Alcademics.com

Turkey Cocktail

In my latest post on FineCooking.com, I tell the tale of a recent Thanksgiving tradition: drinking Wild Turkey. 

I also link to my experiments with Wild Tofurkey and share a new-fangled Old Fashioned recipe from the brand.

Check it out here.

 

Home Bar Recommendations: One of Each

When Jonny Raglin and Jeff Hollinger were looking to open Comstock Saloon (hopefully this month), they had a big limitation to work with: the size of the back bar. It only has room for one or two types of each base spirit. This is a challenge for Raglin in particular as between his former post as Bar Manager at Absinthe and his consultant gig at Dosa on Fillmore he was working with probably 30 different types of gin alone. 

This inspired a story I wrote for the April edition of 7x7 magazine. I also spoke with Martin Cate of Forbidden Island who had the luxury of choosing over 200 rums for the bar, but that didn't leave room for much else. Before opening he sent out an email requesting advice on one of each tequila (blanco, reposado, anejo) for the bar. I also spoke with Marcovaldo Dionysos, who was very selective when choosing the bottles for Clock Bar. He said he had to balance familiar brands that consumers know with less-recognized spirits he'd prefer to work with. 

In the story I asked each of Raglin, Cate, and Dionysos to pick one of each- vodka, tequila, rum, whisky, and gin- that would work the best in the most cocktails, while also being good enough for sipping. The results should point home mixologists who may also not have room for 30 brands of gin toward the one bottle to buy.

The Ultimate Five-Bottle Bar, Perfect for Apartment Dwelling

by Camper English

What happens when the city’s top bartenders are forced to choose? Introducing the ultimate five-bottle bar, perfectly sized for apartment dwelling. 

Click the link above to read the story. In the print edition there are also recommendations for one each of sweet and dry vermouth and an orange liqueur/triple sec.

Thanks for Something

Remember in June when I received pretty much the best press kit ever- an empty bottle of liquor? It was from Knob Creek in a press release called "Thanks for Nothing" about the shortage of Knob Creek. They'd run out of barrels of the stuff to bottle.

Word on the street is that there were plenty of supplies of it already in bottles so I don't think any stores actually ran out of it, at least not in California, so it was more of a potential shortage than a real one.

Anyway, last week I got another package from Knob Creek, this one announcing that we'd made it through the drought and the aging barrels reached nine years;  old enough to bottle again. And luckily this package contained a bottle that was full. Whether there was actually a shelf shortage or not, that was reason enough to celebrate.

 

Knob Creek: Thanks for Nothing

Beverage journalists are used to receiving bottles in the mail, but until now those bottles have always been full. In a fun PR trick this June, Jim Beam brands sent writers a box with a neatly packed bottle of Knob Creek bourbon- empty- to show that this year's supply that was put in barrels in 2000 has been depleted.

The enclosed press release, entitled "Thanks for Nothing" included a thank you note for helping to make the brand successful, and letting us know that full bottles will again hit store shelves in November of this year.

As this is the only press kit that's actually made me laugh, I thought this was worth a post. Now where do I go to get this bottle filled?

Drinks With: Rob Samuels of Maker's Mark

This May I sat down for a quick bite of breakfast at Level III with Rob Samuels, Director of Global Brand Development for Maker's Mark bourbon. As tends to be the case in the bourbon industry, Samuels is related to someone else in the company- his father Bill Samuels Jr, the president of Maker's and himself the son of the company's founder.

Maker's doesn't buy or sell whisky to other distilleries. It is also the only bourbon distillery to air dry all of the wood for its barrels, says Samuels.

Maker's Mark is big in Japan. This is because 25 years ago Toyota built a factory in Kentucky and the Japanese took to the local hooch then brought it back home with them.

They only sell about 10% of Maker's beyond the US.

Australians drink more bourbon per capita than in the US, and probably more than anywhere else. Germany is the second biggest market for bourbon outside the US, which makes sense because Germany is pretty much the second largest market for every spirit outside of its home country.

The growth of bourbon outside the States is partially fueled by interest in the Mint Julep. 

New Kentucky Derby Cocktails

Bulleit Bourbon asked a few bartenders to come up with new Mint Julep-adjacent cocktails. I posted three of them to Alcademics RecipeFeed:

Bulleit Train by Jackie Patterson

Bare Back by Mindy Kucan

Back in the Saddle by Mindy Kucan

What's always fun with Diageo recipes is that they have to go through corporate lawyers, so all their drinks have less than 1.5 ounces of alcohol in them in total. On the press release I got each one says something like "recipe contains .6 ounces of alcohol" so I guess each drink serves two people. Right.

Personally I would prefer a recipe that states "serves six people" so that the recipe is in standard pourable quantitites, rather than recipes that call for .15 ounces of vermouth. Really.

Bountiful Bourbon

Jason Wilson writes a big story for the Washington Post about bourbon. It's a good read overall, but particularly for this gem of a quote:

Heaven Hill, for instance, uses the same yeast strain and mash recipe for all 150 of its bourbon products. "The only difference in our brands is age and proof," Hafer said.

Wow on both accounts. I don't know quite what to say about that.

What do you have to say about it?

Derby Designs

Limited-edition bottles in honor of this weekend's Kentucky Derby.

Woodford Reserve:

Woodford Reserve Bourbon is the “Official Bourbon of Kentucky Derby 135” and has served as the official bourbon for the past eleven years. Capturing the adrenaline-filled world of horse racing through the eyes of a jockey, Woodford Reserve, an award-winning small-batch bourbon, is honoring the country’s favorite horse race with the release of its limited edition 2009 Kentucky Derby bottle featuring artwork by retired jockey Tom Chapman.

Early Times Pre-mixed Mint Julep:

In recognition of its “Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby” designation, Early Times commissioned renowned equine artist Celeste Susany to create an original oil painting of an actual scene at Churchill Downs® for its 2009 Derby bottle. 2009 marks Celeste’s 10^th anniversary of painting the artwork for the Early Times Mint Julep commemorative bottle. Entitled “Dueling Towards Destiny”, this year’s painting depicts two powerhouse horses in stride racing towards the finish line with the Derby crowd and famed Twin Spires in the background. Launching in April 2009, the newly labeled one-liter pre-mix bottle will be available in limited quantities throughout the United States for a suggested retail price of $14.99.

Also, this year for the Derby, Maker's Mark is making their pre-mixed Mint Julep available to more places, including California.