WTF!!

Look what the Alembic is trying to hide on their back bar. Hard to see, but that is definately a bottle of Midori.



Sent using only the power of my mind.

WTF!!

Look what the Alembic is trying to hide on their back bar. Hard to see, but that is definately a bottle of Midori.



Sent using only the power of my mind.

Ed Hardy's vodka

Crazy bad bottle...and only $35 each!



Sent using only the power of my mind.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

Chow.com posted a great little piece starring two of my favorite people and one of my favorite cocktails.

I plan on watching it every night before I go to sleep...twice.

Quantitive Analysis Gone Wrong

I was kind of interested in this article by the title, but it sure got dumb as it went on. I am particular fond of the stated fact that a rum and coke has twice as much alcohol as a gin and tonic.

Interesting world this writer lives in.

Sherry Competition Video

A video of the recent Sherry Competion in New York showed up on youtube. It was nice of the editors to cut me off before my drunken ramble.

Oooooo, Beverage Scientist Stuff.

I got a press release today and felt as though I should share in the silliness.

WORLD’S FIRST COMPLETE RECOVERY BEVERAGE LAUNCHES
Code Blue Hydrates, Replenishes and Detoxifies to Help You Feel Better Faster

New York, NY – January 15, 2009 – Code Blue™, the world’s first complete recovery drink, launched today and is available for purchase on www.drinkcodeblue.com. Designed by beverage scientists to revive your body, Code Blue’s powerful ingredients help you feel better faster by combating dehydration, replenishing vital nutrients and removing harmful toxins.

Code Blue was created for people who enjoy going out at night but need to wake up feeling refreshed the next morning. Code Blue can be consumed before, during and after a night out to speed the recovery process and bring the body back into balance.

Michael Sachs, former brand manager of Grey Goose Vodka, joined brothers Jeffrey Frumin and Steven Frumin, who led winning beverage campaigns with their marketing company UCG, to found Code Blue. The founders combined decades of experience in the beverage and nightlife industries to develop the concept, filling a need in the marketplace for a complete recovery beverage.

“We’ve seen people turning to any beverage available hoping for a complete recovery solution, from sports drinks to vitamin-infused waters to Pedialyte®, but nothing is as effective as Code Blue,” said Michael Sachs.

Code Blue’s revolutionary formula is backed by some of the biggest names in the beverage industry including: Jack Belsito, Former CEO of Snapple; Hank McInerney, Former CEO of Tetley Tea; and David Kanbar, Former EVP and Director of Skyy Spirits.

“Every ingredient in Code Blue performs a specific task in restoring the body to its natural condition and promoting healthy liver and kidney function,“ said Sumner Katz, the Tufts University scientist behind Code Blue’s formulation and a veteran in the food science industry.

Code Blue is the first ready-to-drink beverage to include Reduced Glutathione, one of the most powerful antioxidants available. Reduced Glutathione helps to neutralize free radicals and is a key mechanism in the body’s purification process.

Code Blue is also the first beverage to contain a proprietary blend of Prickly Pear Juice and Agave Nectar. Prickly Pear acts as a natural anti-inflammatory that boosts the immune system. It has been used for centuries by indigenous Mexican tribes to treat a variety of ailments and conditions.

The drink is sweetened with natural Agave Nectar, which also serves to replenish the body by providing essential vitamins and minerals. Natural citrus flavors combined with Agave Nectar and Prickly Pear Juice create a great tasting, functional beverage.

Code Blue contains the optimal amount of electrolytes to help consumers stay hydrated and a potent vitamin and mineral complex, including high levels of Vitamins B12, B6 and Vitamin C, as well as Vitamin A, Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium. Code Blue has only 60 calories, contains no caffeine and is low in sugar and carbohydrates.

Code Blue is packaged in a fully recyclable 12 oz PET opaque blue bottle. Its cutting edge design utilizes “LiquidMetal” technology to replicate a polished metal look, and a 3D Holographic Ink label which provides a strong shelf presence.

