Spirited Cocktails

As Thanksgiving approaches this week, many of us have accepted as a foregone conclusion that we will eat to a point that is well beyond comfortable. We will stuff ourselves full of turkey, potatoes, vegetables of all kinds, and of course, plenty of dessert.

As with so many things in life, the solution to this problem (in this case, feeling overstuffed, but feel free to substitute your problem here) is drinking.

The New York Times has a great article in today’s dining section on Amari – a category of Italian digestives (or digestifs or digestivos) that are unified by their bitterness (the result of the inclusion of quinine). Examples include Averna, Campari, and Fernet-Branca.

Sipping on a nice, bitter amari can go a long way towards helping you digest that far-too-large Thanksgiving meal. Give it a try – let me know how it goes!

Cheers – and Happy Thanksgiving!

-Josh

I had the privilege this week to complete the BarSmarts Live course – a training program geared toward the new generation of bartenders. The course was put together by spirits giant Pernod Ricard, but I found that, while many of the examples obviously cited Pernod Ricard brands, the course was very comprehensive and conveyed a wide range of industry information.

The course is broken up into five parts: four self-paced modules completed at home with a book, DVDs, and online quizzes, and a one-day live session which includes seminars, a written exam, and a practical exam.

The four self-paced modules included:

1. Spirits Basics
How fermented liquids become the “spirits” that we love How to taste and evaluate spirits like a professional

2. Spirits Categories
Using your tasting skills to understand how fine brandies, whiskeys, liqueurs and white spirits should best be enjoyed in all service applications

3. Cocktails and Mixology
History of mixology and of the seminal cocktails that influence mixology today
Knowing the mandatory bar tools and their uses
Knowing the fundamental ingredients, glassware, garnishes and their usages

4. Practical Application and Service
The 25 classic drinks every bartender should know
Creating new cocktails, creating cocktail menus
Preparation, service basics, ordering, inventory, customer relations, cash handling
Advancing your career by applying all these skill refinements

The content delivered through the book, DVDs, and the live session was exemplary, particularly due to the fact that it was presented by the folks behind BAR (Beverage Alcohol Resource). If you have cocktail books in your collection at home, chances are they were written by the BAR crew: Dale DeGroff, Steve Olson, Doug Frost, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour and David Wondrich. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the practical exam (in which each student is asked to prepare 3 drinks from a list of “25 essential cocktails”) was judged by the countries leading mixologists: the members of the BAR crew, as well as folks like Jim Meehan and Don Lee of PDT (my favorite NYC bar) and bartenders from famous institutions around the country.

The exams, I’ll admit, were not easy. The written exam was comprised of 100 questions, 85 of which focused on details from the BarSmarts text and DVDs. The remaining 15 were based on a blind tasting of three different spirits. For my practical exam, I was asked to prepare a Manhattan (using bourbon – I asked), a Margarita, and a Caprioska (a Caipirinha made with vodka instead of cachaca). I received some wonderful input and feedback from my judge – a very talented bartender name Alex, who traveled all the way from Cure in New Orleans.

My understanding is that an online version of the program (called BarSmarts Wired) will open to the public early next year. From my experience, I would strongly encourage anyone with an interest in learning more about the preparation of classic cocktails (as well as the foundations of how spirits are made, etc.) to keep an eye out for that opportunity.

In the meantime (while I anxiously await the results of my exams!) here’s the complete list of the “25 essential cocktails every bartender should know.” I’d suggest you get to work on learning the recipes now :-)

Cheers,

Josh

25 Cocktails Every Bartender Should Know

Aviation Cocktail
Bellini
Blood & Sand
Bloody Mary
Caipirinha
Cosmopolitan
Collins (Tom, John or Vodka)
Daiquiri
Gimlet
Gin Fizz
Irish Coffee
Mai Thai
Manhattan
Margarita
Martini (Dry or Extra Dry)
Mint Julep
Mojito
Negroni
Old Fashioned (Classic or Muddled)
Pisco Sour
Rob Roy
Sazerac
Stinger
Whiskey Sour

I don’t know how I ever survived without my iPhone. It helps me manage my e-mail, contacts and calendar. But also gives me directions, plays my music (and my NPR podcasts), and keeps me entertained on the subway. It is my one essential piece of technology.

Today my favorite piece of technology is now married to my favorite activity (drinking, naturally), with the release of Happy Houred (available from iTunes or http://happyhoured.com).

Happy Houred lets you choose your location, the type of bar you’re looking for, etc. and it returns a list of the best deals in your area. Say it’s 4:00 – you’re in Brooklyn, and looking for a beer. Happy Houred shows you the way. 8pm and looking for a cocktail on the Upper East Side? Happy Houred has you covered.

Happy Houred is easily my new favorite iPhone application. And the best news? It’s free.

Go download it.

Now.

As you may have noticed, my posts over the last two months have decreased slightly in frequency. That is to say, I haven’t posted anything at all for about five weeks now. That’s kind of a long time, right? Yeah, I thought so, too.

