After Prohibition was repealed, some of the old-timers returned, but pretty much bartenders "had to build up from the ground."
"We're living in the second Golden Age of the cocktail," Dave told the crowd that gathered. "If you like to tipple...you can get a cocktail as good as it comes."
However, to "commemorate the Dark Ages," Dave gave a demonstration of bathtub gin creation.
The base of bathtub gin was grain alcohol. Dave explained that sources varied. Either they were industrially made with unwanted chemicals included in the mix, or maybe something made from table scraps in a basement in Brooklyn.
For his demonstration, Dave Wondrich used some good quality vodka, joking that this was probably the best quality bathtub gin you could get.
The next important ingredient for bathtub gin was creating the gin flavor, which is juniper. The juniper extract/flavoring could be created by boiling juniper berries and straining them out.
"Now this is the really important part," Dave added. "The aging...it's aging even as we speak."
Everyone laughed and he went on to "bottle" his gin and even added a label.
The bar was serving Dave's bathtub gin martini, but I skipped out to go to Devin Tavern an Old Forester event I'd RSVP'ed to. It was A Repeal Day event as well as a media preview for the limited release for the Old Forester Repeal Bourbon. The bar was serving classic cocktails using Old Forester and had some Prohibition-era extras. Such as Fritos and chicken salad sandwichs made with WonderBread and Tootsie Roll Pops with a little bit of history on the items.
I didn't rest my feet too long in Tribeca and inched my way up towards the East Village. I don't know if it was because it was Repeal Day or drinks I had, but the grape-flavored Tootsie Pop I snagged from a bowl at the Old Forester event put me in a Kojak mood. I stuck the lollipop in my mouth and said "Who loves ya, baby?" to myself as I stuck my hands deep into my coat pockets and stalked the night streets.
I had a feeling Death and Co. would be filled to the gills, because again, come on, Friday+Repeal Day, but it was on my way so I turned my feet in that direction.
Just as I suspected there was pretty much no way in. I tried to walk past as several other parties tried their best to see if they could at least get a foot past the threshold, but something was slowing my gait. Maybe I was going crazy, but thanks to Alex Day telling me about the Rittenhouse 23 special, I felt like I could feel it beckoning me from inside. I could hear its heartbeat; practically taste it. The expectation of silky amber fire asking me to at least take a chance. "Couldn't hurt to leave your number right?" the velvety imagined voice purred in my head.
"Aw, crap, I have a problem," I thought. I left my name and number at the door, even though from the look of the list my chances of getting in at a resonable time were nil.* I sighed, then girded myself to head towards Yerba Buena.
Before leaving the country, Don Lee had dropped me an email telling me I should check out Artemio Vasquez's drink program. Artemio's an alum of both PDT and Pegu Club. Every now and then you might've seen him at Pegu when Audrey needs to call in folks for back up. He was there during the Blue Blazer event as well, working the behind the bar.
Yerba Buena was also like a can of sardines, but I wasn't going to be rebuffed so I found a corner of the bar I could squeeze myself into. Since the Prohibition special menu list was basically classic cocktails, I skipped that to take a look at their regular stuff.
The regular menu also featured some classics like the Aviation and the Dark and Stormy. There were also a few featured friends drinks such as Dale De Groff's Whiskey Smash, Milk and Honey's Dominicana and Audrey Sander's Pisco Punch.
I decided to try out the Pisco Guava first. Made with pisco, guava puree and fresh lemon juice, it was tart and not too sweet. The very slight muscat-y grapiness in the pisco paired really well with the guava.
I saw that the Desert Rose was clearly the star of the menu. I'd tried it back when Artemio's drink was featured in one of PDT's old menus under their friends and family section. It was sellng like hot cakes that evening and as I stood at the bar waiting for my drink I counted, two, five...six of them go out before I got mine. They continued to fly out from behind the bar long after too.
I introduced myself to Artemio and chatted a bit. He mentioned he made a new drink called the Peruvian Kiss, which was basically a Pisco Sour, but using blue corn "liqueur." He asked if I wanted to try it and intrigued, I said I'd like to. He got one of the servers to bring over a plastic tub of inky liquid. It was the corn, the he'd cooked down for four-five hours, releasing the flavors and color into the water. I asked for a little bit of the corn on it's own. I popped an indigo kernel of corn into my mouth and chewed on it. Yep, it was corn all right. With no special seasoning or anything. Just corn. But then Artemio gave me a glass of royal blue cocktail. I took a sip. The drink was a pisco sour all right, but there was definitely adding a certain I don't know what to it.
