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My Airline has a Wine Club?

I wasn't expecting to get an email from Delta encouraging me to join their wine club, but there it is.

It turns out they're not running the club, just giving frequent flier miles to those who join it. I guess if newspapers are doing it, why not airlines?

It's odd, that's all.

Tiki To Go

The launch of new and cool iPhone drink apps continues with this one from Jeff Beachbum Berry and the guys from Cocktails+.

It's called Tiki+ and it costs $3.99 for about 150 recipes. Granted, that's a lot for an iphone recipe app, but keep in mind that these recipes are all actually good.

 Check it out here.

Three Types of Liquor in Two Different Drinks

I noticed that there are two drinks being served in San Francisco with whiskey, gin, and white wine. Weird.

At Beretta, the Jeepster contains Sazerac Rye, Sarticious Gin, and WeissBurgunder Pinot Blanc, plus bitters, lemon, and simple syrup. The drink is a slight variation of The Jeep that barback Matt Harrison found in a vintage cocktail book from the 30's or 40's.

At Gitane, the Jittersauce contains Teacher's scotch, Plymouth Gin, and sparkling wine, plus bitters. This drink can be found in Kingsley Amis' book Everyday Drinking. Amis says:

This smooth-tasting drink, Robert Conquest tells me, was popular in some circles at Oxford in the late Thirties. It is a translation into action of the words of Cab Calloway, who at that time was in the habit of singing:

If you want to be a jitterbug,
First thing you do is git a mug;
Pour whisky, gin and wine within,
And then begin.

But try not to go on too long.

Compare and contrast. Go.

SF Cocktail Week Closing Party

Last night was the closing party for San Francisco Cocktail Week. I don't know about y'all, but I had a great week at all the events. I'm looking forward to next year, but I just may need a year to recover.

Here are some snaps from the closing party at Jardiniere.

The New Monteleone Cocktail?

I decided to post an entrant into the competition to create a new Hotel Monteleone Cocktail. What I came up with is likely too simple to win the contest, but certainly not too simple to drink.

When I think of New Orleans drinks, I think of rye and absinthe in drinks like the Sazerac and Vieux Carre. But given the 1949 opening date of the Carousel Bar, there probably wasn't much rye being made post-Prohibition. I lead with New Orlean's own absinthe substitute Herbsaint, which I always enjoy with robust fruit and berry flavors. I tried some Poir Williams drinks that just weren't hitting it. Then I tried experimenting with grenadine, absinthe, and gin. That combination was pretty good, but I couldn't get it all the way there. I added an egg white to the mix to froth it up like a Ramos Gin Fizz, and it was yucky.

Then I ran out of grenadine. I did have some POM pomegranate juice though, so I started playing with that. At first I thought I'd make something like an absinthe pomegranate Pimm's Cup, but that was gross. I couldn't make the gin work, and my fizzy mixers- soda water and ginger ale- made the thick juice taste watered down.

In the end, I went with the simplest flavor combination I'd tried all day.

Monteleone Cocktail (Cooler Edition)

4 ounces POM pomegranate juice
1 1/2 ounces Herbsaint

Pour ingredients over ice in a double old-fashioned or rocks glass. Lemon peel garnish optional.

SF Cocktail Week Grand Finale Tonight

I believe there are still some tickets available to tonight's San Francisco Cocktail Week closing party at Jardiniere. There is music, food, and **open bar** from 6-9PM. For $45, that's not a bad deal. (tickets here.) And besides, you'll have the priceless pleasure of my company. See you there!

Yet another sweet tea to launch

from this hilarious story on pre-mixed cocktails by Jason Wilson in the Washington Post:

Brown-Forman has announced it will expand its Southern Comfort brand to include Southern Comfort Sweet Tea and Southern Comfort Hurricane.

It's not a vodka, but I think it's safe to count it in the sweet tea alcohol trend. That leaves us with:

• Firefly
• Sweet Carolina
• Burnett's
• Jeremiah Weed
• Hound Dog
• Seagrams
• Southern Comfort

And to think, last February there were none.

Update August 2010: Smirnoff has launched a sweet tea vodka flavor.

Cocktails Good for your Eyesight

You know the expression, to "drink yourself blind"? Well now you can try to drink yourself into a lighter pair of eyeglasses with carrot cocktails.

• I wrote a little while ago about the Carrot Cake cocktail at Fish & Farm, made with roasted carrot vodka, cake-spice brandy, and cream.
• In Bridget Albert's book Market-Fresh Mixology: Cocktails for Every Season, she lists a recipe for the Carrot Chic, made with carrot juice, sour mix, orange vodka, and triple sec, with a sugar-ginger rim. (This picture is from the book.)
• For a one-off event last week, Citizen Cake in San Francisco offered a drink called the PC, made with English pea and mint juice, light rum, orange bitters, and baby carrot ice cubes.

Remember, every night out drinking should come with a healthy serving of vegetables.