The recovery beverage will be available in select nightclubs, restaurants and hotels beginning in September 2008, with retail establishments to follow.

Chugging a MGD with a few aspirin always seems to work for me.

Flame up on Bauer's Blog

Yes, I read Michael Bauer's blog.

No, I have never and probably won't ever comment on it.

Holy Schnikies, did cocktail culture catch some flames on the most recent post

Another Completely Un-Booze Related Post

I love San Francisco.

Someone took it upon themselves to relabel most of Bush Street last night in honor of our new President.

I thank them...hilarious.

I wish Mr. Obama the best of luck, this ain't gonna be easy.

Glorious, Digital Cocktail-Geekery

The right proper Mr. Simon Difford of the eponymous guide sent a release today unveiling his new iPhone Ap, Cocktails Made Easy.

I pronounce it good. Very good in fact. But as with the original Difford's Guides (actual paper is so 2006) the real value for me is not the spot-on recipes and meticulous technique. It's the pics.

Absolutely beautiful, clinically clean images of pristine cocktails.

Inspiring.

Also, the shaking option which just brings up a random drink his a blast.

I Thank You V.

One of the truely great things about being a bartender, or more specificly, running a bar program to be proud of, is the chance to turn deserving and appreciative guests on to special products. My bar is lucky in that we have more than our fair share of foodies, wine geeks, spiritists, hop-heads and mixies that are quite happy to listen to us when we are jazzed those beautiful things that make our world fun.

One of our favorites in this area is V. (he happens to be a doctor, but we just call him by his first name.) V. is game for anything, as long as we believe in it. I have poured him everything from aged Chacaca, to the Brora 30, to Scaldis Prestige. On top of this, his wine knowledge is vast and regularly shares the most serious bottles on our wine list with the staff. I used to feel guilty about drinking these quater glasses he would pour for me until I realized just how important it is for him to share. I believe that have the enjoyment he gets out the good stuff is knowing that others are enjoying it as well.

V. went over the top this month.

Our Wine Director loaded up on some incredible bottles from Heredia Reserva line. Most notablely a 1970 Todonia, a 1976 Todonia and a 1976 Bosconia. V. Jumped at the chance, bought a 76 Bosconia (Tempranilio, Grenache, Graciano & Mazuelo) and shared it. I was stunned at how lively and bright a 3 decade old wine could be. I will not review it more than to say this was a wine I could easily drink every day...a friggen miracle.

Well, a couple of days after this, I had 3 guys wander in kind of late and ask for the bottle list. I sell them a mid-priced Rhone I am fond of, they dig it and it is gone in about 20 minutes. They look over the list again and ask about the reserve section with the Heredia Reservas.

"It just so happens that I got a half glass of one of the 76's a few nights ago," I say and I relate to them the experience and my surprize at how lively it was. I am little stunned when they say 'let's go for it.'

They love it so much they follow it with the '76 Todonia and share some with me. This one tasted much more mature (as weird as that it is to say about such equally old bottles) and was the prefect follow up.

The next week when V. comes back in, I tell him that I owe him a thank-you for the initial tasting he shared with me as it allowed me to sell two more bottles and I give him my notes on the Todonia. He immeadiately orders our last remaining bottle of that vintage and shares it again. As a matter a fact, he is so happy with it, that he buys our last 1970 Todonia ($325) to lay away so that it didn't get bought before he had a crack at it.

We opened it tonight.

Amazing.

I thank you V.

Shot of Hope

One of my very generous regulars dropped one of these guys off for me last week.

I love it.

Get one.

Master of Time and Space....and Spanish wine.

I have had a big couple of months (moving sort of hindered my regular blogging groove, but I am back) on every front of my life.

Professionally, I won a couple of competitions that I am pretty excited about. Firstly, the Vinos de Jerez invitational which meant cash, a trip to Spain and most important of all, a full scholarship to the BAR. Secondly, a cava cocktail contest I entered months ago just ended and I won a hand-painted porron to celebrate with! I know, I know, it says Chris D. won, he was kind of enough to alert me to the contest and submit the recipes for me.

