Mini-Christmas menu!

So working on a few holiday oriented cocktails for Elixir... Here's a small taste of what's to come!

It's been a while.

So, just an update. The month of October flew by, filled with lots of work at Elixir, and time with family too. We launched the seasonal menu at the end of September and will be doing a small revision around thanksgiving. To think it's been almost 6 months now...

Currently, I'm attending the Tanqueray Ginstitute with Angus Winchester; working on some professional development. As I mentioned a long time ago, a bartender has to constantly educate oneself. Otherwise, like a new computer 3 months afterward, you're obsolete. I'm also planning a punch for my friend's book launch party. Suggestions are always welcome!

Oh, and I'm running for Secretary of USBG Chicago too!

That's all for now, I promise to check in more often. I'm going to start making cordials soon.

Till then, Cheers!

Fall menu is out at Elixir, finally!

It's been a while. Obviously, I've been busy planning the fall menu for the Elixir as well as helping my colleagues with their submissions. So looking at the season, we wanted to push our guests into a set of darker spirits and fall flavours. So we took a few ingredients we felt were quintessentially autumn. Dried figs, preserved peaches, pears, black walnuts, smoky campfires with marshmallows, spices, apples, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin, cider and a Canadian maple black tea. We paired those with a lightly peated scotch, bourbon, mezcal, aged rum, gin and of course the vodka to keep it approachable. With names like georgia is burning, the acolyte and Fig. 5. I feel it's a pretty well rounded menu, Hope you enjoy!

Vintage is always in fashion

What is the most overlooked part of crafting a cocktail... The vessel. The glassware plays an integral part not only is presentation, but also helps with dilution, or to emphasize sensory aspects.

Yeah, there's plenty of new stuff on the market that has laser engraved ____ points. But a vintage piece of glassware can generally accomplish the same statement, while still looking timeless. As for shopping for glassware, it's not easy and takes time. In Chicago, Brimfield and Urban mischief in the Andersonville neighbourhood are two of the best places I've found to procure my wares. Brimfield has an enormous selection of vintage glassware and trinkets in smaller quantities. While Urban Mischief on the other hand has a very large vintage playboy/burlesque selection of cocktail sets (shakers, glassware & stemware) while not being offensive; perfect for the entertainer... No pun intended!

Should you need any awesome
Barware in the future. Check out either place. I have yet to find any place with better options.

Happy Hunting!!!

Cocktail of the Week #16

Gearing up for the fall menu at Elixir. I've been mixing up some drinks using samples of Perfect Purée's Beverage Artistry Series that I obtained from
a new friend I made. I've worked with some of the mixes before, so I'm pretty comfortable with the amazing quality and the variety of ways to use the product.

Paradise Found
2 oz. Plantation 5 yr. Barbados Rum
3/4 oz. Perfect Purée, El Corazon
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino
2 dashes Rhubarb Bitters

Build in shaker glass, add ice, shake, strain into a coupe. Garnish with a swath of lemon oil.

Bartending videos

So apparently my rise to mixology fame is putting me on TV to mix drinks for the world. This past weekend I made a his & hers cocktail for local wedding show "Bridal Wave." Where I blended up some charisma and created a Peach Julep and a blended Country Thyme Lemonade featuring a new Kenmore Elite Blender.

I also have a mixology shoot for a local magazine called RedEye. Making some delicious drinks.

Links and photos coming soon.

Taste of the Nation

One word... Awesome! I can't wait to do it next year.

Appropriate Barware

So just a shout out. I don't give a lot of credit to companies. The people at Chefwear started a line for bartenders called Barware. Not only is their customer service amazing, but great product too.

I ordered 2 jackets on a Wednesday, they had them embroidered and to me in 4 business days. Got them on a Monday. Usually say it takes 4 weeks to do a project like this. They really raised the bar on customer service. keep it up! They certainly have my patronage going forward.

Secret Menu...!?

Once in a while, I'll take a fun ingredient to work at Elixir and opt to make a secret menu. Often checking in on Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook. With the small note of a secret menu for the day.

I usually get a few people come in asking for it, albeit friends. But the feedback is great. My point about this concept is, you can develop a different more adventurous customer base from it. It can also lead to some feedback on prospective menu items. Furthermore, it makes a guest feel like they are special, or trendsetters if you will.

