Alcademics.com

Sherries Sampled

In my recent sherry class at the Beverage Academy at Bourbon & Branch, we sampled many excellent sherries, most of which were donated by the brands. I'd like to thank them. We tried:

• Hidalgo La Gitana, Manzanilla
• Sandeman Don Fino, Fino
• Equipo Navazos La Bota De Fino (No. 18), Fino
• Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Cream Oloroso
• Dry Sack Oloroso 15 Year Old, Oloroso
• Sandeman Royal Corregidor 20 Year Old, Oloroso
• Gonzalez Byass Vina AB Amontillado Seco, Amontillado\
• Sandeman Royal Esmeralda, Amontillado
• Gonzalez Byass Apostoles, Palo Cortado
• Equipo Navazos La Bota De Pedro Ximenez (No. 12), Pedro Ximenez
• Sandeman Royal Amrosante 20 Year Old, Pedro Ximenez
• Macallan 18 Year Old Scotch

Thanks folks - your sherry was well-received! 

Come to my Sherry Class in San Francisco!

On October 24th, I'll be teaching a class at Bourbon & Branch's Beverage Academy! This class was scheduled previously, but foolishly on a holiday weekend so we moved the date. Not only that, we lowered the price to sixty bucks. There is going to be some excellent sherry for sipping at this seminar. I hope you'll join me. 

I'm really excited about it. Sherry is a big category of rather complex fortified wine, so I'll be busting out my PowerPoint ninja skills and a whole lot of tasting glasses. Here's the class description.

Oh Sherry!

Sherry is wide category of fortified wine that’s due for a big comeback. Already bartenders have adopted itas favorite mixing ingredient in cocktails, and wine connoisseurs are giving it renewed attention.

Delicious as it is, sherry is no simple sipper: There are two sweet (Pedro Ximenez, muscatel) and five dry styles of sherry (fino, manzanilla, palo cortado, amontillado, oloroso); plus the dry sherries can be sweetened to create pale cream, medium, and cream styles. All are aged and blended in the famous solera system (in two very different ways) that gives sherry its unique flavor characteristics. Don’t worry, you’ll understand it all by the end of the class.

We’ll taste these styles of sherry and learn the amazing processes by which they’re made, learn how to drink it and where to buy it, and enjoy a sherry cocktail or two.

Instructor: Camper English

Camper English is a cocktail and spirits writer and educator who contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Fine Cooking Magazine, and many other publications. He travels the world visiting distilleries, blending houses, and bodegas and shares it on his website Alcademics.com. He has visited bodegas in each of the three major sherry producing cities in Spain and written numerous articles on the topic.
    

And we won't be drinking swill, either. I've scored some top-notch sherries, along with some very nice sherry-finished scotch whisky and some sherry-finished rum as well! 

The class starts at 7PM, lasts about two hours and costs $60. It is limited to 14 students. 

Buy tickets here, or learn more about the Beverage Academy here.

Camper English Speaking at SF Chefs Food Wine Industry Series

I'm giving a talk geared toward restaurant owners at next week's SF Chefs Food Wine next week, along with H. of Elixir and Duggan of Cantina. 

It's a little bit freaky in this day and age to walk into a notable restaurant only to find they haven't bothered to put out a cocktail menu, or the one they hand you is filled with flavored vodka drinks written by the beverage distributor rather than a bartender. 

We'll be talking about how a few simple changes to a cocktail program can make a big difference for a restaurant in terms of increasing both profit and press. 

Cocktail Clinic: The Bartender is In

Tuesday, August 2nd

3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

The Westin St. Francis

Presented by Ecolab and Liquor.com

Specialty cocktails, fresh ingredients, punches, and creating a cocktail menu can bring your bar media attention and make it more profitable. Find out how a few easy changes can create an exciting cocktail program in any restaurant overnight. This interactive session will be presented by a panel of experts led by H. Joseph Ehrmann (Elixir), Duggan McDonnell (Cantina), and Camper English (spirits journalist, San Francisco Chronicle, Alcademics.com).

Classes are free to GGRA members and are $25 for the general public.

