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New Booze: Port-Finished Herradura, Kenny Chesney Rum, New Old Absinthe

Here are three new product releases. Information below comes from the press materials. 

Herradura  Colección de la Casa, Reserva 2012, Port Cask Finish

Tequila Herradura, today announced the release of the first of a series of small-batch tequilas, Colección de la Casa, Reserva 2012, Port Cask Finish. Each year, a new tequila will be released that will offer consumers a one-of-a-kind experience.

The inaugural product, Colección de la Casa, Reserva 2012 is a port cask finished reposado tequila. Crafted by Master Distiller Maria Teresa Lara, Casa Herradura uses blue agave, traditional production methods and a proprietary fermentation from naturally occurring wild yeast to create the tequila. The tequila is then rested in medium-char American oak casks for eleven months and then transferred to vintage port casks from the Duoro Valley in Portugal for an additional two months of aging.  

Colección de la Casa-Port Cask Finish will be available at fine wine and spirits stores in April. A limited quantity will be available in Mexico. Each 750 ml. Only 2,000 cases are available with a suggested retail price of $89.99.

 

Marteau Absinthe Master's Reserve and Marteau Belle Époque 

Marteau Master's Reserve is a gold-labeled elixir that will sell at the same price as the current product. Then, there's a new version of Marteau Belle Époque (the familiar blue and white label) made with grain spirits and which should retail at around 40% less than the price of the current product. This will replace the current product and go into production in May.

• The currently-sold product has a grape spirits base and a blend of the proprietary and wildcrafted absinthium wormwoods.
• The new Master's Reserve has a grape spirits base, and only the proprietary wormwood. I'll be growing other botanicals myself this year as well, such as the petite wormwood and the lemon balm.
• The new Belle Époque will have a grain spirits base, which is the industry standard for liqueurs. It will also use botanicals sourced from both the USA and Europe, but not the costly proprietary wormwood.

In addition, by late summer or before, both labels will be available in 357ml half-size bottles.

 

Blue Chair Bay Rum

Fishbowl Spirits is an independent spirits supplier based in Nashville, TN. It is wholly owned by country music star Kenney Chesney and its first release is Blue Chair Bay, a collection of premium-blended rums inspired by Chesney’s love of the island lifestyle.

Each Blue Chair Bay variety, including White, Coconut and Coconut Spiced, is produced at one of the most respected distilleries in the Caribbean. The Blue Chair Bay collection rolls out nationwide in May of 2013 and is available in 750ml and 1.75L bottles.

Imported and bottled by Fishbowl Spirits, Rochester, NY. Blue Chair Bay White Rum 40% ABV, Blue Chair Bay Coconut & Coconut Spiced Rum, 26.5% ABV. SRP $18.99 750ml.

www.BlueChairBayRum.com

 

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New Booze: Tequila, Sake, Rum, Vodka, and Tons of Whiskey

All About Anise

I attended a good portion of a seminar called Anise: Treasure of the Mediterranean at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July. Though I couldn't stay until the very end, the seminar was great. 

The speakers were Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller of Mixellany, Franesco LaFranconi of Southern Wine & Spirits, and Orietta Varnelli of Varnelli. 

Like all things at Tales of the Cocktail, my memory is spotty when it comes to the seminar, so here are my notes copied and pasted from my iPad. I hope someone writes a book on anise liqueurs (HINT HINT Mixellany) so we can learn more about the topic.

Here's what I wrote down: 

• Green anise and star anise are unrelated plants but both contain anethol
• green anise is fennel
• you should add water first and then ice when serving anise liqueurs
• need to make anise spirits on copper alembic- copper interacts with grape spirit. also anise is delicate and too much heat would make it soapy
• sambuca -1930s miletta (sp?) company created Sambuca
• Chinchon - lighter and thinner than varanelli
• Raki - an anise spirit - more intense than others. not much head and tails removed so it's a rougher base spirit
• Lebanon - Razzouk - arak - more like a grappa base spirit
• Ouzo - greek - has more than anise and fennel. some have bitter almonds, sometimes licorice
• Licorice adds the perception of sweetness in spirits. Old Tom gin - some of it had no sugar, but used anise and licorice root in double the amount of juniper.
• Marie Brizard anisette- 11 botanicals
• Sambuca - has to be at least 76 proof, and 38 grams of sugar per liter (see comment for a possible correction to this)
• recipes from some anise products date back to medical journals from 1600s
• pastis - comes from a word that means lasagna, a mix/mess (referring to louche)
• sage has 10 times the amount of thujone as wormwood

