Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | January 10, 2010

Lauds Martini

On Friday night I had a couple friends over to my apartment for cocktails. One asked for a cocktail with vodka. Now I, like many other cocktail bloggers, don’t think much of vodka as an ingredient in cocktails. It’s not that I have anything against vodka. I regularly drink Vodka & Soda, Vodka & Red Bull, and probably my favorite vodka cocktail, the Bloody Mary. But a spirit that is so neutral as to not impart taste? There’s not a lot to do with it. I like flavor and I like combining flavors in new ways. Vodka doesn’t really lend itself to this, hence my disdain for it as an ingredient in craft cocktails.

That’s all well and good, but a guest had asked for a vodka cocktail and I felt an obligation to meet his request. One thing that came to mind was a Vesper Martini. The Vesper Martini is original to James Bond and is ordered in Casino Royale. Bond orders it with gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet, which means the rest of us now drink it with Lillet Blanc. But it’s heavily gin based and the vodka, while not incidental, is not the center of the drink.

Instead, I inverted the vodka and gin ratios and added orange bitters to replace some of the lost flavor that comes by reducing the amount of gin.

Lauds Martini

2 oz vodka
0.5 oz gin
0.5 oz Lillet Blanc
2 dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

While the Vesper Martini is named after Bond’s romantic interest in Casino Royale, vesper is also the Latin word for the evening’s major hour prayer. Since I inverted the vodka and gin, I thought lauds, the name for the morning’s major hour prayer, would work nicely.

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Posted in MBH Creations, Vodka

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | January 8, 2010

On Templeton Rye

The KC Free Press has a pretty good write-up and review of Templeton Rye. Templeton is a prohibition-era rye recipe from Iowa. It’s being made again, though only in small batches and it’s only available in Iowa and Illinois.

It was actually one of the first rye whiskeys I really got into drinking, back in my days on the campaign trail in Iowa. I’ve only had it a couple times since early 2008 and have a few friends who will remain nameless who’ve repeatedly failed to procure any Templeton for me when they come to visit.

Here are the description and tasting notes from the article by Craig Davis:

The mash bill consists of at least 51% rye, and Templeton ages their whiskey a minimum of four years in new, charred-oak barrels. The assertive grain and the age combine for a big, complex whiskey, served young enough to clean up its messy mouth feel with a bright burn. Like Carroll County itself, Templeton Rye is a wide, open whiskey, with a patchwork of distinct flavors and aromas that shuffle past like rows of corn from a car window — each one distinct, lined up straight and deep. In the glass it is a supple russet, the color of the late afternoon in fall.

With a leathery and slightly sour nose touched by hardy notes of citrus and a little duskiness, it is a fascinating glass. Its mouth feel is textured to the point of being chewy, but its flavor is lively and broad as a barn dance. The rye itself — so often described as spicy — is here something more like wild. The other grains in the mash bill are quiet, supple and expansive on the tongue, but the rye dominates. The finish is crisp, shortish and closes with a distinct suggestion of pickle. This whiskey is as distinct from bland Canadian ryes as it is from corn-based Bourbon or old-world barley whiskeys. From the heart of the corn-belt, this distillery reminds the drinker why rye was the grain of choice in pre-prohibition America whiskey: it can be bold and smooth at the same time.

It really is good stuff, if you can get your hands on it.

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Posted in Rye

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | January 7, 2010

Xeres Cocktail featuring Urban Moonshine Organic Bitters

There are plenty of times where I’m looking to have a cocktail that is as simple as they come – a spirit and some bitters. Obviously not every spirit works with this, but I’ve found it’s a good way to enjoy vermouth or sherry, especially if I’m looking for a lighter drink as an aperitif.

Here’s a recipe I recently enjoyed:

Xeres Cocktail

2.5 oz Amontillado Sherry
2 dashes Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters

Pour sherry into a snifter filled with crushed ice. Spray bitters on top & give the mix a quick swizzle.

I was recently sent some samples of Urban Moonshine’s organic bitters collection. They make an aromatic, a citrus, and a maple variation. Each are quite good — the “Original Bitters” are an interesting variation on a classic aromatic mix, deeply complex and well suited for use with bourbon and rye. The Maple Bitters are really delightful. I’ve become a fan of using maple syrup as a sweetener on some rum and bourbon based cocktails, particularly Old Fashioneds. But adding the Maple Bitters, which have a faithful taste to the syrup we know and love, really helps elevate this flavor profile.

But as someone who has about as many variations on orange bitters as I do other bitters, it’s no surprise that Urban Moonshine’s Citrus Bitters were what most interested me. Going beyond a straight orange flavor, these bitters bring in a good mix of lime, orange, and blood orange zest. It’s not a uniform flavor like most orange bitters are, which makes it a great alternative in a classic dry Martini. In this case, however, I found it married really well with Amontillado Sherry, creating a variation on the Xeres Cocktail and making a great aperitif.

