Alcademics.com

Cocktail Science with Don Lee and Mike Ryan at Tales Buenos Aires

Here at Tales of the Cocktail in Buenos Aires, taking place at the Intercontinental Hotel, I have attended three seminars on one day. The last one was about the science of cocktails. Below are my notes- these are hard to translate from science slides to text, but here goes:

 

The Science of Cocktails: Ice, Infusions, and Insight by Don Lee and Mike Ryan

In cocktails being precise is more important than being accurate - it's better to have all drinks be exactly the same than have the occasional one be perfect. That's an argument for measurement in cocktails.

Don Lee measured the amount of dashes when you dash bitters - to see how accurate a dasher was and how that changes over the course of a bottle. He found that it changed over time, but on average:

Angostura 41 dashes = 1oz = 30 ml

Regan's or Peychaud's 30 dashes = 1 oz = 30 ml

Japanese Dasher Bottle 150 dashes = 1 ounce = 30 ml

Salad dressing oil and vinegar doesn't mix because one is polar and one is non-polar.

No matter what the temperature the ice starts at (freezer vs. well ice) when shaking, the drink cools to the same level. So colder ice doesn't result in a colder drink at the end.

It also doesn't matter if you're using big ice or small cheater ice when shaking-it all reaches the same final temperature in that same time- in about 15 seconds. This is because small ice has more surface area, and on that surface, water that sticks to it and makes the drinks more dilute without great cooling (because it releases a lot of energy to convert ice to water). But if you shake with dry (non-wet) vs. regular wet ice, you get less dilution from dry ice. So shaking with dry ice doesn't make drink colder but there is less drink dilution.

Stirring- things are different. You will get to the same dilution with different ice at the same rate- but you have to stir for a ridiculously long time for that to happen and most people don't. However stirred drinks have less dilution at a normal stirring time, and softer silky texture.

"Cooking ice" - letting it sit on ice and then stirring it later to get a drink colder - this is a myth. It will get just as cold as a stirred drink in the same amount of time. Only when you are actively stirring does it get really colder.

In stirring a drink, it takes a lot longer to do this, so using the smallest ice cube (without surface water - so right from freezer) makes drinks coldest fastest. But of course this is not practical in a bar.

Infusions- consider it with the following variables: base liquid, ingredient you're infusing, the surface area of that ingredient reacting with the base, time, temperature of infusion, and filtration method to get that infusion solids out.

In whisky, you could consider the barrel as being the thing infused. With gin, the filtration method is the type of still - Carterhead vs. other stills. Small batch bourbon - small barrels are larger surface area. But these same factors affect regular infusions we would make at home.

Fat Washing - Surface area in fat washing is the width of the container- where the two liquids are touching. So wide pot = faster fat wash.

Including Pressure in the Formula

Don Lee came up with a formula for infusions, and then a second one including pressure in the equation. Pressure comes in when you use an iSi Soda Canister or a vacuum sealer.

Negative pressure infusions = vacuum = good for putting liquid flavors into solids. (So the solid thing is being infused.)

Positive pressure infusions = iSi soda siphon = good for getting solids flavors into liquids. Don says 5 minutes under pressure and 5 minutes after venting can be the equivalent of weeks of regular infusing. Flash infusions won't extract as many tannins (soluble in alcohol) as flash infusion so you get different results than just letting things steep in alcohol.

Can use a superbag to get most of color out of quinine powder for homemade tonics.

For clarificaiton using agar agar, a refinement is: Agar + Superbag + Salad Spinner = ghetto-fuge that will get liquids out of agar gel the best and most efficient way. A superbag alone if you squeeze it will get agar into final drink. ghetto-fuge is a solution to that.

 

Tiki Cocktail History from Beachbum Berry Live at Tales of the Cocktail Buenos Aires

Hello again from Tales of the Cocktail live in the Intercontinental Hotel in Buenos Aires! I just attended Beachbum Berry's seminar: Tiki Drinks from A to Zombie, and below are my notes.

Please forgive any spelling errors - I was typing live.

 

The golden age of tiki was from the end of Prohibition to the beginning of Disco. The 40 year drink trend inspired cultural trends in clothing, design, architecture, and music, rather than those things inspiring cocktails.

Tiki palaces were fine dining restaurants- the most expensive nights out. Big tiki restaurants were often designed by Hollywood art directors, had no windows; they were sets.

