I’m on vacation this week and posting is light as a result. Sadly I’m not at Tales of the Cocktail conference – hopefully I’ll be able to go next year. I’m sure you can get lots of great updates from many of the cocktail blogs in my blog roll, especially Scofflaw’s Den.
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | July 9, 2009
Light Posting
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 30, 2009
Navan Vanilla Liqueur
I’ve been looking forward to reviewing Navan Natural Vanilla Liqueur for a while now, having received a sample bottle and accompanying materials about a month ago. Navan is a liqueur that combines natural vanilla from Madagasgar with aged French cognac. It’s made by the House of Grand Marnier, where they’ve brought their long experience to bear on this bottling.
The nose started off with a very strong scent of cognac. On second waft, though, the vanilla beans shone through. A little more time and the depth of the scent revealed itself with stronger dried fruit and honey profiles. It has a quite viscous mouth feel. The vanilla stands out up front, while towards the back of the palate there’s a stronger cognac taste. I also get an orange and cream flavor, showing the richness of this spirit. It’s quite sweet, but not unbearably so.
Before doing this tasting I experiment with Navan as an element in a tropical style drink.
White Hart Cocktail
1.5 oz gold rum (Appleton Estate VX)
1.0 oz white rum (Niesson Blanc Rhum Agricole)
4.0 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
.5 oz falernum syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
.5 oz Navan Vanilla LiqueurCombine rums, grapefruit juice, falernumm and bitters in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and give the good workout. Strain contents into a highball filled with crushed ice. Float Navan on top.
It was a fun and simple cocktail that I thought the Navan would add something to, though I can’t say it was my favorite creation ever.
CV Manhattan
For this tasting, though, I wanted to try something that evoked a more classic cocktail.
CV Manhattan
1.5 oz Jim Beam Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon
1.0 oz Jim Beam Distillers Series 7 Year Bourbon
0.5 oz Navan Vanilla Liqueur
3 dashes Dr. Schwartz Cherry-Vanilla BittersStir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a bourbon cherry.
What I found was that the Navan was a very sweet ingredient to mix with. I’d initially hoped that I could make this cocktail with just the Red Stag bourbon, but a 3:1 ratio proved way too sweet. Adding the regular bourbon balanced out the sweetness and the 3:2:1 ratio worked much better for this drink.
I think Navan has a lot of potential for a wide range of cocktails. Its sweetness will make it a bit of a bull in a china shop in some recipes and I certainly think most of what is on Navan’s website is going to be a bit overpowering for those who don’t want a very sweet drink. Fortunately the cognac side of Navan gives it some punch and, as I said, I look forward to seeing how else I can use this spirit in new recipes.
Posted in Bourbon, MBH Creations, Reviews
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 29, 2009
Mixtape Arsonist
Last night I attended Mixtape Arsonist, a special cocktail session put on by Adam Bernbach. Adam had promised that he’d be doing a number of one-off events after he left Bar Pilar. Rather than a traditional Cocktail Session modeled from BP of a set menu for all guests, Mixtape Arsonist was omakase. Adam said he had a general idea of six or more cocktails, with at least three lighter tastes and three full sized cocktails. Unfortunately I had a work obligation last night that prevented me from going through a longer sitting, so I asked Adam to keep it on the shorter side.
We started with a delicious light punch that included pisco, honeydew syrup, watermelon and sparkling wine (among other ingredients). I never think to myself, “Gee, I’d really like a nice glass of refreshing and tart punch!” But maybe I should change that. This stuff was great, especially coming in from a hot day in Washington DC.
Next up was a modified classic daiquiri. Instead of simple syrup, Adam made his one cane sugar syrup. And instead of using water to make the syrup, he used watermelon water. It gave the cocktail a slight hint of watermelon flavor to compliment the lime, cane, and rum tastes. The daiquiri and variations on it (the Papa Doble and Derek Brown’s Best Daiquiri Ever to name two in particular) have become one of my favorite cocktails in recent months. This new twist worked really well for me and definitely makes me want to try my making my own watermelon cane syrup.