Disclosure: This post was made possible because I received a free sample of  Urban Moonshine’s organic bitters line.

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Posted in Bitters, Fruit, & Syrups, Reviews, Sherry

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | January 4, 2010

AGAINN’s Mayflower Martini

A relatively new entry to the DC restaurant and cocktail scene is Againn. It’s styled like a British pub, though the quality of food definitely puts it in the gastropub category in my book. There whiskey selection is large and they have some great beers on tap. They also have an impressive house cocktail selection that includes many originals. Their cocktails include a lot of unique ingredients and infused spirits. It was far more comprehensive and creative than I’d expected to come across.

While there was a lot on their cocktail menu that looked interesting and worth trying, one thing stood out to me: the Mayflower Martini. The ingredient list says it’s made with “osmanthus infused plymouth, dolin blanc, dolin dry, lemon bitters.” I wasn’t familiar with osmanthus, but did some research and was interested to see that the plant isn’t commonly used in food or cooking. The odors associated with it suggest that by itself it has a fruity, peachy scent. Also known as fragrant tea olive, osmanthus has a strong jasmine or rose smell.

In any event, the Mayflower Martini had a light, sweet, refreshing taste. It was heavy in its vermouth profile and given the inclusion of the Dolin Blanc and the osmanthus, there was a heavy  peach and citrus taste to the cocktail. Together it was sweeter and less crisp than a dry Martini, but it was still delightful.

I didn’t get the recipe, but if I had to guess at the recipe, here’s what I’d put forward:

Mayflower Martini (MBH interpretation)

2 oz Plymouth gin
1 oz Dolin Blanc
1 oz Dolin Dry
2 dashes lemon bitters

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I’m guessing here that the gin to vermouth ratio was 2:1:1. It’s certainly possible that there was a bit more gin than vermouth and the strength was masked by the sweetness of the Dolin Blanc. I don’t know how the osmanthus was infused in the gin, so I’m not putting it forth here. Plus this is a recipe that should be replicable with relative ease at home as is. Hopefully it’s not too far off!

Update:

Josh Harris of The Bon Vivants has posted the correct recipe for the Mayflower Martini in the comments and it has even more vermouth than I’d initially thought.

Mayflower Martini

1 oz Osmanthus Infused Plymouth
.75 oz Dolin Blanc
.75 oz Dolin Dry
2 dashes Lemon Bitters

I had speculated that the ratio was gin to Dolin Dry to Dolin Blanc was 2:1:1 (or a total of equal parts gin and vermouth). In fact, it’s 4:3:3, for a total of two parts gin to three parts vermouth.

Also, I updated my take on this recipe to remove the obvious typo of citing Dolin Rouge when I meant Dolin Dry. D’oh!

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Posted in Bars, Gin

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 31, 2009

Martini Primer

Via Gaz Regan, Jon Bonne had a great analysis of how to make a classic dry gin martini in the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this month. He joins with some of the Bay Area’s top bartenders to evaluate gins, vermouths, ratios, shaking, stirring, stirring time, ice quantity and a few other details to produce a set of recommendations on how to best make a dry martini. As an introduction to people who have not yet developed their own preferences for martini composition, it’s a fantastic jumping off point. The Martini is an intense cocktail in its simplicity and you only begin to understand how limitless it can be until you begin to embrace its variation in search of your own balance.

Regular readers of this blog know that my preferred Martini contains equal parts of gin and dry vermouth, along with two dashes of orange bitters. My personal variations come in changing which gins and vermouths are pared together. But lately, when out at bars or restaurants, I’ve taken to trying new combinations. After getting frustrated with the inability for waiters to correctly relay the fact that I want a 1:1 Martini (or bartenders’ refusal to accept that someone would want to drink that), I’ve started to explore downward ratios of gin to vermouth. I’m doing this by ordering a Martini and only specifying the gin and a twist. At that point, I’m leaving it up to the guy behind the stick.

What’s interesting about this is that I can actually pass a judgement on who’s behind the bar. When I get a cold glass of gin back, I know that, at minimum, the bartender doesn’t have much of an appreciation of this classic cocktail, instead paying homage to the overwrought bravado of customers who want a glass of gin with their dinner. On the other hand, when I get  a Martini back that’s made at around 4:1 or 5:1 (which is the sweet spot Benne and his experiments showed), I have a great deal of appreciation that at least the cocktail I was given was made to a somewhat standard ratio of gin to vermouth. It’s not necessarily the version of the Martini that makes my heart sing, but I can enjoy it nonetheless.

And after all, beyond making it for myself at home, there are only a few bartenders around DC who really know how I like a Martini. Getting a Martini that is perfect for me outside my home is tough and I always enjoy it that much more when it’s done exactly right. The poor imitations that often emerge when stale Martini & Rossi dry and Beefeater are combined 1:1 just don’t do justice to the drink I love.