Just waiting for Rioja and Portugal to get on board with cocktail contests so I can wrap up the whole of Iberia and get on with world domination. Look out Andora, I got my eye on you too.

Look where Josie Landed.

Sometime San Francisco Bartender Josie Packard packed it and moved to Boston with her love this year. We were all sort of wondering where she would end up. You see Josie is in it purely for the love of the cocktail. She is (or rather was) not a career waitron who found solace and inspiration behind the bar like so many of us. Instead, she came to game as a result of her fascination with vintage drinking.

Today's New York Times shows that she has found a bar with the same values.

I congratulate Josie, John Gertson (the head barman I believe) and the rest of the crew. Your bar looks wonderful.

Camper breaks into Environmental Design.

Today on Alcademics. Camper gets his architecture on.

Really?

The New York Times had an article on the 12th exposing the recent explosion of cocktail culture.... Wow, they really have their hand on the pulse with this one. I mean really, cocktails? Who has read anything about cocktails recently?

Aside from the redundancy of the piece, I was struck by the picture included. It is of a bartender at the new Apotheke in Manhattan setting up Absinthe drips over flaming sugar cubes. I am quite surprised that a program of that stature would follow this relatively recent Czech tradition. I know it looks cool and all (it must really be crazy in the opium den aesthetic of Apotheke) but I was under the impression that this was total sacrilege. I am no big fan of the Wormwood Society (I ran afoul and scored a heap of vitriol for being photographed with a bottle of an unfavored Absinthe in the foreground) but I will defer to them as far as procedure goes and they could not be more clear that burning is wrong. I think I even saw a 'Friends don't let friends burn the sugar' T-shirt.

I would love to know what is going on there.

Huh?

Jamie Boudreau is cool.

I have only met him a couple of times and never really got down to chat, but he is cool. He is a great writer, a brilliant photographer and I assume a great bartender as his knowledge and taste are both becoming legendary.

The latest update on his blog (put it on your feed...now) leaves me a bit twisted.

I have both the urge to lay down some snide comments and to congratulate him as well as thank him for saving a program in an historic bar.

I will do both.

Tini Bigs!?! That's just great. I hear Todd Smith is teaming up with Jimmy Meehan and pulling some shifts at respective local Cheesecake Factories.

Seriously, what a great opportunity to evangelize and make a beautiful bar respectable again. Good luck.

How'd that come off?

I declare that I now own the word 'cool'.

This is Absolutely retarded.

It is no secret that I am not a vodka fan. I bad mouth it quite a bit, rarely reach for it and do my damnedest to talk it's drinkers into trying something else with more character. It is not that I actually dislike the spirit when it is well made. I do not have a vendetta against the tradition itself...vodka did not ruin my life or kill my family. But it did lie to me.

It started (in my opinion) in the 80's with those Absolut print ads. They were undeniably cool and got us thinking of liquor as fresh, hip and current. Unfortunately they got the category pumped up with the notion that the outside of the bottle is more important than what's inside. Sidney Frank took it further in the late 90's with the creation of Grey Goose and the lies grew from the little white variety (bottles are worth more because of the 'art' involved) to some serious bullshit (French vodka?)

Now Absolut wants to own the word the co-opted for their name.

Screw you Absolut. Good luck getting on any back bar I put together ever again.

Liqurious

Liquious is fast becoming my favorite bar-related feed. I know absolutely nothing about it other than it seems to be a juried user-driven clearing house of articles. All of the feeds I subscribe to have popped up and I have discovered quite a few new ones through them.

Check it out.

Whiskyfest!!!!

Whiskyfest is coming to San Francisco for it's second year this week. I am actually missing the event itself, but have been having some some fun with the auxiliary events that it has spawned.

Here is a iphone shot of the Rye producers I would be harassing if I was in town on Friday.

