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The Gentleman’s Companion’s Companion

The Gentleman's Companion by Charles H. Baker is one of the most entertaining historical cocktail books, if not always the most useful. It contains cocktail recipes gathered from Baker's travels around the world, but the best parts are the drink introductions and settings. Like this one:

THE JAMAICAN BLACK STRIPE, another Heartener from that Tropical Paradise, that May Be Served either Hot or Cold
If served cold: work 2 tsp strained honey into 1 tbsp boiling water until well dissolved. Add 1 jigger Jamaica rum, shake with cracked ice, pour into stemmed cocktail glass and dust with nutmeg. Furnished us by Emerson Low, Esq., gentleman, student, Rhodes Scholar, author and delightful dilettante, who, now that he is married and possessed of child and responsibility, is not nearly so diverting, it pains us to say.

It's a cocktail recipe, and a total diss.

Anyway, my pal St. John Frizell has been studying the life of Charles H. Baker. He gave an awesome talk at Tales of the Cocktail this year, and published a long biography in the Oxford American this summer. Now he's posted the story on his website. It's a must-read for all Baker fans.

October 13, 2008
Maker’s Mark Distillery Visit

As part of a visit to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, I visited the Jim Beam and Maker's Mark distilleries in September. Today I'll talk about visiting Maker's Mark.

The distillery has been around since 1805, but was purchased by Mr. Samuels, founder of Maker's Mark, in the early 1950's. This distillery will receive 70,000 visitors this year, and not just because they're fans of the product- this is one of the most beautiful distilleries I've ever seen. With its little bridges, common color theme, trees, and lawns it's more like a college campus. In fact when I was there in September the tours going through almost looked like summer tours for prospective students.

Maker's is different than other bourbons as it is 70% corn (all non-GMO) plus malted barley and "soft red winter wheat" instead of the rye in most other brands. Also pretty unique is that at this distillery they make only one bourbon- only one product at all.

Also at the distillery, they use an "anaerobic processor" to capture methane biogass
from their waste, which allows them to reduce their natural gas use by
15-30 percent. They also sell off their spent grains for animal feed,
but I'm not sure at what point that happens.

One thing I learned about Kentucky bourbon is that the products produced here are tied to the distiller who produced them (or popularized them), rather than the company. When people talk about a bourbon, they're talking about a distiller, and not usually the current one. When you talk about Jim Beam and the Small Batch Bourbon collection, people think about Booker Noe, who recently died, not so much Fred Noe who is the current voice of the company. When Fred Noe talks about the line, he talks about his father, not himself.

That was also the case at Maker's Mark- Master Distiller Kevin Smith said that his job is to keep Maker's Mark the same as Bill Samuels Sr. created it, and if they created a new product then it wouldn't be a brand extension, it would probably be something new. When they do special editions of Maker's with a different color of wax on the bottle, it's still the same whisky inside.

Anyway, I think it's interesting how different companies with a history are loyal to the company philosophy or the founder or the product itself.

Maker's rotates their barrels in the warehouse, and is the only bourbon distillery to still rotate all of the inventory. The barrels are first put at the top of the warehouse for three years, then spend another three at the bottom.

Beyond its flavor, Maker's is known for its branding- the iconic bottle with the red dripping wax unique to each bottle. The bottle design, wax seal, and the "maker's mark" itself were created by Mrs. Samuels, Bill Samuels' wife. The dripping wax is actually trademarked, which is why you don't see other brands doing it.

Those are all of my fun facts for now. More pictures from my Maker's Mark distillery visit are here.

October 9, 2008
Oh, Sherry!

I haven't seen the print edition yet, but the digital edition of my story in Men's Book (by San Francisco Magazine) is viewable online here.

The story is about sherry in cocktails. The story mentions drinks on the menu at 15 Romolo, NOPA, and the forthcoming Gitane, but since I wrote it, sherry drinks have been turning up everywhere.

One of my favorite drinks in San Francisco right now is Joel Baker's "Drink Without a Name #3". It contains Fino or Manzanilla sherry, Chartreuse, and a basil garnish, and was originally created with fresh pears but is on the menu now at Bourbon & Branch with stone fruit instead. (Or at least it was- they recently changed the menu for fall.)

The print is too small to read these screen shots, so follow the link about to read the story online. It's on Pages 90-91.

October 8, 2008
A visit to the Jim Beam distillery

In September I visited the Jim Beam and Maker's Mark distilleries as part of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. For all the distilleries I've been to in 10 different countries, I'd never seen a bourbon distillery.

The Claremont Jim Beam distillery is a huge facility, and one of two where the product is distilled. They receive tons of grain daily, and distill whiskey 24 hours a day, 6 days each week. The annual output is around 6 million cases of bourbon each year. (I believe they also distill the small batch bourbon collection here- Booker's, Baker's, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden.) Beam uses 70 warehouses to store their 1.7-1.8 million barrels of bourbon that are aging.

