Cocktailians

Drinky Linky: April Showers (Not Growers) Edition

A few things that have caught my eye of late while I've been engaged in Interwebs persusal:

• Above: a friend is using fresh chives from her garden as Bloody Mary straws. kinda brilliant!
• Yes, the royal wedding is coming up. Yes, I've gotten lots of dippy awful-sounding recipes from liquor brands sent to me. No, I'm not going to share them with you...with the exception of a couple: this one from Tanqueray's Angus Winchester and this punch from Beefeater's Dan Warner looked good;
• Jigger, please: Employees Only maestro Steve Schneider drops wisdom, though I disagree with his stance on measuring.
• How to open a wine store in 10 easy steps;
• the ice-obsessed Sasha Petraske, as well as some others, have opened an ice-services company for bars, operating out of the space next to Dutch Kills in Queens;
• also in my neck of the woods, The Beaver Bar at the Astor Room has opened up in the former commissary space at Kaufman Astoria Studios. (Can't wait to try it out; when I swung by last Sunday, they'd closed early, so I couldn't partake);
• The Awl takes a page from Michael Pollan, pleading with Americans to improve their drinking habits: "Drink alcohol. Quite a bit. Mostly bourbon.";
• Tad Carducci's recipe for Oaxacan Punch looks interesting (and bonus points to Liquor.com for using the same punchbowl I own);
• The "solid cocktails" at the late, lamented Tailor were interesting...but here's an Easter spin: Painkiller Peeps!
• Tiki Adam's home Airstream bar: WANT;
• No egg whites after 9pm? How San Francisco bars are managing high demand with drinks that take time to make;
• The Five o'Clock Cocktail Blog presents the "Mr. Smith", a Gin Buck with a splash of mint syrup and named for a personable politician who did some time;
• Green cocktails, and not in the Chartreuse sense;
• Pioneers of mixology reveal their secrets (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3);
• the Breuckelen Distilling Co. and the Brooklyn Distilling Co. (and neither should be confused with the New York Distilling Co, by the by) have settled their trademark lawsuit;
• Frank Bruni of the Times points out that the New York bartending scene has more guest stars than "Law & Order: SVU";
• Michael Dietsch, at Serious Drinks, lists his favorite five cocktail books (good solid list, though I think I might swap out Wondrich's "Imbibe!" or Beachbum Berry's "Remixed" in place of the Mr. Boston guide);
• Gaz Regan showcases "Louis' Mixed Drinks" from 1906; and
• Oooh, I need to get up to Rhody to check out this show at the RISD Museum on cocktail culture and its intersection with fashion.

Correcting The Times, or Thirty Seconds Over Google

Below is a letter I sent to the Times yesterday (with links added for annotation and clarity):

Hello,

In the article "Bar Crawling From Boutique to Boutique" by Michael Rovner on p. E9 of today's paper, there is the statement that "the Jack Rose [is] named after a friend of the owner, Jonas Hegewisch, and made with applejack, house-made grenadine and lemon juice."

This seems dubious at best, as the Jack Rose (whose recipe is given accurately; consult CocktailDB  or any quality bar manual) is a classic drink. According to drinks historian David Wondrich's book "Imbibe!", the New York Police Gazette published a reference to the drink in 1905.

From "Imbibe!":
I spent many years believing that this drink, one of only two classic applejack cocktails. . .was named after "Bald Jack" Rose, one of the yeggs involved in the notorious 1912 Becker-Rosenthal case (in which Police Lieutenant Becker eventually went to the chair -- probably wrongly -- for hiring Rose to put out a hit on gambler "Beansy" Rosenthal.) In part, this belief was wishful thinking of the kind all mixographers indulge in. Alas, the facts say different, or at least the Police Gazette does, which is not always the same thing. In this case, however, the evidence seems pretty straightforward: According to a squib the Gazette published in 1905, "Frank J. May, better known as Jack Rose, is the inventor of a very popular cocktail by that name, which has made him famous as a mixologist." This May/Rose fellow was apparently employed at Gene Sullivan's Cafe on Pavonia Avenue in Jersey City -- and indeed, it's worth noting that applejack is the state spirit of New Jersey. A less glamorous back story, to be sure, but most likely a factual one. As for Bald Jack, according to a widely reprinted newspaper squib from the end of 1912, his notoriety put such a dent in the drink's popularity that some bartenders took to calling it a "Royal Smile" instead. Perhaps.

(You can see this in Google Books.)

