Alcademics.com: bars

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

Posted at 08:30 AM in bars, Boston, New York, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (2)

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)

Posted at 08:20 AM in bars, camper_clips | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Posted at 08:30 AM in bars, cocktails, New York, San Francisco, trends | Permalink | Comments (0)

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

Posted at 08:45 AM in bars, bartenders, cocktail menus, cocktails, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (3)

Cocktail Menu: Trick Dog in San Francisco

The much-delayed and much-anticipated Trick Dog has opened in San Francisco. You've heard about it by now, unless you've been living under a rock without a wifi hotspot. But so far they hadn't released the menu. Here it is.

And if you haven't seen a million pictures of the bar already, here are a few. Click on the thumbnails on top to see the others full size.

I visited the bar for the first time Monday but only had one cocktail, which is unlike me. I look forward to going back and drinking my way through the rest of the menu.

Posted at 08:15 AM in bars, cocktail menus, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hot Oatmeal Stout in a Warm Winter Cocktail: Rum & Oats

Hey, I had this drink at Wo Hing General Store in San Francisco and it is delicious.

The Rum and Oats, by bar manager John Codd, contains steamed oatmeal stout, dark rum, vermouth, cinnamon syrup, and bitters, and is topped with whipped cream.

Hot beer? Hot damn.

Get the recipe at FineCooking.com or hit up Wo Hing in person. There is a nearly all-new menu (the Pina Colada is still there) to try as well.

Posted at 08:13 AM in bars, beer, cocktails, recipes | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Semi-Molecular Americano at Capo's in San Francisco

I went to Capo's in San Francisco's North Beach to try out the cocktails. The initial cocktail menu was quite a bit longer, but they edited it to be shorter and more whiskey-centric.

There are currently just five cocktails on the menu: The Chicago Cocktail, the Silencer (Americano variation), Suicide (with white rye, creme de violette, maraschino liqueur), Wise Guy (rye, orange marmalade, lemon, oregano,) and a barrel-aged Vieux Carre' variation called the Made Man with bourbon, unaged brandy, sweet vermouth, and Benedictine.

One wouldn't go so far as to say The Silencer is a molecular cocktail, but it does have some abstract features you don't see too often in San Francisco. The drink is (mostly?) Campari and Soda, but bar manager Elmer Mejicanos makes it more like an Americano by adding Carpano Antica vermouth ice cubes. If I remember correctly, the vermouth ice cubes were made with one part vermouth to four parts water.

The drink was garnished with "Brandy Crystals." This is brandy dehydrated overnight in an oven with added sugar and corn starch (as a filler). I couldn't taste the corn starch at all, so it looks like Mejicanos has found a way to stretch dehydrated liqueur a bit farther than usual.

Of the three drinks I tried, I enjoyed The Silencer the most.

For more information on dehydrating liqueurs and other alcohol, check out the Solid Liquids Project here on Alcademics.

Posted at 08:00 AM in bars, bartenders, cocktails, San Francisco | Permalink | Comments (0)

Strange Eggnogs from Around America- That Actually Sound Delicious

In my latest piece for Details.com, I round up some eggnogs that look weird enough to be interesting, including aged eggnog, smoky eggnog, one that sounds like you'd eat it at brunch, a super boozy one, and one made with two kinds of mushroom.

Ones that didn't make the cut (yet sound delicious) are Ian Cargill's Carbonated Eggnog from Vessel in Seattle, and Cynar Eggnog from The Passenger in Washington, DC.

Check out the story on Details.com.