High-Tech in DC

I found this video on Washingtonian.com in a piece morning the passing of an underground cocktail event called Hummingbird to Mars (here is where the name came from..not bad). While I personally have found that sous vide is unnecessary for infusing alcohol unless you are super pressed for time, I respect those that are into reaching out for new techniques. This may not be the most informative video out there, but I enjoyed it am taking a few ideas from it.

Cherries and Glass

Cherry Heering is one of my favorite bottles to pull out when I want to give a cocktail a little twist. I can't think of any drink that doesn't work with the addition of a quarter ounce or two of the stuff (seriously, try anything.) I was recently turned on to the very unique contest they are running for both fashion and drinks designers. I am trying to resist the urge to enter something, but could not help but bounce around the site as it is put together so nicely.

The best thing about it for me was the glassware. Just where the hell has Orrefors been my whole life anyway? The pic above is from a line I could never hope to afford where each stem is encircled by an engraved silver ring.

Just beautiful.

Forbidden

My main rum guy, tiki expert and somtime personal taxi driver (that's twice now buddy) is a gentleman name Martin Cate, proprietor of Forbidden Island on Alameda. His cocktails are righteous, his mastery of our lore and history is unrivaled and whats more, he is just a plain nice guy.

Eric Felton wisely featured Martin in his WJS article on Tiki recently, you should read it.

The Octomore Bottle

The Whiskey Exchange is a tremendous source of news and knowledge for those interested brown liquor. Today they published the first look we are getting at the Octomore bottle (see my early posting for more info.)

How cool does this thing look?

Holy Crap, Morgenthaler is One Smart Cat

Jefferey Morganthaler is in Berlin for something called a Bar Convent. He has been posting about his experiences leading up to his presentation and it all looks pretty fantastic.

However, the recount of his presentation is truly informative. It makes me want to quit this blog and pick up another shift.

Speakcheezy!?!

Jason Wilson wrote a great piece for the Washington Post on the Speakeasy/Prohibition theme that modern cocktalians are so obsessed with (myself included.) Just check out the matching outfits Marcos Tello, Eric Alperin and I just happened to put together.

Just Horrible

Trashy, but I totally want a pair.

Cougar Bourbon

I just had a friend ask me about Cougar Bourbon. I had never heard of it so naturally, I get to digging. As best I can tell it is an Aussie-only brand that is contract distilled in Indiana at the old Seagram's distillery that Pernod-Ricard purchased then sold to Angostura's parent company, CL Financial. I have absolutely no clue to how it is, I am just posting it because I think it is fascinating that there is still more whiskey out there to discover.

Also, here is an ad I found on youtube...not bad.

Brotherhood

I am just home from a weekend in Los Angeles where I helped tend what must be California's first Genever bar. The event was Wolfgang Puck's American Food and Wine Festival. The location was the back lot at Universal Studios. The product was some beautiful Genever courtesy of Bols. These were all good things.

The company I had however, was inspiring. Next to me was Eric Alperin and Marcos Tello, two absolutely devastating bartenders and just plain beautiful people.

This 'cocktail thing' we got going on just keeps getting better and better.

My First Atempt at Mobile Blogging

Looks the The Torture Museum has a temporary exhibit at the Oakland Airport....It's a trophy case of vintage machines designed to humble and frustrate bartenders.



Sent using only the power of my mind.

Genever

Read it, learn it, drink it, love it.

From my Dad

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received a $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.
A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.
Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.
That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you proud to be an American!

Dr. Bamboo

Dr. Bamboo never ceases to amaze me. Check out his blog on the Tiki art of Ice Cones.

If only we could harness his power for good....

'The Worst Hides the Best'

A wine maker in the Languedoc has recently used self-derision in a pretty bold way to draw attention to his new bottling's. An article in Wine Business International launches 'Vin de Merde,' or Shit Wine.

Pretty funny.

I was particularly drawn to the phrase 'The Worst Hides the Best.' This can be so very true. A good example for me came in the form of a cocktail book from the early 40's called 'Here's How,' in one edition and 'Just Cocktails' in another. Over all these are just plain bad books. Many mislabeled drinks and screwed up recipes are one thing. Truly racists and sexist cartoon illustrations in the margins are another. They are actually why I kept reading the book the first time I saw it. I couldn't believe how bad it was getting.

