Alcademics.com

You too, can be a winner- WhiskyFest tickets!

Good news! The groovy folks at Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest have allowed me to give away two tickets to the San Francisco event, taking place October 10, 2008 at the San Francisco Marriott. That's a $220 value!

For a chance to win, register for my email list Alcademics A-Plus. One random subscriber will win entry for two to the event.

WhiskyFest is an annual event in its second year in SF but 11 years running in New York. Whisky lovers get a chance to sample hundreds of whiskies (though one doesn't usually make it to all of them), eat a terrific buffet to keep you sane and safe, and listen to educational seminars on topics like Japanese whisky, whisky barrel-aged beer, and how to blend whisky. It's a wonderful event that I'm happy to promote.

The contest winner will be announced October 1.

Alcademics A-Plus in a new email list for contests, giveaways, and other promotions. It's not a daily blog update (that link is here) so there won't be too much email. I won't sell your information, and you can leave the list at any time- no big whoop.

Sign up here!

Spilling over with commentary

Vodka spill staggers traffic on Highway 101

(08-28) 11:31 PDT SUNNYVALE -- Traffic on Highway 101 in Sunnyvale is slow because of an overturned big rig that spilled vodka over the roadway.

The crash happened about 7:50 a.m. on southbound Highway 101 at North Matilda Avenue. The California Highway Patrol shut down several lanes of traffic before reopening them at 11:20 a.m.

Caltrans crews are soaking up the vodka with absorbent.

As usual, the best parts about the story are the reader comments, which include:

"Uh, CalTrans? We're gonna need olives, lots of olives!!"

damn! I am always in the wrong traffic jam.

Dang why can't the N Judah do this??? A martini would make the ride so much more tolerable!

Absolut gridlock!

Busting out in Boston

Boston.com reports on Barbara Lynch of No. 9 Park's new venue Drink. The story has a few details that don't seem to align- classic drinks, 1950's food, molecular gastronomy, cocktail party vibe, vintage glassware, Funyuns- but all of the elements sound fun. Except I think she's saying there will be no cocktail menus. That could incite panic and inspire poor choices.

I lived in Boston for 7 years (ending 12 years ago) and don't get back there very often, but the number of great venues and great bartenders I keep hearing about is likely to inspire a longer visit next time I do.

Slow drinks

It turns out this Slow Food Nation event in San Francisco is kind of a big deal. I hadn't been paying attention because I generally think of food as the stuff that garnishes drinks. But it turns out there will be a lot of drinks there too. In the Taste Pavilion there is a booze section with a variety of slow-styled beer, wine, and spirits.

If you still want to go, tickets are only available for Sunday night. Because apparently, a heck of a lot of people want to get their slow drinks on.

To do: rum, rum, rum. To do: rum, rum.

Rum is a big, giant, looming category of spirits that's intimidating to newbies and more experienced drinkers alike. That's because the only thing that brings brands of rum together is that somewhere at some point sugar cane was involved. The thing that's distilled, how and where it's aged or not, and what you call it afterward are different depending on the place of origin/destination.

Last night on a discussion on Mixoloseum by Cocktailnerd, Matt of Rumdood was describing some of the different flavor profiles of molasses-based rum, grouping them into Jamaican, Bajan (Barbados), Demeraran (Guyana), and Latin American. At least I think the last category was Latin American- there are so many darn categories for rum I get lost.

Of your non-molasses-based rums, you have the two categories of cachaca and rhum agricole, each made from sugar cane syrup.

But oh, the outliers. There is 10 Cane, produced from fresh sugar cane but on Trinidad so it's not a rhum agricole. And Oronoco, made mostly from Brazilian sugar cane but it's labeled as rum not cachaca. And Zacapa, made in Guatemala from condensed sugar cane juice they're calling sugar cane honey. And then there are sugar-based spirits that are called vodka (if you distill it to high enough proof) or whiskey (if you're in India).

The good news is that I'm starting to understand all this, adding a new piece to the puzzle each week. I attended a Flor de Cana event last night lead by Ed Hamilton from Ministry of Rum. A couple weeks ago I went to a launch for Ron Zacapa. I've been to Martinique and Jamaica and Barbados to learn about rum.

And I still feel like an amateur. But at least I'm starting to get somewhere. Hang around here for another five years or so and you'll see I'll have it all down pat. 

Bad barhavior

Surprisingly, this was not a quote about journalists on press trips:

"They scream, they sing, they fall down, they take their clothes off, they cross-dress, they vomit," Malia's mayor, Konstantinos Lagoudakis, said in an interview.

It's a story about ill-behaved Brits on vacation.

I've certainly seen my share of alcohol-introduced nudity, but alcohol-fueled cross-dressing? Must be a British thing.

Items: National edition

Eric Felten disses the gun and takes on boutique tonic and Italian sodas. Also,  a history of drinking and the Olympics. 

Darcy at The Art of Drink finds an early historical reference to falernum- and a recipe.

A New York bar opens that serves only absinthe and beer. 

Oh Gosh manages to find four Old Tom gins to compare. One is from a brand called "Secret Treasures." Sounds dirty.

Fermentarium has 8 drunk driving lessons we can learn from beer nuts.

Vodka for dinner

Last night I went to the Square One Vodka and summer barbecue pairing dinner at Orson in San Francisco. I've been to many cocktail pairing dinners before, but this one worked especially well. Why? Because it's vodka. Unlike stronger flavored booze like tequila or scotch, vodka is more adaptable to the ingredients surrounding it- both in drinks and pairing it with food.

We had a drunken watermelon ball (served on a spoon) to pair with smokey oysters, a crisp sparkling wine and vodka drink to pair with pork belly over a watermelon and fruit salad, a simple and light peach shandy to go with some BBQ meats, and an orange-infused vodka and espresso drink with dessert. (Or, in my case, a vegetarian version of those dishes.) Bar manager Jackie Patterson was able to adapt sour to sweet, soothing to spicy, sweet to smoky, and then make a bitter drink for dessert.

I forgot to take pictures, so my illustration of the meal is below. As you can see, Jackie (exhibiting shakerface) mixes up a drink, and then I open my mouth to drink it. That is pretty much what happened.