Alcademics.com

A Brandy Cocktail for Fall

In last week's FineCooking.com post, I listed a receipe for the Orchard Sour, a drink created by Darren Crawford. It contains brandy, peach or pear or apricot liqueur, cinnamon syrup, and lemon juice. Simple and so good. Get the recipe here. Read more →

Cognac Camus Now Comes in Comely Vintages

When I was last in France I had a chance to pop into the Camus Cognac visitors' center. I was familiar with the brand, having met brand owner Cyril Camus last year in San Francisco, and curious to try some of the non-US bottlings on-site. And now I have news to share from another lunch a couple of weeks ago. These things don't form a narrative, so I'll use the list format to talk about it. Camus is the 5th largest cognac house after the "big four" of Hennessy, Martell, Courvoisier, and Remy. It has only been on the US... Read more →

The Mysteries Wood Maturation at Tales of the Cocktail

Here are notes from the Mysteries of Wood Maturation seminar at Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans. "We want to keep the character of the base spirit, but we don't want to have vinegar. Wood helps us do that. It takes some of those acids out that we don't want." Dale DeGroff "We don't really know how far back barrel usage goes." Doug Frost. Theoretically you could throw it off a boat and it would float for a while. One person can roll it up a hill. "The very idea of bending staves is not way out -... Read more →

New Products from Beam: Devil's Cut, Rose Cognac, and a Twelve Dollar 100% Agave Tequila

I wish all the major spirit companies would do this: Instead of being contacted by a million different PR agencies, I sat down with a Beam Global employee and she took me through some of the new product launches for Beam's brands over the next half a year. Beam has partnered with Thatcher's Organic Liqueurs so we may be seeing those around more. They're pretty low in alcohol level so I think they'll be more for home consumers than for bartenders. Of the ones I tried I think the apple-ginger one has the most potential. Jim Beam is releasing the... Read more →

Contest: Blog About Cognac to Win a Trip to Cognac (Sponsored)

Over at the Palate Press Ad Network they're hosting a contest in conjunction with the BNIC (Cognac Bureau), called the 2011 Cognac Writing Contest. The winner gets a trip to the Cognac Blues Passions Festival, which this year is hosting acts including ZZ Top, Moby, and Aloe Blacc. Second prize is five hundred bucks, which isn't too bad either. So: you write a post about cognac, submit it for approval, and they give you a stat counter on your post. The first round of the contest is based on number of hits for your post (so the sooner you get... Read more →

Cognac Cocktails in the Los Angeles Times Magazine

My first story for the LA Times Magazine is now online. It is in the Sunday, December 7, 2010 print edition. (Photo by Bartholomew Cooke) The story is a brief airing of a pet peeve: Why are there so few cognac cocktails being served when we're supposedly in the midst of a classic cocktail renaissance? The article also includes four recipes from Damian Windsor of the Roger Room. Read and enjoy! Read more →

Good Info on Pineau des Charentes

Importer Nicolas Palazzi brought in a delicious barrel of cognac that I sampled earlier this year. Soon to arrive on US shores is another import project, a long-aged Pineau des Charentes. In announcing the new bottling, Nicolas sent a great and very practical description of pineau, how it is made, and why we don't see too much of it outside of France and Belgium. I have pasted it below. After the general description I've pasted specifics as to the bottling that he is importing. If you are not familiar with what Pineau des Charentes is, no worries, no-one is; only... Read more →

The New Remy V: Unaged Cognac or French Pisco?

I finally got the press release for Remy V, the new product debuting in September in two trial markets- the San Francisco Bay Area and Atlanta. I'd heard the word on the street about this and posted a couple hints to my Twitter feed and Facebook page last and this week, but this was the first I got an actual press release on it. Remy V is not a cognac because it is unaged- just double-distilled on the lees like cognac, chill-filtered, and rested before bottling. They're releasing the product with cocktail recipes from mixologist Charles Hardwick. I guess the... Read more →