Alcademics.com

Announcing the Water Project on Alcademics

I am excited to announce the launch of the Water Project on Alcademics, which will run for at least the next four months. 

I'll be researching such topics as:

• Water basics, types of natural water and its properties
• Water in fermentation and distillation
• Water sources used in distillation around the world
• Tap and bottled waters
• Dilution of spirits with water to bottle strength 
• Dilution at serving time and the Bourbon and Branch concept
• Carbonated water (both natural and man made)
• Mineral waters and how to make them at home
• Water in cocktails such as Whisky Highballs
• And much, much more. 

Some of this information will also make its way into my talk on Water in Cocktails and Spirits at Tales of the Cocktail, but I realized that it will take a lot more research and information than I'll be able to convey in that hour-and-a-half seminar. So I figured I'd share my learning process with y'all as it goes. 

Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky has generously agreed to support the project. As it turns out, they'll be leading a Water and Whisky educational program this year at A Taste of Islay: Bowmore, Bivalves and Blindfolds event on July 16 hosted by yours truly! 

I'll keep you posted with links and information on that project, live events, and educational opportunities, but the first thing you should do is go sign up for their giveaway: They're gifting a very cool tilting water dispenser among other prizes. Sign up of their Facebook Page or go directly to the Bowmore website.

I am very excited about this project. I have stacks of books to read, websites to pour through, and lab scales to buy. It's gonna get real nerdy up in here. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

Diageo's World Class USA: Last Month to Sign Up

Hey American Bartenders! The deadline is fast approaching to complete your application for Diageo's World Class. The application process involves three training modules and a video, so don't procrastinate any longer! The application deadline is April 30th, 2013. 

Other important dates: 

• US Finalists will be announced during The Manhattan Cocktail Classic May 17-21 in New York. 
• The US Winner will be announced at the end of the World Class US finals June 3-4, 2013 in New York.
• The winner goes on to the Global Finale July 4-9 sailing along the French Riviera and representing the US against 50+ winners from around the world

For those of you following along at home, the 2012 American finalist Ricky Gomez is tweeting up a storm - Keep up on the action at @RickyGomez_NOLA.

Here's a sample of what you're in for should you be lucky enough to win for the US:

 

 This post was sponsored by Diageo's World Class. 

Join the World's Largest Bartending Competition

Hey American bartenders! You have two months to sign up for Diageo's World Class global bartending competition. As there are educational modules, tests, and a video to complete, you won't want to let it wait until the last second. 

Sign up at DiageoWorldClassUSA.com or download the World Class app. 

The past three years' final competitions have taken place in Athens, New Delhi, and Rio de Janiero, but this year's global finals will be in many places, taking a cruise ship in between them. 

Sail along the French Riviera in Nice and Monte Carlo. The voyage will include stopovers in some of the Mediterranean’s most iconic and chic destinations including St. Tropez and Ibiza, before culminating in the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

The world’s most respected mixology cognoscenti as judges, boasting the likes of legends Dale DeGroff, Salvatore Calabrese, Peter Dorelli, Hidetsugo Ueno and Gary Regan, media glitterati, renowned bar owners and international stars of stage and screen, will join the Global Final. Together over 600 attendees will celebrate the craft of bartending with exclusive insight into testing cocktail challenges, high-profile evening events and inspiring industry talks and debates.

Being in the finals is a lot of work, but I don't think anyone could go through it and not come out a better bartender with a head swimming with ideas. I did and I was only an observer. 

Sign up at DiageoWorldClassUSA.com or download the World Class app. 

 

This post was sponsored by Diageo's World Class.

Pavan Liqueur Offers a Trip to France in the Perfectly Paired Cocktail Competition

Pavan Liqueur has launched in the United States and to celebrate they are offering a chance to win a four-day trip for two to Paris and the French Riviera for voting in their Perfectly Paired Cocktail Competition on Facebook.

Pavan is a liqueur made with muscat grapes from the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) region of Frontignan in Southern France, with a touch of orange blossom. The name Pavan is from a classic French dance of the peacock. 

They recommend drinking it with sparkling water or on ice; or mixed with vodka, gin, tequila or champagne. There are several recipes on Pavan's website, plus drinks in the cocktail competition. 

Pavan's Perfectly Paired Cocktail Competition offers you a chance to vote on Facebook for your favorite drink. For liking the page and voting you'll be entered in a sweepstakes for a chance for a trip to France. Tweet out your vote, and you get a second entry. Details are below. 

How To Enter

1. Go to Pavan's Facebook Page
2. You must have a Facebook Account to enter 
3. Click the "LIKE" button to Like the page if you have not done so before 
4. Click down on the menu, find your Favorite Cocktail and Vote/Complete the entry form 
5. You will be automatically entered for your chance to win a Trip for Two to Paris and the South of France! 
6. Limit of one entry per person on Facebook 
7. After you submit your Vote/Entry you will have the option to earn one more entry by following us on Twitter and tweeting the following message: "I just entered the Pavan Perfectly Paired Contest" with the hashtag #PavanSOBE.
8. You must have a Twitter account to receive an additional entry 

The cocktail competition runs Friday 2/15 through Tuesday 2/19, but the consumer sweepstakes continues through March 2013. 