In most restaurants, you switch from cocktails to wine, but in Polynesian restaurants you drank rum cocktails all the way through the meal. Desserts were flaming coffee grogs and other drinks. The drinks drove this faux-Polynesian economy.

All these drinks came from one man, the most influential bartender of the 20th century, Don the Beachcomber. He came up with 70 original cocktails in the 1930s. These drinks were stolen by thousands of other bars and were the template for this entire trend.

 

The Doctor Funk cocktail, for example, traveled from Don the Beachcomber to Beverly Hills where it was called the Dr. Fong. Then in San Diego it became with Dr. Won. Then in Florida it became the Dr. Sam Tee.

Don the Beachcomber's father had struck it rich in oil, and gave him a choice of of college or a trip around the world, so he did the latter. He travelled around the world twice as he stretched his dollars far. He learned about drinks around the world because of this. Had drinks like Singapore Sling, rum and coconut in other countries, etc.

Don ended up in Hollywood during Prohibition and became a bootlegger and ran a speakeasy. Some say he got his name from working for the mob as in 'the don'. His friends bankrolled his first bar for him after Prohibition. It was in the corner of a hotel and seated 40 people. It was Don the Beachcomber's.

At the time nobody wanted to drink rum; it was for sailors and poor people. Drunks were referred to as 'rummies.' Cultured people were forced to drink it during Prohibition as it was smuggled in during Prohibition and it was relatively safe compared to some of the other spirits adulterated during Prohibition like bathtub gin.

But rum was now cheap since nobody wanted it. And Don had learned to mix rum drinks in the Caribbean (not the South Pacific), particularly the Planter's Punch he learned to make in Jamaica.

Don took this model of the Planter's Punch, which was a basic punch, and dimensionalized the 1 part sour 2 parts sweet 3 parts strong 4 parts week basic model: He combined multiple citrus fruits. Multiple sweeteners like honey and falernum/citrus syrups, blender ice/flash-blended ice for the 'weak' component.

Same with the 'strong' - he used multiple rums- a totally new idea. Rum unlike scotch and gin is more varied: have dark rich molasses heavy rums and light dry floral Cuban rums, plus everything in between, depending on where they came from. Don was one of the only people who had knowledge of all these rums.

Nobody in Hollywood had ever tasted drinks like this. Cornelius Vanderbuilt was one of the first people to have them and told all his friends; Don bought a new building and expanded. It was the hottest hostpot in Hollywood.

Rival business owners opened up imitator restaurants. His bartenders were poached by rivals. Ray Buhen in 1934 started working for Don, by 1937 was making $25 per week and asked for a raise, Don said no. So Ray went to work for the Seven Seas for $40/week.

Ray and other bartenders kept the recipes secret for job security- they knew Don's recipes but nobody else did. All the bartenders kept secret little books of recipes written in code. They wouldn't tell their new bosses what was in the drinks when they left, so could always secure raises or go somewhere else that would pay them more, spreading Don's drinks around the world.

Ray Buhen moved on to a couple other bars after that getting paid more each time, and recipes left with him. Tiki drinks reached all the way to NYC fairly early on. There, a drink called Monte Proser's Zombie became a drink sensation because it was so strong.

In 1939 World's Fair Commission asked Monte to serve it at the fair. But this drink was originally Don the Beachcomber's Zombie. The Zombie was a way that got men to drink tropical drinks - they limited to 2 of the drinks and made it a macho thing to be able to drink them.

So Don was fed up with people stealing his bartenders and their recipes. So then he moved them to the back behind a door where customers couldn't see where drinks were made. But then bartenders didn't make tips, so even more bartenders left his employment.

Then Don started putting recipes in code "Markeza" was passionfruit syrup, for example, and other names were like Dons Mix #2. This was finally effective and stopped thievery/poaching.

So early Don the Beachcombers were very valuable people as they were the only ones left who had recipe knowledge.

Beachbum Berry got hold of (someone) Santiago's daughter's notebook. But it was all in code. Then he met the daughter and granddaughter of Hank Riddle, another Don the Beachcomber bartender. But his recipes were partially decoded. But Bum made one and it was terrible.

Depressed, he went to the Tiki Ti, his local tiki bar. Mike Buhen was working (son of Ray). He told Beachbum that these probably were not Don's Mixes but Don's Spices. So he needed to track down these spices.