Ticket Price: $25 
Visa Signature® cardholders receive special perks and ticket savings.

 

Shrubs For Dummies

Last week I took a shrub-making class, lead by Jennifer Colliau of Small Hand Foods and Aaron Gregory of 15 Romolo.

(Blueberry-Raspberry-Thyme Shrub Ready for Vinegar)

 The class was co-hosted by CUESA,  Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, who puts on the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, farm tours, and educational events and Urban Kitchen, a group that hosts affordable, single-purpose classes and workshops themed around the DIY Slow Food concept. 

(Jennifer Colliau and Aaron Gregory)

Here is what I learned: 

The word shrub comes from a Persian word for a syrup with citrus and fruit in it, which is  also the base of the word sherbet. Originally, shrubs did not have vinegar in them, but as they spread around the world they began to incorporate it. Why? Because Persia had citrus fruit and other countries did not. Citrus provides the acidity that helps preserve these syrups, and so does vinegar, which can be made from non-citrus fruits. So vinegar was a citrus substitute. 

That explains why we see some recipes for shrub syrups with and some without vinegar. Blueberries, for example, need the extra acid; pineapple does not. I had always wondered about that. Mystery solved. 

Furthermore there is a separate type of shrub related to the switchel. According to Colliau, the switchel dates back to Roman times. It was water mixed with vinegar and perhaps sugar that was used to hydrate the slaves. Wikipedia seems to pick up the trail of the switchel as it enters nascent America, where it was used similarly for hydration rather than as a preservative syrup. 

Making Shrubs, Fast and Easy

They made it incredibly easy for us to make our own shrubs in this class. They put out a bunch of berries, stone fruits, herbs, and spices. We filled mason jars with our selection of them. Then we poured hot vinegar to fill the jars. 

Done. Next we wait a week, giving the jar a little shake each day. Then we add sugar and stick it in the fridge -ready to drink! 

I made a blueberry-raspberry-thyme shrub and a strawberry-pepper-coriander shrub. I CAN'T WAIT TO DRINK THEM!

Vinegar tip: Colliau says don't use distilled white vinegar, use wine/champagne or fruit vinegars. Be wary of apple cider vinegar as the flavor can be overpowering. 

Thanks for a great seminar guys. To San Franciscans: check out the activities calendar for more booze and food event with both CUESA and Urban Kitchen. 

Teaching a Sherry Class at the Beverage Academy in SF

[Update- realizing this is Memorial Day, we have decided to postpone it until a later date.]

On May 30th, I'll be teaching a class at Bourbon & Branch's Beverage Academy!

I'm really excited about it. Sherry is a big category of rather complex fortified wine, so I'll be busting out my PowerPoint ninja skills and a whole lot of tasting glasses. Here's the class description.

Oh Sherry!

Sherry is wide category of fortified wine that’s due for a big comeback. Already bartenders have adopted it as favorite mixing ingredient in cocktails, and wine connoisseurs are giving it renewed attention.

Delicious as it is, sherry is no simple sipper: There are two sweet (Pedro Ximenez, muscatel) and five dry styles of sherry (fino, manzanilla, palo cortado, amontillado, oloroso); plus the dry sherries can be sweetened to create pale cream, medium, and cream styles. All are aged and blended in the famous solera system (in two very different ways) that gives sherry its unique flavor characteristics. Don’t worry, you’ll understand it all by the end of the class.

We’ll taste these styles of sherry and learn the amazing processes by which they’re made, learn how to drink it and where to buy it, and use it to make a sherry cocktail or two.

Instructor: Camper English

Camper English is a cocktail and spirits writer and educator who contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Fine Cooking Magazine, and many other publications. He travels the world visiting distilleries, blending houses, and bodegas and shares it on his website Alcademics.com. He has visited bodegas in each of the three major sherry producing cities in Spain and written numerous articles on the topic.
   

Classes at the Beverage Academy are high-end affairs. We'll be in The Wilson, the latest room at B&B. All students are seated at the bar, there will be proper tasting glassware and tools and equipment to make cocktails.

