Love, Ginny Tonic

A little bit about whiskey, cocktails, and changing you life.

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Getting ready to judge the Bar Brawl Competition. #eyhocincinnati #cocktails #craft #bartender #cincinnati #ohio #barbrawl #fightnight #festival (at Cincinnati Food and Wine Classic)

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Molly channeling her inner Disney Princess to teach the woodland creature about bourbon last night. #bourbon #disneyprincess #raccoon (at Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar)

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Creative cocktail planning for our OYO cocktail class September 14th. Nothing like picking your herbs fresh to make the syrups and plan the menu. Try the lamb burgers on special tonight. They are to die for. #foodie #cocktails #kentucky #farmtoglass #unionkentucky #nky (at The Farmstand Market & Cafe)

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Cocktail experimentation with @spiriteddiscussions off to a great start. Peter Lusher added basil and Creme de Violette to a margarita. #cocktails #tequila #craft #beautifulbooze

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Trying an old school beer #daytonohio #oldschool #beer #tuesdayfun (at The Barrel House)

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Been here as a liquor rep several times so I decided it was finally time to stay and try the beer. You can tell they use real fruit in the Berry Boro Blonde. #daytonohio #craftbeer #brewery #blondeshavemorefun (at Crooked Handle Brewing Co.)

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I couldn't resist trying the 50th Anniversary Al Young small batch from @fourrosesbourbon when I stopped into Wiseguy's Lounge for a meeting today. Toasted oak and dried cherries on the nose. Fascinating blend of fruit, smoke, and oak with the taste and a very dry finish that hugs your mouth and keeps you warm. #bourbon #whiskey #fourroses #neat (at Goodfellas Covington)

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Date night is better with cheese and beer. Great spread from @sharecheesebar and beer from Blank Slate still on tap at Lucky Turtle. #cincinnati #datenight #craftbeer #cheese (at Lucky Turtle)

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Philadelphia was a great drinking city. Of course, any city is a great drinking city when I am there but I love it when a place makes it easy for me. One thing I noticed right away was how proud the city was of their local spirits. As a sales rep for a small Ohio distillery, I found this to be incredibly refreshing. The first bar we went to The Black Sheep, had a Pennsylvania four-grain whiskey from Manatawny Still Works called Keystone on special for $4 a shot so we could try it. A lot of flavor and surprisingly complex for a young whiskey. At dinner that night, and at several bars later in the trip, the bartenders told me about Blue Coat Gin and recommended cocktails that were made with it. Another bartender excitedly told us about Dad’s Hat Rye and Berkshire Bourbon, two more local whiskeys. A restaurant and bar called Tequila’s had a locally owned tequila they used a lot. At the Reading Terminal Market, I met the sales rep from Boardroom Spirits selling their vegetable brandy. That is right, they are making spirits from 100% beets and carrots. My friend and I ended up checking our bags on the way home because we had decided we had to buy several bottles before we left. It was so amazing to go to a city and not see the same national brands on every bar and every menu. I loved getting a taste of local flavor in my cocktail and not just my food and beer. 

This is such a different drinking culture than Cincinnati. Here we love our local beer. And even major labels of bourbon are considered a local product and we are rightly proud of them. But a lot of bartenders I talk to are very unaware of which spirits are made in their own state or even their own city. In Cincinnati, outside of a few bars, it is rare for bartenders to open conversations with excitedly telling customers about a new spirit they want you to try, let alone a local or craft spirit. Seeing how prevalent these kinds of conversations were in a major East Coast city made me hopeful that in ten years time you will see conversations like this happening in Cincinnati as well. 

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Great trip to Philadelphia last week. I saw this at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I don’t create art and I am not so sure about mystic truths but it still spoke to me. 

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3 am thoughts

Sometimes I think that the only reason any human has ever done anything is just to distract ourselves from the absurdity of consciousness.

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Quickie cocktail for my podcast, The Charlie Tonic Hour, this week. Canton Ginger Margarita: 1 1/2 parts Domain de Canton, 1 part Reposado Tequila, 1/2 part Fresh Lime Juice. Build all ingredients in a mixing glass. Shake and strain over ice or serve up. Garnish will a lime wheel. Got the recipe from Domain de Canton and I had all of the ingredients so I decided to try it. It was pretty well balanced considering the amount of the ginger liqueur and the tequila still came through nicely. I would make it again for sure, but then I do love ginger. 