The next two cocktails Adam made were DC classics. The first was a Bourbon Rickey, made with Willett and key lime juice. The Rickey is another drink that has recently made its way into my regular rotation, especially as weather has gotten hot here in the District. It’s simple, light, and refreshing – made with just a base spirit, lime juice, and club soda.
The second classic DC drink that Adam served was one I’d never heard of before, called the Hong Kong. I was familiar with a Hong Kong Cocktail made with gin, but this version is unique to DC and apparently recently rediscovered by Derek Brown in a turn of the century cocktail book. Here’s the recipe:
Hong Kong
2 parts scotch (Famous Grouse)
1 part dry vermouth (Dolin Dry)
1 part sweet vermouth (Dolin Rouge)
Barspoon of maraschino (Luxardo Maraschino)Stir and serve in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed lemon peel.
This was a simply phenomenal cocktail. The scotch flavor was far less dominant than I expected. The cocktail actually had a surprisingly similar taste to a Martinez. I loved the flavor – sweet, boozey, clean and clear. It pretty much is exactly the sort of cocktail that I most like to drink.
The other thing that was great about this cocktail is it is one of the few I recall having at one of Adam’s sessions that I could walk home and make for myself. One of the upsides of going to an event with a bartender like Adam is that you can have drinks made with syrups, infusions and other rare ingredients that you can’t expect to normally have at home. That’s not to say that the ingredients are inaccessible to home bartenders, but merely that it takes more time. As I noted above, I could see myself making the watermelon cane syrup – there’s no reason why I can’t. But for the most part, these aren’t things that I have lying around, ready to hand to replicate drinks I’ve had at a cocktail session. The Hong Kong is a big break with that tradition and quite an enjoyable discovery for me.
The final drink of the omakase session was another scotch drink, made with tamarind syrup, tea, and club soda. It was a delicious, complex drink that remained surprisingly light. Characteristic throughout the session was the drinks were light, refreshing, somewhat boozy and lightly sweet.
I’m not sure how many events I’ve been to with Adam Bernbach bartending. Quite a few, to be sure. This session was probably the most enjoyable I can recall. Pretty much everything was accessible, interesting, and very much the sort of drinks that I like. I’m only sorry that I wasn’t able to have it be a longer omakase session, as I’m sure Adam had more great drinks in store. Nonetheless, I can’t complain, as it was just a truly memorable course of tastings all in all.
Posted in Cocktails
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 24, 2009
Papa Hemingway Seminar
Phil Greene of the Museum of the American Cocktail will be giving a seminar at the Smithsonian in Washington DC on Ernest Hemingway and cocktails next month. Tickets are $65 for non-Smithsonian members like me, or $45 for members. In an email, Phil writes:
Please join me in celebrating Ernest Hemingway’s 110th birthday by enjoying some of the drinks he and his characters imbibed, during my seminar To Have and Have Another – The Hemingway Bartender’s Companion. The seminar will be held at the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian on July 15, from 6:45 to 8:45 pm. For members of Smithsonian Associates, the cost is $45, for general admission it’s $65.
I’ll be serving the Jack Rose (from The Sun Also Rises), the Green Isaac’s Special(Islands in the Stream), the Montgomery Martini (Across the River and Into the Trees), the Papa Doble Daiquiri (Islands in the Stream, and other sources), and the Death in the Afternoon (a classic mixture of champagne and absinthe). Plus, you’ll learn how to make these and other Hemingway drinks at home. You’ll also enjoy excerpts from Papa’s prose, letters, and biography, hear anecdotes about his life and times, and more.
You can buy tickets here.
Posted in Cocktail Culture
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 23, 2009
About That Neon Blue Cocktail…
For the various P.R. reps and advocates for various spirits who contact me via email with information about your products, I want to pass along a list of things that will almost certainly guarantee that I will not take interest in what you’re sending me.
