*not a real bartender

I like to make drinks. I like to serve drinks. I like to drink drinks. But as my mother-in-law reminded me, I'm "not a real bartender".

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SPOILER ALERT!

Many of your favorite whiskeys may not be distilled where you think they are.  But does it matter?

High West. Templeton. Redemption. Belle Meade. Premium, beloved brands that all evoke a rich history and a sense of place. What do they all have in common?

They may be bottled in Utah, Iowa, Kentucky and Tennessee, but they're all distilled in Indiana.

When I first stumbled across this truth in GQ, my mind was blown. Mythology is a big part of of whiskey culture. But had the storytelling had become... just a story? A white lie perpetuated by evil marketers?

(Full disclosure: I'm an evil marketer myself, perhaps a little too familiar with tricks of the trade -- and I don't like being "had" by my own kind.)

Why Indiana? Midwest Grain Products (MGPI), formerly Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI), was also formerly Seagram's. When Seagram's went bust, a lot of good hooch was left behind. A few smart, enterprising people decided to bottle it, brand it and resell it.

And why not? Why let decent -- and in some cases, excellent -- whiskey go to waste?

But that's only part of the story. There are only a handful of companies that make bourbon. And most of those companies only have one mash bill (think: recipe). Using Buffalo Trace as an example, this means that a $100+ bottle of Pappy Van Winkle contains exactly the same ingredients as a $10 bottle of Weller. The difference is in barreling and aging techniques.

But still. Shelves are littered with whiskeys, each with their own elaborate and often romantic backstory.  

After I got over my initial shock, and let's face it -- sense of betrayal -- I realized that these insights shouldn't prevent me from enjoying a favorite brand. 

After all, it takes a finely tuned nose and level of skill that I don't possess to understand which whiskeys to blend, how long to age them, or what type of wood to use in their barrels. It's still an art form.

Let's take Belle Meade Bourbon, for example. Sweet and spicy, it's one of my current favorite sipping whiskeys. But it's a newcomer, the initial offering of the recently reborn Green Brier Distilling Co. Wanting to restore their family distillery to its former glory, Charlie and Andy Nelson looked west to help them launch their initial brand. And I don't fault them.

Unlike some distillers-with-a-secret, they're in the process of getting Green Brier up-and-running in order to distill future brands there themselves. Farming out Belle Meade was simply a means to that end -- the fastest, most cost-effective way to relaunch Green Brier, begin building a buzz and restore its once-stellar reputation.

In the end, a good whiskey is a good whiskey, even if the truth behind its making is stretched. After all, I don't know how many half-truths I've told  under the influence of bourbon.

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Signed by the distiller. Seems legit.

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Pappy Van Wino

The new peanut butter and chocolate?

Thanks to the good folks at the H+F Bottle Shop for featuring Southern Belle Shiraz as their recent Wine of the Week. 

Wine? No, I'm not losing focus here. This Shiraz was aged in twenty year old, charred oak, Pappy Van Winkle barrels.

Apparently, this decision was somewhat controversial among some of the old guard winemakers. Perhaps that's one of the reasons that I enjoyed it. The fact that it's only $25 a bottle may be another.

Plus, this may be the closest I'll ever come to Pappy.

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Testify! The Gospel According to Corsair Artisan Distillery

On a recent trip to Nashville, I was lucky enough to tour the Corsair Artisan Distillery, self-proclaimed makers of booze for badasses. 

These guys are the real deal. They distill everything themselves. Our guide preached against “so-called” distillers who take what MGPI (formerly LDI) barrels in Indiana and then bottle it in Iowa, Utah or Nashville. (More on MGPI in another post.)

But I get it. Corsair is completely hands-on, every step of the process.

They have a guy who slices vanilla beans with a razor blade for their vodka. The veggies and botanicals for their award-winning gin are also hand-cut and “layered like a lasagna”. Their bottles are even individually labelled and filled.