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Cigars, Whiskey and the Art of Showing Up

I got to take part in a really interesting Whiskey and Cigar pairing today at Highland Country Club and ended up learning a lot about cigars. I was there to talk about the OYO Sherry Finished Bourbon from Middle West Spirits but I was excited to try Redbreast 12 which I have heard great things about but never tried. It is easy for me to talk about whiskey because I love it and I am excited by it. I’ve always loved how whiskey is such an amazing combination of nature, art, science, and culture. The process of fermentation and distillation start off simple but small changes in where the grains are grown, the wood of the barrel, the yeast, the water, the climate, and where the barrel is aged can have a dramatic impact on the flavor and character of the whiskey. Listening to the owner of Straus Tobacco talk about cigars I realized how much cigars have in common with whiskey. The region and soil of the tobacco have a huge impact on the flavor of the cigar. Changing even one aspect of the cigar will end up having a major impact on the flavor as well.

And just like with whiskey, scarcity will build mystique and demand. Everyone seems to think that Cuban cigars are the best in the world but a lot of that is because they are hard to get. The speaker explained that while Cubans are often good they are not necessarily any better than a high-quality cigar from another part of the world. This reminded me so much of the hunt for Pappy and other rare bourbons. Overall these rare bottles are good but not necessarily drastically better than other high-quality bourbons out there that are easier to find. I have been really enjoying some of the private selection store picks that you can easily get across the river here in Cincinnati, especially Four Roses and 1792.

It was especially nice that I ended up learning so much at this event because I was honestly dreading it. I was tired and leading whiskey events with an all-male group has been awkward in the past. But I did some deep breathing and told myself to just smile, have fun, and try to get something out of the event and I absolutely did. I learned a lot about cigars and made some good contacts. One guy wanted to introduce me to his friend who owns several restaurants and another wanted me to lead a social event at his office. So once again I learned that just showing up and being positive is not only half the battle, it is often the most difficult part. It is like exercising. Getting started is the hardest part but once you are doing it you are always happy you did.

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I spent an afternoon a month ago photographing at Middle West Spirits in Columbus, Ohio for The Wall Street Journal for a story on artisan vodkas booming in the United States. Thanks for looking. 

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Great photos of the distillery I work for!

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It’s Not Too Late

I am very skeptical of cliches about living your dream handed down from a place of privilege. I also try to put a positive spin on pretty much everything and I try to keep it fun on Facebook. So I haven't talked a lot about the fears and frustrations I had while I was still teaching and I haven't done a lot of #blessed posts since I have transitioned. But it's been weighing on me lately that maybe I should be more open. Because maybe I have friends that need to hear some of this. Maybe I have friends who feel stuck in a life they don't want and want to change it but don't know how. 

I spent years spinning my wheels in a relationship that didn't fit, in a career that didn't fit. I thought that I'd had my chance in life, that I'd chosen poorly and that was it. Best to make the best of it and remember that other people have it worse and not everyone gets to live their dreams. I told myself that I'm good at loving people and giving myself to people. That my kids and my husband would be my story. 

I could feel my potential rotting inside of me and sometimes when my guard was down I'd cry and choke on it. And then I'd push it back down and get on with my life. That went on for a long time. And then slowly I began to take steps to change it. It wasn't easy and before I was done it involved a divorce, a lot of tears, and I had to adjust my standard of living. 

My life today is so different than it was six years ago. Six years ago when I thought I was already too old to try to change my life. When I thought that I had already made all the choices I got in life and that I had made my bed and now had to lie in it. But as it turns out, six years ago I was beginning to change and to walk down this path before I even knew what it was. Bit by bit, often without daring to believe that I really was changing, I started to do just that.

The life I have now is healthy and happy. My job is in the industry I adore. The truth is I don't know if I will succeed in this field. I'm working hard and learning every day but there are no guarantees. If I told you that getting the job was the happy ending of my story it would make a good narrative but it wouldn't be true. I could still fail. But right now I love my job and I'm happy. I'm on a path that I like and I'm working like hell to beat my way further down it. 

If I had just really believed six years ago that change was really possible I could have gotten here faster. And so despite my fear of cliches I'm telling you. Change is really possible. Even if all you can do right now is take a tiny, imperceptible step toward your dream, it is worth it. Don't ignore the feeling in your gut. Go for what you want.

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If it is impossible for you to go on as you were before, so you must go on as you never have.

from "Brave Enough” by Cheryl Strayed