Alcademics.com

Join Me At Speed Rack on January 8 in San Francisco

I'm helping to judge a cocktail contest in which bad-ass women bartenders make cocktails as fast as they can and then we judge how they actually taste. You are in charge of cheering and drinking.

You should buy a ticket because this involves:

1. Significant numbers of cocktails on a Sunday afternoon with pretty much everyone good in the local bartending community. 
2. Empowerment of female bartenders.
3. The money goes toward breast cancer education, prevention and research.

This is 100% win.

You'll want to watch this video from the New York event.

Speed Rack Sneak Preview from Speed Rack on Vimeo.

 

The contestants are:

• Victoria Damato-Moran- Belden Taverna
• Rhachel Shaw- Rye
• Brooke Arthur- Wo Hing
• Tina Ross- Rickhouse
• Jennifer Colliau- Slanted Door/Small Hands Foods
• Gabrielle Barnes- Cantina
• Jennifer Embleton- Rye
• Yael Amyra- The New Easy
• Jessica Maria- Hotsy Totsy Club (Albany)
• Claire Sprouse- Rickhouse
• Jill Webster- Lazlo
• Lauren Steele- Rickhouse/Bourbon and Branch
• Melissa Boyd- Beretta
• Lucia Creed Gonzales- Prizefighter (Emeryville)
• Keli Rivers- Hotsy Totsy (Albany)
•  Kim Rosselle Flora/ Dona Tomas
• Gail Izaguirre- Laszlo
• Danielle Marchant- 222 Hyde

These guys will be the barbacks: Dominic Venegas (formerly of Range, Rye, Gitane, etc.), Jon Santer (Prizefighter), Neyah White (former NOPA now Yamazaki brand ambassador), Kevin Diedrich (Jasper's Corner Tap), Danny Ronen (omnipresent), Marcovaldo Dionysos (Smuggler's Cove), Marc Goldfine (83 Proof), Trevor Easter (Heaven's Dog), Tony Devencenzi (Bourbon & Branch), and Adrian Mc Carron (Rye on the Road).

Below are the full details. Buy tickets here. It will be awesome.

Cocktail Menu: Honor Bar in Emeryville, California

Opening January 3, 2012 in Emeryville near San Francisco is Honor Bar.

At the helm of the operation is Alex Smith, formerly of Gitane, Smuggler's Cove, and Gather. Also joining the crew are Reza Esmaili (Smuggler's Cove, Conduit, Long Bar), Peter Vestinos (former Chicagoan, Long Bar), and Jason Hubert (Adesso, Plum Bar).

Along with Prizefighter, this makes two brand new cocktail bars in Emeryville and yet another in the East Bay area. I'll be checking out the bar next week and will report back. 

I see: balsamico amaro, acid phosphate, tons of sherry, and interesting liqueurs. 

Honor Bar Menu

winter, 2011

STIRRED

Saturnalia :: rye, cranberry liqueur, allspice dram, maple, sage

Guy Fawkes :: gin, px sherry, montenegro amaro, maraschino, acid phosphate, absinthe

The Corsican :: bourbon, aged rum, falernum, sweet vermouth, orange bitters

Porfiriato :: reposado tequila, guajillo-infused mezcal, cocchi di torino, licor 43, cinnamon bitters

Jenkins' Ear :: aged rum, oloroso sherry, hum botanical, angostura bitters

Black Sabbath :: laphroaig, averna, absinthe, orange bitters

Dar' Panch :: panchpuran-infused vodka, east india sherry, sugar, lime

 

SHAKEN 

White Noise :: white rum, gin, maraschino, anisette, coconut cream, pineapple, lemon

Hollenbeck Cooler :: blanco tequila, blood orange liqueur,  honey-rosemary shrub, sparkling apple cider, pomegranate, lime

Winter Flip :: brandy, tawny port, indian pudding, whole egg

Bleeding Monarch :: bourbon, passion fruit, orgeat, campari, balsamico amaro

Queen Anne's Revenge :: hibiscus-infused gin, grapefruit marmalade, egg white, ginger beer, lemon

Slice of Life :: smith & cross rum, pineapple syrup, maraschino, angostura bitters, lime

The Von Teese :: vodka, st. germain, mathilde poire, absinthe, peychaud's, lemon

 

NOTES:

honey-rosemary shrub = honey & apple cider vinegar infused w/ rosemary

indian pudding = corn flour, milk, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, salt

balsamico amaro = combination of ⅓ balsamic vinegar, ⅓ averna amaro, ⅓ angostura bitters sprayed on top

Honor Bar is located at 1411 Powell St. at Hollis, Emeryville, CA.

