Alcademics.com

A Rye Refresher

In my weekly recipe column for Fine Cooking, I talk about rye whiskey's comeback and list the following delicious recipe. 

Bulleit Rye Blinker
By Contemporary Cocktails

1 fl. oz Bulleit Rye
.25 fl. oz Raspberry Liqueur
.75 fl. oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1.5 fl. oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
.5 fl. oz Simple Syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a Collins glass with new ice. Garnish with a grapefruit peel. 

As I was late on my deadline, I whipped up that drink for today's breakfast. It hit the spot.

Here's the full story should you care to read it. 

Take Me to Saratoga

In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I discuss the Saratoga; a cocktail with two base liquors and one of my all-time favorites. 

I'm trying to warm up the Fine Cooking audience to understanding cocktail classification. 

Cocktails fall into many families and formats: sours, fizzes, flips, rickeys, and so on. With this nomenclature we can describe a drink without listing all the ingredients and quantities, no matter what someone has chosen to name it. For example, a Moscow Mule is just a vodka buck, and an Agricole Mule is a rhum agricole buck with mint. 

The basic recipe is

The Saratoga

1 fl. oz. Rye Whiskey 
1 fl. oz. VSOP Cognac
1 fl. oz. Sweet Vermouth
2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir all ingredients over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Read the rest of the story 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.

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.

Rock and Rye

In this past weekend's Wall Street Journal, Eric Felten looks at Rock and Rye, a supposedly-medicinal pre-mixed cocktail. I was just starting to look into the history of the Rock and Rye when Greg Lindgren of the bar Rye in San Francisco send me some information about it, but now Greg's concoction is mentioned here and Felten did my research for me. Thanks!

At Rye in SF, they serve a Rock and Rye Manhattan and in the winter use it in a Hot Toddy.

One thing that Lindgren mentioned is that he thought Southern Comfort might have been a Rock and Rye in the beginning. I checked with Sean Wachsmand, PR Manager of Southern Comfort about this. He got back to me:

"I’ve done some asking around about your question and we don't think was created to be a rock and rye. We think Rock and Rye's date was after the intro of SoCo, but we’re verifying it.  Rock and Rye’s purpose to be consumed as a medicine and often contained mint of some type. They were also made as bottled goods and Northern in their origin.

Heron (Southern Comfort's inventor) was obviously making a cocktail at first and did not include any digestif herbs in his recipe. He used honey as a sweetener."

So there you have it. Southern Comfort was probably not meant to be medicine, but if you take it as a shot with lime juice, it'll combat scurvy anyway.

Cocktails for the Lazy: Saratoga

My favorite cocktails to make at home have a few things in common:

- Not many ingredients. If I want a fancy complicated drink, I'll go to a bar and be served by a professional.

- Easy-to-remember proportions so I don't have to look up the recipe. When I'm pulling out books to make drinks, it feels like work. 

- No fresh ingredients. I have nothing against fresh ingredients, it's just that I tend to run out of them. Even citrus, which I can purchase on a two-minute walk from my front door. But that would mean I would have to put on pants.

Drinks that qualify in this category include the Manhattan, Martini, Negroni, and drinks with bottled beverages like tonic and soda water, as I always have those around.

Long story finishing up: I found another one to add to my repertoire: the Saratoga. I tried one for the first time last night at the SF Cocktail Week closing party. While the Saratoga normally calls for rye whiskey (and it would, being a Jerry Thomas-era recipe), last night they made it with Yamazaki 12 year old scotch and it was delicious. Versatile, too? I'm in heaven.

Saratoga Cocktail

1 ounce rye whiskey (or scotch, it seems)
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce cognac
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Itemizing

John Hansell has the lowdown on a new rye whiskey coming to market in October.

Siobhan Crosby of Imbibe Magazine is growing hops in her back yard.

Bill Dowd has the info on the "Urban Bourbon Trail" in Louisville, Kentucky.  I'm heading there next month for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival so maybe I'll see some of these spots.

Hendrick's Gin is giving away a theramin.

David Wondrich's Five Best Absinthes story from Esquire is online.