Generally speaking, I like getting recipe ideas from brands. I hope that good brands are spending times with their brand ambassador bartenders to come up with recipes that are both interesting and profile the spirit in question well. However, I can say with a high degree of certainty that I will not post on your product or really even take it terribly seriously if the recipes you send me include any of the following ingredients:
- Sour mix
- Blue curacao
- Flavored vodka
- Any type of hyper-sweet schnapps-like thing (Rumpelmintz, Aftershock, 99 Bananas etc)
Here’s what I like:
- Bitters
- Freshly squeezed fruit juice
- Herbs
- Falernum, orgeat, or other specialty syrups
Now I get that my tastes don’t really fit in with the usual “specialty” cocktails that are used at TGI Fridays during the summer time to promote major brands. But this is more about knowing my audience. I’ve never had someone comment on this blog or email directly and say, “Hey Matt, I love what you’re doing, but why don’t you have more electric blue cocktails on your blog? Or why haven’t you showed my how to best use my neon green sour mix in a classy cocktail?” Unless I’m really off, my audience just doesn’t care about these sorts of cocktails.
I get to work with a lot of great PR folks for spirit companies. I don’t hold this against them and I’m certainly not calling anyone out in particular. I’ve just noticed that with the arrival of summer, the incidence of these god-awful recipes landing in my inbox has greatly increased. I love margaritas and I love the Fourth of July, but I don’t think those two loves justify posting neon blue concoctions that would likely put a diabetic into a coma.
</ rant>
Update:
What’s nice about getting in a foul mood about the bad recipes being sent out from liquor company PR reps is that when I get a good one, it gives me faith that the spirit industry isn’t devoid of promoting halfway decent cocktails. I just got this in my inbox from the fine folks at Combier triple sec.
“Jubilee Sangrita”
Created by Mixologist Darryl Robinson2 oz Silver tequila
1 oz Combier triple sec
2 oz Pinot Grigio
Fill with equal parts of White Cranberry and White Grape juices
Splash with Ginger Ale
Dash of Orange Bitters
Add Strawberries, Blueberries for the red, white and blue effect
This sounds pretty tasty. I’m going to the beach for the 4th and this looks exactly like something I’d like to make for the friends I’m staying with.
Posted in Blogs, Media, & Advertising
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 17, 2009
Saturday: Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival
I’m not sure how I’m just hearing about this now, but this Saturday in DC there will be the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival in National Harbor, Maryland. For $30, you can sample over 50 bourbons and spirits and over 30 beers.
I mean, really. What more could a guy want out of a Saturday afternoon? This is like the holy trinity of male epicurean pleasure. I can’t wait to go.
Saturday, June 20
12-6pm
National Harbor, MD
Directions
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 15, 2009
Expanding Horizons
Yesterday’s Washington Post included a letter to the editor by Nick Wineriter which was somewhat critical of the an article on the rise of craft cocktail bars in DC. The letter’s author, himself a bartender, bemoaned the lost stature of the simple orders in a bar like a beer and a bump.
Being an old-school bartender, I often wonder: Whatever happened to just a beer and a shot? Or a classic Manhattan? Or a classic anything? These old-school cocktails will always stand the test of time. How many bartenders know that a Manhattan requires a dash of bitters?
Well I think Wineriter will be happy to learn most of these cocktail bars actually primarily serve classic cocktails or drinks inspired in the same tradition as classic drinks. The menus include items that have roots going back 100, 150 or even nearly 200 years. I would hope that this bit of information satisfies Wineriter. In fairness, Wineriter was responding to an article where 5 DC craft bartenders were specifically asked to create new cocktail alternatives to the mojito (a drink which itself dates back to the late 1800s). He may be reacting to the creative process these bartenders were undergoing in finding new things that expand the imbibing options of a knowledgeable clientele.
But more to the point, I don’t think the efforts of craft bartenders to come up with new drinks as alternatives to classics or reviving classics that have been forgotten in any way stands in opposition to the past times of 99.9% of American bartenders. In the year and a half or so that I’ve been heavily involved in the craft cocktail movement — the first year as a customer, the last 10 months or so as a blogger and home bartender — my interest in really well crafted drinks has never stopped me from enjoying classics. On any given night, I’m more likely to order a domestic light beer, bourbon and ginger ale, or Jameson on the rocks than any fine cocktail. If I want a fancier cocktail, I’ll go to a bar that I know makes them. But I certainly haven’t stopped going to good ol’ fashioned dive bars, sports bars, hotel bars, or restaurant bars because I can’t get a perfectly made Ramos Gin Fizz.