Despite their attention to detail and reverence for distilling, they don’t follow convention. They poke at the establishment with refreshing irreverence. It takes an evil genius to devise quinoa whiskey. And a mad scientist — albeit one with incredibly good taste — to invent Triple Smoke Whiskey. 

Then there’s Distillery Cat, a stray who’s now a full-fledged staff member and an expert mouser. My some-time assistant Lula Belle would be jealous.

Great big distilleries feel like theme parks. Wineries feel like artists’ studios. But Corsair felt like being in the garage with the Ramones in 1974.

My only regret: I should’ve left with a few more bottles. I didn’t realize that outside of their Gin and Triple Smoke Whiskey, it’s not easy to find Corsair on local shelves.

Note: In Nashville, Corsair distills whiskey. In Bowling Green, they distill vodka, gin and absinthe. 

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Libation Library, Part 1: The Essentials

I’ve managed to collect quite a few cocktail-related books over the years. As a public service, I’ll help you weed out the good from the not-so-good. I thought the best place to start should be those I find indispensable. 

The PDT Cocktail Book, Jim Meehan, Chris Gall

This book is gorgeous. But it’s not a case of style over substance. There’s a lot of great information here, from setting up a bar, to techniques and an incredible spirits primer. And oh yeah, the recipes. Unlike the complicated science projects found in many cocktail primers, most of these drinks are approachable and accessible to the novice bartender (like me). Shameless admission: I have both the book and the ebook so The PDT Cocktail Book is always at my fingertips. 

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, Ted Haigh

The don’t call Ted Haigh Dr. Cocktail for nothing. Vintage Spirits is a great primer on the history of the mixed drink. It’s a fascinating read. And like The PDT Cocktail Book,  you can actually make most of these drinks yourself. Where ingredients are difficult (or impossible) to find, viable substitutions are offered. There are also tons of entertaining vintage photos, illustrations and ads.

Famous New Orleans drinks and how to mix ‘em, Stanley Arthur

The cocktail guide as literature. “A classical work.” according to H. L. Mencken. Arthur is quite the raconteur, and tells lively tales about the history of NOLA’s most famous drinks, including the Sazerac and the Vieux Carré. Included is his take on the origin of the work “cocktail” — a great story that may even be true. Sure, you can buy a cheap facsimile of this book, but it sure is ugly. It doesn’t take too much more time or effort to score a prettier, vintage version like the copy I found on ebay and photographed below. 

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Never pictured Woody as a Moscow Mule guy.

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Recommended: Mixology Class at H. Harper Station

Crafting Classic Cocktails

I recently attended a Scoutmob-curated cocktail class at H. Harper Station. It was hosted by Jerry Slater, whose reputation as a master mixologist is beginning to extend far beyond the Atlanta area. 

It was definitely $35 well spent. Not only do you learn tips and techniques from a master, you get three classic cocktails (for us, a Daiquiri, Negroni and Manhattan). Plus snacks that feature PIMIENTO CHEESE and BACON.

The classes are offered exclusively by Scoutmob. Sign-up to be the first to learn about the next round.

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Yep.

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Sazerac

A New Orleans Original

It wasn't long ago when I assumed that New Orleans cocktails required freezing and a yard-long plastic cup. How remarkably short-sighted of me. Blasphemous, even.

Like jazz, the Sazerac was born and bred in Nola. In fact, some claim that it is the oldest known American cocktail.

Apothecary Antoine Peychaud (the Louis Armstrong of mixology?) created the drink that stars his namesake bitters and served it in an egg cup called a coquetier. It's said that his non-French patients/patrons misinterpreted the name of the cup, asking instead for a "cock-tail".

Although you no longer need an egg cup, there are a few conundrums regarding Sazerac ingredients and preparation:

The Sazerac was named for a brand of cognac, but most now use rye as the central ingredient. I haven't had much luck finding Sazerac-brand rye in Atlanta, but I've been more than happy with Rittenhouse as a substitute.

While Peychaud bitters are crucial, the amount is up to you (I make mine the PDT way -- three dashes of Peychaud, plus two dashes of Angostura).