A year later he met a bartender from Kon Tiki, Bob Esmino, and interviewed him. Bum was trying to get his secret recipes, but he wouldn't tell Bum initially. He told him about one of the spices #4 = cinnamon, and that he should just use spiced rum and leave out #2 spices. But since spiced rum is vanilla, cinnamon, and allspice most often, Bum figured it was vanilla and allspice syrup.

Don opened bars and restaurants around the world, went to Hawaii in the 1940s, opened up the International Marketplace where he had 3 restaurants.

But the most famous drink in Hawaii was always the Mai Tai, Trader Vic's drink.

Trader Vic was about 30 before he started bartending at his uncle's restaurant. He said he was a terrible bartender but great entertainer. But eventually his uncle fired him for being so loud and theatrical. So Vic opened a restaurant across the street from his uncle's place, Hinky Dinks. (It was designed like an Alaskan fur trapper's lodge).

 

Later took a vacation and went to LA and went to Don the Beachcombers and realized it was a goldmine. He went up to Don and asked if Don wanted to make a chain out of it (when Don only had one restaurant), but Don said no. So Vic went home and turned Hinky Dink's into Trader Vic's.

Vic had a great palate - he wasn't content just to rip off Don but wanted to make his own style. In 1938 Vic went to the Caribbean to visit the bartender at La Floridita in Havana; Constantino. Constantino had dimensionalized the Daiquiri as Don had the Planter's Punch. Vic studied Constantino then went back home and made his own style of drinks.

Instead of mixing 3 rums together, he mixed different base spirits: gin, sherry, rum in the Fog Cutter. Used lemon in his sour mix rather than lime. And different sweeteners - orgeat. Invented the Mai Tai - it's a Daiquiri with curacao and orgeat. This may have been inspired by Constantino's golden Gloves drink; also similar to his Daiquiri #2 that was made with orange.

Trader Vic franchised very successfully, globally. He had 21 restaurants at the height of his popularity. Had his own rum brand and syrups that made him very rich. Perhaps one of the first celebrity chefs.

This spread into the larger cultural movement - exotica music, etc. This evolved into "backyard polynesia" and "basement polynesia" and "penthouse polynesia" themed parties/decor.

Why did the trend last so long? After its initial success in Hollywood, it was again bolstered by World War II. Soldiers returning from war saw tropics, stopped in Hawaii for R&R, then back home. So they wanted more Hawaii. Tiki restaurants kept the trend alive, book/play South Pacific. Then post-war economy was good and people could afford to go out to these bars like they may not have been to before.

 

Then in 1960s - Hawaii became a state in 1959, and the Boeing 707 became a commercial airliner. Hawaii became a big destination.

Then after Vietnam in the 1970s- the South Pacific was no longer an idyllic place as they saw all the images on television. End of tiki era.

Don retired in Tahiti with an all-girl tiki houseboat. Don the Beachcombers became a parking lot. Trader Vic took up sculpture.

1980s the dark period of tiki. All of the grand places closed. The lousy knock-off bars that never made great drinks that were cheap to run are the ones that survived. "Umbrella drink" became the descriptor, and not a positive one.

Today: The remnants are Trader Vic's in Munich, London, Tokyo; Kahiki, Kahala, Aloha in Barcelona; Tiki-Ti in LA, Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale.

But a new generation of tiki bars is launching as well.

 

 

Live from Buenos Aires: David Wondrich on Drink History in the Americas

Hello from Tales of the Cocktail on Tour in Buenos Aires! I am attending three seminars today held at the lovely Intercontinental Hotel. (Then the rest of the time I'll just be in bars.)

The first seminar was a talk by David Wondrich called Drinking the Americas from Punch to Prohibition

Below are notes I took in the seminar, mostly unedited, but let me know if these raise any questions and I'll try to answer them.

When Columbus arrived some South American and North American peoples had localized fermented beverages but not really any trade or exchange in them.

When the Spanish came, they tried to recreate Spain in the Americas. Havana, Cartagena, Santiago, Chile, etc. So they planted wine grapes which in some places succeeded. Then distillation. The Spanish weren't big spirits drinkers as much as Northern Europeans. So in the Americas it became important because distilled spirits travelled better than wine.

But the Spanish government in Spain tried to discourage practice of local distillation of grapes as it didn't profit them.

