Sigh.

Sad story #2: Last year I was ambush marketed! No, really!

You see, I went to this tasting on “Irish whiskey”. It was supposed to cover the depth and breadth of Irish whiskeys.

And it did! If they were Pernod Ricard products. Bushmill’s, Connemara, John L. Sullivan, others – they didn’t exist.

Didn’t expect to get hit by marketing like that!

Of course, that was an OFFICIAL Tales event, so I guess it wasn’t ambush marketing. We were just the clay pigeons in a skeet shooting competition.

You see, I figure this would be a great time to strategically use all this combined creative and crafty brainpower to build up a list of recipes to keep me loaded up on flips the entire year.

So I did some poking around. Paul Clarke (he who done gone and created Mixology Monday, amongst other accolades and general Internet sexiness) wrote an article for Serious Eats about flips. In it, he mentions some other ones created (thus seeing my idea of a Fernet Branca flip is already done) but mentioned this about modern flips, something I took to heart:

Contemporary flips are relatively simple: a base of spirit (preferably dark & rich), a little syrup and/or liqueur, and a fresh egg, all shaken together and served with a little nutmeg grated on top.

Okay, enough of the blockquotes.

Here we go Steelers Here we go

I’m lucky enough that my favorite NFL team, the Steelers, is going to the AFC Championship next week. My idea initially was to use Fernet as the “black” in a Black & Gold Flip, but as I just mentioned, the Fernet Flip has been done. I thought about using Averna, in a bit of honor to Dr. Bamboo, but decided against it. Still: what would be an appropriate Pittsburgh area liquor?

Ahhh, screw it. Let’s Google “Pittsburgh Steelers liquor”, look at the first few liquor pictures that show up in the image search, and see if I’m inspired. A few clicks, avoiding stories about Santonio Holmes throwing liquor at someone, and there we go – Kraken black spiced rum and Strega.

Oh. I can work with that.

I love the idea of whole eggs in drinks anyways, so now it was just time to tweak proportions. I think what I came up with is pretty good, and a bit of a solid drink, if I do say so myself.

Black & Gold Flip

The Black & Gold Flip
2 ounces Kraken spiced rum
1 ounce Strega
1 whole egg
Put the ingredients in a glass with a bunch of ice. Shake for 60-90 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass, top with some fresh grated nutmeg.

Ahhh, delicious! If you’re feeling really ambitious, try topping it with some brown ale or a black stout and give it a quick stir. I haven’t tried it yet, though I was thinking of giving it a shot with some Guinness or Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury beer. But first, I’ll finish the one I have.

Cheers folks, and thanks again to Josh for hosting!

Lifestyle drinks of the coughing and congested

I’d had ideas for a variety of posts.

For instance, I got an iSi Gourmet Whip Pro for Christmas, and I’m very excited about doing tons of stuff with it!

But…holidays…and then, like everyone else in DC, I got sick.

Blech.

So while watching the end of the football games today I decided what I really needed was a hot toddy.  It’s kind of just something I threw together so what the heck.

Hot Toddy
One cup decaffeinated Earl Grey tea
Honey
Half a lemon, squeezed
2 ounces Chairman’s Reserve rum

Mix in a cup.

Well, heck, it’s making me feel better.  Might need some more.

Once I figure out my Tumblr issues, and feel a bit better, we’ll get ya some more substantive posting.  Promise!

So we’ll start with that:

The Express
2 oz Cruzan blackstrap
1/2 oz Flor de Caña 4 yr old
1/2 oz Wray & Nephew
3/4 oz orgeat
1/2 oz  lemon juice
1 oz lime juice
1 dash Bitter End Bitters Thai Bitters

Shake with ice, pour unstrained into a cored out pineapple.  Garnish with a bit of mint if you’d like.

From there it was time for my trip.  I was off to Portland, Oregon, for Drink.Write 2010, our CSOWG conference, coinciding with Portland Cocktail Week and the Great American Distillers Fest.  I’d never been to Portland before and I was very eager to experience it.