There's also the theory that the name simply comes from the fact that its primary ingredient is appleJACK, and that it's rose pink in color when mixed. At any rate, I doubt it's named after a friend of a menswear shop's owner; that would be Hegewischful thinking.

Other copy-editing tics: the whiskey from Tennessee is "Jack Daniel's", not "Jack Daniels" -- the original distiller was Jack Daniel, and the brand properly includes the apostrophe. Also, the John Ashe cocktail is "finished with an Islay Mist", which is unclear. Islay Mist is a blended Scotch whisky, so I'm not sure if that means that Islay Mist is misted onto the drink with an atomizer, or floated atop the drink, or something else?

Thank you for your time and attention.

All best,
Sam Meyer
http://www.cocktailians.com

The Times' cocktail coverage tends to be pretty good (see the frequent linkage from here, f'r instance), so this was a surprise to read. I know it's a quick aside in a trend piece about retailing, bu c'mon: thirty seconds with the Google or Wikipedia would've cast doubt on their subject's claims.

Drinky Linky: Happy New Year Edition

A roundup of some interesting things that have caught my eye around the Interwebs lately:

• Robert Simonson covers the aged-cocktail trend in the New York Times (my encounter with Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Barrel-Aged Negroni is described here);
• Simonson also limns bars devoted to the punch resurgence;
• Speaking of punch, here's another nice review of Wondrich's latest;
• Simon Ford checks out the Portland cocktail scene (previously covered by yours truly here, here, here, and here);
• A friend of Cocktailians opened a distillery in Eugene;
• and another good friend of Cocktailians started the Five o'Clock Cocktail Blog;
• It's not just Oregon: the Times looks at craft distilling's rise in the Northeast;
• NPR covers microdistilling;
• and so does Grub Street, noting the arrival of Brooklyn bourbon;
• and there's the Great Brooklyn Gin Battle as well;
• Paul Clarke looks back on 2010 in spirits and cocktails;
• Darcy O'Neil predicts what 2011 will look like;
• and the Village Voice lists their 10 Best Cocktails of 2010;
• and Derek Brown lays out his Top 5 Cocktail Experiences of 2010 (and resolves to drink more in 2011);
• more listicles! USA Today lists 10 great classic American cocktail lounges;
• the Times checks out mixology apps (in my meager experience, a lot of these aren't terribly sound, overly focus on weird shots with "funny" names, or don't have some necessary ingredients. Best I've seen is Cocktails+, based on CocktailDB, but I'm not sure it's still available. I'd dearly love an Android port of that one);
• While I do not brook the dissing of Charles H. Baker and his Gentleman's Companion, I liked this list of good cocktail books;
• London's Experimental Cocktail Club looks interesting;
• Eatocracy talks to LeNell about what (and who) she's learned to love;
• and here's a nice interview with Jim Meehan;
• did you know that if you don't hire a bartender for your party, you're just a loser? At least to d-bags?
• and Jason Wilson responds to the above story, to great effect;
• Chocolate-rum mousse!
• Fernet on tap!
• The Harvey Wallflower? The Old Milwaukee Thermidor? The Crest Mint Julep? Must be New Year's resolution-themed craptails;
• also in the Bad Idea Digest: TGI Friday's wants to make bartending an Olympic sport;
• if you really want a virgin New Year's Eve, here you go;
• and if you've lasted this long, both on the post and with the blog, thank you! Cocktailians turns three years old tomorrow, and we appreciate your eyeballs, your comments, and your presence. See you next year!

Noggin' It

You really should go over to Eatocracy and check out this post I wrote on eggnog and some variations thereof. (Included: Jeffrey Morgenthaler's eggnog recipe, my mother's favorite eggnog recipe, and my grandmother's recipe for Southern Boiled Custard. All yummy.)

Cure For What Ails Ya. Even If It's Sobriety

I have a slight cold. So it was the perfect excuse to write about hot toddies on CNN.com.

Drinky Linky: Bad Ideas (and Some Good Ones) Edition

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus another links roundup post so soon after the last one. But there's a lot of stuff that's worth your attention.

