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Tales of the Cocktail Preview: The Chainsaw Shift

This is a preview of a seminar that will be given at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, which takes place July 20-24, 2011.

The Chainsaw Shift

There are two seminars this year at Tales about setting up an ice program. I'm pretty sure this one will be the only one with chainsaws though. The other, How to Build a Cutting Edge Ice Program, is part of the professionals series, though both seem geared toward professionals.

I was treated to a preview of sorts of this seminar in San Francisco, as Andrew Bohrer came down and gave bartenders a demo of cutting a huge block of ice into workable blocks at Heaven's Dog.

For those of you who saw this post on Alcademics in August 2010, the below is a repeat of that post, and hopefully a preview of what we'll witness at Tales.

Note: there is some NSFW language in the videos along with chainsaw noise.

First they started with the giant block and shaved off slices.

Then they cut those slices into rectangles

Then they cut those rectangles into cubes.

Then Andrew Bohrer demonstrated cutting an ice cube into an ice sphere using the shaving method.

Then he showed how he makes shaved ice by shaving ice.

Then he showed how he takes a big chunk of ice and with a knife can reduce it down to cubes.

Then Amanda Womack shows how she cuts ice spheres- by tapping at the outside with a knife rather than shaving.

An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

The Details:

Time: 10 AM to 11:30 AM
Date: Friday the 22nd of July, 2011
Venue: La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone
Moderators: Andrew Bohrer
Panelists: Anu Apte

The Chainsaw Shift is about offering to you a shift in thinking about the buzz phrase, “ice program.” The Chainsaw Shift is the lowest waste, highest quality way to have an, “ice program,” as well as being the simplest way to do so. This seminar is a shift in thinking on how bartenders treat their most essential and common ingredient: ice. Quality ice allows the bartender to reevaluate and reimagine every step of the drink making process and brings new joy and beauty to the simplest cocktails.

This seminar will cover the basics of safely and efficiently processing 300 lb. blocks of crystal clear ice with the aid of carpenter’s tools and a trusty chainsaw. We will also discuss and demonstrate techniques for cutting ice to improve aesthetics and quality of every cocktail. Examples will include in-glass ice sculptures, crushed ice, shaved ice, cracked & cubed ice for mixing and carving spheres, diamonds and other shapes. The Chainsaw Shift will never replace the ice machine; rather it will make every bartender into an ice machine.

June 10, 2011
All About Orris: Harvest in Tuscany

In Tuscany on a botanical trip with Bombay Sapphire, we learned how the orris root is grown and processed to use in the gin.

Orris root is the rhizome of the Iris flower. Here in Tuscany they are grown on sloping hills between rows of olive trees. Nice space.

These iris flowers are not grown for their beauty, unlike other iris varieties, but for the quality of their rhizomes.

The rhizomes are bulbs on the base of the plants. Skinny roots shoot off the rhizomes. These are cut off.

The plant tops, with a tiny portion of the rhizome attached, are replanted.

The orris is then hand peeled.

Then it is left out to dry in the sun.

Later it is aged. The floral aspect comes out only after this, when it is extracted into gin or perfume.

June 3, 2011
Picking Juniper Berries in Tuscany: A Photo Album

In May I visited Italy to learn more about the botanicals used in Bombay Sapphire. From Tuscany they get both the juniper berries and orris used in the gin.

In the rolling hills of Tuscany at high elevations where there are few trees and many wildflowers are found the juniper bushes.

They're kind of ugly, sprawling little bushes.

They're full of clusters of berries- more than I'd expect. We were there during the off season, so not many are the blue color of ripe berries.

Juniper is harvested by hand, using wide round baskets and short sticks.

They stick the baskets beneath a branch and whack it with the stick so that the blue, ripe berries fall off but the green, unripe ones do not.

Some of the needles stick to the berries. Any green ones that get in are sorted out later.

I tried it, but wasn't very good at it.