Good luck and hopefully Bon Voyage!  

 

This post was sponsored by Pavan. 

Hey US Bartenders! Time to Apply for Diageo's World Class Cocktail Competition

Diageo's World Class bartending competition is an amazing event, and this year the finals will be held on board a cruise ship, sailing along the French Riviera and  including stopovers in St. Tropez and Ibiza, before culminating in Barcelona. 

In order to apply to become a US finalist, you must first study three educational modules and pass tests on them, plus submit a recipe and a video. You can do that on the web at DiageoWorldClassUSA.com or by downloading an app for iPhone. 

Here's some info about the app:

Use this app to join the World Class community and complete your submission straight from your iPhone. To be considered for the 2013 U.S. challenge, participants must:

1. Fill out a personal profile.

2. Complete World Class training – Take three advanced training modules that provide you with cocktail industry knowledge.

3. Submit a cocktail recipe – Create a World Class recipe using at least one of the DIAGEO Reserve brands.

4. Upload a video – Capture a short video to showcase your personality and affinity for the industry.

Other App Features: The World Class U.S. app also provides winning cocktail recipes, info about the challenge’s judges, a list of events around the U.S. and links to participate in the World Class U.S. Community.

The deadline to submit is April 30th, but honestly you'll need to take your time with this so you'll want to get started sooner rather than later. The stakes are pretty high and only 20 finalists from the US get to compete. 

The finalists will be announced at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic in New York. 

Here's a video from last year's competition to get you in the mood.

 

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This post was sponsored by Diageo's World Class but the text was written by me, Camper English, except where press releases were quoted. 

Keep Warm This Winter With Metaxa (Sponsored)

Metaxa is a Greek spirit dating back to 1888. It is a blend of Muscat wines, wine distillates, rose petals, and herbs. 

To make Metaxa, wine distillates are aged in French Limousin oak casks. These are then blended with Muscat wines from the Aegean Islands, along with rose petals and a secret mix of Mediterranean herbs. 

Metaxa comes in five varieties:

• Metaxa 5 Stars - with the wine distillates matured for up to five years
• Metaxa 7 Stars - with the wine distillates matured for up to seven years
• Metaxa 7 Stars - with the wine distillates matured for up to twelve years and Muscat wines selected exclusively from the semi-mountainous, terraced vineyards of Samos
• Metaxa Private Reserve - with the wine distillates matured for up to 30 years
• Aen Metaxa - 1888 crystal decanters of AEN were created for the 120th anniversary of the brand in 2008, aged in Cask #1 (the oldest one at the facility, more than 80 years old with over 200 blends inside). 

Not all varieties are available in all markets. 

Metaxa Mixology

While the higher end bottlings in the line are best reserved for sipping neat or on a single ice cube, Metaxa offers an entire collection of recipes online. 

One of the simplest, meant for cold weather, is the Metaxa Hot Sun. It is the combination of Metaxa 5 Stars and hot apple juice, garnished with an apple slice and cinnamon stick. 

 

Below find a video of the drink being made at one of the best bars in the world, Berlin's Lebensstern. 

 

 

For move videos, visit Metaxa's YouTube channel.

Metaxa's website also lists a selection of cool bars in which to drink it in Germany, Romania, Hungary, Greece, Germany, England, Bulgaria, and Austria. Check it out!

 

This post is sponsored by Metaxa. 

Cocktail Modifiers Then and Now

This post is sponsored by PAMA pomegranate liqueur and written by me. 

In a previous post I tried to come up with a definition of a modifier, finding that others didn't match my expectations. I proposed the following: A modifier is a cocktail ingredient, usually alcoholic and typically a fortified wine or a liqueur, that both softens the base spirit and adds flavor to the drink. 

In-demand modifiers change over time. After the original cocktail (spirit, sugar, water, bitters) was created, the modifiers orange curacao, absinthe, and maraschino liqueur created the new categories of "improved" and "fancy" cocktails. These three modifiers were all the rage in Jerry Thomas' day. And all three of them are very much back in fashion today. 

In the later 1800s, vermouth became a popular modifier in America, and that lead to the creation of the two most famous cocktails, the Manhattan and the Martini (as well as the Martinez and Brooklyn and other derivatives of each).  

Ancient liqueurs like Chartreuse and Benedictine popped up from time to time, and calls for orange curacao morphed into calls for triple sec - a drier orange liqueur with a more neutral spirit base. Other vintage modifiers mentioned here and there in classic cocktails include Cherry Heering, Drambuie, creme de cassis, and Strega.