Including some horrible ideas. We looked at this last time around in brief, chiefly the idea of spiking a Thanksgiving turkey. But, alas, along with all the cool holiday cocktail stuff (of which more below), there's some lamesauce as well:

• Such as the higher-fat version of Four Loko -- alcoholic whipped cream. (I'm not above adding a touch of brandy to homemade whipped cream, but that's REAL whipped cream, whisked in a bowl as God himself intended, not nitrous-charged and dispensed from a can.) It's making Eatocracy yell at the heavens with impotent fists of rage;
• (Program note: I have acquired a can of Four Loko, prior to its banning. It's tucked in my fridge, waiting for me to work up the intestinal fortitude to taste-test it.)
• And apparently a Maraschino cherry factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn is making the local bees turn red and rendering their honey inedible. (Much better to make your own cocktail cherries. Rewarding, tasty, and no Red Dye No. 40.)
• And if Spike Lee's Absolut Brooklyn wasn't strange enough, he's now apparently collaborating with NYC faux-barbecue chain Dallas BBQ on a 20-ounce "frozen apple martini." (If he wants to go for the real Brooklyn flavor, he could do worse than rye, dry vermouth, Maraschino, and Amer.) 40 Acres and a Manhattan?
• The eight cocktails of Hanukkah. Really.
• Campari thinks you're stupid;
• And apparently, so do Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. $34 for a Vesper?! Stop faffing around with the gold leaf, guys...or are you just trying to sucker the tourists and hedge-fund weenies?. (A shame, because the rest of the cocktail menu looks pretty good.)
• This was posted a while ago, but I just ran across it: whiskey toothpaste. There are no words.

However, it's not all bad ideas:

• OMG Sriracha bitters. (Hmm. Is that a bad idea, or a good one?)
• Mark Bittman (late of weird cocktail recipes) comes up with an idea for something he calls a "Grown-Up Granita", but is more accurately described as a grown-up Slurpee. Still sounds good, though.
• Rachel Maddow improves the pina colada;
• Eatocracy posts a brilliant mix'n'match guide to the holiday cocktail season. It's like Garanimals, but for booze;
• ...and not to be outdone, the Times' Dining section today is chock-full of stories in their drinking-themed issue, including a nifty interactive selection of some interesting holiday cocktail recipes;
• and an appreciation of Port;
• and a traveling bitters set from The Bitter Truth. (Were they inspired by this Cocktailians post about improving the airline drinking experience?);
• and a warning that vigorous shaking can lead to repetitive-strain injuries. (See this Cooking Issues post for more on various shaking styles, including the memorable "crazy-monkey shake.")
• and a chronicling of Albert Trummer's unusual approach to his drinks. (It's not often that you read an article with the line "Lighting the bar on fire was never part of the original business plan.") I do wonder, though, what kind of bartender says that you have to burn off the alcohol to make 40- or 50-proof liquor "drinkable." (He must have a horror of overproof rums, poteen, or cask-strength whiskey. That's fine: more Red Hook Rye for me.)

Drinky Linky: Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Cocktailians to you.

I don't have a particular Thanksgiving cocktail to share with you, but I will probably be making Tippecanoe Sparklers tonight after the day job releases me.

And, recently I was the lucky recipient of a gift of Pumpkin Spirit from the Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee. (Well, the gift was from my friend Anne -- thanks! -- and the spirit was from the distillery.) The stuff isn't quite what I'd expected, as the pumpkin nose is immediately apparent on opening the bottle, but the flavor isn't as readily noticeable, and exists more as a light aftertaste. The spirit isn't sweet at all, and it tastes like a whisky, with its attendant burn. But it's a burn redolent of pumpkins and spice. I can attest that it makes an excellent Old-Fashioned, particularly with Fee's Whisky Barrel-Aged Aromatic Bitters.

What's going on with you? Here's some stuff that's caught our eye lately:

• Do you get your turkey drunk before slaughtering it?
• Or do you infuse it with various horrible-sounding flavored vodkas before you cook it?
• The Chicago Tribune covers what they term "the most unnecessary bottle of vodka in the world", which is really saying something;
• CNN.com's Eatocracy spoke with Dale DeGroff;
• This is interesting. Has anyone ordered these "bitters pack" recipes and ingredients from this guy on eBay? I'm very curious about these bitters kits;
• Frank Bruni's excellent "Tipsy Diaries" column in the Times covers coffee cocktails;
• ...and bars with art;
• ...and the Frisco Cocktail;
• The Times' tasting panel also tackles hard cider;
• Is rum -- which definitely seems to be an increasingly-trendy spirit -- really "the bore behind the bar?";
• Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common (my review here) concocts an original holiday cocktail for downtown Portland;
• Camper English has possibly solved the mystery of Pyrat rum's strong oranginess;
• how "proof" works, and how gunpowder is involved;
• and last but far from least, a celebration of David Wondrich's new book Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. I'm in the middle of reading it, and it's excellent and as much of a tour de force as his prior book Imbibe!. I'll post a full review when I'm done, but here are interesting reviews and stories about it in the Wall Street Journal, the Times, and the Chicago Tribune. I would also be remiss if I did not note that you can purchase bartending-themed shirts from his concern Drunkistan, and also mention that he has founded the North Gowanus Institute for Cranial Distempers. (I assume the Institute is rather more devoted to the creation than the alleviation of said distempers. At any rate, carry on.)

