Alcademics

Category: camper_clips

  • A Few Thousand Words on the Aviation, In German

    In the current issue of Mixology Magazine, the premier German-language bartending magazine, I have a big story about the Aviation cocktail. 

    Mixology cover 022012

    It covers a bunch of the history of the cocktail – how it originally had creme de violette and then the recipe was probably copied incorrectly and it was not made the right way again for decades. (I wrote a brief blog entry about that here.)

    Then it delves into bartenders' preferred types of gins, maraschino liqueurs, and creme de violette, plus a whole bunch of variations on the cocktail. It includes recipes from Sierra Zimei, Humberto Marques, Brendan Dorr, Jacob Grier, and Olivier Jacobs. 

    Mixology aviation
    It doesn't appear to be online yet, so I hope you German-reading print subscribers will enjoy it. 

     

  • The Sangria Spectrum in Fine Cooking Magazine

    In the June/July issue of Fine Cooking magazine I have a story about sangria.

    Finecookingjunecover

    We kind of rewrote it a bunch of times and now it's mostly a list of tips on how to make a good sangria, but here is the intro.

    Traditional sangria is delicious, but it can also be a bit predictable: a pitcher of red wine with orange liqueur or brandy, slices of citrus, and sometimes a splash of soda for fizz. Recently, though, sangria has been showing up to the party dressed in new shades—pink, white, and even yellow—thanks to a base of rosé, white, or sparkling wine. The fruit accessories have diversified, too. Some recipes call for vibrant peaches or pastel pears, and others boast a rainbow of kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. With so many options, today’s sangria is practically a year-round drink, changing to suit the season and the occasion.

    There are also two sangria recipes. The first is from Kathy Casey, a strawberry-melon sangria in a deep red color.

    Strawberry-melon-sangria-recipe_xlg_lg

    The second is by Kim Haasarud, author of 101 Sangrias. It is a yellowish pineapple-orange sangria with peach vodka and Riesling. 

    Pineapple-orange-sangria-recipe_xlg_lg
    The pictures are better in the print magazine, I promise. 

  • A South American Sazerac

    Over at FineCooking.com, I posted the recipe for the Sazeru, a version of the Sazerac made with Pisco (from Peru, get it?). 

    Sazeru_M
    I actually made the drink as part of the final exam for the five-day B.A.R. course I took a couple of years ago. We had to create a cocktail with just four ingredients, including garnish. 

    As the only color in the drink comes from Peychaud's Bitters, it has a lovely pink hue. I decided to serve it up rather than on the rocks to show it off. 

    It's important to use an earthy, rather than floral, pisco in the drink. I think you'll like it. 

    Sazeru
    By Camper English

    2 fl. oz. Peruvian Pisco (Quebranta or Acholado)
    .5 fl. oz. Simple Syrup
    1 Barspoon Absinthe (Use a clear brand like Kubler)
    2 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters

    Stir all ingredients with ice until very cold and strain into a cocktail glass. 

     

     

  • Cocktail Predictions for San Francisco

    I wrote this piece on predictions for the Bay Area cocktail scene back in November for The Bold Italic magazine, and it has just gone online. They made it look super snazzy for the web.

    PAGE1
     Predictions include:

    • Shorter cocktail menus
    • Hyper-local cocktail menus
    • More Scott Beattie
    • Cocktail party pop-ups
    • Other cities taking the lead over San Francisco

    Give it a read and let me know what you think! (Especially about that last thing…)

     

     

  • I’m On A Boat (Magazine)

    Should you happen to be riding along with Seabourn Cruises sometime soon, you may find a story from me in your onboard magazine. 

    IMG
    I wrote a story about pastis, how is originated wtih absinthe, and what it's like today. 

    I don't think the story will ever go online, so you'll just have to book a cruise to read it. 

    IMG_0001

  • 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!  

     

    Penthouse hand modelS

     

    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.

  • Liquid Smoke in the LA Times Magazine

    I have a story about smoke cocktails in this Sunday's LA Times Magazine. Go read it!

    Liquid smoke

    PHOTO: BARTHOLOMEW COOKE

    Now, you're saying, "Didn't I already read that?" Nope, that would be Robert Simonson's excellent story in the New York Times, which I learned about after mine had already been submitted. We cover pretty much the same material, referencing many of the same people and even including one of the same recipes! Compare and contrast. 

    My story includes recipes by Tim Zohn and Ethan Terry of AQ, San Francisco, Giovanni Martinez of Sadie, Los Angeles, Michael Callahan of 28 HongKong Street, Singapore, Daniel Zacharczuk of Bar/Kitchen Los Angeles, Jacob Grier of Metrovino, Portland, and Sam Ross of Milk and Honey, New York. 

    Liquid Smoke
    By Camper English 

    Between molecular mixology, mezcal, and scotch, the vapor somehow seeped into cocktail glasses. 

    Back at the turn of this century, when we were all obsessed with the Cosmopolitan, smoke was barely a wisp on the cocktail scene. The genre’s only notable drink was the Smoky Martini, which called for gin and the tiniest splash of blended—not actually smoky—scotch. Then menus started to feature a few vintage scotch drinks, like Blood and Sand and Mamie Taylor, with the faintest tendrils of smoke. But as dark spirits became more popular, the time was right for new flavors to accompany them.

    Read the story here.

  • 2011: My Year in Cocktail Writing

    Looking over the year (read: sending invoices) for 2011, it turns out that I managed to get a lot of work done in between all the trips.

    This year I contributed to:

    • FineCooking.com as the weekly cocktail blogger
    • Mixology Magazine in Germany
    • The LA Times Magazine
    • Caviar Affair Magazine
    • SilverKris (Singapore Airlines)
    • Penthouse Magazine
    • The San Francisco Chronicle
    • 7×7 Magazine
    • Tasting Panel Magazine
    • TastingTable.com
    • Drink Magazine (China)
    • Sunset Magazine
    • Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine
    • DiffordsGuide/ CLASS Magazine
    • ShakeStir.com
    • Drinks International
    • The Bold Italic

    Plus, I blogged every day here on Alcademics.com and worked on both the Solid Liquids Project and the Sugar Spirit Project. 

    I spoke at several conferences this year including Vino 2011, SF Chefs, and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association, covered cocktail competitions in France, Spain, and India, and judged them in Vegas and San Francisco. 

    So, I guess that was a pretty productive year! Thanks again for reading all my blatherings. 

  • Instant Infusions in Tasting Panel Magazine

    I have a short piece in Tasting Panel Magazine about the instant infusion method – using a whipped cream charger filled with nitrous oxide to infuse flavors in spirits – and Purity Vodka's promotion of the technique. 

    Instant infusions tasting panel
    The story is at this link, which opens a digital magazine reader. 

    By the way, the original Dave Arnold post annoucing this method is here at CookingIssues.com.

  • Trends in Craft Beer in SilverKris Magazine

    SilverKrisDec2011CoverMy editor at SilverKris, the inflight magazine for Singapore Airlines, emailed me something like, "I hear craft beer is becoming popular. Can you do a story on that?"

    "Sure," I said, knowing that boiling down everything going on with craft beer into even a feature-length story was going to be incredibly difficult. 

    The story kind of kicked my ass but taught me a lot about beer. I have a feeling for the trends but not a lot of knowledge of the technical details behind the beer styles so this involved a lot of research.

    Anyway, I mushed things into categories like Belgian, barleywine, saison, session, flavored, high-alcohol, sparkling, canned, and casked. 

    The story is online in one of those online magazine reader formats at this link.

    SilverKrisCraftBeersScreenGrab