So I do have some lame excuses, mostly to do with my changing jobs recently. I’m starting a new company, which I’ll tell you about more when it’s really up and running. But the fact that it’s taking up every minute of my day and night is no excuse for my not getting ridiculously drunk and telling you good people how I did it. I’ve been trying to keep up a bit via Twitter (@cocktailspirit), but that’s not enough. So I promise I’m going to get back to my real job of writing about booze, even though it doesn’t really pay me anything at all.

Except I’m going to the south of France this week for almost two weeks. Now you really feel sorry for me, right?

Seriously though, I promise I’ll get back to work as soon as I get back from France. As hard as it is to keep up, I love writing about cocktails and cocktail culture. Starting this blog – and especially meeting the people I’ve met as a result – is one of the best things that’s every happened to me, and I promise not to let it fall too much further behind.

Thanks for your understanding!

Cheers,

Josh

Calling all imbibers! Lindsey Johnson (@livethelushlife), who is one of the New York cocktail scene’s fearless leaders, and a close friend of ours, has submitted a wonderful panel idea to SxSW (South by Southwest). The panel is entitled Booze Blogging: Liquid Conversation. Now stop and think for a moment – can you think of any better topic for a panel discussion? We can’t.

Moving on: SxSW picks their panels by popular acclaim, so Lindsey needs your votes. Please head over to the SxSW PanelPicker and give Lindsey’s panel a big ol’ thumbs up. We need to carry the message of cocktail culture (and also our thoughts about building an audience, ethical blogging, etc.) to the masses.

Vote early. Vote often.

Cheers,

Josh

I love a good tweetup. As you probably know, I’m a Twitter addict, and I’ve met so many great people on the Twitter machine. Every once in a while though, it’s nice to crawl out of one’s cave and actually hang out with people in person!

Last night, we were lucky to have two amazing tweetups back-to-back. The first was the evolution of what has become our awesome monthly event (which began with our brown liquor tweetup in Brooklyn, followed by our clear liquor tweetup at Double Crown last month). This month’s tweetup focused on Rum – Tiki-style cocktails in particular. @Sweetblogomine was kind enough to get things organized at Elettaria in the West Village, which has a Mahalo Monday tiki special. My favorite of the evening was the Black Pearl – a twist on the Old Fashioned which includes Old Forester bourbon, Curzan black strap rum, demerara sugar and bitters. Outstanding.

As the tiki tweetup started to wind down, it was time to move on to Keen’s Chophouse for a tasting of The Dalmore, an excellent Highland single malt scotch. Organized by our good friend @livethelushlife and hosted by whiskey expert @the_nose, we were fortunate to receive an expert education on the proper way to taste scotch. Turns out I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time. We tasted both the Dalmore Gran Reserva and the Dalmore 15, both of which are outstanding single malts. The Gran Reserva spends time in both sherry and bourbon barrels, and turns out a bright, intense flavor with a sweet finish. The 15 year spends its time exclusively in sherry barrels, resulting in a more rounded, balanced flavor with a beautiful aroma.

Our good friend @halw also received an exclusive taste of a 1936 single malt, said to be one of the most expensive scotchs on the planet (at around $160,000 per bottle). He seemed to enjoy it :-)

You can read all of our tweets about the event by searching for #TheDalmore on Twitter.

Thanks again to @sweetblogomine, @livethelushlife, and @the_nose for hosting wonderful events! It was also great to see (and in some cases, finally meet!) so many Twitter friends, including @brooklynwino, @shotsandcuts, @halw, @daisy17, @meredithmo, @csmcbride, @paystyle and @selenawrites.

Cheers!

We’re sorry to report that it looks like LeNell – of LeNell’s Wine & Spirits Boutique in Brooklyn – is packing her bags and leaving NYC for good. In an unguarded moment at a tasting of American Whiskey last night at Louis 649, LeNell Smothers admitted to the gathered aficionados that she had given up on finding a new space for her famous store and was taking the show to Mexico.

Rumors have swirled since LeNell lost her lease and had to close up shop earlier this year. Talk was that she was heading to London or Amsterdam, but LeNell had flatly denied those rumors, insisting that she was still on the lookout for a new space in New York City.

This time though, it looks certain that the cocktail geeks of NYC are loosing one of their havens for good. LeNell plans to kick back and open a cocktail-oriented retreat in Mexico. We think we have our next vacation planned.

Of course, we have video:

[Editor's Update – 7/22/2009 9pm: At the request of Ms. Smothers, we've removed the video from our site. She didn't wish to deny the story, and a number of sources have already verified its authenticity; she simply maintains a personal preference about video of her appearing on the web. Since we respect her and understand that she was unaware she was being recorded, we’ve chosen to comply with her request. We will, however, maintain a copy of the video should anyone request a copy to confirm what we've reported.]

[Editor’s Update – 7/22/2009 10pm: Additional note of clarification – we did not record the video of Ms. Smothers. It was provided to us anonymously by someone who was in attendance at the Louis 649 event. Upon receiving Ms. Smothers’ request and learning that she was recorded without consent, we agreed to remove it.]

While we’ll miss LeNell, and her wonderful store full of whiskey and bitters, we wish her well on her new adventure!