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Four Examples of the Pantone Color Wheel as Cocktail Menu

Who knew the Pantone color wheel was so inspirational to bartenders? 

Luca Ranzuglia sent me a picture of a Cointreau cocktail menu from around 1998 that isn't so much based on the Pantone color strips but the shape of the color wheel. 

Earlier this year a cocktail book came out called Miss Lilien's Cocktail Swatchbook. I didn't think the recipes were all that fabulous but the format was cool.

A few months ago, Calooh Callay in London launched a CCantone cocktail menu.

 

And last month, Trick Dog in San Francisco launched their own Pantone-inspired menu. 

It's a colorful world. We just drink in it.

Beer Syrup and the Marshall Manhattan

I first heard about beer and wine syrups years ago on Jeffrey Morgenthaler's and Jamie Boudreau's blogs, and have enjoyed them in many cocktails since then. 

You know what might be good? Fino sherry and dry vermouth syrups- has anyone tried them? Perhaps that will be a project for another day.

Anyway, I made a cocktail using a wintery mulled beer syrup from Nick's Cove Restaurant, Oyster Bar & Cottages on Tomales Bay near San Francisco. Their Manhattan is simply bourbon, oatmeal stout syrup, and Angostura bitters. 

Get the recipe at FineCooking.com. 

Photo by Kellie Delario courtesy of Nick's Cove

 

 

Maximize Your Michelada

My latest story for Details.com is on the many forms that the Michelada beer cocktail takes and what you can do to imitate them. 

Restaurants are doing wild wacky things with the hot sauce, savory ingredients, citrus, and salt. 

Check it out!

 

A Mezcal Drink for the Flu-Ridden Masses

Let's say you're a drink nerd who has the flu. You want to work mezcal into your schedule but how can you justify it when you're sweating through your sheets and spending all day watching soap operas?

Houston Eaves, of Esquire Tavern in San Antonio, has the answer. In my lastest FineCooking.com recipe post I list his recipe for the Espadin Tea. It's a lot like a Hot Toddy using tea and Licor 43 as a sweetener.

 

The drink calls for mezcal (I'm sure whisky would also work), lemon, Licor 43, and hot tea.

 

Go get the recipe at FineCooking and make yourelf feel better.

 

 

Twelve More New Cocktail Bars Opening in 2013

In my recent story for Details.com, I listed a bunch of new bars opening in 2013. 

But there were a lot more I couldn't include for one reason or another. So here are more bars we're looking forward to this year:

• The Regent Cocktail Club in South Beach, Miami  - With John Lermayer heading up the cocktail program.
• The Alder by Wylie Dufresne in New York - Some info here.
• South on Main in Little Rock, Arkansas - Chef Matt Bell and mixlogist Dave Burnette, in partnership with the Oxford American.
• Handle Bar in Berkeley - from the owner of ACME bar.
• Milk & Honey in New York - relocated, bigger, no reservations required
• Hi Lo in San Francisco - barbecue restaurant with session beers and big, refreshing cocktails by locavore mixologist Scott Beattie and Left Coast Libations co-author Michael Lazar.
• Rogue & Canon in New York - an "approachable bar and kitchen" serving a truncated menu representing the modern American “canon” and the “rogue” stylings of mixologist Johnny Swet.
• Tavern Road in Boston -  Mixologist Ryan McGrale, formerly of No. 9 Park and Boston’s New York's Flatiron Lounge, will team up with Chef Louis DiBiccari to open Tavern Road in the Fort Point neighborhood in early 2013. The bar program will place a heavy emphasis on craft cocktails that utilize small batch spirits and pay homage to the classics.
• Unnamed in Dallas - by Michael Martensen. More info here.
• Planter's House in St. Louis - Ted Kilgore says "Planter's House will also have a more intimate handcrafted cocktail bar within the space called the Bullock Room, where I can geek out on cocktails."
• Hinoki & the Bird in Los Angeles - with cocktails by Sam Ross of Attaboy
• Unnamed in Austin - A forthcoming bar from Chris Bostick, Eric Alperin, Cedd Moses, and Sasha Petraske. Late spring/early summer opening. More info here.

 

Regent Cocktail Club,taken from the website

 

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New Cocktail Bars Opening in 2013 on Details Daily Blog

Over at Details.com, I wrote about some hotly-anticipated cocktail bars opening in the first part of 2013.

They are:

• Raven & Rose
• Trick Dog
• Dead Rabbit
• Polite Provisions
• Attaboy
• Tiki Iniki
• Motel
• Three Dots and a Dash
• Julep

Read it over at Details.com, and have a look at all the pretty pictures below that they didn't use despite making me track them all down.