What’s odd about this is that I am a firm believer that it is the bartender’s job to give a guest whatever they order, exactly as they order it. In this sort of situation, I normally would oppose not ordering a drink how I want it. Maybe it’s a phase I’m going through, maybe I’m bored with explaining a cocktail recipe to dumbfounded waiters. But for now, at least, I’m relaxing my Martini standards when I’m out.

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Posted in Cocktails, Gin, Vermouth

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 27, 2009

Benedictine Cocktails

First, apologies for the light posting. I’ve been traveling a lot lately, both for work and for the holidays. Hopefully I’ll be able to pick up my pace again soon.

Jonathan Miles of the New York Times has an interesting article about the history and mysteries of Benedictine liqueur. The 500th anniversary of Benedictine will be celebrated in 2010, making it one of the oldest and most storied liqueurs in the Western world. Of note in the article are two interesting recipes, one from Damon Dyer of Louis 649 and the other from André Balazs’s Standard Hotel.

Monte Cassino by Damon Dyer

3/4 oz Bénédictine
3/4 oz yellow Chartreuse
3/4 oz freshly-squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz Rittenhouse 100-proof rye whiskey.

Mix the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

The Benediction from the Standard Hotel

3/4 oz Bénédictine
Dash orange bitters
Champagne, to top.

Add the Bénédictine to a Champagne flute, add the bitters, then fill with Champagne.

Of course, my personal favorite cocktail with Benedictine…

Cocktail a la Louisiane

3/4 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz Benedictine
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3 dashes absinthe
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

The a la Louisiane is what I consider to be a true cocktailians cocktail. It’s somewhat obscure and made with classic ingredients from top to bottom. It’s strong, boozy, savory, and complex. There aren’t too many cocktails that you can reliably order in a high-end cocktail bar and show you are of the cognoscenti in the same way as an a la Louisiane. Trust me and try it out, not only will you like the ensuing tipple you receive, you’ll probably also like having a bartender who geeks out with you on a tour through other great, rare cocktails.

Update:

In the comments, Dave points out that the NYT article has another cocktail in the body of the text. I initially failed to pull it out but it looks good too, so here it is:

Wisco Country Club from Joseph Leonard

1 oz gin
1 oz grapefruit juice
3/4 oz Benedictine
dash orange bitters
Top with champagne

Shake all ingredients except for champagne over ice. Strain into a champagne flute and top with champagne

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Posted in Benedictine, Cocktails

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 18, 2009

Rye Whiskey

Via Underhill Lounge:

If the ocean was whisky,
And I was a duck,
I’d dive to the bottom
To get one sweet suck.

But the ocean ain’t whisky
And I ain’t a duck,
So we’ll round up the cattle
And then we’ll get drunk.

More here.

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Posted in Rye

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 15, 2009

The Harlem Globetrotters of Flair

Sure that looks impressive, but I wonder what their Martinez tastes like.  Oh right, I probably can’t get one at TGI Fridays.

Still, tricks are cool.

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Posted in Blogs, Media, & Advertising

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 11, 2009

Holiday Cocktails

I’m not much of an egg nog fan, but as it gets cold and the holidays approach quickly, I do recommend a hot buttered rum or a scottish brose.

Here is Rum Dood’s hot buttered rum recipe. Because after all, if you’re going to serve a rum cocktail, the Dood abides:

Hot Buttered Rum

2 oz Rum
3 tsp Sugar
.5 tsp Allspice
.5 tsp Cloves
1 tbsp Butter
Hot Water

Warm a mug or glass, and then add sugar and about 1.5 oz of hot water to the mug.  Stir sugar and water until sugar is well-dissolved.  Add rum and spices and then fill top the mug with hot water.  Add butter and stir until butter is completely melted.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick and/or orange peel, depending on the flavor you’re looking for.

I like this recipe because it’s both very simple and it incorporates some extra spice that goes beyond the 19th century hot rum drinks that it closely resembles.

But the cocktail that is really piquing my interest lately is a Scottish Atholl Brose. I only first had it a week ago at the Repeal Day Ball, but it knocked my socks off. I’ve been trying to find a good recipe that makes sense and this is something that I think is sensible and manageable. Some recipes I saw only called for letting the oats mascerate for 30 minutes, while  others called for including raw egg white in the first step and letting it sit for a week before serving. I wasn’t sure that either of these steps were sensible. This entry, from WikiHow, seems to split the difference:

Atholl Brose

2 and 1/3 cups Scotch Whisky (560 mL)
1/2 cup steel-cut oatmeal (or other medium-coarse) (90 g)
2/3 c cream (140 mL)
1/4 c honey (90 g or about 60 mL)

  1. Combine the oatmeal and whisky in a shallow container. Cover with linen and leave in a cool place for at least 48 hours.
  2. Remove clear liquids from this mixture, using linen to squeeze last drop of whisky out of oatmeal solids.
  3. Transfer whisky to a container with a wide enough neck to stir.
  4. Very slowly pour the cream into the whisky, stirring with a wooden spoon.
  5. Add the honey even more slowly, stirring continually and evenly.
  6. Put the finished Brose in a storage bottle, if not already.
  7. Serve when ready.