Then I came across this gem.

The Derby:

2 oz. Rye Whisky

1/2 oz. Benedictine

Bitters (I like Peychaud's here)

Hmmm. That didn't actually sound too bad. Well those who know me, know I have completely fallen for this drink, even after finding out it really should be called a Monte Carlo (I sticking with Derby though). I think of it as a smart Manhattan and slip it in on people who profess to not like whisky drinks. It borders on being my signature drink and I found it in one of the worst vintage books in my collection. The worst hides the best indeed.

Ardbeg Fun

The guys at Ardbeg sure are having a good time marketing recently. I just got word of the Blasda today. A very lightly peated Ardbeg? I look forward to trying it and am very curious to see how it is received faithful peat-heads.

The pic is of me and the boys digging peat on Isaly.

The Future

These guys hung out at my bar last night and we had a blast.

MUST HAVE IT

Port-o-Pong

Drinks of The Teardrop

The last two nights at Nopa, we have had Alyson Dykes from The Teardrop Cocktail Lounge in Portland visiting behind our bar and it has been great. We featured some drinks from our friends to the North with much success (went through almost 2 full bottles of Yellow Chartreuse in 2 nights....c'mon now, what bar does that?) and Alyson took to making our drinks with aplomb.

I forgot to take a pic of her behind the bar so imagine the above is her.

We are going to send my boy Matt Conway up to complete the exchange soon and then start shopping around for more guests. Phil Ward from Death & Co. definitely got the exchange thing rolling early this year when he swapped with Thomas Waugh from The Alembic. Like all ideas that I love, I have knocked it off.

Here is a sample of the menu:

Vow of Silence (top seller!) Martin Miller's Gin / Grapefruit / Lemon / Yellow Chartreuse / Averna Amaro / Gomme Syrup

Venial Sin Partida Blanco / St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur / Luxardo Maraschino / Yellow Chartreuse / Del Maguey Chichicapa Mezcal / thai chili tincture

Empyrean Sazerac 6-yr Rye / ramazzotti / luxardo / del maguey minero mezcal / lemon / flaming orange

Insufferable Bastard Sazerac 6-yr Rye / Aviation Gin / Cynar Amaro / Lime / Ginger Beer

Wondrich and I like Hats.

The above pic (provided by the excellent Mr. Eric Alperin) is of a certain cocktail historian and myself listening to the Master Distiller, Paul Wanrooij, at the Wynand Fockink Distillery in Amsterdam (yes...I know, I know, I am a big fan of Wynand Fockink too). These guys specialize in the herbal distillate that is the flavor component of Genever as well as making liqueurs and bitters.

To be blunt, I was in heaven here. All the flasks behind him are infusions he is playing around with as he designs new flavors and such. Mr. Tal Nadari even sneaked me a pour of his potato spirit which was so much more than any vodka I have ever had. Not being constrained by faulty focus groups and marketing suits, he didn't strip the nuance and terroir of the spuds with over filtering and smootheners but rather left the spirit a natural and true expression. It was delicious.

While this was actually the last stop on our series of tours, I definitely learned the most here. The history of the place along with the passion of the distiller are palpable in the air. If you can be in the building and not be inspired by it...well, I just don't think that would be possible.

Ebay Problem

Many who know me know I have a slight EBay addiction that I am dealing with. The above is an advertisement I bought late one night that was waiting for me when I got home today.

I love it.

Amsterdam

I am just back from a very cool trip to Amsterdam and am still gathering my thoughts as far as posting goes. Here is a taste of what is to come.

I am not saying they drink a lot over there, but just look at the size of their jiggers.

It seems my typing muscle is gimped.

Lookit!

When you have Nothing Original to Post...

Just lift from someone else. This from Scotchblog caught my fancy today.

How about Air Ramos Fizz Shaking?