Some use sugar crystals, others, simple syrup. I like sugar cubes -- dashing the bitters right on top, waiting for them to turn red, then muddling everything into submission.

You don't need to spend a lot on Absinthe since you only need a minuscule amount (unless you'd like to have a nice bottle around).

What to do with the lemon peel? Purists toss it out. Rebels toss it in.

INGREDIENTS:

2 oz. Rittenhouse rye

3 dashes Peychaud bitters

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 sugar cube

Just enough Absinthe to rinse a rocks glass

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Fill a rocks glass with ice, then set it aside.

Drop a sugar cube in a mixing glass. Dash Peychaud and Angostura bitters right on top, then muddle. Add ice to the muddled mixture, pour in the rye and stir.  

Dump the ice from the rocks glass and rinse it with Absinthe (pour in a little, roll it around to coat the inside of the glass, pour out what's left). Strain the cocktail into the rinsed glass. Twist the lemon peel over the top and toss it out. Or in?

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Brooklyn Cocktail

To the five boroughs

I'm a little Manhattan-obsessed. But after running across a Brooklyn Cocktail recipe in Ted Haigh's essential book, Vintage Spirits, I thought might be time to drink my way through another borough.

If you squint, the Brooklyn sure looks like a Manhattan, but it's a little sweeter and drier. It's a great vintage cocktail that's worked its way into my regular rotation.

Haigh's recipe calls for Amer Picon, which I understand is difficult (if not impossible) to procure in the US. The fine folks at the H+F Bottle Shop suggested Amaro CioCiaro as a substitute. 

Although you may not have Amaro CioCiaro or Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur on the shelf, they're worthwhile investments. After all, there are quite a few interesting cocktails that include them as key ingredients.

INGREDIENTS: 

2 oz. Rittenhouse rye

3/4 oz. Dolin dry vermouth

2 tsp. Amaro CioCiaro

2 tsp. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

1 Luxardo Maraschino cherry

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fill both a mixing glass and a coupe glass with ice. Pour rye, vermouth, Amaro and Maraschino liqueur into the mixing glass and stir. Dump ice from the coupe glass and drop in the cherry. Strain cocktail over the cherry. Drink and repeat as necessary.

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Drinking Out: Birthday Girl

Atlanta's a great place to drink.

To celebrate Amy's XXth birthday, we visited two of Atlanta's best places to drink (and, um, eat): Cibo e Beve and Holeman and Finch.

Cibo e Beve

If you want to stay warm on a freezing night, sit next to a blazing pizza oven and order a couple of drinks. Cibo e Beve takes their drinks seriously (on a few occasions, our meal was accented by the sounds of a lewis bag taking a serious beating). The food was incredible, too, but this blog isn't called "notarealchef". 

My wife started with:

No Sex In The Rainbow Room Our version of the classic cosmopolitan appropriately named from the stories of its origin. Madonna was served one of these cocktails by famed mixologist Dale Degroff at the Rainbow Room in NYC and later the drink gained more fame through television. Our version contains Hangar Vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime and cranberry juices. Garnished with a flamed orange.

My first thought was to order a Herbie Dale cocktail, featured in Esquire Magazine. But since we were eating Italian, I decided to drink that way, too:

Negroni This classic Italian cocktail has been tweaked for taste. Our version contains Ransom gin, Punt e mes italian sweet vermouth, and Campari. A horseneck orange garnish provides the aromatic.

We weren't disappointed. "No Sex..." was a really elegant spin on a Cosmo -- a Cosmo for grown girls, if you will. And believe it or not, I'd never had a Negroni before. So although I don't have a baseline for comparison, I will be experimenting with my own version at home. 

Holeman and Finch

Somehow, I talked the birthday girl into letting me stop by the H+F Bottle Shop on the way to the Holeman and Finch bar. Man, I love that place. I found myself discussing cocktail books with Greg Best, who is probably the man responsible for making Atlanta a prime destination for craft cocktails (first at Restaurant Eugene, then at Holeman and Finch).