The class starts at 7PM, lasts about two hours and costs $95. It is limited to 14 students. I hope you'll be one of them on May 30th. 

Buy tickets here, or learn more about the Beverage Academy here.

And if anyone is signing up for the Market to Glass seminar on April 18th, I'll see you there - I'm helping out (washing glasses, mostly) and learning how to run a smooth seminar.

 

Sherry is wide category of fortified wine that’s due for a big comeback. Already bartenders have adopted it as favorite mixing ingredient in cocktails, and wine connoisseurs are giving it renewed attention. Delicious as it is, sherry is no simple sipper: There are two sweet (Pedro Ximenez, muscatel) and five dry styles of sherry (fino, manzanilla, palo cortado, amontillado, oloroso); plus the dry sherries can be sweetened to create pale cream, medium, and cream styles. All are aged and blended in the famous solera system (in two very different ways) that gives sherry its unique flavor characteristics. Don’t worry, you’ll understand it all by the end of the class. We’ll taste these styles of sherry and learn the amazing processes by which they’re made, learn how to drink it and where to buy it, and use it to make a sherry cocktail or two. Instructor: Camper English Camper English is a cocktail and spirits writer and educator who contributes to the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Fine Cooking Magazine, and many other publications. He travels the world visiting distilleries, blending houses, and bodegas and shares it on his website Alcademics.com. He has visited bodegas in each of the three major sherry producing cities in Spain and written numerous articles on the topic.

Zen and the Art of Bartending

This week I flew down to LA to attend the Pioneers of Mixology, a day-long seminar put on by Pernod-Ricard. We were given talks by Dushan Zaric (Employees Only, NY), Aisha Sharpe (Contemporary Cocktails), Gaz Regan (writer), Tony Conigliaro (69 Colebrooke Row, London), and Nick Strangeway (Hix, London).

Below are some of the take-home messages that I took home.

Gaz, Aisha, and Dushan kicked off the day speaking about Mindful Bartending. I'd describe the concept as happiness in your job as a bartender, reaching "the zone" feeling when you're in the weeds yet the drinks seem to mix themselves and you're smiling your way through it all- even when you're not slammed. 

Beyond feeling better about your work, you're a nicer person to your customers. So rather than specific mixological skills or particular elements of service, mindful bartending is about a positive attitude. Aisha said, "If the spiritual aspect of this is not important to you, think numbers." Basically, you'll make more money when you're nice to your customers.

Some of the ways to achieve this include:

• Doing a bit of meditation or breathing or some getting-psyched/calm ritual before the start of a shift.
• Healthy living- exercise and proper sleep.
• Thinking about someone you love or other positive thoughts when working. Infusing your drinks with good thoughts.
• Breaking patterns that build bad moods throughout the day.

I couldn't help but think about how I can use some of this philosophy in my own work, trying to find "the zone" when sending 6 hours worth of email and not writing anything. I think it's doable. 

The second talk was by Tony Conigliaro about scientific mixology. Some of the things he's been concentrating on lately include:

• In order to get the albumin egg smell out of egg whites, he rests eggs in a sealed container with some essential oils. As the egg shell is a permeable membrane, they end up taking on these scents.
• He has been studying the way scents work, with the lightest molecules reaching your nose first and heaviest later, clinging to the carrier. This is why in perfume you smell things like lemon and Bergamont, followed by rose, jasmin, and iris, with lingering notes of sandalwood or oakwood.
• He continues to experiment with his Buchi  roto-vap, low-temperature still. In England apparently it is legal to redistill something (he starts with neutral spirit and a flavor) but in the US it is not. Lately he has distilled flint stone and a barrel, and will soon write a food and drink manual to accompany the machine.
• He also distilled wood notes out of a Manhattan cocktail and then barrel aged it. His aged cocktail program is mostly bottle, rather than barrel, aging. He had his bottle-aged cocktails analyzed by gas chromatograph and you could see chemical differences between the aged and unaged Manhattan.
• He has been using the website www.FoodPairing.be, which lists which foods and drinks fit together chemically. The claim is that foods that have similar chemical structures work well together. So you might use this website to see some unusual pairings. Apparently fino sherry and peas go well together...