I found that the honey is supposed to be stirred with a silver spoon, not a wooden one, so keep some silver close to hand. I also like the fact that this recipe requires advanced preparation and a strong measure of patience. Both of these characteristics should lead to more flavor, or at least a longer waiting period for the drink to be ready.

Enjoy!

9 Comments

Posted in Holidays, Rum, Scotch

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 7, 2009

2nd Annual DCCBG Repeal Day Ball

Wow, what a blast. There really is too much goodness to report – from the colloquies of cocktail bloggers and spirit aficionados, to meeting legendary bartender Dale DeGroff, to choosing from over a dozen amazing cocktails and punches, or enjoying delicious food at PS7s.

DeGroff’s cocktail was called Coctel Jerez. It was made with Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, Lustau PX Sherry, Lustau Dry Oloroso Sherry, Angostura Bitters & a flamed orange peel. Regular readers of this blog will know that this is a cocktail that is right in my wheelhouse: strong, savory, and balanced. It was crafted to be sipped alongside these delicious lightly fried ox tail balls. The match was great and it was pleasure to have an original Dale DeGroff creation for the event itself. Oh, plus Dale had the most artful and skillful technique for flaming a citrus peel I’ve ever seen.

Ed Hamilton of the Ministry of Rum was making a Ti’ Punch with Neisson Rhum Blanc, Petite Cane Syrup and tiny wedges of lime. The Ti’ Punch was one of the first cocktails that I ever got into and this was far and away the best I’d ever had.  Ed’s mix was light and delicate. He free-poured throughout and used only a tiny bit of syrup and lime. Nonetheless, the cocktail was balanced and refreshing.

There were other great cocktails that I don’t have any notes for. Todd Thrasher’s cocktail was delicious and included a nice measure of air on top. Adam Bernbach made a hot pisco punch that will go down as one of the most enjoyable warm cocktails I’ve ever had. A drink that was new to me and worked incredibly well on a cold December night was a variation on an Atholl Brose, a traditional Scottish cocktail made with scotch, honey, cream and oats. Simply delicious and much more potable than Egg Nog or a Tom & Jerry, in my opinion.

But my favorite drink of the night – the only one that I had twice – was Tad Carducci’s Gussied Up Breadline. Fortunately, I have the recipe for it:

Gussied Up Breadline

1.5 oz Averna Amaro
0.5 oz G’Vine Floraison Gin
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz ginger beer
1 oz club soda
5 fresh cranberries

Combine Averna, gin & lemon juice in an ice filled shaker, shake & strain into a highball glass. Top with ginger beer and club soda, garnish with cranberries.

It was sweet, savory, and refreshing all at once. Truly a delightful cocktail and one that consistently some of the longest lines of the party waiting for a chance to drink it.

As I said above, I had a blast at the Repeal Day Ball. It was a testament to how strong and vibrant the craft cocktail community in DC is, both that so many people from DC and so many cocktailian luminaries — Dale DeGroff, Jill DeGroff, Simon Ford, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Ed Hamilton, Tad Carducci, and others — came to the party. I can’t wait to next year, when the cocktail community in Washington will again have grown and the core leaders of the cocktail movement in DC — Derek Brown, Owen Thompson, Adam Bernbach, Gina Chersevani, Todd Thrasher, Clinton Terry, Chantal Tseng, Tom Brown and others — will have found new ways to increase the love of the cocktail in the District.

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Posted in Holidays

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 5, 2009

Review: The Glenlivet Nadurra Triumph 1991

I’ve never been a big scotch drinker. As I’ve become more and more engaged with classic cocktails, I’ve found a number of scotch-based cocktails that I like a lot — Blood & Sand, Hong Kong, and Rob Roy immediately come to mind. But generally speaking, my exposure to scotch through cocktails involves recipes that use blended scotches as a base, or use very peaty single malts as a rinse in the glass to add to a cocktail’s nose. I haven’t spent much time exploring single malt scotches, though I’ve become a regular reader of Whisky Party and have found it to be a great source of information on scotch whisky.

Here’s the run-down of the whisky in question today:

“The Glenlivet Nàdurra Triumph 1991 is a limited-edition expression of the Nàdurra range of single malts that will be available only in the United States beginning this November. Created using a single-source grain Triumph barley it was distilled and casked in Speyside in 1991 and has been aged 18 years.  The Glenlivet Nàdurra Triumph 1991 is non-chill-filtered so the final product retains all of its natural flavors.”

The Nadurra is a light straw color. It leaves a super-thin coating on the walls of the glass — so light that I first thought there were no legs in the whisky at all. Instead it will stick high on the glass but so finely that it takes a second look to recognize it.