Cocktail of the Week #15

On August 8th, I will be a participating mixologist in Taste of the Nation, a huge charity fundraiser for the No Kid Hungry Campaign. Well after a few weeks of deliberation, we were all assigned a base spirit to work with;of which I received Bulleit Rye. I was pretty excited, in fact, I keep a bottle in my bar at home. Oh, And we keep a bottle at work too...Cake. Well the catch is we have exactly 1 week to come up with an original recipe, tweak it to perfection using a limited amount of secondary spirits and fresh seasonal ingredients and calculate the beverage in order to serve 400+ guests a 1.5 oz. serving.

Easier said than done when you're indecisive like me. Like a kid at a candy store with too many options and favourites. After careful deliberation, and the idea I wanted to go a somewhat masculine direction with my cocktail. I developed "Lost in the Woods". But to keep you in suspense, I will be adding the recipe at the beginning of next week.

***update***

Here's the Recipe

Lost in the Woods
1 1/2 oz. Bulleit Rye
1/2 oz. cold infused rosemary syrup
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. Cynar
2 dashes Fee Bros. Black Walnut Bitters
fresh sage leaf garnish

Build in shaker glass, shake and strain into coupette. Garnish with disciplined sage leaf for aromatics and texture.

Market Share Advice.

I stopped at Green City Market today to pick up some local ingredients to play with. I snagged some fresh peaches, white currants and both tart and sweet cherries to work with.

I am planning a personal experiment to find out which type of cherry and what type of base spirit/mixture will produce the best brandied or bourbon cherries.

Any thoughts?

Cocktail of the week #14

This is one of my recent recipes from the pop-up bar I did with my pal Adam Seger. Savour the sumptuousness.

South American Sour

2 oz. Machu Pisco
1/2 oz. Perfect Purée Chipotle Sour
1/4 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2-3/4 oz. Ginger Syrup
Egg white
5 drops of tobacco bitters

Build everything except for bitters in cocktail shaker, before adding ice. Shake the egg into the mixture to begin the emulsification process. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass through a tea strainer to create a nice microform, and eliminate any splinters of ice. Let sit and garnish with tobacco bitters (aztec chocolate bitters are an acceptable substitution) and a twist (optional). Sip leisurely until fully consumed. Repeat.

As it sounds odd.

There's nothing I enjoy, more at the same time abhor more than the statement "would you like to go behind the bar and make it?"

As a mixologist is pisses me off to know that there's bartenders who could care less about crafting a proper cocktail. Mind you, if you know me...I'm very passionate. But, If you don't like the industry, do us all a favour and get out. I don't want want bartender to mix me a drink that I didn't request (that's what happened at Ombara on Andersonville). I just feel there's plenty of people who would like to get into a craft cocktail job and make a place for themselves. Why take up the space. And yes, I called them out on the drink that was made.

Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox now...

Cocktail of the Week Update

Yeah, so I've skipped the Cocktail of the Week for about 2 months now with everything going on. But I've decided to make a change to this. Now that I'm up in such an awesome city amongst many mixologists I admire. I am going to start and honour some of the best cocktails I consume by making their recipes available, mixologist/creator permitting, of course. And yes, I will still be putting my own recipes on for your viewing pleasure.

Aging Project #3

Now that I'm situated and up to speed at my cocktail bartending job at Elixir in Chicago. It has given me some time to be creative and actually take on some extra roles both in and out of work.

After learning that Elixir will be having their 1 year anniversary next month. I opted to start my way on a fantastic new cocktail. But first I want to age a spirit, in this case... I'm doing pisco. Pisco is a clear, grape based brandy from Peru and Chille. So in a sense I'm making a Peruvian Cognac... But not aging it nearly as long. We'll see how it turns out.

Finally I've moved.

So, for those who haven't heard. I'm officially in Chicago. After numerous opportunities have presented themselves, I've elected to help some friends at a craft cocktail bar in Lakeview until I finish arrangements for a beverage program elsewhere in Chicago. I'll keep you all posted!

Pop-Up Bar: Omakase

This past weekend my good friend Adam Seger asked me to guest bartend for a 2-day Pop-up Bar at Lush Wine & Spirits location down in UIC.

We took cue from Sushi Chefs and decided to name it Omakase, Japanese for entrust, and a concept for the chefs choice. We as mixologists took the opportunity to discover what our guests enjoy both libations and nourishment-wise to craft a one-of-a-kind cocktail for every individual that walked in the door. With a full-range of seasonally market fresh ingredients and some of the bar essentials we served well over 100 guests on Friday alone.