As much as I wanted one of the shop's vintage copies of the Savoy Cocktail Book, I exercised massive self control, walking out with only a tiny, $11 bottle of St. George Botanivore gin and a bag of Demerara sugar. 

Despite elbow-to-elbow patrons, our triumphant return to Holeman and Finch didn't disappoint. I ordered an After Market (created by Mr. Best):

1.5 oz george dickel | .5 oz marie brizzard apry | .5 oz lime | 1 b. punt é mes  | 2 d. fee bros. whiskey barrel-aged bitters | shake, 2x strain, up | cracked black pepper

The cracked black pepper really puts it over-the-top, adding just the right kick.

Amy ordered a gin gimlet. It made her make a scrunch face. My guess is she missed a little Rose's Lime sweetness (they way Mr. Jordan Stone of Redondo Beach, CA used to make them for her). But I thought it was a damn fine, tart, stiff drink.

One thing I really like about H+F: the drink menu includes the recipes -- not just the ingredients. That's awesome for rank amateurs like myself. 

When the bill came, I was surprised to learn that our server was a Dark Lord of the Sith.

Here's hoping that my lovely wife has another birthday someday so we can do it all over again.

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Recipe: Honeymoon Cocktail

The Honeymoon is over. Thankfully, I can have another one tonight.

First appearing in Brown Derby-era Hollywood, the Honeymoon Cocktail features one of my favorite ingredients -- applejack. 

Applejack has been around since colonial times. And according to Wikipedia:

In New Jersey, applejack was used as currency to pay road construction crews during the colonial period. A slang expression for the beverage was Jersey Lightning.

I've used the cider spirit in place of whiskey in a few cocktails, including the venerable Manhattan (call it a "Big Apple Manhattan"?). 

Some prepare the Honeymoon as an "equal parts" cocktail -- that is, 3/4 oz each ingredient. I prefer a little more Applejack.

INGREDIENTS

2 oz. Laird's Applejack

1/2 oz. Benedictine

1/2 oz. orange curacao (Cointreau might be better)

1/2 oz. lemon juice

1 lemon peel

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill a coupe glass and a shaker with ice. Pour all ingredients into the shaker and, well, shake it. Dump the ice out of coupe glass and strain the mixture in. Garnish with the lemon twist and let the Honeymoon begin.

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Recipe: Blueberry Buck

A taste of summer in the winter

Friday afternoon, Hendrick’s Gin posted a Blueberry Buck recipe. Blueberries and gin? Sounded like two great tastes that would taste great together.

After a little googling, I found a variation on Beyond the Plate I decided to try. The only problem: all ingredients were measured in tablespoons, so I had to do some math.

The recipe below converts the liquid measurements to ounces and name drops the brands of gin and ginger beer that I used.

Note: ginger beer is not ginger ale. Ginger beer is not as sweet and has a nice, spicy kick. If you prefer a sweeter cocktail, try substituting ginger ale and let me know what you think.

INGREDIENTS

12-15 fresh blueberries

2 oz. Greylock gin

1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 oz. Fever Tree ginger beer

1-2 mint sprigs

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill a glass with ice and set aside. Drop the blueberries into a mixing glass: ku-plink, ku-plank, ku-plunk. Add the gin and lemon juice and pulverize the total crap out the mixture using a muddler or immersion blender.

Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the blueberry mixture into the ice-filled glass (bonus points: use the back of a spoon to coax every last bit of liquid from the mashed berries and through the strainer).

Top the glass with ginger beer and drop in a few (whole) blueberries. A mint sprig makes a nice garnish (alas, I didn’t have one).

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Recipe: Old Fashioned

Fruit garnish or fruit salad?

Those are the two Old Fashioned schools of thought.

My first Old Fashioned was of the pulverized fruit salad variety, with orange slices, cherries and sugar cubes muddled flat into the bottom of the glass. Since then, I've enjoyed a few of the "minimalist" variety, with just a hint of citrus and sweetness. My preference lies somewhere in between the two.