The nose is also light, with no noticeable peat or smokiness. Instead it smells of oak or other hard wood, alcohol, and honey.

The mouth feel is silky and smooth. It starts relatively sweet, without a huge body up front. The depth comes after the first taste, as the taste buds on the side and back-middle of the tongue are activated.

The whisky finishes with a long, slow burn. The heat is complex, with elements of pepper, cream, and an acidic element that first struck me as sherry vinegar but became harder to identify after the first couple of sips.

As someone who is only beginning to explore scotch whisky, I liked The Glenlivet Nadurra Triumph 1991 a lot. It’s lack of peat and smoke flavor makes it more accessible to me, though I think this has more in common with a single malt Irish whiskey like Red Breast than what I usually think of single malt scotches. But for me, that’s a good thing, as less-peated Irish single malts are some of my favorite sipping spirits. This may be the first single malt I’ve tasted where my reaction, at the end, was “Gee, I could use a bottle of this in my liquor cabinet.” Given that I’ve resisted taking that step for a number of years, that probably says something.

I don’t know how hard core Scotch enthusiasts are receiving this bottling. It strikes me as accessible and smooth in a way that I assume the cognoscenti might look down on. But for someone who doesn’t know much from scotch whisky like me, this is some good stuff.

Disclosure: This post was made possible because I received a free sample of The Glenlivet Nadurra Triumph 1991.

7 Comments

Posted in Reviews, Scotch

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 5, 2009

Happy Repeal Day

On January 16th, 1919 the odious 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It read:

THE 18TH AMENDMENT

SECTION 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

SECTION 2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

SECTION 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

On December 4th, 1933 voters in South Carolina rejected ratification of the 21st Amendment. South Carolina would have been the 36th state needed to amend the Constitution and repeal the 18th Amendment.

However, just a day later – seventy-six years ago today – on December 5th, 1933 Utah became the final state needed to give the 21st Amendment the requisite approval from three-fourths of the states of the union, ending Prohibition.

THE 21ST AMENDMENT

SECTION 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

SECTION 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use there in of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.

SECTION 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Today we celebrate the 76th anniversary of Repeal Day. If you’re in Washington DC, I highly recommend buying a ticket to the DC Craft Bartenders Guild’s Second Annual Repeal Day Ball.

I think it’s worth noting that tomorrow, December 6th, will be the 77th anniversary of the introduction of the 21st Amendment into the U.S. Senate by Senator John Blaine of Wisconsin. To night, I will raise my glass in toast of Senator Blaine from the great state of Wisconsin and the role he played in undoing a horrible piece of legislation and giving us the holiday we celebrate today.

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Posted in Holidays

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 4, 2009

Behind A New Beer

Dogfish Head Brewery’s Sam Calagione and Bryan Selders have teamed up to make a new beer with Beer Advocate’s Jason and Todd Alstrom, which will be unveiled at the Extreme Beer Fest in Boston in February. They’ve published the back and forth chain that constitutes their creative process, including what ingredients they want to use, what strains of hops, what flavors, and what ingredients fly legally with the TTB — and how it will all mix together to produce a result they like. It’s a really fascinating look behind the scenes at how a beer is born.

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Posted in Beer & Cider

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | December 2, 2009

Big 2.5 Owned Beers

Over on the Beer Wars blog, there’s a compiled list of what brands Anheuser-Busch Inbev and MillerCoors own. It’s a huge list and there are a lot of surprises on it. Some of the biggest surprises for me…

Anhueser-Busch Inbev: Rolling Rock, Stella, Becks, Boddingtons, Hoegaarden, and Bass.

MillerCoors: Fosters, Pilsner Urquell, Leinenkugel, Peroni, Molson and Grolsch.

As I’ve said before, supporting independent breweries is important. Sadly, the acquisitions by the Big 2.5 have brought formerly independent brands and famous old imports together. Leinenkugel is one of the few union-made beers, a standout from an age before the Big Three started busting their workers’ rights to organize.

More to the point, when thinking about how money I spend goes to support big brewing companies and what they do with it — ie crush independent breweries — the logic needs to extend to their other brands that people might not associate with Bud Light, Miller Lite or Coors Light. Maybe looking at this list is depressing because so many interesting and popular beers have been acquired by the Big 2.5. But the good news is that there are tons of other great beers to drink out there and our horizons can only be expanded.

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Posted in Beer & Cider

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 29, 2009

The DCCBG Repeal Day Ball Is Approaching!

I’ve mentioned it before. Hell, I’ve been to it before. But this coming Saturday, December 5th, the DC Craft Bartenders Guild will be holding their second annual Repeal Day Ball. Last year was one of the best parties I’ve ever been to and this year promises to be even better.

It’s a black tie affair and I’m getting ready to dress to the nines. Tuxedo is getting pressed. Shoes are getting shined. Words of the 21st Amendment are being committed to memory.