A great deal of what appeals to me about the craft cocktail movement is that it adds a level of history and culinary adventurism to drinking that goes far beyond comparing vintages or flavor profiles of the spirits themselves. To me, this adds another avenue of enjoyment beyond intoxication. It’s just fun to geek out on cocktails. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t also fun to hang out at a deep dive, chat with the other patrons and make a new bartender friend. In fact, I consider myself a dive bar guy above all else. I can think of no other bar I’d rather hang out than a joint like Cherry Tavern or B-Side in New York City’s East Village. They’re dingy, concrete floored, beer and a shot type places with great punk rock on the jukebox. My enjoyment for the exquisite hasn’t tempered my like for what Wineriter likely would call “old fashioned” bars.
I’m not working in the bar industry so I can’t adequately assess how craft cocktails are impacting the business of someone like Wineriter. But I would hope that at best it means that every now and then a customer will have a new drink idea or recipe, tasted at a fine cocktail bar, that they want to tell him about while in his bar. At worst, it will mean that Wineriter has to learn a few new tricks to keep customers coming back. I don’t think either of these things are bad and, in the end, I don’t think Wineriter really does either.
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 12, 2009
Easy Drinks
Derek Brown’s latest post at The Atlantic looks at some very easy cocktails that make for good summer drinking. It’s a good list and I’d like to submit my favorite easy cocktail, which I’d say has more than 1 ingredient.
Untitled Vermouth Cocktail
3 oz Dolin Blanc
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6
2 dashes Fee Brothers West Indian Orange BittersPour in a crushed-ice-filled rocks glassed and stir a few times.
I love Dolin Blanc. This is about as close as I can get to drinking any vermouth neat. There’s a fairly heavy dose of bitters in this drink, in part because the vermouth is quite sweet. Fortunately the citrus and floral flavors of the vermouth lend themselves well to the citrus-orange bitter. It’s perfect on a hot summer day when you’re looking for something light and refreshing to cool off without putting in too much work.
Posted in MBH Creations, Vermouth
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 12, 2009
Bernbach to Proof
Posted by: Matt Hamlin | June 10, 2009
A Sweet Union: Bittermens & The Bitter Truth
I know well the moment I fell in love with craft cocktails. Sitting at the bar in Death & Company for the first time over a year and a half ago, I was sipping an old fashioned variation called The Conference. Holding a rocks glass that contained bourbon, rye, cognac, calvados, demerara syrup, angostura bitters and a hunk of ice the size of my fist, I marveled that such an intense recipe could taste so marvelous. What held it all together and made all the difference in the world in terms of how well the cocktail worked was the ingredient that was most unfamiliar to me: Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters. The chocolate flavor worked with the brown spirits and sugar syrup and added just the right complexity to a very boozy cocktail.
When I decided to stop merely visiting fine cocktail bars and learn to make my own drinks, I decided the best way to start would be to learn how to make my favorite drink, The Conference. So I went out and bought bottles of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Rittenhouse Rye, Courvoisier VSOP, Calvados Morin Selection, and Angostura bitters. Unfortunately when I searched for Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, I found they weren’t yet for sale; only select bartenders at high-end bars had been given access to them. By visiting Bittermens website, I found that the company was involved in a long-running struggle with the TTB and state level regulatory agencies covering food and alcohol. This resulted in repeated delays in their bitters arrival on the market. As a result, I couldn’t make an authentic version of The Conference (though I was able to get by on the generosity of Adam Bernbach – formerly of Bar Pilar – who gave me a small bottle of his delicious chocolate bitters).
The good news today is that Bittermens is partnering with The Bitter Truth, an incredible bitters company in Germany who makes some of the best craft bitters on the market, to distribute their Xocolatl Mole and Grapefruit bitters. They will be for sale later this month. You can preorder them online today at The Bitter Truth’s online store.
Obviously I’m ecstatic about this development. I’m already anxious to receive my bottle of Xocolatl Mole bitters and, for the first time, make The Conference as Brian Miller intended it.
Posted in Bitters, Fruit, & Syrups