 

This is how the seminar was described:

…LOVE ANISE? Then Join Francesco Lafranconi-winner of the TOC 2009 Best Presenter Award- and his illustrious guests: Mrs. Varnelli-CEO of Distilleria Varnelli S.p.a. and Member of The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers, and the inseparable cocktail couple, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown-Directors of Mixellany Limited. They will transport you through an incredible historical and cultural journey, including an exclusive tasting of anise-based liqueurs and aperitifs produced among some of the most cultural-rich Mediterranean countries.

Anise has a history of use as a spice and fragrance. It has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years.

Since the 12th century, the caravans were bringing anise from China to Alexandria, where the precious seeds were shipped to Genoa and Marseille, two major hubs of the Mediterranean Sea trade, before being sent to Paris to be assigned to Anysetiers. After maceration and distillation of the resulting paste, they used to manufacture drugs, ointments and liquids then they catered Kings and Lords.

Found in nature two different species of this plant which belongs to the Umbelliferae family: anise (Pimpinella anisum) and star anise, or anise (Illicium anisatum).

Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly fashionable to satisfy the palate of the guests and for their pleasure, to serve many cocktails containing anise. Finally, in order to be exhaustive, let us not forget its use in its usual form of aniseed aperitif and liqueurs as presented by some major Italian, French, Spanish, Greek and Libanese spirits brands.

As a special occasion during Tales of the Cocktail, The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers will launch the FIRST chapter in the United States to revive the legend and tradition of the medieval guild of Anysetier, BIG THANK YOU TO VARNELLI!

We look forward to having you join as a member of this treasured and historical guild established in 1263!

 

Items of Interest in The Tasting Panel Magazine

I learned lots of stuff in the August issue of the Tasting Panel Magazine. I write for this magazine but didn't have a story in the current issue. Anyway:

1. Isle of Jura has a 200th Anniversary Edition, a 21 year old single malt aged in an ex-sherry cask. 
2. The Don Julio Anejo Claro that someone gave me a sip of at Tales is a real thing. For the 70th anniversary of the Don Julio being in the tequila business, they are releasing an anejo tequila that is filtere to make it clear, which supposedly will "bring back the bold agave flavor typically found in a blanco." I don't understand how you can filter flavor into a spirit, nor the point of making clear aged tequilas in general, but we'll see.  
3. There is some strange new "botanical absinthe/ green tea liqueur" called Tempest that has suspended drops of absinthe in it. Sadly low ABV of 25% but goofy fun nonetheless. 
4. Phil Adler makes a flavored ice cube inside another flavored ice cube. (Page 114 of the digital edition. )

A Punch That Packs Absinthe

Over at Fine Cooking, I list a very simple recipe for an absinthe punch, courtesy of Pernod. 

It contains just absinthe, lime juice, water, and cucumbers, and it is delicious as all get-out. 

Check out the simple recipe over at FineCooking.com. 

Absinthe Apparatus

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I discuss what all that absinthe-serving equipment is for.

The fountain is not, of course, filled with absinthe, as in this music video. It is filled with plain old ice water.

Read more about that here.

The Fading Beauty Cocktail

I created a drink last night that is simple and tasty. 

 

The occasion was Thursday Drink Night (TDN), over at the Mixoloseum chat room. On Thursdays starting at 7PM EST all the folks in the chat room makes drinks according to the theme of the week. One person will suggest a recipe then everyone who has the ingredients will go make the drink and critique it. We do this for several hours until people fade out or pass out in their own homes. 

