Alcademics.com

Glossy Booze: Big October Edition

Glossy Booze is a regular Alcademics feature in which I cover the liquor coverage in glossy magazines.

Bon Appetit (October)lists a recipe for the Highland's Fall from Peter Vestinos, available here. Also, a story on dry cider and one on dessert wines. In November St. John Frizell has a recipe for the coffee/rum drink Koffie Van Brunt.

Everyday With Rachael Ray (October) has a story on "gum cocktails"- not something you get at Tailor, but combining flavors of gum to make new flavors.

GQ (September) had a big feature on the six best drinking cities in the US. They were San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, Portland (OR), Nashville, and New York.

Conde Nast Traveler has a list of three tropical island bars in the Bahamas, plus a recipe for the Goombay Smash.

7X7 (September) has a story on Rickhouse. In the October issue, Jordan Mackay writes about relocated NYC sommelier David Lynch. 

Men's Journal (October) list America's best beers here, and the top five beer towns here.

Sunset (October) has beer and food pairings for Octoberfest, and a story on green wine packaging.

Esquire has a recipe for the Grasshopper. Really!

Details lists some "really excellent canned beer,"and a few places in which to drink it.

And the winner for best drink coverage goes to Food & Wine- and they didn't even have any cocktail recipes. Their stories are:

• What sommeliers know best.
•  Understanding Oregon Pinot Noir country
• Wineries by the sea all over the world- France and Spain, US, Australia, Portugal, and South Africa.
• Wines for drinking, not overthinking
• American Wine Awards
• A preview of the F&W Wine Guide 2010
• How to be a smarter wine shopper
• Gruner Veltliner
• 50 classic wines to try
• 15 rules for wine and food pairings

Sommelier Smackdown in St. Helena

I don't often post about wine events but I do love pairing battles.

Sommelier Smackdown: The Rematch!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at The Martini House

Rob RENTERIA(Ravaging Rob)of Martini House vs. Chris BLANCHARD (Killer Chris) of Cuvee.

3 courses by Chef Todd HUMPRHRIES

RECEPTION 6:30  DINNER 7PM on the lawn. $65 / pp all inclusive of tax and tip

Guests will vote after each course, Sommelier selections and winner will be announced following.  Overall winner will be determined by highest number of total votes. 

Call for reservations and more information: 707.963.2233 ext. 1

Drinks to Match the Dress

San Francisco bartender pairs cocktail with cocktail dress

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Many cocktail contests now require bartenders to pair drinks with meals or invent them on the spot with a secret ingredient, but a recent competition challenged mixologists around the world with a new pairing: cocktails with cocktail dresses.

Jacqueline Patterson, a bartender at Heaven's Dog in San Francisco, was the winning bartender from the United States. Accessorize 2009 was sponsored by Cherry Heering, a liqueur that the brand owners call an "accessory" in cocktails such as the Singapore Sling.

Read the rest of my latest story in the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Glossy Booze: Late June Edition

Glossy Booze is regular Alcademics feature; a round-up of spirits stories in magazines.

Details (June/July) has a story on punch and places to get it around the country, plus a small feature on Hauz Alpenz products. 

ReadyMade (June/July) has another story by Alex Day, this one on ice. Looks like some good advice on how to freeze and split a pan of ice.

Town and Country  (July) has a feature on new food and drink cookbooks for summer.

GQ (July) has three fizz recipes: the Ramos Gin Fizz, the Rum Fizz, and the Gin Fizz.

Mutineer (June/July) has a story on the movie Beer Wars, a feature on craft distillers of the Pacific Northwest, a big story on absinthe, a tour of Maker's Mark, and an interview with Max Riedel of Riedel glass.

Bon Appetit (July) has some recommended blanco tequilas, lists a recipe for the Strawberry Muddle (recipe: muddle strawberries. add prosecco),and a story on IPA beers. 

In Esquire (July), David Wondrich takes a break from writing about cocktails to tell us we don't drink enough champagne.

In Food and Wine (July), we have a recipe for Peach Sangria, a story on creating a wine list, a story on texture as a wine pairing guide, one on Argentinian wines, some recommended restaurants in which to drink wine, and the best beers for wine lovers.

Men's Journal (August) has a ton of booze coverage: recommendations for High West whiskey, Sam Adams Imperial White, and Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, plus a story on four summer classic cocktails with a twist with recipes by Sean Muldoon of Belfast's Merchant Hotel, Chris Hannah or Arnaud's, Jamie Boudreau of Tini Bigs, and Jeffrey Mortenthaler of Clyde Common. There is also a recipe for an Heirloom Bloody Mary, and Jimmy Buffet recommends a drink that's just rum, coconut water, and a slice of lime.

SF Pairing Battle: Recap and Next Round

I was finally able to attend one of the Three on Five beverage pairing contests held at the Fifth Floor Restaurant in San Francisco. Information on previous battles is here: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5.

This one was an all-vegetarian meal and battle, with Emily Wines pairing wines, Beth Whalen of City Beer Store pairing beer, and Neyah White of Nopa pairing cocktails.

The event was just as much fun as I'd heard, with the judges explaining their pairing decisions before each course and the audience nerding out and comparing notes throughout the meal. And the drink pairing was fantastic. For some dishes the contestants would try to match the flavor in the foods, and for others they'd try to pair against it with an opposite flavor or texture.