I’m going to put it in short: it was awesome.  Hanging out with Darcy O’Neil and Ryan Magarian at the Driftwood Lounge, which turned into a visit to the House Spirits distillery; seeing Jeffrey Morgenthaler in his native Clyde Common slinging drinks; hanging out with folks like John The Bastard, Stevi Deter, Rick Stutz, Matt Robold, and Gabriel Szaszko; meeting tons of new folks (too many people to list here), and in general, I had some of the best drinks, food, and fun I’ve had in a long, long time.

Who are those sexy people? HINT: ONE IS ME

(Picture stolen from the Mixoloseum Facebook page.)

All kinds of folks gave lectures – Erick Castro, the aforementioned Rumdood, Morgenthaler, Darcy, the ever-fabulous Camper English, Craig Hermann, and, of course, Blair “Trader Tiki” Reynolds.  I could go on and on and on about the in-jokes, the fun, how to make ingredients, but hey.  I did name one drink after Craig, and I have an idea for another one; once I dig them both up, I’ll post them on here.  Just to warn, the first one is named “The Grapefruit Fleshlight” (please don’t Google “fleshlight” from work) and the other one is similarly mature.

Unfortunately, I had to leave on Saturday to fly to Orlando, Florida, for work, where the best I can say (drinks wise) is that I explored almost the entire Scotch selection at the Doubletree Resort – though I did have dinner one night at a place called Hannibal’s, and the wine there was very tasty.  I was at the IACP show, then by Wednesday I could head back to my home just outside of Washington DC in Arlington, VA.

Saturday, of course, there was a ton of Halloween parties out and about.  I went to my co-blogger’s house and he had a a whole menu worked up with the Halloween theme.  Hopefully he’ll be posting those on here soon.  Sunday I spent a good bit of time wandering Clarendon with a friend before watching my beloved Steelers lose.

So now I’m back home, watching Monday Night Football.  I’ve got a brain full of ideas that I need to get articulated and out onto the blog.  Repeal Day is coming up on December 4th, and of course, your Scofflaws will be there along with an all-star cast such as Derek Brown, Gina Chersevani, Todd Thrasher, David Wondrich, Beachbum Berry, Jeffrey Morgenthaler (man, that guy gets around!), Dale DeGroff, and possibly, quite possibly, some other cocktail bloggers.

Maybe.

Me, right now, I’m finally feeling like I’m home for a while – and I’ve got entire WEEKS before I have to travel again.  I’m sipping a Tempranillo that I used to wash down my porterhouse and baked potato, thinking about having a cigar – I’m running low again finally, and realized I won’t be able to go to the Rocky Patel event tomorrow at Virginia Pipe & Tobacco in Seven Corners – and thinking about working with some of these new bitters to come up with some more drinks.

What have y’all been up to?  Have any good cocktails lately?

Gina pontificates while Peter models

Due to some confusion on my part about timings, I’d signed up for a mezcal session at the Royal Sonesta at 1 PM.  Getting out of the cab with John the Bastard at the Monteleone after checking into my “work” hotel (La Pavillon, over in the CBD, or Commercial Business District), I ran into a fellow DC-er (DC-ist? DC folk?) and one of my favorite people to hang out with around this city, Gina Chersevani, on her way to the Royal Sonesta for the seminar she was doing with the owner/chef of PS7 (where she works), Peter Smith.

(Enough parenthesis for you?)

I ran into Stevi and since she wanted to go to the mezcal session, but didn’t have a ticket, I gave her mine and instead went to “Plate and Glass” starring Gina and Peter.  Now, admittedly, I’m a big fanboy of PS7 – in fact, I’m writing this as I get ready to go down there tonight, I love the food and drinks there and I always just have a great time at the bar with Gina and Frank – but I found I learned a lot.

The class was a lot more geared towards industry than I expected, but in another way, that was good.  I don’t have plans to work either behind the bar or in a kitchen.  I’m an enthusiast – but I also like to know what it’s like for folks doing the hard work.

Yes! Breakfast time!

The theme for the lecture could be distilled down to “The bar is the spice rack”.  You want to figure out what the components are, break them apart, and figure out how they can be put back together.  I really want to insert a joke about serial killers in here, but to be honest, it just ain’t happening tonight.