Here’s what you absolutely, positively need to know:

December 5th, 9pm to Midnight
PS7s
$100 regular admission
$150 VIP admission (with the party starting at 8pm)
Todd Thrasher, Derek Brown, Gina Chersevani, Dale Degroff, Jeffery Morgenthaler and Tad Carducci will be in attendance.

You can buy your tickets for the Repeal Day Ball here. Amazingly, I don’t think they’re sold out yet, though I have heard from a number of my non-cocktailian friends that they will be going, so this year at PS7s is likely going to be even bigger than last year.

For more information, check out the party’s Facebook page (that’s right, it’s going to be so huge it has its own Facebook page):

The DC Craft Bartender’s Guild is holding the Second Annual Repeal Day Ball on December 5th at 9 P.M. to midnight for general admission and 8 P.M. to midnight for VIP ticketholders, celebrating the 76th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. Enjoy craft cocktails from DC’s best mixologists and food from renowned chef Peter Smith while dancing along to the prohibition-era sounds of the Red Hot Rhythm Chiefs.

This year’s black tie Repeal Day Ball is at PS7’s restaurant, across from the historic first meeting place of the Anti-Saloon League, which launched the legislative agenda for prohibition. We are here to announce our own agenda–to have fun! We will celebrate our freedom in style and have dubbed this year the “Spirit of 76,” featuring our own “Founding Drinkers” dressed as the founding fathers.

So put on your tuxedo or gown and indulge in cocktail creations from the city’s top bartenders such as Gina Chersevani, Derek Brown and Todd Thrasher, to name a few, along with special guests–bartending legend Dale Degroff, Tad Carducci and toastmaster Jeffery Morgenthaler.

VIP guests will gain entry early and enjoy exclusive access to the city’s top bartenders, special demonstrations, heavy hor d’ouevres and the first release copy of The Lush Life: Portraits from the Bar by author and illustrator Jill Degroff, along with access to VIP after-parties at the city’s top cocktail bars. A portion of the final proceeds will go to benefit the Museum of the American Cocktail.

See you there!

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Posted in Holidays

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 29, 2009

Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey

It looks like the fine folks at Seagram’s are unfamiliar with new FTC regulations requiring disclosure when paid staff or consultants leave comments in support of their products that they are compensated to do so.

This past Friday (November 27th, at 5:07pm) a commenter named Shana left this comment on a post that had nothing to do with Seagram’s, Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey, or even whiskey:

Those cocktails look fantastic! I’m home in Connecticut for the holidays and brought back a bottle of the new Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey. I’m not sure if its available yet in CT but it slowing coming around in NYC (where I live). Its really really smooth and mixes well with a bunch of different things. We tried everything from vanilla coke, root-beer, apple juice, ginger ale.. seems to go with just about anything :) My way: on the rocks, twist of lemon.

have you seen this product around you yet?

The comment looked suspiciously like comments by staff at Cashmere Agency earlier this year promoting an absinthe product, Le Tourment Vert, without disclosing that they represented the firm (they were subsequently fired for astroturfing on cocktail blogs). Coincidentally, this also looks pretty similar to what the FTC exactly has in mind when they set out to regulate how blogs and blog comment sections are used to promote commercial products to a potentially unsuspecting audience.

I did some quick Googling and it turns out that Shana is regularly concerned about finding Seagram’s 7 Honey Dark.

On Friday, November 27th, she left this comment on Topix.com:

Hi All
has anyone been able to locate the new Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey?? I had the chance to try it a few weeks ago in New York but I can not find anywhere to purchase. It was sooo smooth and perfect on the rocks and I want to have it for the upcoming holidays. Any help or suggestions where to buy in NYC or order online would be awesome thanks

cheers!

Now it’s odd that she would, on the same day, ask where she can buy a product that she had said in my comments was available near here in New York City, isn’t it?

On November 19th, Shana expressed interest in using Seagram’s in lieu of another honey flavored spirit on BlissTree.com. Again she expresses knowledge and certainty that the product is available in New York:

you guys we just got the new Seagrams 7 Dark Honey in New York and any of the cocktails would be awesome if you subbed the barenjager with dark honey! has anyone else tried this yet besides me??

Shana’s work hasn’t be limited to blogs and sites writing about cocktails. She’s even talking up Seagram’s new product on Twitter.

@shanabarry: @GirlyDrinks love when that happens! the reformulated Godivas are so good! I was sent the Seagrams 7 Dark honey, fantastic, have u tried?

This was all the way back on November 16th. She hit Twitter again on November 17th, promoting Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey in connection to an unrelated social event:

@shanabarry: jus got the AE Event Time Sq with Celebrity Blogger @miahJesse. We had a delish Seagrams 7 Dark Honey cocktail pre-arrival:) everyones here

A little more Googling shows that Shana Barry is in fact a marketing professional who current works at mktg. Mktg represents Diageo. And Diageo owns Seagram’s. Fun stuff.