Hopefully if this social experiment was a success, we may continue to do more Pop-Ups in the future. All in part to our mascot: Drunken Raddish Bunny.

Cocktail of the week # 11

I missed a week somewhere along the line. But I have a cocktail to add to the mix. This cocktail I've actually seen before, but I chose to recreate with my own personal spin on it. In fact, I mentioned this beverage a few months back...The celery sour. Well I'm dishing out my recipe for you to savour.

Celery Sour

1 1/2 oz. Tanquerray Gin
1 dash Angostura Bitters or celery bitters (I prefer the lesser)
Celery (approx. 1/3 a trimmed stalk)
3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
Smoked Sea Salt Rim

In shaker glass, build Tanquerray, celery and bitters; Muddle. Add in ice, lemon juice and simple syrup. Start with 1/4 oz. of simple syrup; adjust as necessary.

Shake well, and double strain into old fashioned glass with a smoked sea salt rim with 1 large cube. Garnish with a celery stick.

This cocktail I also enjoy with some ginger ale foam on top, too. If you want a different dynamic apart from the smoked sea salt.

Cinnamon, Cardamom & Cloves... Oh My!

So it's been a while. I've been traveling to Chicago a lot lately. And have been neglecting my poor blog. No matter I'm here now to feed you with a nice new update on bitters!

So my first batch I built was a mix-match of most of the individual flavours I had. But wanted it to focus on 2 primary ingredients, cardamom and star anise. It turned out okay, I had to dilute the final product down to a manageable proof. I created a tequila focused drink with it. That I might use as the cocktail of the week soon.

The second batch was inspired by some reading I've been doing for the Diageo World Class US. they were talking about Indian spices and Masala came up. I didn't want to make a curry bitter, but instead focus on those other spices often used in a masala. So I used some Ceylon Cinnamon, Green Cardamom, Cloves and Ginger and added it to my bitter base (gentian, licorice root, rhubarb root and wormwood). I'm very suprised how this one turned out, and I'm getting the knack of this. I built the bitters in a large snifter so I could progressively smell the product until I was happy with it, then I diluted it down. It produced about 3/4 of a cup of liquid. Which is more than enough! I'm bringing a couple small bottles to Chicago to get some feedback.

Finished infusions.

Today, my great friend Sue Ellen came over and made some cocktails, we tasted some stuff I'd been infusing and maturing. After this we decided it was time to pop the caps on a few infusions. Specifically my cardamom infused white vermouth and my chocolate habanero aged rum.

The vermouth has been infusing for about a month, and still retains a slight sweetness. The cardamom is perfectly present and was exactly what I hoped to achieve. Next I'm going to try a cardamom infused french dry vermouth.

The chocolate habanero aged rum, has been sitting in a new charred oak barrel for over 3 months now. It was pretty tasty before. It tastes smooth with a sweet chocolate start, smokey middle and a spicy/heated finish. It'll make a nice after dinner drink.

Cocktail of the Week #10

Wow, it's hard to believe I've been blogging this now for almost 3 months!
Well I like to make each of these posts relatable to one another if I can. So referring back to my write up on Zubrowka, I have a cocktail for you that's light for spring and quenching for summertime.

I want to preface this cocktail with a note from all Mixologists and cocktail bartenders... Mixing with vodka as a base spirit is so terribly simple anyone can do it. Because of that fact we as bartenders generally stay away from it. Not only to challenge ourselves, but to challenge our guests too. We pride ourselves as mixologists in helping people discover a new favourite drink, while educating them and straying the away from the common pitfalls of the overly sweet martinis and the vodka cranberry (also known as a cape codder, if there's a lime involved.)

Enough of my rambling, enjoy my grassy gimlet.

2 oz. Zubrowka Vodka
3 large leaves of lemongrass (2 tbsp if you were to chop it up)
3/4 oz. fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 dash of Lime Bitters or Simon Difford's Margarita Bitters.

In a shaker glass, muddle the lemongrass with the Velvet Falernum until fragrant. Add bitters, lime juice and vodka. Shake until frosty, double strain through a fine mesh strainer; serve in a chilled cocktail coupe with a lime twist, and savour!

Chilling out in Chicago.