"Did you put any bitters into this?" I asked trying to figure it out. Artemio smiled and said no, that it was just the corn's liqueur. I took several more sips. It didn't taste like corn, but there was a different sort of vegetal something or other going on. Artemio said he called it the Peruvian Kiss because the blue corn colors your tongue a little bit.
The crowd loosened up but I was starting to feel the drain, so I packed up shop and promised to stop by again to try some of the other drinks some other time.
And that was how I spent my Repeal Day.
*I'd like to nip another rumor in the bud. I've had friends and other people ask me if I'm like the unofficial mayor of Boozetown and I just kick in doors all over New York and I drink all my drinks for free. People, this could not be further from the truth, and I've seen folks get this really disappointed look in their eyes when I tell them that. Honestly, I wish this were true because it'd make my job so much easier, but I'm just like you. I put on my pants one leg at a time and I sometimes have to deal with lines and wait lists. Every now and then I might get lucky and I admit I might have a disproportionate amount of dumb luck. However, in the spirit of keeping it real, not only am I quite rubbish at throwing my name around, but also, what name? I'm kind of not a big deal. In fact, it makes me all kinds of uncomfortable when such a thing gets suggested, because I really wish I was as cool as some people think I am.
Regardless of my grumpiness, I wanted to go and check out the DISCUS party at the Back Room since Jonathan Pogash was nice enough to invite me and I wanted to see what kind of shindig DISCUS would throw. When I got there, a band was playing away and I spotted Jonathan busily making Mary Pickfords. He said he marinated his own cherries using pitted dark cherries you can buy in a jar and letting it sit with some Jerry Thomas Decanter bitters and Woodford Reserve for 24 hours.
I asked Jonathan if he had an insane night planned, hoping to live vicariously through him, but he said he was probably going to finish up the DISCUS event then go home to celebrate it with his family his own way. Considering up until a day or two ago, my plans for celebrating Repeal Day was to go home and sample all the random bottles of booze I had (it's called spirit EDUCATION), I nodded in agreement. But Jonathan said I should try and stick around since Dave Wondrich was going to give a brief talk about his bathtub gin.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Toby Cecchini was there as well and making Manhattans. He also brought along his own homebrew cherries. His recipe called for half of maraschino liqueur and half rhum agricole with some vanilla bean pods added for extra flavor. He asked me if I wanted a Manhattan. Who was I to argue with Toby Cecchini? I knocked back the rest of the Mary Pickford in my teacup.
After the Manhattan, I strolled up to the bar and asked for a Girl Friday. The fruity sloe gin and crisp cucumber flavors perked me up a bit.
Terence Miller was there, and I hadn't seen him since the Marie Brizard event. It took me a second or two to recognize him and I stared at him for a bit thinking over and over in my head, "That dude is way tall and totally looks familiar."
"Is it just more does it seem like more people are celebrating Repeal Day?" he asked me.
I KNOW, I thought then explained to him how I made a similar observation in a blog post previous to this one.
Dave Wondrich got up to give a little talk about the significance of Repeal Day. How immigrants helped to perfect the art of creating single-serving drinks. How the use of ice was also a very American thing. The art of the cocktail mirrored the melting pot aspect of America.
Thanks to Prohibition, the bartender, considered to this point a gentleman with a trade that the learned, became a criminal.
This meant many went on to foreign ports like Europe or Asia, but some stayed. Maybe working for private country clubs.
Nonetheless, they had to get the wares for their trade from other criminals, and this usually meant booze with quality that couldn't be accounted for, sometimes adulterated. After Prohibition was repealed, some of the old-timers returned, but pretty much bartenders "had to build up from the ground."
"We're living in the second Golden Age of the cocktail," Dave told the crowd that gathered. "If you like to tipple...you can get a cocktail as good as it comes."
However, to "commemorate the Dark Ages," Dave gave a demonstration of bathtub gin creation.
The base of bathtub gin was grain alcohol. Dave explained that sources varied. Either they were industrially made with unwanted chemicals included in the mix, or maybe something made from table scraps in a basement in Brooklyn.
For his demonstration, Dave Wondrich used some good quality vodka, joking that this was probably the best quality bathtub gin you could get.
The next important ingredient for bathtub gin was creating the gin flavor, which is juniper. The juniper extract/flavoring could be created by boiling juniper berries and straining them out.
"Now this is the really important part," Dave added. "The aging...it's aging even as we speak."
Everyone laughed and he went on to "bottle" his gin and even added a label.