So this guy has been showing up at the bar this week with a sweet 'stache dyed bright red and fairly looney burner look. I got to talking to him last night and got the story. He is couch surfing in the neighborhood so he could compete in the US Air Guitar Championship.

Pretty Damn Cool.

Another New York/San Francisco Discussion.

Michael Bauer, the food editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, blogged today on the closing of the very well respected Rubicon. He contacted the owner, who operates mostly in New York, and a some very interesting points concerning the differences between the Coasts as far as dining goes. In my opinion, some of these translate to the cocktail world as well. Gary Regan focused a column on this awhile back (wherein I was featured...guess this whole post is just here to point that out...again,) and many of the same points were echoed.

Here are the points I agree with most as they translate to drinks:

• San Francisco is less trendy. "They seem to be more interested in the rituals of dining rather than just going out to say they've gone to the latest place," he says.
  Diners and chefs are more respectful of and knowledgeable about the ingredients here.
  I think a better way to phrase this is that in San Francisco is cooler to know about what you are consuming than to consume it in a cool place.
• People eat earlier in San Francisco; it's difficult to get people to accept a reservation after 9 p.m.
  Definitely the same with drinks. Very few bars are full at last call during the week...damn 9-to-5ers.
• "There's a very tight food community here where everyone plays their part," he says. That level of camaraderie doesn't exist in other places, he says.
  Word.

ri 1

A couple of months ago I was contacted by some market researchers who wanted my thoughts on American Whiskey. I told them I was looking for transparency as to what is actually in the bottle (what distillery, mash bill, higher proof, no chill filtering.) They in turn gave me absolutely no information at all as to what they were researching for.

John Hansel of the Malt Advocate might have just shown us. There is a lot I like about this bottle right away without having even held it yet. 46 ABV means no chill filtering, it's not overly aged, we know it was made on the Jim Beam stills, these are all things I really like. Lets see what it tastes like in a few months.

Only 3 Days Left

Spot the Barrel is almost here. I just entered again.

Look at this Beautiful Woman

From the Portland Bee:

A Solid Drink out of DC.

Camper is going to love this one.

Being a good Maryland Boy, I keep up with the news of the East via online editions of my ex-local papers. Check out this drink from Kathryn Bangs at the Tabard Inn (my favorite brunch spot in the District) I found in the Washington Post.

I did a quick ghetto version just now with Russel's Reserve and a 20 year old balsamic...kickin'.

Another Reason I love this Profression.

The excellently mustachioed Joshua Harris let me in on the latest shooter craze at his venue. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Lindsay Lohan. Well actually we will skip the recipe, it is just a Red Headed Slut with a splash of Coke.

Malt Advocate catches up to OH Group

To be fair, John Hansell has a LOT more going on than I do. But I still couldn't help but giggle to myself when I saw his recent review of High West's Rendezvous Rye. I dropped my review back in April.

And speaking of our beloved Rye, here is a cocktail we have been calling the Porkchop Express or sometimes the Porkchop Manhattan depending on how loose the guest is. While I am not a huge fan of cocktails with dinner, this one provides the steady base line that lets a grilled chop find it's voice and sing like the smokey angel it wants to be.

The Armargo Cuzco bitters are my version of the Peruvian Chuncho bitters that were used a substitute for Angostura when the Pisco Sour made it's way back south to it's ancestral home. I use my homemade Angostura recipe but with a ton more Cinnamon. You can take a more simple and speedy route by infusing a bottle of Angostura with Cinnamon for a week.

1 3/4 oz. High West Rendezvous Rye

1/2 oz. Carpano Antica

1/2 oz. Creme de Mure (Leopold's is perfect for this recipe)

5 hits Amargo Cuzco aromatic Cinnamon bitters.

Stir gently over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. No garnish needed.