This past Monday I spent in a professional development conference put on by Pernod-Ricard, USA and BarSmarts. It was called "Pioneers in Mixology." We spent they day learning about some of the big trends in mixology, as well as dedicating some time to improving ourselves in our profession. Overall, it was extremely educational.

If you haven't taken the BarSmarts Wired or Advanced courses, I highly suggest it. It truly opened my eyes to a new level of bartending and I now hold myself to a higher expectation.

Cheers!

Professional Development Day!

So, tomorrow I'm heading to Chicago's "Pioneers in Mixology" event sponsored by BarSmarts. I should have some fun new concepts, ideas and such to share soon!

Ice Distillation... Beer or Spirit?

I'm also gonna take a minute and talk about some beer. In specific, BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismarck! or Sam Adam's Utopia. In recent, there has been great debate in the brewing industry about high proof beers, 18% ABV and upwards. More specifically those that have been frozen and water removed concentrating the alcohol in a process called Ice Distillation. This process brings one question to light...whether they should be classified as a spirit or a beer. It's interesting when a beer is no longer meets the modern definition of beer... How things change.

Cocktail of the Week #9

I had guests return to the hotel last weekend. And they were excited to see me and thanked me again for the Hendricks Cup recipe I had given to them months earlier. We proceeded to have a great, very in-depth conversation about cocktail culture. They were ready for something different, and were open enough of give me artistic licensing to create a cocktail and challenge their palates. Of course I rose to the challenge, and over the course of 2 visits. I had made them quite a few cocktails. Well this recipe is one special request.

Ginger Manhattan

2.5 oz. Woodford Reserve
1 tsp. fresh ginger root
1/4 oz. sweet vermouth (perhaps white vermouth)
1/2 oz. ginger simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters (perhaps orange)

Muddle fresh ginger, bourbon and bitters. Add simple syrup, vermouth and ice. Stir and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Flame orange onto drink. Garnish with cube of fresh ginger.


Thanks Andrew and Sid for the opportunity to be creative in a not do creative environment. Cheers!

My Brother the Brewer

My bro works in Scotland for a little outfit called BrewDog. Well as I might have mentioned, he came home for a week and brought lots of goodies. Specifically some stuff I can't find stateside.

One of the items he brought me was a bottle of Żubrówka Vodka, a bison grass infused vodka from Poland. If you are at all familiar with the history of vodka. It originated in Poland/Russia, from potatoes. Well before distilling was truly perfected, you'd have some pretty strong, crude vodka, with lots of congeners and fusel oils. So in order to mask these negative aspects people added pepper, lime leaves, and even bison grass. This spirit is meant to be a nostalgic homage to the original.

At 80 proof this rye based vodka has a nice light sweetness to it, I notice subtle hints of Vanilla, and a light citrus. I don't usually enjoy working with vodka as much but I often make an exception for this one. In the realm of all the flavoured vodkas this one stands alone at the top.

Cocktail of the Week #7 & #8

So your patience reaps double the reward this week. Things are starting to warm up here. I wanted some refreshing drinks to share this time around. So first I have a drink I constructed while challenging myself not to use anything lemon-lime, but still make a great well-balanced tasting tequila cocktail.

The Bartlett Tequila Daisy

1 1/4 oz. Cazadores Blanco Tequila
1/4 oz. golden raspberry simple syrup
3 Tsp. bartlett pear
1 oz. grapefruit juice
1 dash peach bitters
2 oz. soda

In a shaker glass muddle pear with simple syrup. Add liquor, juice, bitters, and ice. Shake and strain into highball filled with ice. Fill with soda. Garnish with a pear slice if desired.


The word margarita comes from the word spanish word "marguerite" meaning Daisy in English. A daisy is a cocktail with sugar, a citrus juice, and a raspberry syrup or grenadine. In this case I used some golden raspberries from a bush I've been growing in a simple syrup.

And next we have a buck. A buck is any drink, typically served in a highball with lime juice added.

The Crimson Tarragon Buck

6 Blackberries
2 sprigs of fresh Terragon
2 oz. soda water
1 1/2 oz. Hendricks or Millers Gin
Squeeze of lime

Mix blackberries, Terragon and soda in a shaker. Muddle. Add gin, strain over ice, and squeeze lime into highball. Garnish with a blackberry wrapped In a Terragon leaf.

Happy Drinking!

Drinks Anyone!?

I found this in USA today, while I was on hiatus. Enjoy!

I am back...