In the Caribbean, sugar cane grew very well. Wiped out existing land and economy, imported slavery. English islands were particularly brutal. English weren't interested in building new England - it was more like strip mining the local land to bring it back to England.

Making sugar produced a lot of industrial waste- molasses. But they realized it could be made into (bad) rum that is basically free; made from free raw materials. By the middle of the 1600s the rum industry was growing. Went up and down coast of the Americas; becomes the national drink of the North Americas and the Caribbean.

The English "weren't water drinkers" - drank beer and spirits. But beer didn't work in the Americas so well - hard to make and took up lots of space. When travelers come to America, they notice that everyone is drunk. Because wine doesn't work except for in a few places, not much beer outside of Massachusetts and Philadelphia, but for the most part it was spirits.

Before early 1600s people drank straight spirits, or fortified wines, or fortified beer drinks (pop-ins); infrequently spirits and honey or sugar and water.

Around 1610 English sailors got 1 gallon of (beer gallons = 5 liters) beer per day, which was 8-10 pints per day. But now boats are full of beer - takes up lots of storage. This worked in Northern Climates but not when going to hotter ones where beer would spoil.

First mention of cutting heads of spirits comes in 1700s., so spirits at this point were gross and needed mixing with other ingredients to make them palatable.

1610s, some crafty sailor decided to turn spirits back into wine, since beer was all spoiled. So someone restored acidity of wine with lemons or lime juice (citrus from coasts of Africa); then to cut the sourness/bite they added sugar. Sugar doesn't spoil so they can carry it on ships. Then they add water to reduce it more toward wine proof, then add spices. Now you have Punch.

Supposedly origins of the name comes from the Indian word ''paunch" for "five" (ingredients) but Wondrich doesn't believe it. Indians weren't drinking punch; they were drinking spirits but not punch. Probably comes from English word 'paunch' meaning round and short.

When punch got back to the Caribbean they found it made the rum taste good, which had been problematic before.

Punch spread around the world, particularly England and on the coasts. But in America you can't get very far inland easily. So didn't have access to limes etc.

Inland you had the whisky distillers. Still needed to mix it but didn't have lemons etc. But did have mint. So Juleps started happening. Inland uses whisky. On coast used rum. If you could afford it you used brandy or genever in Juleps.

The birth of the yankee school of drinking was the addition of ice. Frederick Tudor created the ice industry. The Mint Julep was the first iced drink, and it was world famous - people hated America but loved the Julep- thought it was marvelous that such ignorant hicks came up with something great.

Then they invented the cocktails.

Richard Stoughton invented and advertised Stoughton's Stomach Elixir in South London. Advertised it as good for you after a night of drinking, and recommended you to drink it with sweet wine in the morning - so that's bitters, sugar, and alcohol. In England, 'cocktail' was a generic term for something that cocks your tale up. (There was a practice of sticking ginger in a horse's butt before trying to sell it; this would make the horse cock its tail up and prance around, looking healthy.) Any drink in the morning could be called a cocktail, including ginger beer.

In the United States, however, the cocktail became standardized and attached to a spirits and bitters drink very quickly. (In that story from 1803 where cocktails in the US were first mentioned, a guy was also drinking a 'gin bim' which is gin barbados-style. So that's a gin swizzle. )

Cocktails became a thing in the upstate NY area, but the 1820s spread to everywhere in the US, made with most spirits (except rum), brandy, genever, whisky. Initially it was not an iced drink. Julep was an iced drink but not cocktail.

But by 1830s-1840s ice industry had been around a while as had the cocktail. So ice came to more drinks - sherry cobbler. Shake it in a cocktail shaker (just invented).

Then the cocktail became iced and because cocktail was a quickly-consumed drink you wouldn't want ice in it so you'd strain it out. By 1849 the gold miners popularized the way of drinking cocktails with strained (it was initially a luxury) for a cocktail but after this became the standard way of drinking it.

Ice created a need for a whole new set of skills to mix with. So bartending golden age came about. People like Williard pioneered making individual drinks to order, created new iced drinks.

This iced style of American drink became the international style of drink - American bars popped around the world (70 or so years before US Prohibition; not driven entirely by Prohibition). In Paris by 1860 there were 5-6 American bars, also in Argentina, Melbourne, Sydney, London. Sort of the drink of the (pre-)jet-set, the world travelers.