Both Peter and Gina gave examples.  Peter, for a Plymouth event, took copious notes on which botanicals were in that gin, then cured pork belly in it for four days, following that with Plymouth for another day.  Gina made a drink called the 1100 B.C. that had sherry, lime juice, fig puree, and salt water foam on top.  Everything was designed to show off the sherry, and led to an interesting anecdote (which I hadn’t known) on how the saltiness in sherry was why it was traditionally paired with mussels.

And also that the salt water foam wasn’t vegetarian, but Gina suggested checking out National Starch for some interesting samples.

The big thing is that you want to use the minimum amount that you can of your ingredient so you don’t burn out your palate or overwhelm it with one thing.  You should always be dialing back how much you use.

The next drink came with food.  It was a Stone’s Throw – Balvenie Doublewood, apricot, and a poached apricot on top.  Next to it was a scallop boudin, made with Balvenie 21, vanilla, pine nut, and fermented “orange stuff” from, well, on top of the oven – I tried it with a skewer and it was thick, viscous, and delicious.  The poaching liquid was made with marigold tea, local honey, and saffron – as the saffron mimics wood.  Gina suggested making a simple syrup with saffron or a saffron tea and compare it to woody spirits to see why it matches so well.

When I wear a tutu it's ALWAYS smokin'

The next drink was a Smokin’ Tutu.  Previously at PS7 Gina had made an absinthe cotton candy for a garnish, but when the temperature got hot and humid (say, DC or New Orleans in summer) the cotton candy would just melt.  This drink had just Plymouth gin and strawberry puree in it, but was garnished with applewood-smoked cotton candy that had been compressed and hardened.  Still, it melted in your mouth, or if you added it to your drink.

Basically they smoked the sugar (which made it hateful, so it was mixed with regular sugar), made the cotton candy, then cryovac bagged it.

my FAVORITE of the whole week "Holy crap this is sex with mouth"

The next combination was – well, amazing.

Gina told us to forget about citrus all the time for your acid in a drink.  Instead, for the S’more Rum, made with Zacapa rum, she used chocolate.  Cherries and corn whiskey were combined fora  month, then very bitter dark chocolate with zero sugar was added.  This made what was basically a “chocolate bittering agent”.

Lynnette Morrero talked about the Zacapa rum a bit – how it is made from “sugar cane honey”, aged in different barrels to get different flavors, such as charred and uncharred, bourbon barrels and sherry casks, including Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez.  She likes the sweet and savor balance.  The drink was topped with a marshmallow whip – egg whites (5), sugar (2 cups double strength sugar syrup), water (cup of), xanthum gum (Mallow Root, 1 tablespoon), and vanilla to taste.  You mix it and add it to an ISI, keep everything super cold, keep it charged, charge the heck out of it.  After it’s put onto the drink it’s torched a bit, which cooks the egg some.

Let's talk about RUM

I couldn’t get over how good this was, especially with the food – the S’more Pork.  It was a macaroon with almond flour and vanilla, the pork being salta (I think that’s how you spell it) made with Zacapa, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, three weeks in that, hung for four months, wrapped around the macaroon and topped with tonka beans and cocoa nibs.

At this point they kept talking and some great points came out that are useful both inside the industry and outside.

“If you want to get your chef involved with the bar, the best thing you can do is give the chef a drink.”

With the chefs I know – uh – that’d have to assume he (or she) doesn’t already have one?  (I kid, I kid!)

Another way of tasting spices – put a bit of them in water, taste the water.  That’s something I plan on trying here in the next few weeks to work on my tasting notes.

Not too much water, obviously, but you can dilute things a lot before you lose its taste.  For instance, to dilute all the flavor from 1 ounce of rum takes nearly a gallon of water.

You want the front and the back of the house to work together.  Even if the chef hates the bartender, they can still work together, and if the chef knows how the liquors/etc. taste, it will help him with his food in matching.  At PS7, cocktails outsell wine – and you can make more money off cocktails, according to them.  The combination of the kitchen and the bar is a marriage.  Gina says the best cocktail book is actually a cookbook by Alice Waters.

I couldn’t get over how much I enjoyed the session.  It really helped make up for some of the other ones that were just incredibly boring or bereft of useful information.  And now I really, really need a hit of PS7, so off I go!