Yes, I've been a negligent blogger...
Yes, I have a few excuses...
Yes, quite a few of those reasons are mixology/alcohol related!

Well lets start off with the progress of my bitters. It's been over a week since I started infusing some bitters in individual jars. And because I chose do use everclear for this endeavor, I feel the process time is much faster. I first took the opportunity to taste my bitter base of licorice root, gentian, and wormwood. A nice deep green. Experimenting with ways to filter these. I decided to try a two-step process. A super-fine mesh filter then I took Jamie Boudreau's Pūr filter idea. The first step removed all the large particles in the mixture. And then filtering through the filter takes some of the edge off of the alcohol, allowing you to taste the bitters, as well as clarifying the tincture.

I'm going to wait a few more days for some of the other items to infuse more.

When Life Gives You Seville Oranges... Make Bitters!

So I had the day off today, so I went to the store and picked up some NGS (Neutral Grain Spirit). Because I'm making some bitters!

As I had mentioned the other week, I picked up some spices and herbs while up in Chicago. I pulled some mason jars out of the basement, and picked out a few ingredients I want to work with first. So I chose cardamom, star anise, ceylon cinnamon, rhubarb root, Seville oranges (what Campari is made of!), cloves, and ginger.

A few years back, Master Mixologist, Jamie Boudreau suggested to build each ingredient in your bitters in separate containers for control purposes(http://spiritsandcocktails.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/how-to-make-bitters/). So I did that with all my ingredients. But I chose to make a bitter base jar with wormwood, licorice root and gentian root. This will be the basis of my bitter formulas for the first round of experimentation.

They say as a general rule, you should let certain items sit depending on their strength, obviously take into consideration the proof of the liquor you're using. The higher the proof, the faster the extraction process.

3-4 days: Intense flavors such as vanilla beans, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, mint, garlic, tarragon, basil, oregano, dill, thyme and peppers

1 week: Moderate flavors such as cantaloupes, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, pitted cherries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

2 weeks: Mild flavors such as pineapple, ginger and lemon grass

If you're looking for some good online resources with ideas for bitters, check out Jamie's Blog I mentioned earlier, and also the bartenders at Anvil in Houston (http://drinkdogma.com/how-to-make-your-own-bitters-for-cocktails/).

Happy Infusing!

Bitter and Opinionated?

While I was in Chicago last weekend, I made it a priority to procure some herbs, spices, and roots to create some bitters. Any suggestions what I should try first?

Cocktail of the Week #6

This cocktail doesn't need much of an introduction. Its only my background photo of my blog...The GINger Orange Crusta. Cheers!

2 oz. Martin Millers Reformed Gin
1/2 oz. ginger infused simple syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
3/4 oz. fresh orange juice
1 tsp. fresh ginger root
3/4 oz. Tuaca
1 orange slice

Muddle orange slice, ginger and simple syrup in shaker glass. Add Tuaca, gin, OJ and ice. Stir. Strain into old fashioned glass with raw sugar rim. Garnish with candied ginger and orange slice.

Bringing It All Home.

I haven't posted much this past week, solely because I was in Chicago. It's that place where I can find pretty much anything I want in the liquor world. And if my good friends at Binny's Beverage Depot don't have it they'll find it for me! Well this time I have brought back 3 spirits for your tasting pleasure (well I brought more, but 3 is plenty for now). Velvet Falernum, Hum, and some Batavia Arrack.

Taylor's Velvet Falernum is a sweet rum based liqueur from Barbados; with some very delightful aromas and tastes. At first smell you get cloves, and it really dominates the fragrance of the liqueur. But when one tastes the beverage you immediately taste sugar, lime and then the cloves at the finish. It's only 11% ABV so it certainly makes an ideal replacement for a simple syrup with spice notes. It's probably one of my favourite liqueurs to work with. Its one of those liqueurs that is extremely versatile. I look at it like a Maraschino or Tuaca.

Next, Hum, a botanical spirit predominantly of hibiscus, ginger, cardamom and kaffir limes. The latter two are of my favourite scents, so I may be just slightly partial, well that and a friend turned me on to it. The liqueur itself is pretty potent, and a little goes a long way. But i discovered you can bring out certain characteristics of the beverage by pairing it with a different ingredient. Apples for example bring out the ginger in the liqueur, where as I find ginger ale itself seems to make the cardamom pop more. It's 70 proof, so enjoy responsibly.

