Alcademics.com

Not in the mix, and the Problem with citrus

The Wall Street Journal's Eric Felten tries out Williams-Sonoma's new line of high-end cocktail mixes and compares them to the recipes for the same drinks in a new book called Mix Shake Stir (that I don't see on the website yet). Not surprisingly, he finds the drinks pale in comparison to the homemade versions.

But the story is an interesting read on cocktail mixers in general. First he gets sassy:

The flacks for that supermarket standby, Rose's Cocktail Mixers, sent out a press release for their Mojito mix this summer touting it as "a solution to complicated drink-making." Complicated? Crush some mint in sugar syrup and fresh lime juice; add white rum, club soda and ice; stir. Is it supercilious to suggest that those for whom this is a task of surpassing complexity are better off not dulling their wits further with alcohol?

Then he tells us why citrus is so hard to bottle:

The core problem with cocktail mixes is that they almost all involve lemon or lime juice, which are notoriously difficult to bottle. Sara Risch, a food chemist and member of the Institute of Food Technologists, told me why: "Among the major components of citrus flavor are terpenes," she explained, compounds that are grievously subject to oxidation, and that break down quickly, especially when cooked (as in the pasteurization process such bottled juices require). The volatile terpenes in the juices and oils of lemons and limes turn inexorably toward the piney taste and smell of turpentine.

Ahh, citrus, the ingredient that ruins home cocktail mixing for everyone. How much juice is in "the juice of half a lime" anyway? I get the discount limes and there ain't much juice left in 'em. The lemons from my tree are huge and watery as opposed to the store-bought smaller tart ones.

Even if your cocktail recipe lists juice in ounces, the type of juice going in is highly variable. And if the tart/sour aspect of a drink is variable, so too must be the sweet aspect to balance it. So that's two ingredients you have to make "to taste" in each recipe.

Methinks this is why we have pre-mixed versions of the Mojito, Caipirinha, Margarita, Lemon Drop, Cosmopolitan, and Blood Orange Martini, whereas mixers for the no-citrus Manhattan and Martini aren't too popular. Maybe in cocktail books and live classes the instructors should give a lesson on balancing sour to sweet. To make many cocktails, it's not about using the perfect recipe, it's about perfecting that skill.

Distillation Live!

I visited St. George Spirits yesterday and caught the tail end of the kirsch eau de vie distillation. Behold the churning cherries!

The real news...

...is not that Amazon.com will start selling wine soon, it's that:

Hall said wine purchases on Amazon would even qualify for its discount shipping program, Amazon Prime, in which goods are shipped free for a yearly fee of $79.

That could be a huge savings. The reason I haven't joined the Chronicle's Wine Club or any other is because even if the wine is cheap, the shipping will kill you.

Is big bad?

Jordan Mackay discusses liquor at Slow Food Nation last week in San Francisco, and seems to take issue with the choices of slow spirits. Prairie Vodka is owned by Phillips Distilling, Maker's Mark Bourbon isn't made from organic corn, and 4 Copas doesn't provide enough information on their website about their organic nature. All true, but this doesn't necessarily mean these brands are greenwashing.

He then mentions small brands he wishes were represented, like Anchor Distilling, 209 Gin, Del Maguey mezcal, and Clear Creek's Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir. In the case of the fir eau de vie and mezcal, the product celebrate local traditions or ingredients and that's absolutely what Slow Food should be promoting. Good point.

In the case of the gin, at least at 209 they order in high-proof spirit from the same type of Midwestern distillery that Phillips Distilling produces before infusing it with botanicals and redistilling, and additionally you have to truck it all the way to California. It's not that 209 is a bad company- far from it- but it's not like they're growing grain in Golden Gate Park and picking juniper berries from Muir Woods to make the stuff.

I think the underlying prejudice here (not to pick on Jordan; he's just my launch point) is against large companies, whereas small companies get a break in peoples' eyes just for being small. But large companies can accomplish a lot if they want to. Herradura has some pretty major waste and water recycling facilities; bourbon barrels are shipped all over the world to age scotch, rum, and tequila; Distilled Resources and Phillips can afford to get their organic certification to produce Square One and Prairie. I don't think Prairie Vodka is trying to imply that Phillips is a green company; just that this is a green product. 4 Copas spent a ton of money getting organic certified, and they pay for farmers to get their fields certified.

We should certainly celebrate brands like Del Maguey (and grappa from Italy, Scandinavian aquavit, genever from Holland, Amarula from South Africa, etc. ) as the Slow-est of booze and use them as an example instead of Prairie and Maker's. And greenwashed brands like Vodka 360 deserve to be called out on it. But I think it's a mistake to give a free pass to small brands just because they're small and to condemn larger ones just for being big.

Whisky week in SF

The folks at Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest sent me a list of some of the events happening in San Francisco leading up to the big party on October 10th. These events should be considered tentative at this point, but I think it's safe to say if you're a whisky freak, you should just clear your calendar for the entire week.

And I'll take this time to remind you that you can win tickets to WhiskyFest San Francisco by signing up for Alcademics A-Plus.

The list of all the events is below.

As old as the trees

Last night I went to the Redwood Room 75th anniversary party. That bar has been around longer than John McCain, that's how old it is! The room, and the adjacent Asia de Cuba restaurant, was packed with a great-looking crowd for San Francisco. Nicely done.

This month they'll give back to the trees they cut down to make the bar 75 years ago, donating a buck from every Marmalade Old Fashioned sold to Friends of the Urban Forest.

If you squint really hard, you can even make out Lance Winters.

Tiki to me

What better way to go tiki bar hopping than with 100 of your closest friends? Tiki Central's Tiki Crawl 8 hits nine Bay Area bars over four days. Surprisingly, there are still tickets left on the tiki bus that will shuttle you to several locations safely on Thursday or Saturday October 9 or 11. I just bought some. Who's coming?

Read more about it here.

Reading material: post-European edition

You may not have noticed thanks to the incredible blog technology that allows me to write posts in advance, but I was out of the country all last week. Here are some things that have stuck in my brain as I catch up on my reading:

Eric Felten (I pretty much link to his column every week) writes about the Sherry Cobbler, and how it popularized both the cocktail shaker and the straw. 

Then he wrote about Georgian (not the US one) brandy.

W. Blake Gray says that "Nigori is the White Zinfandel of sake," but found one he actually likes.

Partying like it's 1905, towns in New Zealand move to ban absinthe. 

They're dropping like flies in SF! Thomas Waugh left The Alembic for the shores of NYC, and Jacqueline Patterson is no longer managing the bar at Orson but is still in town. Unconfirmed rumor is that Carlos Yturria is no longer at Grand Pu Bah and is now bar manager at Bacar.

Heaven Hill is releasing a Tabasco-branded tequila. Now that's a spicy margarita!