Then drinks became invented locally by local American or American-trained bartenders, such as the Pisco Sour. Other hybrid drinks came about, such as the Cuban cocktails. Late 1898 American bartenders rushed in to open bars, expecting a business rush. They refashioned mixology for the local and tourist audience. They invented the idea of putting lots of citrus, pineapple juice in Cuba.

Around 1900s Bronx cocktail invented. It was the Cosmopolitan of its day. (It contains gin, vermouth, orange juice- a new cocktail ingredient.) It opened the door for Cuban-style drinks to come into the US. Daiquiri showed up after that in US in 1910s. (Introduced the idea of small glass of sour- previously if you wanted a lot of citrus you'd have a punch.)

Before 1920 tequila was a curiosity in North America at best. Prohibition brought tequila drinks into US.Then the Margarita came after.

That's as far as we got- not bad for an hour and a half-hour seminar!

 

Come See Camper Speak at Tales of the Cocktail

I'll be giving three talks at Tales of the Cocktail this year, and tickets are now on sale. The seminars are: 

Advanced Sherry: Secrets, Lies, and Solera
Thursday July 18 12:30pm — 2:00pm La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone

Sherry is a popular cocktail ingredient, but how much do you really know about it? In this seminar, we’ll go far beyond the basic types and tastes of sherry (though we’ll certainly cover them) and into the production parameters and little-known secrets of this fortified wine. We’ll examine biological and oxidative of aging practices, paying particular attention to the orphan wine of both: palo cortado. We’ll look at the manifestations of terroir between fino and manzanilla sherries, which are otherwise the same thing. We’ll also take a deeper look at the solera system and see not only how the math works, but how it is used (and abused) in other alcoholic beverages. We’ll cover a few of the commonly-told fibs and shortcuts in sherry production, as well as the wonders of the hard-to-find anada sherries, non-solera vintage-dated sherries, and unfiltered “en rama” selections. Finally, we’ll talk about sherry in cocktails, including info that will help bartenders pick the best bottles for particular cocktails.

 

Water World: Water in Spirits and Cocktails
Friday July 19 3:30pm — 5:00pm Grand Ballroom North, Royal Sonesta

Both the human body and most bottles of liquor are comprised of sixty percent water: Coincidence? Yes, but it’s just one of zillions of fun facts and practical bits of info you’ll learn in this seminar devoted to the study of good old H2O. We’ll study water in distillation: Does the pure, local, soft, limestone-enriched water that distillers brag about really make a difference to the flavor of the final product after you distill it, or is that just marketing? We’ll also talk about the purified water used to dilute spirits to bottle strength, and types of filtration used to clean water in industrial settings, for bar ice machines, and at home. We’ll follow along as water turns into ice and learn what causes its clouding. Then we’ll study water used in drinks- are certain mineral waters better than others to enhance flavor when diluting whisky, and why does dilution increase aromatics in a distilled spirit in the first place? Finally we’ll get bubbly examining carbonated water, both in nature and in bottles; studying pressure and bubble size, home/bar carbonation, DIY mineral water, and which water makes the best whisky highball.

The Column Still: Pretty on the Inside 
Saturday 3:00pm — 4:30pm Riverview Room, Hotel Monteleone

Copper pot stills are shiny and old-fashioned and romantic and easy to understand, but column stills do all the heavy lifting in this industry and produce the vast majority of spirits we consume. Let’s give them their due and get a deeper understanding of their inner workings. We’ll study the original column still design and the differences between today’s models, shapes, and sizes, and take a thorough look inside each of them to understand exactly how they run. We’ll then study the different ways column stills are used in spirits: to make nearly-neutral alcohol like vodka and rum (and fuel) in industrial settings, run at lower proof but continuously to make bourbon, set atop a pot still to run discontinuously at many small craft distilleries that produce brandy and gin, and so on. Attendees will leave with a better understanding-and hopefully a new appreciation- for the science as well as the art of column distillation. Panelists will be three distillers TBD.

Follow those links to buy your tickets. They tend to sell out!

 

Tales of the Cocktail Seminars Announced and I'm Giving Three This Year

Tickets are not on sale just yet, but seminar topics have been announced for Tales of the Cocktail  2013. I'm thrilled and anxious to be giving three talks this year. More details will follow in the coming months. 