Finally, Batavia Arrack Van Oosten. Some people have seen the words Arrack and Arak, and often confuse the two. Arak is an anise spirit from the middle east. Arrack (arak in some parts of indonesia, it's not confusing at all!) in this case is a relative of rum! It is created in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), on the island of Java. What makes this spirit unique is the Javan red rice that is added to the beer (fermented sugar cane juice) and distilled. It still maintains the fiery sweetness you find in rum, with an approachable dryness. But has a nice almost floral aroma to it. This one sits at 100 proof. It going to make a great base spirit for some summer drinks, I almost prefer it over rum itself.

Hope you enjoyed my spirited reviews for the month! Cheers!

Cocktail of the Week #5

A day late, this cocktail is a special request from my friend Dan. He asked me if I had any cucumber based cocktails in my arsenal of beverages. Well yes! I gleefully responded. This beverage was created to fill the void in my life when I had no access to Pimm's #1 (a gin based spirit with some secret botanicals). Without further ado... The Hendrick's Cup.

2 oz. Hendricks Gin
1/8 cup Peeled cucumber
1 dash of Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters
Ginger ale

In a shaker tin, muddle the gin, the cucumber and bitters. Add ice, shake well. And double strain (both a Hawthorne and a fine mesh strainer) into a glass cordial coffee mug, fill the mug with ice, top off with ginger ale and garnish with a cucumber slice, or two. Sip, relax, get a spa treatment and repeat.

The uncorking...

It's been over a month since I started aging some Beefeater London Dry Gin & a little bit of Miller's Reformed Gin in a 2 Litre barrel. It tastes amazing.

So which do you prefer!? ...Aged or Unaged.

Pardon the interruption.

I haven't been keeping up a lot with the blog lately, been studying for my CSS exam, next month. Wish me luck!

Cocktail of the Week #4

Ok, so this is the drink that I created, we will actually be serving this at Ballard's Bar at West Baden Springs Hotel for a week, starting Monday Feb. 13. I have since improved this cocktail and thats the recipe you're getting here. Don't get me wrong. The other recipe is better, this just adds a different element. This drink is sort of inspired by something my Dad can't have! Figs.

The Fig Tree

2 oz. Bacardi White Rum
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz. Fig Infused Simple Syrup
2 dashes Fee Bros. Black Walnut Bitters
Splash of Ginger Ale
A very tiny amount of vanilla bean, less than 1/16 tsp.

In a shaker glass, build rum, lemon juice bitters and simple syrup with ice (add vanilla beans, optional). Shake well, double strain into highball glass filled with ice. Add ginger ale. Garnish with a brandy preserved fig, and a vanilla bean pod (for stirring purposes).
Enjoy!

Should I stop now?

So it's been about 3 weeks now since I've started maturing my gin. The colour is a nice dark straw. It has a nice smoky smell of honey. The mouthfeel is warm with an odd flavour of vanilla, and some very forward notes of cucumber, perhaps from the Miller's Gin. After that, I find the juniper to be very smooth and almost sweet. I'm probably going to leave it on for another week to see what develops!

Cocktail of the Week #3

It's Wednesday! So time for the cocktail of the week! This cocktail was created just last week, when I was playing around with the ever-so-popular G&T (Gin & Tea) combinations. I ended up going off on a tangent, surprised!? Albeit a good tangent, the inspiration came to me through some herbal teas I commonly see out in the market. Peach & Ginger. Well, sorry to say this isn't a G&T cocktail. But it's pretty darn good. Without further ado, La Pêche Blanche.

1 1/2 oz. Hendrick's Gin
2 oz. Goslings Ginger Beer
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Dash of Fee Bros. Peach Bitters
Grapefruit Oil/Garnish

Build gin bitters and simple syrup in an old fashioned glass. Add ice, then ginger beer. Garnish with a grapefruit peel & oil. If you like it sweet, place a sugar cube with peach bitters on the side.

Barrel Update...

So I took a quick minute to taste the l'eau de dieu from my barrels.

The gin is coming along nicely, with sweetness and a nice vanilla confectionary note. I also smell honey. I'll probably give it a few more weeks before I unleash it on the masses!

The Chocolate Fresno Chili infused rum is getting more heat, even after 4 days in oak. I'm thinking of repeating the same recipe in a glass container to compare my results for future reference.