But then again, there weren't actually any ripe berries to harvest at this time of year.

June 2, 2011
In Which I Blather On About…

…cocktail snobs versus geeks, micro and macro trends in cocktails, what drinks win cocktail contests, why I'm not sick of speakeasies, and much, much more.

Read this interview with me on Mix Pour Sip.

May 27, 2011
A Thousand Year Old Drunken Regret Letter

For my book club I read the book Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk. It's about European explorers finding and raiding the artwork of abandonded and sand-buried cities along the silk road.

In a chapter on finding a hidden library of ancient scrolls at Tun-huang, the author notes (page 175) that they found "a thousand-year-old 'model' letter of apology in Chinese designed for inebriated guests to send to their hosts."

I think you'll find it's still useful today.

Here's the translation:

'Yesterday, having drunk too much, I was so intoxicated as to pass all bounds; but none of the rude and coarse language I used was uttered in a conscious state. The next morning, after hearing others speak on the subject, I realized what had happened, whereupon I was overwhelmed with confusion and ready to sink into the ground with shame…'

The letter adds that the writer will soon come to apologize in person for his transgression. A suitable reply for the outraged hosted is suggested, which Giles translates thus:

'Yesterday, Sir, while in your cups, you so far overstepped the observances of polite society as to forfeit the name of gentleman, and made me wish to have nothing more to do with you. But since you now express your shame and regret for what has occured, I would suggest that we meet again for a friendly talk…'

Sounds like something I've heard from a bartender or two in this millennium.

May 23, 2011
The SF Chronicle’s 2011 Bar Stars
The SF Chronicle has announced the 2011 Bar Stars, bartenders who deserve special recognition. The introduction by Wine Editor Jon Bonne is here.

The Bar Stars are:
- Morgan Young (I did this write-up)
- Carlo Splendorini
- Jason "Buffalo" LoGrasso
- Alex Smith
- Kevin Diedrich
Click the links for the write-ups on each bartender.

(Photo by Russell Yip/SF Chronicle.)
May 23, 2011
Good on Toast, Great in Drinks

(Photo courtesy of That's My Jamm)

David Ruiz of Mr. Smith's makes jams and preserves just for cocktails. I wrote about it with a quick note about jam in cocktails historically, and in which bar you can find a mezcal drink with strawberry-raspberry-jabanero jam. Yumz.

Read about That's My Jamm on Tasting Table. The story is here.

May 20, 2011
Stovetop Ice Balls: A First Attempt

Now that we know one way to make crystal clear ice, what are we gonna do with it?

One thing I've wanted to attempt is to make ice balls. These can be carved by hand, but that's a lot of work. The big copper ice ball makers make lovely ice balls, but these cost a ton of money. I've been trying to think of a new solution.

When they send bars the copper ice ball makers, they send an ice cube tray that makes a big enough cube to use in it. Unfortunately that tray produces cubes that are cloudy in the center, for reasons described earlier on this site.

I am a big enough nerd that I have brought my own clear ice to a bar that had the ice ball maker to produce a clear ball. It was lovely.

So I made a first attempt at another way of creating ice balls with conventional equipment: The Stovetop Ice Ball Method.

Don't get too excited: So far it doesn't work.

The theory is that I'll start with a clear block of ice and melt it into a heated metal bowl, creating a half-sphere. Then I'll turn it over and make another half sphere joining that one to form a complete sphere.

I bought a bowl at Ikea that's probably four inches in diameter – too big for a glass but fine for an experiment. I sat the block of ice on it, and set the bowl on the stove burner.

Click the link below (if you see one) to keep reading.

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May 5, 2011
A Better Use for Peeps Than Eating Them

A couple years ago I made Peep straws. Here's the original post.

April 23, 2011
It’s Easter Egg (Ice) Time Again

Here's the Easter Ice project from a couple years ago that I'm reposting. Go here to learn how to make it.

April 22, 2011