Alcademics.com: bars

Cocktail Menu: South at SFJazz in San Francisco

South at SF Jazz in the brand new SFJAZZ Center opens March 5th with "craft cocktails from the old south" by Bar Director Erik Adkins of Slanted Door, Wo Hing General Store, Heaven's Dog, and the forthcoming Hard Water.

I'm excited to try the Battle of New Orleans (I love anise), Horse Thief Cocktail, and State Street Cocktail.

Below is the menu.

The Battle of New Orleans
Buffalo Trace Bourbon, gum syrup, with dashes of anisette, absinthe and Peychaud’s and orange bitters on a hand cut ice cube.

Tchoupitoulas Street Guzzle
El Dorado 3yr rum, lime, Blenheim hot ginger beer, Peychaud’s bitters

Horse Thief Cocktail
Hayman’s Old Tom gin, vermouth di Torino, absinthe

Pendennis Club Cocktail
Miller’s Westbourne gin, lime, apricot brandy, Peychaud’s bitters

State Street Cocktail
Beefeaters gin, fresh pressed pineapple, pineapple gum, dolin blanc vermouth, celery bitters, soda

French 75
Beefeaters gin, lemon, sparkling wine

Vieux Carre
Rittenhouse 100 rye, Germain-Robin brandy, Carpano sweet vermouth, Benedictine, Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters on a hand cut ice cube

Brandy Milk Punch
Germain-Robin brandy, Pompero rum, Straus organic milk, nutmeg

Derby Cocktail
Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, honey, cinnamon, lemon, Angostura bitters

Seelbach Cocktail
Maker’s Mark bourbon, Cointreau, sparkling wine, Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters

Filibuster
Wild Turkey rye, grade b organic maple, lemon, egg white

Posted at 08:40 AM in bars, cocktail menus, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cocktail Menu: BarMini by Jose Andres

Jose Andres, most notable in my world for The Bazaar by Jose Andres with its liquid nitrogen caipirinhas, has opened a new cocktail den in Washington, DC, fronted by Juan Coronado. The space is an extension of MiniBar next door.

The cocktail program at barmini will be spearheaded by ThinkFoodGroup’s Cocktail Innovator, Juan Coronado, in collaboration with Research & Development Director, Ruben Garcia. Juan has worked closely with José and his chefs to craft a seasonally rotating cocktail list, classified by spirit, that’s as extensive (100 cocktails total) and thoughtful as the menu at minibar. Contemporary approaches and techniques, such as “airs,” which capture aromas and flavors in their bubbles, unveiling a beautiful and spontaneous burst of flavor into the cocktail; emulsifiers, such as whey, that add texture and bring a new dimension to the cocktail; barrel aging; carbonation; espumas; extractions and infusions, will be applied to modern and vintage classic libations, including the Rusty Nail, Mai Tai, Whiskey Sour and Margarita.

I want to come play with the equipment.

I was able to get ahold of the menu. It's pretty long so I've pasted it below the jump for those of you not clicking through directly.

Continue reading "Cocktail Menu: BarMini by Jose Andres" »

Posted at 08:44 AM in bars, cocktail menus, DC | Permalink | Comments (0)

100 Classic Cocktails You May Have Heard Of Made with Satisfactory Results

Sugar House in Detroit has launched a new cocktail menu with both seasonal drinks and 100 Classics "carefully selected & perfected for your consideration".

I asked Dave Kwiatkowski what the criteria were for being on the list - Most popular? Essential? Best?

His answer was a little bit more involved than I expected but interesting.

I started out by picking my favorite classics (Manhattan, Sidecar, Gimlet, etc.) and made each one, dialing in the recipe until I was happy with the result. Once I had those (maybe 40 all in all) I started digging thru old books, looking for familiar names that maybe I had forgotten about (Stinger, Presbyterian, Suffering Bastard,) - stuff that I couldn't make by memory, but wasn't completely unknown to me. I went thru and made each one of those, keeping some, ditching some. At that point I probably had 75, so I started going thru any old books I could get my hands on and trying out anything that looked interesting... The fallout on these last recipes was much greater (if you've ever actually made the drinks in Baker's Gentleman's Companion you know what I'm talking about.) But after a while I found enough to fill out the list that I could get behind. That's where the drinks like the Hanky Panky, Brown Derby, etc., came from. Some of them, like the West India Couperee (cognac, cointreau & vanilla ice cream) are amazing, but it's just not worth having ice cream on hand in the off chance someone orders one of them. And then of course there were some revisions like when Wondrich unearthed the original recipe for the Singapore Sling (my recipe was totally wrong), and Beachbum Jerry found the Zombie recipe from Don the Beachcomber's...

So, I suppose if I had to categorize this list, I'd say they are the 100 best classics I've ever heard of and made with satisfactory results. Every drink on here I consider an excellent mixed drink. Having said that, there's always room for change.

So here they are:

It might be fun to compare these with the 100 Classic Cocktails Bobby Heugel Says You Should Try.

The seasonal drinks look pretty good too. I've pasted them below.

Continue reading "100 Classic Cocktails You May Have Heard Of Made with Satisfactory Results" »

Posted at 08:41 AM in bars, cocktail menus | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three Newish Bars in San Francisco

For WorldsBestBars.com I write the San Francisco newsletter, in which I round up new bars opening in the city.

For the February newletter I've included write-ups on Trick Dog, The Armory Club, and Lolinda.

Check it out on WorldsBestBars.com.

Posted at 08:40 AM in bars, camper_clips, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Map of 50 Things to Drink in San Francisco

Last year I wrote the 50 Things to Drink in San Francisco Before you Die list for 7x7 Magazine.

Recently, Jennifer Essex transferred all 50 bars onto a Google map. Awesome!

She didn't name the drink that goes with each bar on the map, so you'll need both the map and the list in order to complete them all.

View 50 Things to Drink in San Francisco in a larger map

Posted at 08:43 AM in bars, cocktails, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cocktail Specials for Chinese New Year in San Francisco

It recently occured to me that San Francisco has a good number of upscale Chinese bars. Most of them are doing specials for Chinese New Year, so here's a list of them.

This year will be the year of the snake, which explains the drink titles.

Brasserie S&P at Mandarin Oriental

Lychee Lunar by Priscilla Young
Beefeater Gin, Don Q rum, Sensei Lychee Falernum, fresh lemon juice, splash of crème de cassis, and soda water

M.Y. China

Stone Serpent
VSOP Raynal, grapefruit juice, Cointreau, Cherry Heering, Peychauds, ginger, Belfast apple cider

E&O Asian Kitchen:

Bitter Bite by Carlos Yturria
Campari, kumquats, lemon juice and agave nectar, in a a Collins glass topped with ginger beer.

Hakkasan

Scarlet Snake by Jessamine McLellan
Campari, simple syrup, egg white, fresh lemon juice, London Dry Gin in a coupe garnished with Angostura bitters.

Posted at 08:46 AM in bars, cocktails, San Francisco, trends | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Posted at 08:59 AM in bars, cocktail menus, trends | Permalink | Comments (2)

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.