Spicy Inspiration

So, being inspired by the upcoming Hallmark holiday...chocolate and spices, specifically chili peppers. I decided to fill my second barrel with a gold rum, a small amount of creme de cocoa, to force a chocolate confectionary note, as well as some fresno chillies, to hopefully infuse some flavour into the rum. I had though about just infusing the flavours together in a glass jar, but felt like experimenting a little... Wish me luck!

Recipe of the Week

This week I picked one of the first cocktails I added to my book. You're going to ask what's a shrub? Well, it stems from an English term for a pre made mix of fruits/fruit juices, and usually a compounded liqueur. Often sugar is added into the mixture. It is intended to hold for a period of time, for ease of making drinks later on.

Juniper Citrus Shrub

4-6 dried juniper berries
1 orange slice
1 1/2 oz Korbel brandy
1 oz Tuaca
2 oz soda

One would typically prepare the mixture of brandy, Tuaca, orange, and juniper berries in a large quantity (batched) in advanced, with plenty of time for the mixture to rest. Thus making it a true Shrub. If not, Muddle juniper and orange together. Add brandy and let sit/steep for one minute. Add ice to Collins glass or highball, Tuaca, and top off with soda. Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy!

Works in progress.

I had the day off work today, so I decided to pull the liquor out and start to build beverages. I came up with some nice concepts, but still need some perfecting. There's always do's and dont's that bartenders have. Like mixing certain base spirits. Like tequila and bourbon for example. I have yet to enjoy a drink with those two spirits involved.

What I wanted to talk about is tasting. Beverage quality is such a big deal, especially consistency between beverages. I have gone to many high end bars, repeatedly and ordered the same drink only to have something slightly different each time. There are many contributing factors, such as; bartenders recipe. But the main one I want to focus on is tasting. When I see a fellow bartender taste my beverage, I get excited. It lets me know that they care what is being put over the counter. Some guests have found it offensive until I explained it to them. Mind you I'm not doing anything unsanitary, but rather taking a sample from the almost finished product ( usually in the cocktail shaker). It's like QA for bartenders. Liquor doesn't really spoil, but some fresh mixers, and some liqueurs tastes can change if left unused too long.

Bottom line, don't be afraid to taste. Just don't get too crazy.

Bartending Kit

I've had a leather bartenders utility roll for all my bar tools. Well, about a month ago, in the search for something better, I came across one on Etsy from a duo (Mike & Malia) from Seattle going by McSology. I was amazed! It's way better looking than the majority of the bar kits I've seen on the market.

I plan on getting one to replace my old one soon. But I picked up one of McSology's awesome super ultra durable Lewis bag to play with in the meantime. If you're not familiar with a Lewis Bag. It is used in conjunction with a wooden mallet to crush ice... Or if you want to be rough, I'm sure you could bash it against something. I suggest the first option. Bartenders use it primarily to make mojitos and juleps. Cheers!

Barreled Goodness

So, it's been a week since I emptied water out of one of the barrels and filled it with 1.75 litres of Beefeaters and .25 litres of Martin Millers Gin. We'll let it age for a few more weeks.

What should I put in the second barrel?

Recipe of the week

So starting this week i'm going to add a drink from my cocktail book, or perhaps from someone else's recipe book that has just blown me away. This recipe was made as a challenge to layer certain ingredients. Of course, i took the challenge. The drink is meant to be somewhat sweet, but with some of the savory notes. I suggest a garnish of a vanilla bean pod to stir it. My original garnish is some chocolate shavings. So the first cocktail of the week:

The Perfect Black and White Martini

Pernod
11/2 oz. dark creme de cacao
1/8 oz. butterscotch schnapps
1/2 oz. heavy cream
1 1/2 oz. Stoli Vanil

In chilled martini glass, rinse with Pernod and a splash of soda(what we in the industry call an in & out). Pour slightly chilled(preferably refrigerated) creme de cocoa and butterscotch schnapps into martini glass. In a shaker glass, place half & half and vodka with ice. Shake until extra frosty. Strain onto bar spoon to float on top of dark layer. The shaking should've created lots of foam in the shaker tin... Strain until the majority of the foam is covering the beverage. Garnish with chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Caviar in a drink... Who would have thought.