The bar was serving Dave's bathtub gin martini, but I skipped out to go to Devin Tavern an Old Forester event I'd RSVP'ed to. It was A Repeal Day event as well as a media preview for the limited release for the Old Forester Repeal Bourbon. The bar was serving classic cocktails using Old Forester and had some Prohibition-era extras. Such as Fritos and chicken salad sandwichs made with WonderBread and Tootsie Roll Pops with a little bit of history on the items.
I didn't rest my feet too long in Tribeca and inched my way up towards the East Village. I don't know if it was because it was Repeal Day or drinks I had, but the grape-flavored Tootsie Pop I snagged from a bowl at the Old Forester event put me in a Kojak mood. I stuck the lollipop in my mouth and said "Who loves ya, baby?" to myself as I stuck my hands deep into my coat pockets and stalked the night streets.
I had a feeling Death and Co. would be filled to the gills, because again, come on, Friday+Repeal Day, but it was on my way so I turned my feet in that direction.
Just as I suspected there was pretty much no way in. I tried to walk past as several other parties tried their best to see if they could at least get a foot past the threshold, but something was slowing my gait. Maybe I was going crazy, but thanks to Alex Day telling me about the Rittenhouse 23 special, I felt like I could feel it beckoning me from inside. I could hear its heartbeat; practically taste it. The expectation of silky amber fire asking me to at least take a chance. "Couldn't hurt to leave your number right?" the velvety imagined voice purred in my head.
"Aw, crap, I have a problem," I thought. I left my name and number at the door, even though from the look of the list my chances of getting in at a resonable time were nil.* I sighed, then girded myself to head towards Yerba Buena.
Before leaving the country, Don Lee had dropped me an email telling me I should check out Artemio Vasquez's drink program. Artemio's an alum of both PDT and Pegu Club. Every now and then you might've seen him at Pegu when Audrey needs to call in folks for back up. He was there during the Blue Blazer event as well, working the behind the bar.
Yerba Buena was also like a can of sardines, but I wasn't going to be rebuffed so I found a corner of the bar I could squeeze myself into. Since the Prohibition special menu list was basically classic cocktails, I skipped that to take a look at their regular stuff.
The regular menu also featured some classics like the Aviation and the Dark and Stormy. There were also a few featured friends drinks such as Dale De Groff's Whiskey Smash, Milk and Honey's Dominicana and Audrey Sander's Pisco Punch.
I decided to try out the Pisco Guava first. Made with pisco, guava puree and fresh lemon juice, it was tart and not too sweet. The very slight muscat-y grapiness in the pisco paired really well with the guava.
I saw that the Desert Rose was clearly the star of the menu. I'd tried it back when Artemio's drink was featured in one of PDT's old menus under their friends and family section. It was sellng like hot cakes that evening and as I stood at the bar waiting for my drink I counted, two, five...six of them go out before I got mine. They continued to fly out from behind the bar long after too.
I introduced myself to Artemio and chatted a bit. He mentioned he made a new drink called the Peruvian Kiss, which was basically a Pisco Sour, but using blue corn "liqueur." He asked if I wanted to try it and intrigued, I said I'd like to. He got one of the servers to bring over a plastic tub of inky liquid. It was the corn, the he'd cooked down for four-five hours, releasing the flavors and color into the water. I asked for a little bit of the corn on it's own. I popped an indigo kernel of corn into my mouth and chewed on it. Yep, it was corn all right. With no special seasoning or anything. Just corn. But then Artemio gave me a glass of royal blue cocktail. I took a sip. The drink was a pisco sour all right, but there was definitely adding a certain I don't know what to it.
"Did you put any bitters into this?" I asked trying to figure it out. Artemio smiled and said no, that it was just the corn's liqueur. I took several more sips. It didn't taste like corn, but there was a different sort of vegetal something or other going on. Artemio said he called it the Peruvian Kiss because the blue corn colors your tongue a little bit.
The crowd loosened up but I was starting to feel the drain, so I packed up shop and promised to stop by again to try some of the other drinks some other time.
And that was how I spent my Repeal Day.