A Gin and Aquavit Cocktail

In Friday's post on FineCooking.com, I have the recipe for the Gin Junkie. The cocktail contains gin, aquavit, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, agave nectar, and orange bitters. 

I found the drink listed in All the Gin Joints, the gin recipe collection book by Michael Turback. The Gin Junkie recipe was created by Aleko Lilly of Barrio Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Gin Junkie
By Aleko Lilly

1.5 fl. oz. Gin
.5 fl. oz. Linie Aquavit
.25 fl. oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
.25 fl. oz. Agave Nectar/Syrup
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Lemon Peel for Garnish

Combine gin, aquavit, elderflower liqueur, agave syrup, and bitters in a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir to chill and strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze lemon peel over surface to express oils and drop into the cocktail.

Head on over to FineCooking for more information. 

The Fifth Season: A Drink With Aged Cachaca, Ginger, and Cinnamon

A few months ago I created a simple drink I called the Fifth Season, as it was sort of summery yet also sort of wintery. A couple of weeks ago I posted it to my blog on FineCooking.com. 

It's another spicy ginger drink, not so radically different from The Tackler I wrote about last week. That one paired ginger liqueur and allspice. This one uses ginger syrup and cinnamon. 

Anyway, it's good drinking. I hope you enjoy it. 

The Fifth Season
By Camper English

2 fl. oz. Aged Cachaca (Novo Fogo preferred)
1 fl. oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 fl. oz. Ginger Syrup
.3 fl. oz. Cinnamon Syrup (B.G. Reynold's Don's Mix preferred)
Lemon Peel for Garnish

Shake all ingredients except lemon peel with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express the oils from the lemon peel over the drink and drop into the drink. A splash of champagne is nice in this drink too.

 

 

Book Review: The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

I recently received a review copy of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin. 

The book has about 20 cocktail recipes and 50 food recipes. 

Cocktail recipes include the standard Manhattan, Martini, Bloody Mary, Whisky Sour, etc. but also some drinks more stuck in the 1960s like the Stinger, Brandy Alexander, Tom Collins, and Blue Hawaii.

What is interesting about both the drink and the food recipes is that the authors didn't just hear a reference in the show to a Blue Hawaii and then print a standard recipe for it: in every case possible they found the actual recipe as made in the 1960s at the same restaurants or bars in which the the dish was ordered in Mad Men. 

Thus the Sidecar comes fromP.J. Clarke's, the Algonquin Cocktail comes from the Algonquin Hotel,  and the Stork Club Cocktail comes from the Stock Club Bar Book. I didn't see any recipes that blew my mind in their Sixteies-esque uniqueness and cocktail nerds like you have access to these recipes in several books. 

I think people who cook would get more use out of the food recipes, which are more products of their era (Chicken Kiev, Turkey Tetrazzini). And for anyone throwing a Mad Men theme party, this is the book will give you the whole menu. 

Get the book from Amazon here.

The Tackler: A Cocktail with Genever, Ginger, and Allspice

I created a not-very-complicated but super delicious and spicy cocktail called The Tackler. First I put it up on Fine Cooking. It contains genever, allspice dram, and ginger liqueur. 

Then 12 Bottle Bar featured it in this post, with one of the longest drink-related historical tangents ever. They delve into the Christmas Truce, a football game played by opposing sides of World War I during a 2-day truce. 

Pour yourself a cocktail before reading it: it's a doozy. 

Sugar in Mexico: Mascabado

Alcademics reader Warren mailed me a picture of a sugar packet he picked up near Cancun. 

It's labelled "Mascabado," which is the same thing as muscovado.

According to Sugar.org, "Muscovado sugar, a British specialty brown sugar, is very dark brown and has a particularly strong molasses flavor. The crystals are slightly coarser and stickier in texture than "regular" brown sugar."

 

The Sugar Spirit Project is sponsored by Bacardi Rum. Content created and owned by Camper English for Alcademics. For the project index follow this link. 

Cocktail Menu: Winter Drinks at 1886 in Los Angeles

There are so many great-looking winter cocktail menus coming out it's hard to keep up. 1886 is the bar at The Raymond restaurant in Pasadena has some wild and delicious concoctions for winter.

(Image courtesy of 1886)

I see: edible cigarette, house-made mulled vermouth, a beer flip, and pistachio orgeat. Yums.  

The menu is below