Alcademics.com

Hello from France!

As you read this, I should be arriving in Cognac, France with Grey Goose vodka.

I'm here to learn about the product (as well as Bacardi's new D'USSE cognac) and to help judge a cocktail contest: The Grey Goose Ten.

Bartenders from ten countries are competing. They are:

• France - Joseph Biolatto (Bar Le Forum, Paris)
• Brazil - Marcelo Serrano (Brasserie des Arts, Sao Paulo)
• Canada - Jay Jones (Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver)
• China - Yao Lu (The Alchemist, Shanghai)
• India - Nitin Tewari (Bar Consultant, New Delhi)
• Israel - Moshe Budnik (Social Club, Tel Aviv)
• Mexico - Felipe Guajardo Silva (Bar Consultant, Mexico City)
• Puerto Rico - Diego Diaz (Bar Consultant, San Juan)
• UK - Richard Woods (SushiSamba, London)
• US - Emilio Tiburcio (The Light Group, Las Vegas)

I don't think I've met any of these folks before so I'm excited to see what they come up with. 

I'll do my best to update Alcademics.com frequently while I'm there, and as usual you can follow my adventures in real-time at:

- The Alcademics Facebook Page

- The Alcademics twitter account @Alcademics 

Filtration in Spirits: A Primer

For CLASS Magazine online at DiffordsGuide.com, I wrote an article about filtration in spirits. This was based on the research I did for my talk on the subject at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic earlier this year. 

Don't Forget the Filtration Factor
By Camper English 

Nearly every spirit undergoes some sort of filtration, yet we rarely acknowledge it as part of production. But filtration makes vodka what it is today, practically defines Tennessee whiskey, is the standard in making white rum, and is changing the look of tequila. Filtration is important.

Generally speaking, filtration refers to the mechanical process of passing a liquid or gas through a medium that keeps out solids of a certain size. But in spirits, we include carbon filtration (sometimes called carbon treatment) as filtration too. Carbon filtration works differently: by absorption, the adhesion of particles to a surface, like flypaper. 

I researched filtration in spirits for a talk at this year's Manhattan Cocktail Classic. While I can't claim category-wide or hands-on expertise in this matter, I spoke with several industry sources who know their stuff. Consider this an introduction to the subject.

The article covers filtration in vodka, rum, tequila, whisk(e)y, and cognac. I hope you'll find it interesting. Get the full story here.

A Rosemary Lemon Vodka Sour from Seattle

In last week's post for FineCooking.com, I used Antoine's Cocktail, a drink from Liberty in Seattle, as an example of how to create a sour. 

Antoine's Cocktail includes vodka, lemon, lemon peel, rosemary, and simple syrup, but it's served on a big cube like an Old Fashioned rather than up like a Margarita. 

The recipe is here.

Antoine's Cocktail. Photo by Andrew Friedman

Vodka, Aperol, Grapefruit, Honey

In a post on FineCooking.com, I put up a recipe for the House of Balloons, an excellently-named cocktail created by Sean Hoard of Portland's Teardrop Lounge. It contains vodka, Aperol, grapefruit juice, honey syrup, and soda water. 

I tried the drink and it's delicious- and probably a good way to get your unadventurous friends into better cocktails. 

Get the recipe here.

Cherries, Aperol, Vodka, Lime, Agave, Orange Bitters

Those are the ingredients in a drink recipe I threw together for FineCooking.com. Get the recipe here.

Find Me in the Penthouse

Penthouse magazine, that is. I have a story in the April issue about my trip to Warsaw and the ancient forest with ZU vodka, the bison grass vodka known throughout the world as Zubrowka. 

But I'm also in Penthouse as a model, again!  

 

 

Of course you'll recognize my hand, sexily caressing that piece of bison grass.  Damn I look good. 

Always.

But if you don't have a subscription to the magazine you can read my write up here on Alcademics.

The New Madonna Video and Smirnoff Vodka Product Placement

The latest music video from Madonna "Give Me All Your Luvin'" includes some product placement luvin' for Smirnoff vodka. 

 

 

 

It's far enough in the background that it's not entirely clear what the brand is, unless of course one is already familiar with these things. 

The full video is below. 

 

 

Smirnoff and Madonna did some work together this fall in a promotion called the  Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, in which dancers auditioned to go on tour with Madonna. So I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. 

 

 

 

Of course, it's not unusual for pop stars to put liquor in their music videos, I just don't watch them very often to notice. Lady Gaga did tons of placements as I covered here before here and here. 

 

 

The Weird Affinity Between ZU Vodka and Cocchi Americano

 

ZU vodka, known in the rest of the world as Zubrowka, is starting to appear in more serious drinks than just mixed with the usual apple juice.

 

Oddly enough, in each of these better drinks in which I've seen ZU used, it has been used in concert with Cocchi Americano. 

At Providence in Los Angeles:

Ellis Island
ZU Bison Grass Vodka, Cocchi Americano, Gruner Vetliner wine, and celery bitters

At AQ restaurant in San Francisco:

 

Bison Rose
Zubroska Bison Grass Vodka, Cocchi Americano, Meyer Lemon, Rosemary Shrub

At Blackbird in San Francisco:

Golden Glove
Zu vodka, Cocchi Americano, Apple Juice, Celery Bitters

Weird.