*I'd like to nip another rumor in the bud. I've had friends and other people ask me if I'm like the unofficial mayor of Boozetown and I just kick in doors all over New York and I drink all my drinks for free. People, this could not be further from the truth, and I've seen folks get this really disappointed look in their eyes when I tell them that. Honestly, I wish this were true because it'd make my job so much easier, but I'm just like you. I put on my pants one leg at a time and I sometimes have to deal with lines and wait lists. Every now and then I might get lucky and I admit I might have a disproportionate amount of dumb luck. However, in the spirit of keeping it real, not only am I quite rubbish at throwing my name around, but also, what name? I'm kind of not a big deal. In fact, it makes me all kinds of uncomfortable when such a thing gets suggested, because I really wish I was as cool as some people think I am.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Happy Repeal Day everybody
As I said to a friend, Repeal Day is kind of like bartender Easter. Except, instead of the stone rolling away and Christ not being in his grave, it's more like the stone rolled away and the Volstead Act disappeared. Alcohol has risen, forever and ever, amen.
It seems like Repeal Day's prominence grew in recent years along with the whole classic cocktails and the professional cocktailian in the bar scene business. Of course, that could just be bias on my part since I've only started observing this section of the service industry in the past couple of years myself.
Either way, Repeal Day is starting to look more and more like an actual holiday. Not like day off holiday like Christmas or something, but more like...Halloween! Yes, that's exactly it. You don't get a day off, but you're more than willing to try and have some kind of fun with it, consequences be damned.
And just like this year's Halloween, Repeal Day falls on a Friday. You get a whole weekend to recover from it.
The folks at Dewar's Scotch Whiskey say that they were one of the first liquors to be served legally in the United States 75 years ago today, and to commemorate that, they're holding events in several cities. For example, in New Orleans, several historic bars and restaurants like the Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar, Napoleon House, Court of Two Sisters, Antoine's and Commander's Palace, are participating in Repeal Day celebrations with drink specials.
There are 20 locations in New York also participating in the Dewar's Repeal Day festivities, with bars like Puck Fair, Old Town Bar, DBA and Side Bar serving Prohibition era drink specials and actors in period costume showing up to kick off the events.
Yerba Buena's Artemio Vasquez has a special drink list of classic cocktails for a Repeal Day menu that'll be available until the end of the month. Enjoy a Jack Rose Vieux Carre for just ten bucks and keep the party going until the New Year is knocking on your door.
I got an invite from Tad Carducci about Apothecary's Repeal Day party, but it's out in Philadelphia so it's not exactly a quick subway ride away.
Interestingly, these were the only bits of news I'd received about Repeal Day, and that didn't seem right at all. I tried hitting up Don Lee for some leads on what might be going on. He was getting ready to leave for Bordeaux and had only some fuzzy details about several events out of town (like in D.C.) and a possibility of drink specials at Death and Co.
I guess it was time to start using modern technology to my advantage.
I hit up Facebook and wrote "Hey, there better be some Repeal Day bartender shenanigans happening that I can write about. It falls on a Friday. Seriously, guys. Or I'll be a sad panda" as my new status.
Soon Jonathan Pogash informed me that DISCUS would be throwing a party at The Back Room. Neat, and noted. Anybody else? I ventured over to Alex Day's wall to leave a guilt trip message. He soon responded that Death and Company would be serving Old Fashioned, Manhattans and Sazeracs at a discounted price using good brown spirits ("Rittenhouse 23, last year's Antique Collection," he said).
I then pulled out my phone. And you have to understand that it's serious when my phone gets involved because I don't really like the telephone as a means of communication all that much. I compromise by copiously texting rather than actually talking. So I texted Kenta Goto if Pegu had anything planned and he responded that a bunch of classics would be on the menu as special drinks.
It doesn't have to be anything spectacularly special to celebrate Repeal Day, though I'd be surprised that more bars or alcohol serving establishments aren't taking advantage of today. Especially in an economy like this, why not have drink specials for a day that's all about celebrating the ability to drink? It seems like a great promotional opportunity to bring up beverage sales — particularly mixed drink sales — during the weird limbo we spend sandwiched between two holiday seasons that put more emphasis towards staying in with families than going out to celebrate.
And you know what, let people who don't drink join in on the fun. No need to hold grudges; Prohibition is in the past. In fact, use it to your advantage. Non-drinking friends on a night out with boozers need to drink something too. Especially if you're not a drinks-focused place like a cocktail lounge and more of a restaurant, think about the fun you could have. I think it'd be hilarious to feature a versus drink menu. One side could be called "The Prohibition Party" or "Dries" featuring either virgin versions of cocktails or some good non-alcoholic beverages while the other side has a cocktails section with names like "Wets" or "The REAL Party".
Either way, don't feel bad if you don't find yourself celebrating Repeal Day with bells and whistles. You don't have to retrain your staff to make fancypants cocktails if that's not what they do. Beer and well drink specials are fine. Maybe a boilermaker special called the "Because I Can"? The point is people can drink alcohol if and when they please! Wooooooo!