Last Thursday was one of our sponsored TDNs, where we make all drinks with a product sponsor. Last night was Zaya, so I made this cocktail with the rum as the base. 

Fading Beauty
by Camper English

1.5 ounces Zaya rum
.5 ounces Small Hand Foods Raspberry Syrup
.75 ounce fresh lime juice (the drink can take an ounce of it if you want it more tart)
1 barspoon absinthe

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.  

The rusty red of the drink and the green lime wheel reminded me of an empty landscape of red soil and the full moon above. For some reason I felt it was a sad moment so I called the drink Fading Beauty for the feeling it gave me. 

Maybe I should go write a poem or something.

Rickhouse Launches Summer Cocktail Menu

Starting this July, Rickhouse in San Francisco will offer a summer drink menu, because apparently the fifty cocktails on the regular menu are all seasonally inappropriate. (I kid!)

The regular menu isn't online, so those of you reading from out of town an get a glimpse of how it looks with its tiki bar-reminiscent descriptors (and low prices).

Note: Root beer and absinthe! Again!

Rickhouse Summer Cocktail Menu

Ginger’s Trois  $8

It’s as light and effervescent as the twinkle of a clouds silver lining.  Snappy and sparkling, this bubbly cocktail provides every minty answer you desire, and all without the trouble of having to ask a single question. 

Plymouth Gin, Sparkling Wine, Fresh Lime, Fresh Mint, Fresh Ginger and Bitters

Cherry Blossom Cobbler  $8

From the depths of the Orient, comes this sultry and seductive tigress that is heart-bent on sending a shock through your fingers and a chill up your spine.  We insist you proceed with caution, lest you lose yourself within its snowy abyss.

Yamazaki 12 year, Organic Cherry Blossom Jam, Fresh Lemon Juice and Seasonal Fruit

Sutter Street Swizzle  $10

Brazen and uninhibited, this beverage makes no apologies for its chilly disposition. For alas, even within the great depths of the Amazon will you find nothing quite as alluring and enticing as the subtle, yet untamed flavors of this exotic spiced beverage.

Cachaca, Falernum, Pineapple Gomme, Fresh Ginger, Fresh Lime Juice and Bitters

The Big Dig  $8

A delectable and enterprising adventure that is attractively saturated in the sweet taste of lost inhibitions.  Seasonal berries and sarsparilla sweetness unite to form an appealing combination that is one part carbonated fizz and one part summer bliss.

Beefeater Gin, Fresh Lemon Juice, Organic Raspberries, Artisanal Root Beer and a Dash of Absinthe

High-Plains Drifter  $8

Earthy and mean, this glass of bad attitude is known for providing courage to the brave, and a kick in the pants to the timid.  It’s just the curly wolf to have in your corner when you’re going through the mill and there’s trouble in the air.

Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Amaro Nonino and Celery Bitters

Berry O’Brien  $8

A drink that is as attractive to the ladies, as it is suitable for a diplomat.  Do not let its innocent flavor fool you, for this drink is precisely the right combination of Whiskey served tall with just a dash of Irish charm.

Jameson Irish Whiskey, Fresh Blackberries, Fresh Lemon Juice, Ginger Beer and Bitters

Latin, Packing, Pisco: A Few Articles I've Written Lately

I've had several stories come out recently, so I thought I'd share them here. This blog is also my resume, after all. 

Friday I wrote about my recent piece in the daily email Tasting Table San Francisco. This one is about Encanto Pisco, brought to us by a bartender, a sommelier, and a distiller. 

Attention people attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July: My story about what to pack for the week (for media, speakers, bartenders, PR, and brand reps) in the June issue of Tasting Panel Magazine is now online. 

 In the July issue of Executive Travel Magazine I have a story on the Latin libations that are hot and the ones that soon will be. 

I have recently become a regular contributor to SilverKris, the in-flight magazine for Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately the magazine is not online. Recent stories have focused on new classic cocktails, the return of absinthe, and where to drink in Wellington, New Zealand.