Two things…

First, I’m not certain that the new FTC regulations covering disclosure for product endorsements will cover Twitter. Frankly, I hope it doesn’t, as 140 characters does not lend itself well to onerous requirements of disclosure text. I’m not posting Shana’s tweets to imply impropriety, only to show that she has an intense and repeated habit of talking about Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey when there is no real reason for her to do so, other than a presumably professional one.

Second, as I said above, the FTC’s new regulations on this sort of behavior do not go into effect until December 1st, 2009. I don’t think Shana has done anything to run afoul of the FTC.

But it is annoying to have people come on your site, shill for a product, and not disclose that they are being compensated to do so. All she had to say in response to my post on Thanksgiving cocktails is:

Hey, thanks for sharing the recipes. I work for a company that’s helping Seagram’s promote their new product, Seagram’s 7 Dark Honey. Here’s a recipe for it – I hope you enjoy.

That’s it. It would disclose her relationship to the product, but still be a useful and informative post. As someone who works in the political internet professionally, it simply blows me away that other professionals in the commercial marketing field don’t treat cocktail bloggers with respect by disclosing who they are and why they are commenting. Blogging is a labor of love for most of us and astroturfing is insulting.

As of Tuesday, people like Shana will have bigger problems than annoyed bloggers when they leave comments like this. I hope that marketing companies and the spirits companies who hire them take note and participate as better members of this community moving forward.

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Posted in Blogs, Media, & Advertising

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving Cocktails

I’m home for the holiday and looking forward to a great Thanksgiving meal. My Mom is a professional chef and always blows us away with a huge feast. My Dad and I will be roasting two full turkeys in our cajun microwave, which is always a blast to use.

But naturally throughout a day of food and talk with family and friends, there’s a need for refreshing cocktails. The hurdle I come upon is that my parents don’t keep much in the way of spirits in the house…and what is here is mostly things I’ve left behind on other occasions. The good news is that includes a mix of sherry, Campari and apple jack. The bad news is it includes a mix of sherry, Campari, and apple jack.

Knowing that the pickings would be slim, I brought up a bottle of Kahlua Coffee Cream, which I recently used for a flip creation.

All Saints Flip

1.5 oz Kahlua Coffee Cream
0.5 oz Ramazzotti amaro
0.5 oz Cognac
1 whole raw egg
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker & dry shake. Then add ice and shake until cold and frothy. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with ground nutmeg.

Since I’ve been on something of a flip kick lately, this and a sherry flip are likely going to be one set of options for Thanksgiving cocktails.

While I don’t have anything set yet, I also am going to play around with some ideas for a cognac and amaro based savory cocktail.

And as a lighter option, I think the Fancy Variation will be great:

Fancy Variation

1 oz cognac
1 dash Angostura bitters
Champagne

Stir cognac and bitters with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with champagne.

So, what will you be drinking on Thanksgiving?

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Posted in Holidays, MBH Creations

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 18, 2009

The Passenger Preview

Looking out from inside The Passenger

Last night I was fortunate to attend a media preview of The Passenger (1021 7th St NW, Washington DC). The project of Tom and Derek Brown, it is in the space previously occupied by Warehouse and used for a number of one-off cocktail events. Not a whole lot has changed, though the bar has been cleaned up and more comfortable seating has been added. Up front near the windows, booths for people watching on the street have been installed. But The Passenger is still a space that draws it’s energy from being simple and somewhat raw. The Passenger will open to the public this Thursday, though it won’t be a finished product by then. To be completed are a Pullman car style room in the back of the bar that will provide a more quiet and intimate atmosphere. Additionally, the Columbia Room, which will be Derek’s laboratory for craft cocktails, will open down the line.

The bar has a nice range of win, ranging in price from $5-15 a glass. Also on the menu are all three Dolin vermouths, along with Lustau Amontillado sherry. What really gets me excited is their beer selection. They have Lagunitas Pils, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout, and Gouden Carolus Hopsingjoor on draft. Additionally they have a good range of independent and craft canned beers, including Oskar Blues Mama’s Lil’ Yellow Pils, Dale’s Pale Ale, Gordon’s Imperial IPA, and Ten Fidy Imperial Stout.

 

Entering the unfinished Pullman

One of the coolest things Tom Brown is doing is having pitchers of Sherry Flips on the menu. I arrived just in time to see him whip up a fresh batch…literally. His Sherry Flip is made with Lustau Sherry, brandy, Velvet Falernum, Egg, lemon and nutmeg (though I could be missing something from the list due to bar noise). He builds the flip in a large glass pitcher then uses a hand blender to whip it up to the right consistency. A pitcher of Sherry Flip is $40 and is likely going to be a popular drink as we head into winter. I found the flip to be nice and light; it was sweet but not cloying and surprisingly tart.