Or how about commemorating Repeal Day by simply providing great beverage service in honor of all that could've been lost in Prohibition. In fact, give your servers a background into the history as a bit of trivia they can provide their customers with that might edge them towards getting that glass of wine they were on the fence about.
It seems like Repeal Day's prominence grew in recent years along with the whole classic cocktails and the professional cocktailian in the bar scene business. Of course, that could just be bias on my part since I've only started observing this section of the service industry in the past couple of years myself.
Either way, Repeal Day is starting to look more and more like an actual holiday. Not like day off holiday like Christmas or something, but more like...Halloween! Yes, that's exactly it. You don't get a day off, but you're more than willing to try and have some kind of fun with it, consequences be damned.
And just like this year's Halloween, Repeal Day falls on a Friday. You get a whole weekend to recover from it.
The folks at Dewar's Scotch Whiskey say that they were one of the first liquors to be served legally in the United States 75 years ago today, and to commemorate that, they're holding events in several cities. For example, in New Orleans, several historic bars and restaurants like the Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar, Napoleon House, Court of Two Sisters, Antoine's and Commander's Palace, are participating in Repeal Day celebrations with drink specials.
There are 20 locations in New York also participating in the Dewar's Repeal Day festivities, with bars like Puck Fair, Old Town Bar, DBA and Side Bar serving Prohibition era drink specials and actors in period costume showing up to kick off the events.
Yerba Buena's Artemio Vasquez has a special drink list of classic cocktails for a Repeal Day menu that'll be available until the end of the month. Enjoy a Jack Rose Vieux Carre for just ten bucks and keep the party going until the New Year is knocking on your door.
I got an invite from Tad Carducci about Apothecary's Repeal Day party, but it's out in Philadelphia so it's not exactly a quick subway ride away.
Interestingly, these were the only bits of news I'd received about Repeal Day, and that didn't seem right at all. I tried hitting up Don Lee for some leads on what might be going on. He was getting ready to leave for Bordeaux and had only some fuzzy details about several events out of town (like in D.C.) and a possibility of drink specials at Death and Co.
I guess it was time to start using modern technology to my advantage.
I hit up Facebook and wrote "Hey, there better be some Repeal Day bartender shenanigans happening that I can write about. It falls on a Friday. Seriously, guys. Or I'll be a sad panda" as my new status.
Soon Jonathan Pogash informed me that DISCUS would be throwing a party at The Back Room. Neat, and noted. Anybody else? I ventured over to Alex Day's wall to leave a guilt trip message. He soon responded that Death and Company would be serving Old Fashioned, Manhattans and Sazeracs at a discounted price using good brown spirits ("Rittenhouse 23, last year's Antique Collection," he said).
I then pulled out my phone. And you have to understand that it's serious when my phone gets involved because I don't really like the telephone as a means of communication all that much. I compromise by copiously texting rather than actually talking. So I texted Kenta Goto if Pegu had anything planned and he responded that a bunch of classics would be on the menu as special drinks.
It doesn't have to be anything spectacularly special to celebrate Repeal Day, though I'd be surprised that more bars or alcohol serving establishments aren't taking advantage of today. Especially in an economy like this, why not have drink specials for a day that's all about celebrating the ability to drink? It seems like a great promotional opportunity to bring up beverage sales — particularly mixed drink sales — during the weird limbo we spend sandwiched between two holiday seasons that put more emphasis towards staying in with families than going out to celebrate.
And you know what, let people who don't drink join in on the fun. No need to hold grudges; Prohibition is in the past. In fact, use it to your advantage. Non-drinking friends on a night out with boozers need to drink something too. Especially if you're not a drinks-focused place like a cocktail lounge and more of a restaurant, think about the fun you could have. I think it'd be hilarious to feature a versus drink menu. One side could be called "The Prohibition Party" or "Dries" featuring either virgin versions of cocktails or some good non-alcoholic beverages while the other side has a cocktails section with names like "Wets" or "The REAL Party".
Either way, don't feel bad if you don't find yourself celebrating Repeal Day with bells and whistles. You don't have to retrain your staff to make fancypants cocktails if that's not what they do. Beer and well drink specials are fine. Maybe a boilermaker special called the "Because I Can"? The point is people can drink alcohol if and when they please! Wooooooo!
Or how about commemorating Repeal Day by simply providing great beverage service in honor of all that could've been lost in Prohibition. In fact, give your servers a background into the history as a bit of trivia they can provide their customers with that might edge them towards getting that glass of wine they were on the fence about.
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