Splice the Mainbrace

In honor of National Rum Day today:

Sailors have long been associated with drinking; the British Royal Navy issued daily rations of hooch to its sailors for centuries. At first, each sailor was issued a gallon of beer or wine a day, but after some storage difficulties, that was changed to a ration of hard spirits: brandy in about 1650, and rum in 1687 following the British conquest of Jamaica. Enlisted men were allowed half a pint of neat rum twice daily, and boys got half that. The ship’s purser dispensed the rations, and over time (and through slurred lips, no doubt), “purser” became “pusser”…and currently-marketed Pusser’s Rum is a recreation of the blended high-strength rum that was once served to the Royal Navy.

But what do you do with a drunken sailor? Admiral Edward Vernon, hero of the War of Jenkins’ Ear  and commander of the fleet‘s West Indies Squadron, was concerned with what he called “the swinish vice of drunkenness.” On August 21, 1740, he ordered that his sailors’ rum be watered down:

You are hereby required and directed ... that the respective daily allowance ... be every day mixed with the proportion of a quart of water to a half pint of rum, to be mixed in a scuttled butt kept for that purpose, and to be done upon the deck, and in the presence of the Lieutenant of the Watch who is to take particular care to see that the men are not defrauded in having their full allowance of rum... and let those that are good husbanders receive extra lime juice and sugar that it be made more palatable to them.

Over time, naval officials noticed that the West Indies Squadron‘s sailors were healthier than other sailors, and eventually ship’s surgeons discovered that the lime juice added to their rum prevented scurvy - thus the nickname “limeys“ for British sailors. (And if you’re keeping track, a “scuttled butt” is a barrel with one end removed, and you can see how gossip would spread among the men lined up for their daily ration of rum, thus the contemporary meaning of “scuttlebutt.”) Admiral Vernon’s nickname of “Old Grog”, after the waterproof grogram cloak he habitually wore, soon became the name of the watered-down rum with lime juice and sugar.  (Adm. Vernon was also the namesake of George Washington’s home Mount Vernon, where Washington distilled rye whiskey. History works in circles.)

After arduous duties or in celebration of a victory, sailors could receive an extra ration of rum. This became known in naval slang as “splicing the mainbrace”; in the days of sail, the mainbrace was a heavy piece of rigging vital to the ship’s steering, and fixing it was a difficult and crucial task. After the mainbrace was spliced, it was customary for captains to order an extra drink for the crew.  These days, only the Royal Family or the Admiralty can issue the order to “splice the mainbrace”, generally after a fleet review or another special occasion.

Over the years, the strength and amount of the “tot” of rum was varied by the Admiralty, but enlisted men always got their daily ration. Each day at six bells of the forenoon watch (11:00 am for you landlubbers), the bosun’s mate would pipe “Up Spirits”, and the crew would assemble for their tipple and toasts to the monarch. Until 1970, that is, when concerns over impaired crew operating increasingly sophisticated warships led the House of Commons to abolish the rum ration. This past July 31st was the fortieth anniversary of “Black Tot Day”, the last day rum was routinely served aboard Her Majesty’s warships.  In Portsmouth, England, they re-enacted “Up Spirits” on the quayside, but if you’ve got money to burn, you can have a literal taste of history. The remaining stores of official Royal Navy rum sat in wicker-clad stone flagons in a bonded warehouse until last month's release of “Black Tot Rum: The Last Consignment”: a bottle will run you about £600, or more than $900. For the rest of us, though, we can celebrate National Rum Day with a slightly more reasonable tipple and do some mainbrace-splicing of our own.

