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Two-Book Thursday: Alcademics Giveaway: The Regulars by Sarah Stolfa

I'm giving away five copies of two different books from the Alcademics A-Plus email list. Sign up now if you haven't already!

The Regulars by Sarah Stolfa

Unlike most booze books reviewed on this website, this one has no recipes and barely any words. This makes sense as it's a photo book by bartender-turned-photographer Stolfa. These portraits were taken at the bar McGlinchey's in Philadelphia as she transitioned careers.

Stolfa's says of the regulars she photographed, "There is a visible conflict within an individual alone at a bar- they appear confident and assured yet vulnerable and naked, trying to look engaged yet open at the same time... I wanted to reveal the isolation of the individual even when surrounded by the chaos of the bar."

Photo used with permission by Sarah Stolfa and Artisan Books

When I look at the photos I don't see the vulnerability at all- though I certainly know what she's talking about. The portrait lighting shows each individual as fully formed; not tentative, like most of them wanted to be photographed in just that way (though dirty ashtrays and outfit choices tell a different story). To me, this is a little eerie, as if in the bartender's eye (or lens) each person sitting at the bar is not a social animal but a loner. They're not beautiful and not ugly, but highlighted for no reason other than they were sitting at the bar. They feel like an interruption of personal moment rather than the social ones they really are.

Anyway, pretty pictures. There is a whole gallery of the pictures from the book at this website.

And sign up to Alcademics A-Plus for your chance to win one of five copies.

Fine print: Giveaway offer only good for Alcademics A-Plus subscribers of legal drinking age residing in the US.

Two-Book Thursday: Alcademics Giveaway: Libation by Deirdre Heekin

I'm giving away five copies of two different books from the Alcademics A-Plus email list. Sign up now if you haven't already!

Libation: A Bitter Alchemy by Deirdre Heekin

I had hoped to meet author Deirdre Heekin at Tales of the Cocktail, where she was signing copies of the book, but if you've been to the convention you know that plans there don't always go according to plan. Unfortunately I haven't had time to read the book yet, but the description is enticing:

In Libation, a Bitter Alchemy,, a series of linked personal essays, Heekin explores the curious development of her nose and palate, her intuitive education and relationship with wine and spirits, and her arduous attempts to make liqueurs and wine from the fruits of her own land in northern New England. The essays follow her as she unearths ruby-toned wines given up by the ghosts of long-gone wine makers from the red soil of Italy, her adoptive land; as she embarks on a complicated pilgrimage to the home of one of the world’s oldest cocktails, Sazerac, in Katrina-soaked New Orleans; as she attempts a midsummer crafting of a brandy made from inherited roses, the results of an old Sicilian recipe she found in a dusty bookstore in Naples.

Musing on spirits from Campari to alkermes, Heekin’s writing is as intoxicating, rich, and carefully crafted as the wines, liquors, and locales she loves.

It's rare to meet people who write on both wine and spirits, especially in the same book, so I'm excited to see her outlook on things. With (I assume) spirits chapters called Ode to Campari, The Green Hour, Sazerac, and Fiery Particles, there looks to be a fair amount of the hard stuff in the book as a chaser to the wine.

Heekin is a co-owner of a Vermont restaurant for which she produces homemade liqueurs and micro-vintage wines. In this Saveur interview, she tells of her love for Amaro. And here a writer develops a recipe for rose liqueur after reading the book.

If you've read the book, let me know what you think in the comments. And sign up for the Alcademics A-Plus email list for a chance to win a copy.

The Count of San Francisco

Silly me, I didn't even notice that my story on Count Niccolo Branca of Fernet-Branca was in this month's San Francisco Magazine. Here it is.

The count comes a-courting

Bottle talk with the CEO behind San Francisco's favorite shot, Fernet-Branca.

By Camper English, Photograph by Cody Pickens

San Franciscans consume around 35 percent of all the Fernet-Branca sold in the United States, thanks mostly to the local palate, which tends to skew toward bitter. Recently, the chairman and CEO of Branca International (and the great-great-grandson of Fernet’s creator), Count Niccolò Branca, paid a visit to San Francisco to meet with bartenders and visit high-selling accounts. We met him at Foreign Cinema, where he shared some company lore and addressed a few persistent rumors about the brand.

Branca says he hasn’t been to town for about 25 years, though San Franciscans have repeatedly tried to visit his distillery in Milan, where all the Fernet-Branca imbibed in the States is made. “Sometimes they come on Saturday or Sunday, when the company is closed. Monday morning, we find on the door a paper—they write, ‘I want to visit. I see where is born the Fernet-Branca,’” the count reports. And now they can, since the distillery and its museum have finally opened for tours (by appointment).

Branca insists that his bitter liqueur has never contained opiates, as some have alleged over the years. His evidence is circumstantial but still convincing: Opiate possession is currently prohibited in Italy, and he says the recipe for Fernet-Branca hasn’t changed in the 164 years it’s been produced. But he assured us that a couple of perceptions are true: one, that drinkers across the world ask for Fernet-Branca served “San Francisco–style,” meaning a shot accompanied by a ginger ale chaser; two, that Fernet-Branca remained legal during Prohibition because of its medicinal qualities.