 

 

• 
• 

  Motel, Austin
• 

  Dead Rabbit, NYC
• 

  Trick Dog, SF
• 

  Julep, Houston
• 

  Three Dots, Chicago
• 

  Raven & Rose, PDX
• 

  Attaboy, NYC
• 

  Polite Provisions, SD

Tiki Iniki, Hawaii (not the actual bar)

 

 

 

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Fernet Is Hot: Warm Winter Cocktails with Fernet Branca

Fernet is finding its way into hot cocktails this year. Here are three I've noticed in the last couple of months.

Rich Coffee at Rich Table, San Francisco

Fernet, Creme de Cacao, Sightglass Coffee, Brown Sugar, Pistachio Cream, Gold Dust

Strato at Lounge at Atera, New York

Coffee, cream and one and a half ounces of the bitter Italian amaro Fernet Branca.

Robert Simonson of the New York Times says, "It’s insanely delicious. But, also, possibly, just plain insane." 

 

Miziers Demise at The Fifth Floor, San Francisco

Fernet Branca, Strauss Milk, Dark Chocolate, Crème de Menthe, peppermint marshmallow

This is on the just-launched winter cocktail menu. 

The Cocktails of Lolinda from Best to Worst

Chris Lane, formerly of Heaven's Dog and Wo Hing General Store, took over the bar manager position at Lolinda in San Francisco in December. (The original menu was done by Lane Ford.) Lolinda is a large, modern steakhouse owned by the same folks who brought us Beretta, Starbelly, and Delarosa. 

The cocktail menu is split between eight original cocktails (six of them Lane's) and nine classics including the Negroni and Americano. This is Lane's first full menu. 

Lane says his directive with the menu was to make the drinks as boldly flavored, modern versions of steakhouse cocktails. Most of them are quite spirit-forward, and on average the drinks are dark brown or yellow in color.

I found them to be food-friendly yet not food-dependent. You can definitely just have a drink and grab a snack, like the delicious smoked artichoke. 

Modern Cocktails of Lolinda, From Best to Worst

1. Carpenter’s Hand  brandy, amontillado sherry, Drambuie, orange peel, served on the rock.

This drink owes its magnificence to the choice of brandy - Marie Duffau Armagnac. It's a little funky and wild, with so much character it carries through over the other ingredients. The chocolate notes of the sherry seem to grow in intensity as the drink slowly melts on the big ice cube. This drink hits it out of the park.

 

2. Devil’s Backbone  rye, islay scotch, Averna amaro, Gran Classico, two bitters, orange peel, served on the stem.

Robust, delicious, surprisingly exciting, and smoky, this cocktail tastes like the cigarette after sex, and also the sex. It should definitely be your last drink of the evening, as it's rich enough to accompany or replace dessert. 

3. Flor de Jerez  amontillado sherry, jamaican rum, lemon, apricot, bitters,

served on the stem.  by joaquin simo

One of just two drinks on the menu not designed by Lane, the Flor De Jerez is credited to Joaquin Simo (Death & Co., Pouring Ribbons). The drink is juicy and citrusy and delicious and fairly low in alcohol and a joy to sip. There are more novice-friendly cocktails on the menu, but I'd recommend this to your cocktail-shy friends. 

4. Cloak and Dagger   reposado tequila, Cynar, apricot, bitters, orange peel, served on the stem.

Peppery tequila is the dominant flavor note here, with a dry bitter finish. This is a tequila cocktail that will pair well with food. 

5. The Lone Palm  house spiced rum, lime, grapefruit, honey, bitters, served on the stem.

One of the two crowd-pleasers on the menu, the Lone Palm has that lime-grapefruit-honey flavor combination (often seen at Heaven's Dog) with which it's hard to go wrong. 

6. Rock n’ Rolla  bourbon, apple, lemon, maple, allspice, bitters, nutmeg,

served on the rock.

The other crowd pleaser and the top-selling drink by far at Lolina. It's all about apple cinnamon with maple in this one. Even your grandmother would like it.

7. Bergen St.  aquavit, Plymouth gin, lime, vanilla, Galliano, absinthe, served on the stem.

This cocktail was created by Lane Ford and rolls over from the previous menu. Despite all the ingredients it screams Gimlet in flavor profile. The aquavit, absinthe, and Galliano all dance around the anise flavor note.

8.  Oaxacan Cross  mezcal, ruby port, lime, pineapple, ginger, maraschino, orange peel, served long.

The pineapple juice was a little vegetal tasting on the day of my visit and maybe that's the reason, but overall I just couldn't get into this mezcal cocktail. But heck, one out of eight ain't bad!

The Carpenter's Hand by Chris Lane at Lolina in San Francisco

 

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