The 2013 Seminars and Presenters:

19th Century Ingredients and Flavor Prof with Robert Hess
60 Ideas in 60 Minutes with Jamie Evans
A Cook Walks into a Bar with Andrew Bohrer
A Second Look at Flavors with David Cid
ABC—Aging, Barrels and Climate Change with Wayne Curtis
Advanced Sherry: Secrets, Lies and Solera with Camper English
Agave Amigos: A Rare Spirits Tasting with Misty Kalkofen
Airport Bars—a Dissection with Charlotte Voisey
An Apple a Day Keeps the Drinker at Play with Jacob Briars
Barking Up the Right Tree with Amy Stewart
Basic Knowledge Fermenting, Distilling Spirits with Mark Ridgwell
Beyond the Coupe—Glassware in Bars with Ivy Mix
Bottled Carbonated Cocktails for Bar with Evan Wallace
Buzz Management with Darcy O’Neil
Charles Barker, Your Guide to South America with Jacob Briars
Digging into the Secrets of Tequila with Elayne Duff
Drinking in the Dark Ages with David Wondrich
European Rums Uncovered—What’s the Story with Ian Burrell
From Oak to Smoke with Alban Petiteaux
Fun with Hydrocolloids with Douglass Miller
Grape’s Great Leap Toward Immortality with Jason Wilson
Grow Your Own: Successful Bar Gardens with Amy Stewart
Hey Good Looking/Dress Your Drink with Charlotte Voisey
How Bars Spend Your Cocktail Money with Bobby Heugel
How to Open a Bar with Philip Duff
I Love…I Hate…Big Brands with Claire Smith
Ice Aristocracy: History of Frozen Water with Bobby Heugel
Low Octane Libations with Kara Newman
Lowcountry Cocktails with Charlotte Voisey
Lucrative Libations with Cameron Bogue
Midnight in Paris—Lost Generations 1920s with Phillip Green
Modifiers: Eternal Life For Cocktails with Manuela Savona
Oxidation: The Good and the Bad with Darcy O’Neil
Paleococktails with Derek Brown
Rise of the Zombie: Tiki’s Deadly Drink with Jeff Berry
Science of Simplexity with Claire Smith
Scotch: A Liquid History with Dave Broom
Sporting Life 3-Stories, Songs and Sketches with Allen Katz
Stepping Out From Behind the Bar with Audrey Fort
The Changing Map of American Whiskey with Paul Clarke
The Column Still: Pretty on the Inside with Camper English
The Philosophy of Hospitality with Ludovic Miazga
The Pineapple, A Symbol of Hospitality with Dean Callan
The Savoy’s Green Fairy Secrets Revealed with Allan Moss
The Team Equation with Dushan Zaric
The Tender Topic of Terroir with Paul Clarke
The Vermouth Institute with Philip Duff
Water World: Water in Spirits and Drinks with Camper English
WED—Whiskey, Entertainment, Development with Philip Duff
When American Bartenders Invaded Cuba with Jared Brown
Why Rye? with Claire Smith

 

All About Anise

I attended a good portion of a seminar called Anise: Treasure of the Mediterranean at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July. Though I couldn't stay until the very end, the seminar was great. 

The speakers were Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller of Mixellany, Franesco LaFranconi of Southern Wine & Spirits, and Orietta Varnelli of Varnelli. 

Like all things at Tales of the Cocktail, my memory is spotty when it comes to the seminar, so here are my notes copied and pasted from my iPad. I hope someone writes a book on anise liqueurs (HINT HINT Mixellany) so we can learn more about the topic.

Here's what I wrote down: 

• Green anise and star anise are unrelated plants but both contain anethol
• green anise is fennel
• you should add water first and then ice when serving anise liqueurs
• need to make anise spirits on copper alembic- copper interacts with grape spirit. also anise is delicate and too much heat would make it soapy
• sambuca -1930s miletta (sp?) company created Sambuca
• Chinchon - lighter and thinner than varanelli
• Raki - an anise spirit - more intense than others. not much head and tails removed so it's a rougher base spirit
• Lebanon - Razzouk - arak - more like a grappa base spirit
• Ouzo - greek - has more than anise and fennel. some have bitter almonds, sometimes licorice
• Licorice adds the perception of sweetness in spirits. Old Tom gin - some of it had no sugar, but used anise and licorice root in double the amount of juniper.
• Marie Brizard anisette- 11 botanicals
• Sambuca - has to be at least 76 proof, and 38 grams of sugar per liter (see comment for a possible correction to this)
• recipes from some anise products date back to medical journals from 1600s
• pastis - comes from a word that means lasagna, a mix/mess (referring to louche)
• sage has 10 times the amount of thujone as wormwood