Fast-forward many years and the modifiers-of-the-moment change quite a bit. In the 1960s through to the late 1990s liqueurs (many of them artificially flavored) like Chambord, Galliano, sloe gin, creme de menthe, Frangelico, peach schnapps, Midori, and Southern Comfort ruled the day. 

In the early 2000s, apple, watermelon, raspberry, and other fruity flavors took over in derivatives of the Appletini and Cosmopolitan. 

And that brings us into modern times and the classic cocktail revival. 

In the attempt to recreate vintage cocktails, some liqueurs no longer on the market were recreated. These include creme de violette, Creme Yvette, pimento dram, Batavia arrack, and Swedish punsch. 

Currently with the craze for "brown, bitter, and stirred" cocktails Italian modifiers are very much in fashion. These include Campari, Aperol, a wealth of new vermouths and other fortified wines, and all the bitter amari including Averna, Fernet-Branca, Zucca, Amaro Nonino, etc. 

In the last decade we've also seen many new modifiers come onto the market, including HUM, St. Germain, SNAP/ROOT, Solerno, Domaine de Canton, and of course PAMA. 

Many of these modifiers have something in common: they are made from hard-to-capture flavors including elderflower, ginger, blood orange, and pomegranate. Fresh versions of these flavors have existed (ginger beer, grenadine, blood orange juice), but these liqueurs give us shelf-stable modifiers to use in our drinks. 

Now let's here PAMA's take on the versatility of their product: 

PAMA is a versatile liqueur and can easily mix with all families of spirits. PAMA is a versatile cocktail ingredient that mixes with whiskey, rum and brandy equally well as it mixes with vodka, gin and tequila. Providing a delicately balanced sweet-tart flavor, PAMA brightens cocktails and elevates them from the everyday to modern classics.

A BIRD IN THE HAND

Glass: Tiki Mug
Garnish: Pineapple Leaf, Cherry and Orange Wheel

1 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz. Spiced Rum
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
Dash Simple Syrup

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into mug, fill with crushed ice, stir and top with more crushed ice.

 

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Lesser Classic Cocktails in a New Book

Intro to Pomegranate

For the month of December I'll be looking at the pomegranate and its use in cocktails, including in grenadine and in PAMA pomegranate liqueur, the sponsor of the project. Check out the information developed just for bartenders at PamaPros.com.

What the heck is a pomegranate? 

The name "pomegranate" comes from two Latin words for "seeded" and "apple", which makes a lot of sense, given that a pomegranate looks like and apple and is full of seeds. (Fun fact: The word "grenade" was inspired by the pomegranate.)

The pomegranate fruit grows on a small tree or shrub. The tree is native to the area of Persia in the Middle East, but it is now grown further abroad, including in California and Arizona. 

The interior seeds are surrounded by spongy pulp, and the mess of them together makes the pomegranate particularly difficult to work with. 

 

image from Wikipedia.org

Pomegranate juice became popular in the US after 2000, but of course has been around a long time.

Pomegranates in the West

Pomegranates were introduced into California by Spanish settlers in 1769. [source]

According to the 1917 book The Pomegranate, we learn a bit more. 

After Cortez conquered Mexico in 1521 the Jesuit padres soon began their missionary work among the Indians With them they brought the fruits of France and Spain and among these the pomegranate.

All the fruits from the older missions in Mexico were carried northward and planted in the new mission gardens in California In these gardens may still be seen some of the old olive and date trees and pomegranate bushes. In 1792 Vancouver found an orchard at Mission San Buena Ventura in which pomegranates were growing together with apples pears plums figs oranges grapes and peaches. Robinson mentions an orchard of pomegranates at the Mission San Gabriel.

The type of pomegranate grown at these missions is of a mongrel seedling origin but is of fair quality and well liked by many people. It has a rather wide distribution. Since 1850 many new varieties have been introduced some by way of the southern states principally Florida and Georgia but mainly from the Mediterranean countries and China. Until recently most of the plantings in California have been seedlings or cuttings taken indiscriminately. The number of different forms now growing in the state is therefore large and varied and furnishes excellent material for the selection of better commercial varieties. Several superior varieties have appeared and are now being propagated. The most promising of these is the Wonderful which is the only pomegranate now being grown commercially in California.

Although the exact date of the introduction of the pomegranate into the eastern United States is not known it is probable that it was taken along with the orange and other fruits to Florida at an early date. However it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that attention was directed to the culture of this fruit in the south. At that time varieties from California and southern Europe were introduced and a few plantings made chiefly as garden and door yard trees. However pomegranate growing has never become a commercial industry although the shrub is now quite common throughout the southern states. Some very good varieties are found but little attempt has been made at developing a market for the fruit and it is principally grown for home use. Pomegranate plants will grow as far north as Washington DC but they will seldom mature fruit farther north than eastern North Carolina and at that latitude fruiting is quite uncertain.

 

Grenadine in Cocktails - Coming Soon

I was going to post here a few notes about the history of grenadine in cocktails, but then I started sorting through my cocktail books and I'm trying to figure it out still. More to come!