Beam is made from corn, rye, and barley. Interestingly, we get GMO corn in the US bourbon, but they distill, age, and bottle non-GMO spirit separately for export to Europe where they have restrictions against GMO products. (I definitely want to learn more about this so if anyone has a non-hysterical GMO book/video they can recommend let me know.)

The bourbon is first column distilled in the "beer still" that's about six stories high. It is then distilled a second time in the "doubler" which they say looks like a pot still but is continuous. (We didn't see it.)

The barrel warehouses are not only enormous, they're very tall- nine stories, with each story holding three tiers of barrels. At the top of the warehouse where it's hot, the barrels gain proof over time as more water evaporates out of the barrel (through the wood) than spirit. At the bottom of the warehouse, the whiskey loses proof as more alcohol evaporates than water.

When selecting barrels to use for Beam, they take barrels from each level of the warehouse to make up the final blend. For the Booker's bottling, which is cask-strength and unfiltered, they only take barrels from one middle floor.

After aging, the barrels are emptied, diluted, and bottled. You can find more pictures on my Flickr page here. In tomorrow's post, I'll talk about the bottling facility- with videos!

October 7, 2008
Here’s that story I wrote about bartenders

Bay Area's best mixologists leaving bars for brands

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, September 19, 2008

While you're still likely to run into many of San Francisco's best
mixologists in the usual cocktail hot spots, increasingly they'll be
standing on the other side of the bar.

That's because many local bartenders have accepted full- or part-time
positions as spirits brand ambassadors, bar consultants and sales
representatives. David Nepove, Jon Santer, Jacques Bezuidenhout and
Todd Smith are some of the top talent who are working behind the stick
one night per week, if that. Even more are bartending three nights or
fewer.

(read the rest of the story here)

September 21, 2008
On ice

When Alembic bartender Josey Packard talked about moving from San Francisco back to Boston, she was worried about getting the right job. "There's a place opening in the fall that will have a Kold Draft machine, and I think I need to work there," she said. "Otherwise I'll have to make ice at home and bring it in my backpack on my bike to work."

The statement was ridiculous and made in all seriousness. And I know how she feels- I'm not a bartender but I, too, cringe when forced to use the wrong ice in a drink. I keep three sizes in my refrigerator at home at all times. For a bartender, it must be like being a bike messenger forced to install training wheels.

The New York Times covered the issue of ice last week from the consumer's perspective, and mostly focused on store-bought ice.

Recently, I found this May New York Magazine slideshow on the best ice in New York, and it made me seethe with jealousy. Ice orchids? WANT.

At Tales of the Cocktail this July, Kold-Draft supplied the ice for the convention and it made me very happy. I spoke with some Kold-Draft people there and found out that the machines are really not all that expensive, at a little more than $3,000 each. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, barfolk.) If that's the case, why don't more places have them? Once I took a friend on a bar tour of San Francisco and realized we hit every venue that has a Kold-Draft in the city- you know, all five of them.

Looking on the website, it appears that you can buy a Kold-Draft machine for your house for $1800 that fits under the sink. That doesn't seem that expensive (my perspective may be skewed on this) though still not affordable for a poor writer like myself. But I can imagine how glorious it would be, lounging around with those big, clear cubes like some sort of celebrity. I would have people over and they'd be all, "My, what big ice you have!" and I'd act nonchalant about it.

Then again, it would only foster ice snobbery in me, and I'd end up bringing a load of them to ice-challenged bars in my backpack. Can you use this good ice instead?

August 12, 2008
Who’s rocking at the clock?

Not only is Bacar’s Joe Parrilli now working at the Clock Bar (note: hat-less!), Bourbon & Branch’s Kevin Diedrich will be pulling shifts there too starting today. He told me he’ll still be spending some time at Bourbon & Branch- after all, he’s the one creating a lot of the homemade syrups, tonic water, and other items on the list.

With three good guys behind the bar, Clock Bar should make a swell addition to the downtown cocktail circuit- as if I needed another just-stop-in-for-a-drink place in the neighborhood. (I would like to ride the BART train home without a buzz on occasion.) I was in the place this past Friday night around 10PM and it was full but not packed- just the way I like it. Actually, I like bars mostly empty, but there’s little chance of that happening there.

August 4, 2008
The second annual Tales of the Cocktail swag awards!

Times change, swag changes. This year at Tales of the Cocktail, my swag haul was quite different than last year, but perhaps the presenters’ bag o’ swag was different than for the media. (Can’t I be both?)

This year I brought home 3 t-shirts, 4 drinking vessels, 3 types of garnish, 2 absinthe spoons, 8 mini bottles (I drank two in the room), and 2 keychains. Amazingly, I didn’t get a single muddler, compared with last year’s seven.

For last year’s awards, click here.