Last but not least was Nick Strangeway, who had the arduous task of trying to educate Californians about using local ingredients.

He made the excellent point that not only is going local ecologically good, it helps a bar center more on its local area, and hopefully restore some of the sense of the village pub as a local meeting house; the center of the community.

He talked a bit about foraging, "guerilla gardening" (spreading seeds in free space that's not your own), "yard sharing," community gardening, and made several suggestions for plants that grow well in California weather- many of them I've never heard of or seen used in a bar program.

But he also talked about preserving seasonal produce through several methods:

• Infusions and Liqueurs
• Jams and marmalade
• Shrub syrups
• Aged milk punch
• Sherbet aka oleo saccharum
• Freezing

There are tons of great books on preserving. Now I just need to plant some things that I can preserve after they grow.

All told, this was a great day of education.

Passing the B.A.R.

This past fall I took the B.A.R., Beverage Alcohol Resource, five-day course in New York. The course has two levels- "Ready" and "Certified", with the only difference in the number of drinks one has to make within a certain time on the practical bartending exam. The course ran for about 12 hours each day for the first four days, with nearly a full day of testing on the last day. It was a real butt-kicker.

People seemed to come away with different impressions of the course, but what stuck out most to me was what you need to know not just to pass the class, but to say that you're at an expert level in the industry. It's a lot. You need to know:

1. The science and history of fermentation and distillation from the dawn of time
2. The history, ingredients, geography, and practical and legal production rules for every major category of spirits
3. The entire history of bartending and individual history and timelines of dozens of important cocktails
4. How to blind taste and identify spirits, quality of distillation, barrel type and age, and other production parameters, down to individual brands and bottlings
5. How to balance drinks, mix drinks, make them fast and of the highest quality possible while providing top quality customer service
6. How to create new drinks and tweak existing ones based on different mixological strategies
7. How to blind taste and critique cocktails

I took 76 pages of notes in those four days, after having read and studied the textbook, attended dozens on lectures by the instructors, read zillions of books, and passed the BAR Smarts course before the course. We sampled a few hundred spirits blind, I practiced bartending until my shoulder ached from shaking, and still tried to find time to study each night before passing out.

I decided to attempt the BAR Ready certification, thinking that I knew so much about the history and production rules of spirits that I wouldn't have to even study for that part of the test. (Boy was I wrong about that.) Luckily if you don't make all your drinks in time to be BAR Ready you can still pass BAR Certified. And I did, which is awesome.

My takeaway from the course is not just the new information and skill set gained during the week, but knowing what it takes to stay on top of things going forward: A great and constant amount of work tasting, testing, practicing, learning, and reviewing what you think you already know.

An Online Course in Cognac

I'm increasingly interested in how different alcohol production/control and marketing bureaus differ from each other in their approach to promoting their common interests. The Scotch Whisky Association leads by litigation and has good information on its website, but doesn't seem to do all that much outreach to press. Neither tequila's CRT (regulatory agency) or the CNIT (industry bureau) is doing a good job of any sort with regard to PR, seemingly leaving brands to do the work. Lately I've noticed the Cognac Bureau, the BNIC, adding new programs, hosting events, and launching online tools that are actually useful. Go cognac!

Case in point: the Cognac Training Toolkit. This is an online course of sorts, split into three levels:

Introductory Level One (VS), for beginners

Intermediate Level Two (VSOP), aimed at those who need a deeper knowledge of Cognac for work or pleasure

Advanced Level Three (XO), aimed at professionals, journalists and students in advanced courses.

The "courses" are more like good PDF text outlines and accompanying Powerpoint slides, so you don't really get the narrative but instead the key facts and figures about cognac in either beginning, intermediate, or professional length. The translations into English aren't perfect by a long shot, but it seems you can understand what they're saying fine enough.

I started reading the Advanced level course and it looks really informative. I've read a couple books on cognac lately so I'll probably skip the rest for now, but should I ever need to check a fact, I think this will be the place I'll go.  

The Cognac Training Toolkits are here.