The count complimented San Franciscans on our pronunciation of his product’s name (fur-net), which he hears incorrectly all over the world. “Even in Italy, some people say fur-nay,” he explains. “But the important word is Branca!

Mezcal vs. Mescal

Does anyone have a strong opinion or preference as to how this should be spelled? My browser spell check and Microsoft Word seem to think mescal is correct and mezcal is incorrect.

I see it either way in the news, and did a search:

mescal in SF Chronicle returns 41 results
mezcal in SF Chronicle returns 34 results

mescal in New York Times returns 616 results
mezcal in New York Times returns 10,000+ results

mescal in LA Times returns 84 results
mezcal in LA Times returns 48 results

mescal in Google search returns 508,000 results
mezcal in Google search returns 1,260,000 results

I prefer mescal, just because I like the way the word looks and it's easier for my to type. You?

**Update 2012: It appears "mezcal" has now become the standard. **

Mezcal is the New Punch

Eater LA reports that there will be a new mezcal (and tequila) bar called Las Perlas opening in Los Angeles late 2009/early 2010. With Phil Ward's mezcal mecca Mayahuel in New York already smeared all over the press, we need just one more venue to open to be a certified trend. Where will it be next?

Must-Try Punch at The Alembic

This Sunday July 26 at The Alembic in San Francisco is the monthly Savoy Cocktail Book Night where the book is the menu. Pick a drink and the bartenders will do their best to make it. This event grew out of Erik Ellestad's Savoy Project, in which he's making all the recipes in the book in order.

One recipe that you simply must try is the Milk Punch that Ellestad has been making. If you didn't know it was milk in the drink it might take a while to figure out what the unique flavor and texture was. It's amazing and delicious. Come down and try it.

Tales of Tales of the Cocktail

So, how was Tales of the Cocktail, the annual cocktail convention in New Orleans, you ask? Here are some observations from this year.

Logistics:

• Compared with previous years, Tales was a much bigger pain in the butt in advance with the ticketing system, but smoother at the door of the sessions if you had tickets. I had tickets so it was a smooth ride. 
• On the plus side, there were so many more people there this year that the ticketing system was necessary.
• If most of the sessions are so full that people can't go to them who want to, maybe they need bigger rooms.
• They solved the elevator problem by having the press lounge upstairs. It was great up there.
• This year it seemed as if people were on one of three different tracks- they were either just at the sessions, just in the tasting rooms, or just partying. There were a lot of people at Tales I never saw.

Sessions:

• Many, many people complained about the amount of selling/branding in the sessions this year. I did go to two or three sessions where one speaker gave a brand presentation instead of an overview (infuriating), but most of mine weren't like that.
• My favorite sessions were:
  • The Molecular DNA of Classic Cocktails
  • Agavepalooza
  • Also good: Innovation (A molecular techniques session), Low Country Libations (spirits of the Netherlands region)

New Orleans:

• I finally saw some of it this year! I highly recommend having a civilian friend come to New Orleans with you because eventually you will be dragged out of the Monteleone to do something that's not drinking. I did a three-hour van tour that was pretty cool.
• Apparently bartenders love the Old Absinthe House. And Barely Legal. And The Alibi.
• Cure is awesome. I feel very comfortable in a fancy cocktail environment. Bars like Cure make me feel like home. My favorite drink there was the Before and After Start and Finish. It contained Averna and tastes almost like Absinthe and Coke.
• I tied last year's record of four trips to eat at Subway: The vegetarian's best friend in New Orleans.

More pics on my flickr page here.

Come See me Talk at SF Chefs.Food.Wine

The weekend of August 5-7 is a new huge food event in San Francisco called SF Chefs.Food.Wine.

There's something missing from that title, of course, and that's cocktails. Worry not! There will be plenty of cocktails there too. In fact, I'm talking about cocktails on Friday August 7th at 10:30 in the morning.

Cocktails Get in the Mix
Location: E&O Trading Co.

Some believe that East Coast cocktails are more grounded in tradition, while those from the "Wild West" are more focused on our local bounty of produce. Explore the diversity of drinks Bay Area cocktail gurus create, learn about basic "families" of cocktails, and discover why San Francisco is a melting pot of cocktail culture. Camper English (editor, Alcademics), Duggan McDonnell (Cantina), Thad Vogler (Bar Agricole)

The description doesn't really tell you much about what I'll be speaking about. I'll be narrowing that down with the bartenders this weekend, but I hope to be talking about the different styles of cocktails in San Francisco and where to get them. Nuveau Latin, Eco-Classicist, Farm-Forward Constructionist? These are terms I just made up to describe some of the drinks around town. Will I use them in public? You'll have to come to find out. I think you need to buy a day pass to access the session, but that gets you a whole lot of other food, wine, cocktails, and lectures.