 

There’s obviously a lot of evolving yet to take place at The Passenger. But from what I saw last night, it’s going to be a great bar, run by great bartenders, who offer great beers, wines, and cocktails. Oh and the music was pretty good too. I’m looking forward to seeing the back room, modeled on a Pullman train car, finished. And I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the Columbia Room to open early next year.

The Passenger opens this Thursday, November 18th. Go below the fold for more pictures from last night.

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Posted in Bars

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 16, 2009

Beer Wars

I just finished watching Beer Wars, a documentary by Anat Baron about brewing beer in America. Baron, a former executive at Mike’s Hard Lemonade, tells the history of America’s breweries, particularly the rise of the Big Three (Anheuser-Busch, Miller & Coors) after the end of Prohibition and, more recently, the rise of independent microbreweries who are bringing taste back to the American beer drinker.

Baron spends a good deal of time explaining how the Big Three convinced the American public that we really did like bland, uniform beers. Billions of dollars a year in advertising and sponsorship have made Bud, Miller, and Coors ubiquitous. But Baron drives it home in a number of scenes that show people who have succumbed to advertising that creates brand loyalty can’t tell one beer from the others. It’s depressing to watch and frankly an indictment of a lot of people like myself, who spent years in college and afterwards knocking back bottle after bottle of light American lagers. Even now, as I’ve gotten into high quality, craft beers over the last three years, I still am pretty likely to be drinking something brewed by the Big Three on a given Friday or Saturday night out at the bars.

As Baron introduces us to some of the most prominent founders of microbreweries, Beer Wars becomes a story about bringing taste back to our national beverage. She interviews and includes extensive footing from the founders of Dogfish Head, New Century Brewing, New Belgium Brewing Company, Stone Brewing, Yuengling, and Boston Beer Company. These subjects, especially Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Rhonda Kallman of New Century Brewing, show the passion and creativity these brewmasters and entrepreneurs have in common. They speak powerfully to how hard it is going up against the Big Three’s monopoly and how far AB, Miller and Coors go to quash even the smallest microbreweries.

Two things follow from watching Beer Wars. First, it’s time for me to stop being lazy in my beer drinking habits. There are some great independent breweries in the US, some of whose products I can buy in Washington, DC. These companies need the support of people who know what they like to drink to succeed. Every time a knowledgeable customer like myself takes the easy and cheap road, the chances of these breweries carving out and sustaining a market share against the Anheuser-Busch’s of the world is less likely. Yeah, I’m like you and will usually fall back to Bud or Miller Lite while eating hot wings and watching football at a bar on a Sunday afternoon. But nuts to that. I know what I like and I like flavor. Supporting the Big Three after seeing the back alley shenanigans they pull on good companies like Dogfish Head and New Century Brewing is equivalent to condoning their actions to crush independent brewers. I’m just not comfortable having that stain on my coaster.

But Beer Wars doesn’t just make me want to go out and drink a great microbrew while eschewing the bland corporate water that’s sold to me. It makes me want to go brew my own beer, work until I find a recipe I like, and then see if I can walk the hard and rough path these brewers have done to carve out a niche for themselves. I had a similar reaction after visiting the Dogfish Head and Harpoon breweries this past summer and trying their powerfully creative and diverse beers. I have the utmost admiration for the women and men who are doing what they love, no matter how hard it is. And seeing their story, their passion, and on some level, the fun they have doing it all is really appealing to me.

Independent microbreweries are certainly on the rise. But they have a huge mountain to climb before we see anything approaching parity with the Big Three. For independent breweries to succeed, consumers have to try new things. We have to support our local breweries. We have to explore flavors and recipes that are unfamiliar and along the way, find out what we really like. I’m willing to put some money down that when all is said and done, Americans will find out that different and unique flavorful beers are more appealing than uniformly bland beers. Hell, good people whose work I respect have already put their money on it. Now it’s just about making it a reality.

***

Disclosure: This post was made possible because I received an advanced DVD copy of Beer Wars.

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Posted in Beer & Cider, Blogs, Media, & Advertising

Posted by: Matt Browner Hamlin | November 13, 2009

More on The Passenger

This week there were two articles in DC pro food and drink blogs about Derek and Tom Brown’s new project, The Passenger. Tim Carman at Young & Hungry and Fritz Hahn of Going Out Gurus Blog both have posts up with interviews from the Brown brothers. As I’ve mentioned before, the project will be a split of two bars. The Passenger will be Tom’s more casual bar, while Derek will host the Columbia Room, an omakase style cocktail laboratory.

Now it is clear that there won’t be a cocktail menu in The Passenger, but Tom will be making drinks towards a customers tastes. Derek is going to be doing intense experimentation and variation in the Columbia Room. There’s clearly going to be a common experience in both bars connected to drinking cocktails. Exploration and adventure are going to be required, something that I think is likely going to be a great way for their guests to discover new drinks they like.

Though the bar hasn’t yet opened, Derek and Tom are already pushing out a strong online presence. You can visit The Passenger online here, become a fan on Facebook here, and follow them on Twitter here.

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