Alcademics.com

Jetfuel

Man Nearly Dies Downing Vodka at Airport (12-12) 12:27 PST BERLIN, Germany (AP) --

A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing two pints of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new rules about carrying liquids aboard a plane, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred Tuesday at the Nuremberg airport, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a vacation in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked.

Instead, he chugged the vodka — and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.

A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to go home in a few days.

I think the natural question here is: What brand of vodka?

Labels: funny, vodka

I've got good booze and bad news...

I was lucky enough to sit down with Fritz Maytag of Anchor Distilling to talk about their new Genevieve genever, and even see the still as they were preparing to distill some more while I was there. (The first batch they made in 1996 (700 bottles) and they've just been sitting around waiting for the market to be ready to release it.) Erik does a nice job of introducing it if you haven't heard about it before. I learned a lot about the product and their research into trying to make it in the old style (and even borrowed some books on the subject from Fritz, unfortunately most of which are in Dutch).

So that's the good news- good for me, anyway. Here's the bad.

Because they don't want to confuse consumers with two kinds of gin, Genevieve will primarily only be available at bars and restaurants. Bummer! I'm going to do my best to pry the information out of them as to where we can find it both in bars and retail and share it with my fellow drink nerds. I'll let you know what I hear.

Update: For liquor stores, it apears only Plumpjack and John Walker have it. For bars, it's listed at the Alembic, Redwood Room, Ame, Grand Pubah, Connecticut Yankee, Bacar, Jardiniere, Boulevard, Harris Steakhouse, La Terrasse, Farallon, Absinthe, Bernardus, Cappuros, Range, T Rex, Bourbon and Branch, Elbo Room, Pacific Catch, and R Bar.

Labels: gin

Really!

I was going through my receipts from my Aspen trip (write-offs, don't ya know) when I discovered that I had been charged for ice in a bar. (A bar that had de-iced its sidewalks that day, no less.) I guess it's a good thing I didn't need a straw or garnish!

Labels: funny, travel

Alpine Cocktails

I'm back from a press trip to Aspen. This one wasn't drink-related but I did some drinking while I was there. (Not as much as I wanted to- the altitude turned me into a lightweight.) Here are some observations.

- Classic cocktails are nowhere to be found. I'm sure bartenders can mix a traditional martini or Manhattan, but they're not usually listed on cocktail menus. A sazerac is not gonna happen.

- Most cocktail menus in Aspen are filled with drinks lead by flavored vodkas and other flavored spirits. This is usually a bad sign.

- Several bars have decent collections of scotch and cognac.

- Considering the audience, though, these last three trends make sense. Aspen is full of young people working and partying after work or apres-ski. I was surprised at how much the workforce makes up the social scene in town. Events seemed to have a mix of young locals with visiting older people, sometimes mixed together in crowds. Young people tend toward fruity sweet drinks, so bars are serving what most people want. The moneyed crowd drink single-malt scotch and wine.

- However, not every fruity drink is a lemon/grape/jolly rancher/pop rocks-flavored cosmopolitan. I stayed at the Sky Hotel, where the 39 Degrees Lounge has cocktails that contain flavored vodkas, but also include items like ginger syrup, fresh lemongrass, bitters, cilantro, and serano (sp?) peppers. I also spoke with the assistant food and beverage director for the adjacent Little Nell hotel, where the guy was specifically revamping their cocktail program. He told me he was making real grenadine and fresh sweet and sour mix instead of bottled, as well as instituting other improvements. I talked to him endlessly about tonic water, as I tend to do. I also saw one venue (I can't remember which one) that had a list of hot cocktails for apres-ski.

- I told a couple of beverage directors they could stand out with a local drinks section. I found two organic vodkas while I was there- Vodka 14 and CapRock Organic Vodka, both made in Colorado. Peak Spirits, who make CapRock, also make an organic gin, organic grappa, and organic eau de vie. Colorado has wine and plenty of microbrew producers as well, so this would be a cinch to implement.

- Regional shots are fascinating to me, perhaps because in SF people drink shots of Fernet, which doesn't make any sense. Anyway, in Aspen a few people told me they drink shots of Pearl pomegranate vodka there.

- Also, three different people told me their favorite tequila was the Don Julio 1942.

Overall, I think Apsen has quite a way to go in the fine drinking department. Everything in Aspen is expensive anyway, so charging an extra buck or two for drinks at the high end spots probably wouldn't scare away customers, and that money could go towards better mixers, fresh ingredients, and supporting local producers. And none of that requires that they serve drinks that aren't fruity or sweet.

But this is not to say I was disappointed in my visit. Aspen is a gorgeous town and I want to come back. Maybe I'll do a follow-up visit sometime next summer when there isn't that inconvenient snow everywhere.

Labels: cocktails, travel

Breaking News

So Lance Winters of St. George Spirits let the cat out of the bag that his absinthe was approved at the end of last week. Well, local booze news doesn't get any bigger than that so I told my editors at the Chronicle it shouldn't wait until Friday's Wine Section and they agreed. Stacy Finz wrote the story with my contributions mushed in here are there (it was my scoop though- just saying). We were in a race to at least tie with the NYTimes story that also came out today.

But in any case, by all accounts the St. George Absinthe Verte rocks. But cool your jets for a minute. The stuff written about in the stories is not even in bottles yet, people. The labels will be made the end of next week (Lance said he bribed the label people with booze to do a rush order.)

I don't know if either story mentioned it, but it should be on sale beginning Friday Dec 21rst at the distillery in Alameda. The distillery will be open at least regular hours 12-7 Friday and Saturday and 12-6 Sunday. I think initially you'll only be able to buy it at the source until its distributed.

Field trip, anyone?

Labels: absinthe, camper_clips

Seasonal Beer

I got this announcement of the new seasonal ale for the Park Chalet in San Francisco.

Frostbite Spice Ale
When strong brown ale gets infused with Juniper Berries, Cardamom, Cinnamon, and Orange Peels you get pure, spicy, holiday excitement! 7.0% ABV

That's making me pretty darn thirsty.

Labels: beer, SanFrancisco

Tequila Thrills!

Here is a video of a bottle inspection on the labeling line at Partida, or as I like to call it, the most boring 16 seconds you can spend in a tequila distillery. Enjoy!

Labels: tequila, video

Another Repeal Day party announcement: Forbidden Island

On December 5th, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the US was ratified by FDR, repealing the 18th Amendment, aka Prohibition, aka “Big Mistake”.

We will be celebrating at FI in style: All the remaining November Cocktail Month Specials will be just $5 all night until they’re gone. That’s about 12 different drinks! I’ll have a list on hand that
night.

Labels: events, SanFrancisco