Alcademics.com

The Missing Caipirinha

I've been writing for Fine Cooking magazine's website for several months now, and realized they don't have a recipe for the Caipirinha online. Shameful. So in my latest post I wrote about the drink, the base spirit cachaca, and some variations. Check it out.

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. 

Photos from the Leblon Carnival Party at Rickhouse Feb 21, 2010

Leblon cachaca threw a heck of a party at Rickhouse last night. Here are some photos.

To see the rest, click below!

Drinks With: John Gakuru of Sagatiba Cachaca

The other week John Gakuru, jet-setting (seriously his Facebook updates are from a different country every couple days) international brand ambassador for Sagatiba cachaca, gave a talk at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. 

Cachaca, as we know, is a type of rum (as defined by US laws anyway) made in Brazil from fermented sugarcane juice instead of from molasses, which is the by product of sugar production. The brand Sagatiba has been making a big marketing push internationally and seems to be in the top three high-end cachacas catering to mixologists, along with Leblon and Cabana.

Sagatiba has an unaged ("Pura") and an aged ("Velha") bottling on the market, in addition to an incredibly limited edition called "Preciosa." Each of these products is made completely different from the others, with the only common thread being the Sagatiba name.

The Pura is an example of high-tech distillation, and since I'm a nerd that seems cool to me. They take column-distilled cachaca made into a high-alcohol 'concentrate,' then water it down and redistill it again in another column still. This second still has four separate condensers on it, allowing for some of the resultant product to be pulled off and redistilled additional times. The finished cachaca comes off the still at bottle strength so they do not add water before bottling, and don't add any sugar to the product either though some is permitted.

The Velha is a more agricultural product, made from hand-harvested sugar cane and distilled in large copper pot stills with a natural "cracked corn" yeast. It's then aged for 2-3 years in ex-Jim Beam barrels before bottling. The Velha is a new product on the market so it may not  be in all areas yet. 

The Preciosa is a ridiculously rare and expensive bottling. A distiller put 10,000 liters of cachaca into five giant cognac mixing casks (2,500 liters each) in 1980 to see what would happen, but then died in 1982. Over 20 years later in 2006 the Sagatiba folks pulled it out, filtered, and bottled it. There were 3,300 liters remaining out of the 10,000 and once it's gone it's gone forever.

In the seminar we had a bunch of drinks ranging from the awfully simple (also: awful) Sagatiba and Sprite to the more sophisticated Pumpkin Batida. Gakuru was emphasizing the range of drinks that can be made with cachaca, specifically that you can make more than a Caipirinha with it. He said, "It's not just about lime and sugar anymore."

A Trove of Tasty Cachaca Recipes

Cuca Fresca cachaca (Brazilian rum from raw fermented sugarcane instead of molasses) is having a cocktail contest for which they want you to vote for your favorite drink. There are too many tasty looking ones from which to choose. Check them out here.

Chicago's Todd Appel has a carrot juice drink, and I'm all about carrot drinks- in theory anyway.

There is also a strawberry shrub on the list- and that means Vinegarwatch Continues!

Glossy Booze: Mid-August Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I note the coverage of alcohol in glossy magazines.

Fine Cooking (August/September) has a story on beer cocktails written by Lew Bryson.

Sherman's Travel (summer 2009) lists which Napa wines to buy now.

In Gourmet (August) David Wondrich writes a story about (wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...) punch!

Mutineer (August/September) has a multi-bartender feature shot at Edison in LA, wine date ideas, breakfast drinks, and minimalist cocktails by blogging's own Rick Stutz. 

 Sunset (August) has a story on Canada's Okanagan Valley wine region and another on summery wine cocktails. 

Men's Journal (September) has a story on San Francisco's breweries and distilleries, and another on better cocktail mixers like Fever Tree bitter lemon and Q Tonic.

Details (September) also gets into mixers with a story on craft sodas including Maine Root and Dry Soda.

Food & Wine mentions SF's Rye on the Road, Portland's Beaker & Flask, top California wine for $15 and less, and Red Hook Winery. 

Every Day with Rachael Ray (August) has recipes for a citrusy beer cocktail, a Caipirinha, a Tomate (water, pastis, grenadine), Pineapple Shave Ice, Almond Float, and four other shave ice flavors.

Bon Appetit has a very, very long recipe for a Bloody Mary with 16 ingredients- plus garnish.

In Readymade (August/September) Alex Day makes drinks with cinnamon, honey ginger, and lavender syrups.

My Bartender Went to Peru, and All I Got was Bitters

A few months ago several San Franciscan bartenders went on a trip to Peru and Brazil and brought back with them samples, Peruvian bitters, and ideas for new drinks.

Borys Saciuk of Restaurant Michael Mina added a coca leaf-infused Pisco Punch to the menu, but has already replaced it with a lemon verbena Pisco Sour. He also added the Porto Alegre to the menu, a drink made with cachaca, marschino liqueur, Amaro Eole, pineapple gum syrup, lime juice, and egg white.

Walter Moore will start working with Cabana Cachaca and is starting a South American wine and spirits import company.

Steven Liles of Boulevard created a drink for the launch of Galliano L'Autentico called the Biscaccianti with pisco, Galliano, apricot eau-de-vie, orange and lemon juices and egg white.

Duggan McDonnell of Cantina added a Coca Leaf Sour (Pisco Sour with coca leaf infused pisco) to the menu, along with the Peruvian Cusqeña beer.

Dan "Mosto Verde" Hoyt from Taverna Aventine didn't change the menu (they already have a Pisco Punch on it), but notes that now when he hangs out at Cantina he drinks pisco and Peruvian beer instead of his usual.

And all of the bars (plus a few others, as they brought back gifts) now carry Amargo Chuncho bitters.

New drinks from Peru and Brazil: better than postcards.

The Lazy Caipirinha

Oh, Caipirinhas. So much muddling, so much effort. Who has the time? I created a short cut with lime-flavored water and sugar poured into a shot glass ice mold.