[Edit: Surname and thus drink name fixed.]
Well, that was a great way to spend an afternoon.

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[Edit: Surname and thus drink name fixed.]
Well, that was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Posted by Tony H at 03:04 AM in Drinking Establishments | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Yep, that's three, count 'em, three links roundup posts in a row, for those of you keeping score at home. I can't help it -- there are too many interesting stories out there.
Posted by Vidiot at 12:19 AM in Seen Elsewhere | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I don't usually do two links-roundup posts in a row, but I've seen so many interesting links that I just gotta share 'em with you:
Posted by Vidiot at 10:00 PM in Seen Elsewhere | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
It was absolutely killing me to not be able to attend Tales of the Cocktail this year. (Curse those pesky work commitments!) Even checking Twitter and looking around the various cocktail blogs was maddening, and reminded me of pressing my nose to the glass behind which all the cool kids were having fun without me.
There were some good roundups of Tales from the AP, the National Post, and Forbes (to say nothing of the official and wildly comprehensive Tales Blog.) And I should single out the New York Times for a nice post focusing on Sazeracs in New Orleans, NYC, and elsewhere.
But there's other news! And links to share!
Posted by Vidiot at 08:06 PM in Seen Elsewhere | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Well, it seems we've hit a bit of a good stretch lately at Cocktailians. Some excellent reviews from Vidiot, a lovely (if occasionally wet) summer here in NYC, and now, we've been lucky enough to be asked to participate in a contest in which, honestly and without corniness in the slightest, everyone will be a winner.
Thursday, July 30, 2009, Bar Artisanal will throw what could easily be the social event of the Summer: A cocktail contest for amateur mixologists, with the winner getting their creation added to Artisanal's extremely well-regarded menu. From their notes to us:
Amateur mixologists and cheese lovers alike (who are at least 21 years) should send an original cocktail recipe that pairs well with cheese for a chance to have their cocktail featured on the Bar Artisanal cocktail menu and win $200 gift certificates for each of the Artisanal Group restaurants: Bar Bar Artisanal, Artisanal Fromagerie, Bistro and Wine Bar, and Picholine.
The judges' panel will include: Terrance Brennan, Chef-Proprietor of Artisanal and Bar Artisanal; Robert Haynes-Peterson, The NY Drinks Examiner; Jason Miller, Artisanal Group Beverage Director; Dave Arnold, Director of Culinary Technology at The French Culinary Institute; and, um, yours truly. (I can claim I'm an unbribeable judge, but please, feel free to try me.)
If you'd like to enter a cocktail in the contest, or if you'd just like more information, you can contact them through email or through their Facebook page. And of course, if you're more of a partaker than a maker of cocktails, there will be steep discounts for all the contested offerings the evening of the contest.
Regardless, it sounds like it's going to be a hell of a fun night. I hope some of you can come on out.
Posted by Tony H at 03:03 PM in Drinking Establishments | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
From time to time, I get a bottle of booze in the mail. This is definitely an unexpected perk to running a cocktail blog, and I keep meaning to write about them, but never get around to it. So here's an attempt to work through the backlog.
I recently received a bottle of Karlsson's GOLD vodka. I'll confess off the bat that I'm not a big vodka guy -- I mean, it's legally flavorless. Why bother with neutral spirit when you can infuse spirits with flavor (a la gin or infused vodkas), or age them? Or you can ask, as the Washington Post did in its review of Karlsson's Gold, "does the world need another vodka?"
On the other hand, LeNell brings the contradictory love:
Can't really argue with that. So vodka is worth drinking, both neat and as an ingredient in mixed drinks. How's Karlsson's Gold? I wasn't really sure how to evaluate it, or where I should set the bar, so here are my (unfiltered, like the vodka itself) reactions: It comes in an appropriately potato-esque bottle, in a nice nod to its roots (heh) as a spirit made from seven varieties of potatoes from Cape Bjäre, Sweden. When I cracked the cap, I noted a sweet citrus-y aroma, not raw ethanol. The mouthfeel is slightly viscous, but not oily in the sense that Stoli and (to a lesser extent) Smirnoff can be...it's almost creamy. The taste is subtle if you're used to drinking gins and whiskies, but it is there. It's pleasantly vegetal, with notes of potato and herbs floating around. It's also smooth -- which must be quite a trick, distilling a spirit that doesn't burn very much while ensuring that flavor isn't lost.
I drank it neat, and I also tried it shaken with a bit of ice and then strained; the water this added helped bring out some of the flavors. (Karlsson's website calls this a "Gold Standard Vodkatini" -- no bonus points for the "glance at France or the closest bottle of dry vermouth" foofaw. If you're calling it a Martini (and yes, the "-tini" suffix qualifies), ya gotta have vermouth.)
When the Karlsson's publicists sent me the bottle for review, they also included a Karlsson's-branded pepper mill, suggesting that the vodka is best enjoyed in a "Black Gold" consisting simply of the vodka on the rocks with a few turns of freshly ground black pepper. This was a nice addition, and the pepper did complement the vodka's flavor. I'd recommend drinking this vodka straight, though; I tried it in a Kamikaze, and the flavor was totally submerged by the Cointreau and lime juice. I haven't yet tried a vodka Martini, though I'd think it'd work well with a good dry vermouth like Dolin, Vya, or the newly-available European-formula version of Noilly Prat.
Bottom line? I liked Karlsson's Gold, though I'd hesitate and think twice before mixing with it -- not because I think it'd do poorly, but because it'd be a waste. (I realize that not everyone is as much as a gin nut as I am, though.) If you're interested in a sipping vodka, this might be worthy of consideration.
Posted by Vidiot at 04:10 PM in Ingredients | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)