Second Annual Tales of the Cocktail Swag Awards

Oddest promotional tie-in: Rain Vodka’s emery board (last year they gave an umbrella, which made more sense given the brand name)

Best t-shirt: Hangar One

Most useful: Kegworks’ citrus peeler (from the garnish seminar)

Best (and only) Book: The Soul of Brasil by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown (Sagatiba seminar)

Best Coupon Code: 10% off Mud Puddle Books (Charles H. Baker seminar)

Best Garnish: Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup

Weirdest/Most Expensive/Best Overall Swag: Hendrick’s gin’s metal croquet mallet stir stick, mar-tea-ni glass, and handheld cell phone extension were odd on their own, let alone combined. Hendrick’s continues to live up to their “unusual gin” campaign with unusual events, swag, and their website, without looking like they’re trying to hard. Congratulations on winning this year’s Swag Awards!

I heard there was a gift bag cocktail contest up at the pool, where people had to make drinks using only the items in their swag bags. Those bartenders, they’re a crafty (and thirsty) bunch.

Labels: swag, tales_of_the_cocktail

July 25, 2008
The curious case of the Clock Bar

Clock Bar, the hyped Michael Mina cocktail lounge opening July 15 in San Francisco, is becoming a lesson in OOPS I FORGOT ABOUT THE COCKTAILS.

Early on the project was announced- historic space, famous chef, tasty bar snacks, high-end drinks, yadda, yadda, yadda- and nobody listed as being in charge of the cocktail program.

Curious. The restaurant Gitane won’t be open for another two months and they’ve had a beverage manager and a cocktail consultant on retainer since the beginning of the year. But things were happening on the back end. Several people involved with the project were interviewed for a story in 944 magazine that just came out. The story is marvelous.

In order to create the drink menu, Mina brought in legendary Las Vegas cocktail specialist Noah Ellis to help with the launch…. As the group’s beverage director, Ellis promises to ensure quality by creating a menu that features fresh-squeezed juices, house-made tonic and seltzer bottled sodas to complement the high-end alcohol. Additionally each drink will contain jagged wedges of ice, hand-cut from frozen blocks of mineral water…

It sounds okay so far, right? Good, even. And then (cue sound of bomb dropping):

“The lounge’s signature drink, the Clock Martini, will include frozen Ketel One Vodka shaken tableside and served with traditional garnishes.”

Oooh, Ketel One! Don’t hurt your arm reaching so high up on the shelf! And traditional garnishes? Stop spoiling us! It seems they hired a guy to do their cocktail menu and he came up with a signature drink of a standard vodka martini. Refund!

Now, before I read this I’d heard that Marco Dionysos got a job working there. Marco works at Tres Agaves, used to work at Absinthe, and is a huge cocktail nerd who often corrects brand representatives on factual errors about their own products. He’s invented at least one cocktail so good it’s on drink menus in New York. Oddly enough, Marco told me a while back that he wasn’t hired to be in charge but just on staff.

That’s curious. Don’t they know who they’ve got? Of course they must- the article points out that they did their research. Just listen to Patric Yumul, VP of Operations for the Mina Group in the 944 Magazine story:

“It’s about hitting on all cylinders,” he says. “None of the bars I saw were doing it though. Even in ones with great drinks, I didn’t want to actually sit down because I was afraid of getting hepatitis.“

Curiouser. I wouldn’t think that suggesting your competitors’ venues teem with disease often spread by fecal-oral contact would be a good way to ingratiate yourself within the local cocktail community. But then again, the hepatitis prevents me from thinking clearly.

Today I received the updated press release for the venue. There’s no mention of hand-cut ice or house-made tonic- or Noah Ellis and the signature vodka martini for that matter. And how’s this for not-a-raise:

Lead by a veteran hospitality team of GM Matthew Meidinger, reputable San Francisco bartender Marco Dionysos (formerly of Tres Agaves) and seasoned bar team Ray Cortez Brown, Estanislado Orona and Maren West, the opening of CLOCK BAR marks the return of San Francisco tradition to the heart of Union Square.

Well at least Marco is reputable now and singled out- though it doesn’t appear he’s been given a title/position such as Bar Manager or Head Bartender. Make that happen, Michael Mina people, and we’ll have our first clue that you might know what the heck you’re doing bragging about your super awesome new cocktail bar.

Anyway, mistakes have been made, but they’re fixable. I hope everything turns out delicious and that they bring success and additional great cocktails to San Francisco- they’re just going to have to work a bit harder at it.

[10:18 update: spelling of Ketel One corrected.]

Labels: bars, SanFrancisco

July 3, 2008
Plymouth

Hello chums. The Plymouth gin distillery, it turns out, is just as
beautiful as they say, but much smaller than I imagined. Just one big
copper pot still makes all their gin, and they don't even need to run
it full-time.

Beyond the distillery tour, the building holds a restaurant and a
cocktail bar, so you can just pop on in and hang out with the gin. I'd
probably spend a lot of time there I'd I lived here.

Alas, time is short. Today we're doing a hike to Plymouth's water
source, taking the train back to London, then hitting more of the
cocktail bars to ensure that I'm plenty hungover for the plane ride
home on Saturday.

Cheerio!

June 26, 2008