 

This is how the seminar was described:

…LOVE ANISE? Then Join Francesco Lafranconi-winner of the TOC 2009 Best Presenter Award- and his illustrious guests: Mrs. Varnelli-CEO of Distilleria Varnelli S.p.a. and Member of The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers, and the inseparable cocktail couple, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown-Directors of Mixellany Limited. They will transport you through an incredible historical and cultural journey, including an exclusive tasting of anise-based liqueurs and aperitifs produced among some of the most cultural-rich Mediterranean countries.

Anise has a history of use as a spice and fragrance. It has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years.

Since the 12th century, the caravans were bringing anise from China to Alexandria, where the precious seeds were shipped to Genoa and Marseille, two major hubs of the Mediterranean Sea trade, before being sent to Paris to be assigned to Anysetiers. After maceration and distillation of the resulting paste, they used to manufacture drugs, ointments and liquids then they catered Kings and Lords.

Found in nature two different species of this plant which belongs to the Umbelliferae family: anise (Pimpinella anisum) and star anise, or anise (Illicium anisatum).

Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly fashionable to satisfy the palate of the guests and for their pleasure, to serve many cocktails containing anise. Finally, in order to be exhaustive, let us not forget its use in its usual form of aniseed aperitif and liqueurs as presented by some major Italian, French, Spanish, Greek and Libanese spirits brands.

As a special occasion during Tales of the Cocktail, The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers will launch the FIRST chapter in the United States to revive the legend and tradition of the medieval guild of Anysetier, BIG THANK YOU TO VARNELLI!

We look forward to having you join as a member of this treasured and historical guild established in 1263!

 

My Enthronement: The Ordre International des Anysetiers

I probably won't be part of an enthronement ceremony too many times in my life, so I thought I'd make a big deal out of this one: I was inducted into the first American Chapter of the Ordre International des Anysetiers during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July. 

The Ordre International des Anysetiers is a charitable organization that seeks to revive the legend and traditions of the ancient guild of Anysetiers, founded in 1263 in France. 

Just ten of us were inducted: Southern Wine & Spirit's chief mixologist Francesco Lanfranconi, Tales of the Cocktail’s founders Ann and Paul Tuennerman, Liz Williams (Chair of Southern Food and Beverage Museum in NOLA), Laura and Chris McMillan of the Museum of American Cocktails, journalists Camper English and Brenda Maitland, mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout and importer Paolo Domeneghetti.

They flew in a multi-national group of officers from various Ordre chapters to lead the ceremony.

During it, we wore a ceremonial collar and were tapped on each shoulder with an anise hammer like being knighted.

We walked away with our ribbon and giant certificate that I guess I'll need to get framed.

And of course, we sealed the deal by taking a sip of an anise liqueur- in this case Varnelli dry anise. Varnelli sponsored the chapter and the ceremony.

I'm not quite sure what my responsibilities to the group are other than spreading a love of anise drinks, but that part I'd do even without the enthroning. 

Blue Cocktails on Details.com

I attended an awesome seminar on blue drinks at Tales of the Cocktail this weekend, lead by Sebastian Reaburn, Jacob Briars, and Phil Duff. 

Then I wrote a piece about it for Details.com, the website of Details magazine. It's my first story for the website. 

I learned a lot more in the seminar than is in the story, which is more of a trend piece.

Fun facts:

• Phil Duff worked at the same bar Tom Cruise trained at to prepare for the movie Cocktail (not at the same time)
• The first known blue drink was a non-alcoholic soda called Soyer's Nectar, from 1851. It was created by Alexis Soyer, the first celebrity chef. 
• Blue cocktails were futuristic. "In the 1860s people were excited about the future; now we're merely afraid," said Jacob Briars.
• The first known blue cocktail was from 1908.
• Modern blue cocktails may start with the Blue Hawaiian from 1957 - at the end of the classic rum-heavy tiki drinks at the beginning of the silly ones.
• Blue cocktails are popular in countries that either never had a super serious classic cocktail phase (Asia) or in places and with people that have gotten beyond it, like New Zealand and the top cocktail bars mentioned in the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story on Details.com!