Some Well-Meaning Banter

Some comments I had to post on Off the Presses,

Autumn and Galliano

Inspired by Morganthaler's use of Strega, I just used the last of my Galliano L'Autentico sample bottle in a wonderful Autumnal cocktail. While my program is doing it's part to chew through San Francisco's supply of the old, lower proof stuff (two bottles a week!!!!!), I still don't think we are going to get into the new supply for few months. So, in preparation of a fall drop, I give you the Autunno:

1 oz. Calvados
1 oz. Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz. Galliano L'Autentico
1/4 oz. Maraschino

Stir gently over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with lemon zest.

It's Funny Because it's True.

Camper, will write my eulogy?

Why bother writing original posts when you have friends who blog like this.

Mean New Zester found on Liqurious

This thing is just plain vicious

Tales

It pains me to no end to find myself quoting Jimmy Buffet:

My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't love Jesus.
It's that kind of mornin', really was that kind of night.
Tryin' to tell myself that my condition is improvin'
and if I don't die by Thursday I'll be roarin' Friday night.

I knew going into Tales that I was not going to be up to posting while there and I am sort of gratified (justified?) to see that most blogs cocktailian are noticeably thin on their Tales coverage. There was just too much going on. Rather than attempt to give a detailed recap, I am just going to freeform it. If you fit in here somewhere, thanks. If you were there with me and you don't see a reference to yourself, don't feel bad, I was just too drunk to focus.

10 Po'Boys (that's right, 10!!)
The Alibi
The Oregon Cocktail Suite
Elevator Networking
Carousel Bar Networking
Lobby Networking
Sidewalk Networking
Poolside Networking
In the Pool Networking (only a little bit gay)
Late-night Suite Networking
Morganthaler ('nuff said)
Mother's
MotAC (just lovely)
Sunrise...all 5 of them
lime juice
Meyer the Hatter
Lance Winters sitting next to Ted Breaux Sitting next to me
Gary muthergrabin Regan!
LUPEC Boston (I love you gals)
Last call at the Old Absinthe House (don't we get a T-shirt or something for making that long)
Where the hell is Dominic Venegas?

One last Blog before Tales

If you profess to care about Whisky at all, this will fascinate you.

Bruichladdich is replacing their oldest washback right now. This is big doings for a number of reasons. The one that just blows me away is this. The man in charge of the procedure is one Duncan McGillivray, Distillery Manager and one of the most gentlemanly men I have ever met. Well, it turns out that the wood he is replacing was installed by his great uncle... 105 years ago.

In a world of hi-tech column distillation and white grape-passion fruit confected vodka, stories like this border on biblical for me.

Off to Tales I Go

I doubt I will blog for the next week, but expect some fun stuff when I get back.

Here is an interesting site put up by the folk at Hendrick's Gin in the meantime.

Rick Nails it Again

I love Martini Groove.

Tales of the Cocktail

Alright. So I am completely overwhelmed by the line up this year. I have noticed many other bloggers posting their itineraries (none of which have included my panel yet....bastards) and I am quite impressed with how well thought out and organized they seem to be. I, for one, will be winging it.

Wish me luck.

PS: I promise to post a pic of each and every po'boy I eat.

Diet Sodas get you drunk

Science proves diet sodas really do suck. Todays NY Times.

The Express Train to Awesometown

Wow!

How not too smell spirits.

Friday's San Francisco Chronicle had a piece on the latest release of Rye from Anchor Distilling. The above pic of me seemingly killing my olfactory nerves accompanied. I would just like to point out that someone had put ice in all the samples and I had pulled my cube and was trying to warm up the whiskey so I could actually smell something. It was way under 90 proof by the time I stuck my nose in it.

As for the whiskey, Jackie and I both were simply dumbfounded by how tropical the nose was. Pineapples all over the place. On the palate, it is much more mature and restrained than the previous releases. A definite must buy if you can find it.

What's in a name

If you ask a room full of bartenders what the hardest part of making up new drinks is and you will almost always get the same answer...The Name. This is mostly because we want people to actually drink our creations and generally speaking, the name printed on the menu is the best way to get the consumers attention. Yet we also don't want to to come of as too silly. I often quote Simon Diford and suggest using racing forms and stealing horse names.

Well here is a non-boose-related site that turns up some interesting names.