So, after watching an episode of Top Chef, I was inspired to dabble some more with molecular gastronomy. What my goal was to create cute little caviar like balls to put in a cocktail or for garnish.
I already knew that gelatin powder would be my friend here again, just like the foam I made earlier this week. Seeing as I didn't have any liquid nitrogen in the kitchen I had to improvise. I tried dropping droplets of blackberry infused gelatin into an ice bath with no success, the gelatin just dissipated in the water. They looked like amoebas...
After some more trial and error I concluded that my gelatin was good, my cold water wasn't what I needed. What I needed was oil. Since oil and water don't blend it's the perfect medium to drop gelatin (water-based) into. The only problem would be cleaning the oil off the caviar. Well come to find out it wasn't a bad idea, because it kept each sphere from sticking together.
Success!

UnBARRELable news!

So got some new 2L oak barrels with a #4 medium char in today! What should I age?
Any ideas...
I have a few, but first I'm gonna throw some water in these to make sure they don't leak. It's always a good idea, because the barrels may loose some moisture, loosening the seal. But as science shows, adding water to oak staves causes them to slightly expand creating a seal.

Certifications...

It never hurts to know your stuff. I have taken about 6 Alcohol Serving classes and a management class since I started bartending. In fact today, I took the ServSafe Alcohol class and exam online in less than 4 hours. It always looks good to employers that you have these classes because it shows them you're serious about your business and serious about protecting their business.

Theres also a ton of liquor and advanced bartending courses out there. Pernod-Ricard, USA sponsors the BarSmarts course alongside all the big names in bartending. They have 2 outlets, online and an advanced proctored exam. I used it a while back for a jump start, for studying for my CSS (Certified Spirits Specialist) Exam. The CSS is like a basic liquor sommelier certification program, put on by The Society of Wine Educators. The program was written by an acquaintance of mine, he's the master distiller for Brown-Foreman, Chris Morris. It really delves into spirits without getting crazy scientific, but it still maintains a very charismatic factor... I just wanted to keep reading.

I'm rambling... I'll save some more certifications for another time. Thanks for tuning in!

Welcome My New Little Friends!

Last week before I started the blog. I placed an order with The Whisky Exchange out of the UK (www.thewhiskyexchange.co.uk). It's hard to find specific liquors and the newest stuff from around the world. These guys certainly do a great job! The box was well packed and they got my order to me in just under a week!? I was amazed, but of they came highly recommended from my brother and some of his distiller friends. So I in turn will be doing more business with them and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to find something different or hard to find stateside.

So that little review wasn't my topic, today. But rather the unique stuff I received in the mail.

•Pimm's #3 Winter Cup- a seasonal release of the Brandy based Pimm's nice and spicy, makes for an interesting toddy. I've seen this in the states, but it's rather hard to find.

•Compass Box's Monkey Shoulder- A vatted scotch (now referred to as a blended malt scotch) I discovered on a trip to Scotland. Very approachable,not peaty at all like some scotch whiskys. Smooth I get orange like notes from it personally. This is a great scotch for beginners.

•Bol's Creme de Cassis Foam - this may sound really gimmicky, but it's actually pretty interesting. At 17% ABV, it has a pump that turns the liqueur into a foam. It'll make an awesome Kir Royale. It just adds a different sensory aspect to a drink. I have yet to see it in the US, and it'll probably end up being fairly popular of it comes to our side of the pond.

•Wood's Old Navy Demerara Cane Rum- at 114 proof it's a nice and dark rum from Guyana. It has a great spiciness and sweetness about it. Can't wait to work with it.

Well, I can't wait to work with all of it. Here's a few pics.

Foaming at the mouth!

I've been thinking about how to approach creating a foam from a ginger ale syrup concentrate to put on top of my celery sour, just to give it the perfect sweetness, while still keeping it true to nature. As I don't have a whip cream canister/charger available, I opted to utilize my old school barista skills and use a French press to create foam. Well that failed miserably. Pondering on ideas, I thought about adding some gelatin powder. And voila! The perfect foam for a celery sour without using egg yolk! Cheers

Crafting new cocktails this week

Just a few of the ideas from a crafting session.

My rum & fig cocktail... More coming soon.

Celery sour with a ginger ale foam (pictured)

This is LONG overdue.

I've been compiling my own cocktail book with recipes and inspirations for some time now in Evernote.  But it's time I started sharing my knowledge and skills with the world.  This blog will serve as a refrence tool and a whats happening next as I pursue experiments and craft new cocktails.  This is a learning experience, so feel free to chime in with some advice!

Look out world...

Tyler