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.