Beer won one round, wine won three, and cocktails won one. But when the overall numbers were tallied, beer won the day. Go Beer! This was only the second time that Emily Wines has been defeated- and both times, by beer. Where my cocktail winners at?

Not surprisingly, cocktails won on my score sheet. I heard others saying the drinks were just too alcoholic to pair with food, but I am used to it I suppose so it didn't bother me in the least. And the biggest sensation of the evening was a cocktail by Neyah called the Escondido Romano. I'll post about it separately because it deserves attention. This drink was paired with an artichoke dish. Other standout pairings were Emily Wines' pairing of a beet salad with a grassy wine (Schloss Gobelsburg "Gobelsburger" Gruner Veltliner), and Beth Whalen's pairing of a Russian River Brewing Co's Consecration with a root vegetable and smoky cheese dish.

Anyway, I highly recommend this event. The next one is Monday, April 13th, again at 7PM. On April 13th, Emily will pair French wines against Italian selections from Wine Director Caterina Mirabelli (District) and Spanish wines from Master Sommelier David Glancy (PCI – Professional Culinary Institute). In addition to the wines, the sommeliers must also pair two of the five courses with “alternative” beverages or cocktails from those particular regions.

For reservations, go here or call 415-348-1555 to reserve your space. Make sure to specify the Three on Five event. The cost is $125 including all the 15 beverages and 5 course dinner. It's a total steal.

The question is: Can Emily Wines steal her title back?

[update 4/17/09]: The winner was Master Sommelier David Glancy of the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell.  He was representing Spain.  He won against Emily (France) and Catarina Miribili (Italy) of District. 

SF Event Reminder: Veggie Pairing Battle

Reminder: This Wednesday is the latest Three on Five pairing challenge at the Fifth Floor Restaurant. The contest pits house sommelier Emily Wines pairing wines against Craig Whathen of City Beer Store pairing beer against Neyah White of Nopa pairing cocktails. This time, it's a five-course all-vegetarian menu. Bring on the Broccotinis!

So that's 15 drinks, 5 courses, and special guest *me* all for $125. To make a reservation, call 415-348-1555 and make sure to specify the "Three on Five" event. It starts at 7PM. Hope to see some of you there.

Information on the past events is here.

Glossy Booze: Early March Edition

Glossy Booze is an occasional round-up of cocktails and spirits stories in magazines.

Imbibe Magazine (March/April) has features on smoked cocktails, "coffee happenings across the globe," moonshine, beer and food pairing, drinking in Philadelphia, and Riesling.

7X7 (February) has a story on pizza-pairing with wine.

Bon Appetit (March) is full o' booze this month, with a recipe for Toby Maloney's cocktail Maloney's Irish Cream, the difference between mixologist and bartender, songs for a cocktail party, recommended absinthes, a feature on vodka, and a recipe for the Orange Aperol Sun.

GQ (March) has a quick mention of Averna and Riedel stemless wineglasses. In the February issue there's a brief mention of winter white wines, Red Bull's soda, and a recommended $11 bottle of wine.

Esquire has a story on box wine.

Details' Rob Willey writes about investing in wine.

Playboy (March) has a mention of Snake & Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, a dive bar in New Orleans.

Sunset Magazine (March) has a story on five sake standouts and pairings with it, a weekend in Dry Creek Valley, and bargain wines to bring to parties.

Vegetailians Rejoice!

In my job I'm usually the only vegetarian in the room and always the only one at the pairing dinner who has to pair all of his cocktails with salad.

Being a vegetarian was never inconvenient until I entered the spirits industry, but now all my meals are planned for me and having to get the special meal (that feels like the special ed. meal when people see my Heaping Plate of Sides come separately to the table) kinda sucks.

I even considered eating meat to make it easier on other people, but then had recurring nightmares about it. Instead of the 'falling off the cliff but you never splat on the sidewalk' dream, I had the 'chicken sandwich in my mouth but never bit down' dream. Ridiculous, I know, but after 19 years being a veggie the idea of eating a hunk of meat is really repulsive to me. (Here's a thought experiment that should help you understand: Imagine that your job would be easier if you'd just perform oral stimulation on a person of your opposite gender preference. That's how it feels.)

Anyway, there are a few other vegetarian cocktailians out there. I think Gwen from Intoxicated Zodiac, Marleigh from Sloshed, and Craig aka Dr. Bamboo are veggies. There are a couple of bartenders living in San Francisco who are vegetarians, but I'm not sure I should "out" them.

A few restaurants that do vegetarian tasting menus in SF offer wine pairings, but none as far as I know do that with cocktails- you get the cocktails paired with other peoples' food. Some of us have talked about trying to get a vegetarian cocktail dinner at Tales of the Cocktail this year, which would be awesome.

Anyone else a vegetailian? Feel free to out yourselves in the comments.

For the San Francisco folks, I have some good news about a one-off event. You know those Three on Five pairing battles I've been prattling on about at the Fifth Floor restaurant? Well the one on March 18th will be a five-course all-vegetarian dinner, with each course paired with beer, wine, and a cocktail. Finally, one I can go to!