Drinky Linky: Girding My Liver for Tales Edition

A bunch of interesting shiznit from the Web, for your enjoyment and perusal:

• Eater tracks what it says are the big five cocktail trends of 2010. Really? A lot of these seem like they've been ongoing for a while;
• The NYT chronicles the cocktail scene in Copenhagen;
• while Budget Travel does likewise in LA;
• No prices on the drinks menu at the new T.G.I. Friday's in Union Square, apparently. Why on earth? Apparently it's classier that way. Yep. Classy. (Hmmm. Maybe I should bite the bullet and go review a Manhattan fern bar. Check out the flair!);
• Gayot.com names the top ten cocktails in the US. I think the Chartreuse Swizzle and the Last Tango In Modena sound especially good. (But someone tell those Vegas guys that you don't put club soda in a julep. Or sour mix.);
• Not strictly cocktail-related, but the French Culinary Institute is having a fundraiser today and tomorrow to benefit Gulf wildlife. Homemade bourbon butter pecan ice cream with fudge "tar balls" can be yours for just a fin;
• The Times' Frank Bruni goes in search of good Bloody Marys (not listed, but one of my favorites is at Enid's, with their house-infused pepper vodka. The Village Voice also recommends "Birth of Pain" mix, which sounds interesting.);
• The Voice also published a fun and wide-ranging interview with Cocktailians pal and bibulous boulevardier Damon Dyer...the man who brought the Angostura shot to NYC.
• Cocktailia posted a great interview with Blair "Trader Tiki" Reynolds about his line of syrups;
• Toby Cecchini offers an interesting recipe for an unsweetened rhubarb syrup that sounds like lots of fun. (I need to experiment more with my Fee's Rhubarb Bitters, too);
• Speaking of Fee's, they've just rolled out Cranberry Bitters;
• And speaking of bitters, Robert Simonson has a great article on unusual homemade bitters in Brooklyn;
• I hear great things from a friend of Cocktailians about Guy Rehorst's Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee. Their Citrus & Honey vodka was recently featured in the Trib;
• But salmon-flavored vodka? In a word, no;
• About.com brings us some more odd and disgusting-sounding drinks;
• I think it'd be fun to serve summery cocktails in cucumber cups -- they're a little small for Pimm's, but you could always break out the Hendrick's;
• The Boston Globe recommends some unusual summertime drinks;
• If the wine vending machine exists, surely an Automat Shot Dispenser can't be far behind;
• Ten tips for low-light cocktail photography;
• Metromix interviews Eben Freeman on his return to the NYC cocktail scene, kegged cocktails, and more;
• In a brace of interesting posts, Camper English asks if tequila is the new vodka, and offers some things to think about when evaluating tequilas;
• More on the white dog trend, from the Kansas City Star;
• And Robert Simonson points out that hibiscus is the next/new Big Thing (which is great; hibiscus is an interesting, piquant flavor. But: I'm in agreement that willy-nilly deployment of the fragrant flower will lead to overexposure);
• Oddly enough, the Times discovers that St. Germain is popular, some three years after its introduction and a year or two after it became truly ubiquitous;
• Serious Eats digs up some unusual non-alcoholic cocktails;
• And very much in the other direction, Painkiller is now offering $80 zombie bowls. Sounds deliciously lethal;
• Eatocracy wondered what drink to order on an airplane. We'd covered it a couple weeks ago, but @RuthBourdain on Twitter comes up with a truly unappetizing option;
• I want to go to Namibia and drink in these bars;
• My friend Dante did a nice interview with Daniel Okrent, author of a new book on Prohibition, for Forbes.com. (I interviewed Okrent a while back for a story on Prohibition and its repeal in NYC);
• And if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'm going to Tales of the Cocktail next week in New Orleans. What the steamy NoLa heat doesn't start, I'm sure the ethanol abuse will finish off. (I'm reading this guide to prepping for Tales with a delicious tingle of nervous anticipation.) Be kind to my liver, people!

Terrible, Terrible (Hopefully Fictional) Drinks

My favorite super-secret Internet cult site recently had a thread in which users posted their recipes for horrific-sounding drinks. (Reminiscent of Defective Yeti's marvelous post on "Unpopular Mixed Drinks" a little while ago.) A selection follows:

Ginbeerbon

• One shot of gin and one shot of bourbon in a pint glass with an open bottle of beer inverted into it.

Robitini

• Robitussin DM, gin

Sweet Clam of the Damned

• Clamato  + absinthe + Crème de menthe + dash of pineapple juice, served with a razor for taking the easy way out.

Sleepy Cow

• Equal parts NyQuil and heavy cream served in an old-fashioned glass with a stick of string cheese for a stirrer.

The Brownout

• Shake 2 oz. agave tequila and 8 oz. Yoo-Hoo with ice, add a half jigger of soy sauce, and a half jigger of vanilla extract. Serve in a bread bowl garnished with a shower shoe.