Alcademics.com

New word needed

As may be apparent from the name of this website, I love making up new words. But I'm stumped.

Last night a group of friends and I hit Beretta (making this my sixth visit in three weeks, I have a problem) and sampled 13 of the drinks over two rounds. What made it fun is that nobody owned any one drink- we all shared everything, except for Jamie who hogged the Rangoon Gin Cobbler and Marshall of Tailor in NYC, who was the bottleneck in our cocktail-passing circle.

Then we realized we only had four drinks to go to try all 17 cocktails on the menu, so we ordered more. Project!

So now I need a word or phrase that describes having every drink on the menu in one night- the cocktail menu equivalent of a triple crown or marathon or Iron Man.

Suggestions?

Labels: bars, NewYork, SanFrancisco

Cachaca at Pampas

Dominic Venegas of FAMILY Spirits Counseling put together a list of mostly cachaca drinks (with a couple of other favorites you'll recognize from some of his SF projects) for the new Palo Alto restaurant Pampas, opening Tuesday. (The website isn't up yet, click here for the address.)

I got a sneak preview of the cocktail menu on Friday and I've been salivating all weekend. (I guess you didn't need that mental image- sorry.) Here are some of the drinks from Pampas' menu:

Beleza Hemingway- Beleza Pura cachaça, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, fresh-squeezed grapefruit

Green Fairy Mojito- Beleza Pura cachaça, Absinto Camargo, mint, fresh-squeezed lime

Rochina Sazerac-Rochina 5-year single-barrel cachaça, Absinto Camargo, Fee’s orange and Peychauds bitters

Sgt. Pepper’s Strawberry Field- Red and black peppercorn-infused Ypioca cachaça, muddled fresh strawberries, basil and lime

Alma- Sagatiba Pura cachaça, muddled fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, fresh-squeezed lime, agave nectar

Gaucho- Sagatiba cachaça, Canton ginger liqueur, mango, lime, spice

Rumor has it they'll carry 15-20 cachacas initially, with plans to build up the collection in the future.

I like how this list isn't totally dedicated to one brand, as many cachaca lists are. You've got the funky aged Rochina, older brand Ypioca (don't know if it's an aged or young expression), and new-school-styled Sagatiba and Beleza Pura.

Additionally, this is the first place I've seen using the Absinto Camargo, the Brazilian absinthe that is imported by the same folks as Beleza Pura.

Oh yeah, Pampas is a Brazilian Churrascaria restaurant, which may be of interest to those of you who eat.

Labels: absinthe, cachaca, restaurants

Reading material

- The LA Times story reporting on the closing of some of SF's old-time watering holes was reprinted in the Baltimore Sun. I'm so glad word on the street is we don't have any good old bars left. That's not entirely true, of course. Katy St. Clair, who was quoted in the LA Times story, writes about them in the SF Weekly all the time. - Eric Felten in the Wall Street Journal taste tests mass-market bourbons and finds Evan Williams his favorite. As usual, he has some great cultural anecdotes in the story as well.

- The NYTimes has a story on a $10,000 home still that efficiently converts sugar into ethanol. Unfortunately, it's for car fuel.

- Jeff Mortgenthaler (Morty) gives a simple recipe for ginger beer. Marleigh at Sloshed! reviews some commercial brands without high-fructose corn syrup.

- Jamie Boudreau describes his individual component method for making any type of bitters. And I thought I was crafty for using my Chia herb garden to make tinctures.

- Alder at Vinography has the complete list of wine blogs- in several languages!

- Esquire's molecular Whiskyburger's recipe is now online.

Labels: bourbon, mixer, molecular_mixology, news, SanFrancisco, wine

Now that's what I call recycling

Via Blair:

LONG TRAIL BREWING CO. in Vermont has cut a deal with a local utility to purchase power, for just a few cents more, derived from the methane gas given off by the manure on dairy farms. The brewery, in turn, will contribute mash to feed the cows.

Labels: beer, eco-booze

Boozy goodness from the internet

- Ibar lists 1,000 drink recipes on your ipod. So now you can be that annoying guy who asks the bartenders for drinks they don't know, like the Frascati's Jubilee Flip. [via LiquorSnob]

- Dos Equis launched a hilarious campaign to find an assistant to the "most interesting man in the world." The previous assistant, Steve, was killed in an archery accident. His memory will be honored on April 23, by Dos Equis and the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants.

- Drink Dogma has a ton of info about rhubarb cocktails.

- The Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails in Boston have put out a cocktail book.

- Nightclub and lifestyle brand Ministry of Sound put out their own vodka. I bet we'll see tons of branded vodkas coming out soon, just like the branded bottled water they have at the Gap. [via Martini Groove]

- Neyah White lists a recipe for homemade Rose Vermouth.

- More vodkas are coming out that list what's in them. This one is made from Malbec grapes. They also have a Chardonnay and Cabernet variety not available in the US. [via Martini Groove]

- 10 Cane rum is sponsoring a 10k race in Portland this June. There's nothing like a little rum to cure leg cramps.

- All about arrack.

- Scorpion-infused vodka "imparts a pleasant soft, woody taste" and "makes a dramatic scorpion martini." I bet it does. [via Complex]

- Here's a new one: absinthe-flavored vodka. I'll have mine without the scorpion, thanks. [via Martini Groove]

Labels: cocktails, funny, vermouth, vodka

Seriously

Did the Kentucky Derby really need an official tequila? Let's stay on-message here, people.

Labels: events, funny

Amaros in Italy and SF

Somehow I missed this giant story on amaros that ran in the SF Chronicle a couple of weeks ago, by Wolfgang Weber of Wine & Spirits. Good stuff.

Labels: amaros

Conduit cocktails and convoluting the story

I finally made it into Conduit for some drinks the other night. The menu by Reza Esmali has a lot of surprises. He combines Rhum Clement's Creole Shrub with Chartreuse and lime in the Monk's Voyage, absinthe and tequila in The Hub, and apple brandy, lemon, and mint in the Gravenstein Smash. The dessert cocktails are unique too, bringing bourbon and almond grappa together in the Americana, and Creole Shurb and Nocino walnut liqueur in the Clement. (There is also a classic cocktail section for the less adventurous.)

I don't know where he came up with these ideas, but I like where they're going. I wasn't in complete agreement with the balance of some of them- more nuts, please- but they deserve another try seeing as I'd just come from having about four drinks at another bar. Luckily this place is near my house and open late.

It's great how bars in San Francisco are veering in different directions. Innovation here and there, spirits business morality there, organic drinks there and there, fresh fruit in many bars, and classic-derivative cocktails all over the place.

While variety is definitely a good thing, it will make the panel I'll be giving this year at Tales of the Cocktail on regional American cocktail trends a little more difficult to sum up. It used to be fresh fruit = SF, stuff from bottles = NY. Now there's a lot more overlap.

Labels: restaurants, SanFrancisco