I started with Miles Macquarrie's recipe. He's quickly become a local legend -- and for good reason (just visit the bar at Leon's Full Service in Decatur to learn why).

But I have a thing for bourbon-soaked cherries. 

Rather than muddling the fruit, I used orange and lemon peels as Miles suggests. Then I added a couple of cherries without, well, squishing them. Finally, I stirred in a couple of drops of syrup from the cherry jar. 

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 oz. Redemption bourbon

2 dashes Angusturo bitters

1 dash Regan's Orange bitters

1 dash Peychaud's bitters

1 tsp simple syrup

1 orange peel

1 lemon peel

2 Luxardo Maraschino cherries

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill a mixing glass and an Old Fashioned glass with ice. Add the bourbon, bitters and simple syrup to the mixing glass and stir (add a couple of drops of syrup from the cherry jar, too, if you like). Drop a couple of cherries into the Old Fashioned glass.

Strain the mixture into the Old Fashioned glass. Rub the lip of the glass with the lemon and orange peels, then squeeze them over the surface of the cocktail and drop them into the glass.

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Recipe: Simple Syrup

Finally, something that lives up to its name.

There are two ways to make simple syrup:

The easy way. Dump equal parts sugar and water into a pot (recommendation: 1 cup/1 cup). Bring the ingredients to a boil, then remove from heat. Cool. Pour into a bottle, seal, and refrigerate between uses (it'll keep for a couple of months).

The really easy way. Pour equal parts sugar and water into a bottle or jar. Close it up and shake it like hell for two to three minutes. When the sugar's dissolved, you're done. Refrigerate between uses.

Making it slightly more complicated:

If you want to extend the shelf life, add a dash of vodka. 

Some bartenders prefer "rich" simple syrup, which means a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water. If you like sweeter cocktails, go for it. I'd recommend boiling over shaking, unless you really want to give your arm a workout.

You can also buy simple syrup at the store. But why would you do that? 

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Recipe: Pre-Prohibition Martini

Return of a Classic Cocktail

The venerable martini has been through so many permutations since its birth in the late 19th century. Indignities, too (dozens of candy-assed, vodka-based apple-choco-lemon-girly-tinis).

Before I became a Pretend Bartender, I liked vodka martinis, dirty, shaken, extra olives. Now, I prefer gin martinis, stirred, with a twist of lemon. My current favorite variation pre-dates prohibition, and includes a few dashes of orange bitters (because that's the way they rolled pre-Capone).

Orange bitters used to be hard to come by (which probably contributed to why the pre-prohibition version fell out of favor). But now, thanks to heroes/cocktail enthusiasts like Gary "Gaz" Regan and Angostura, a couple of great alternatives can be found in your neighborhood liquor store and online.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 oz. Greylock gin

1 1/2 oz. Dolin dry vermouth

2-3 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters

1 lemon peel

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill a mixing glass and a coupe glass with ice. Cut a lemon peel*. Pour the gin and vermouth over the ice in the mixing glass. Add the bitters. Stir. Rub the lemon peel around the lip of the coupe glass then strain the drink mixture into it. Squeeze the lemon peel over the cocktail, and drop it into the glass.

*I suck at lemon peels. In the photos, you'll notice that mine is unnaturally large. Hopefully, yours won't be. Using a vegetable peeler helps, but I still need lots of practice, practice, practice. The most important thing is to minimize the pith. Otherwise, you'll have a unpleasantly bitter, facial contortion-inducing cocktail.

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Joseph Cotten for Dubonnet

Borrowed from Decaying Hollywood Mansions Facebook page.

Big fan of Joe Cotten, especially his work in "Citizen Kane", "The Third Man" and "Shadow of a Doubt". My grandparents told me he came to Macon, GA and did some kind of one-man show about his life. I think that's something older actors used to do when the work dried up -- I saw Gregory Peck do something similar in Miami.