Alcademics

Category: camper_clips

  • Allergy Labelling Approaches on Cocktail Bar Menus in the US and Abroad

    AllergyIn an era when customers are more and more attuned to their allergies, aversions, and dietary restrictions, and as bartenders are using evermore exotic ingredients in their drinks, it may be time to consider adding warning labels to the cocktail menu.

    In a story I wrote for SevenFifty Daily, I took a look at some bars’ philosophies on the matter and the labeling schemes they’re employing to warn customers about potential dangers in their drinks.

    We looked at labelling for nuts, seafood, soy, gluten, vegan/vegetarian, how these are listed on various menus or handled only in person, and look at a few unusual things that need to be labelled in UK bars. 

    Bars I spoke to include Trick Dog, the Proper Hotel, and the Tonga Room in San Francisco, Bar Clacson in LA, Bresca in DC, Saint Ellie in Denver, Bar Fiori in NYC, The Aviary in Chicago and New York, and The Hide Bar in London. 

     I hope you get a lot out of the story, I had a great time researching it. Read it here. 

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  • Ice Tips in Southwest Airlines Magazine

    IMG_8963If you're traveling in December on Southwest, you may notice an illustration of an ice ball with a strawberry in it. That's based on a real strawberry inside a real ice ball, that you may have seen here on Alcademics. 

     

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    I don't see the story online, so I'll post it below.  

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    For more information on how to make awesome ice balls with stuff inside them, check out this post and this post, and of course the Index of Ice Experiments here on Alcademics.

    Thanks to writer Michael Cook for writing the story and thanks to my friends who spotted it in magazine and snapped pictures for me!

     

     

  • That Time I was a Resident Ice-Pert

    Screen Shot 2017-11-20 at 7.27.25 PMLast week in New York, I was the "resident ice-pert" for the Hennessy Le Grand Voyage. The experience was a walk-through super-Instagrammable introduction to the production of the cognac. 

    There was a rain room representing the vineyards, a color-changing still room, an aromatic barrel room, and an interstellar sort of tasting room, all before one arrived in the lounge where I was stationed on press preview day. 

    It was pretty cool. Here is a story about it from The Latin Times, and here is the press release on PR Newswire. 

     

     

    And here is another awesome picture of me. 

    Camper Hennessy Photo by Dave Kotinsky:Getty Images for Hennessy

    Photo by Dave Kotinsky:Getty Images for Hennessy

  • The Gin & Tonic Stage Show at Bar Convent Berlin

    I thought I'd share the awesome stage set-up put on for my talk at the recent Bar Convent Berlin, since it was awesome. I gave a talk on the Weird and Wild History of the Gin & Tonic. The talk was sponsored by Rutte Distillery, and they went all out in creating stage props. 

     

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    The talk was divided into six chapters, and for each chapter there was a corresponding panel on the side of the stage. The panels were about 10 feet tall, and my "assistant," brand ambassador Steffen Zimmermann, opened the panel to reveal the illustration. 

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    Steffen and I got matching suits so that he could be "Maxi-Me." I found suits that have tulips on them to play up the Holland connection of the gin. 

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    The panels were based on stories in my book. The first one is a pope transitioning into a blood-sucking mosquito. The most fun one is a scientist discovering the color mauve. The top panel is the scientist discovering the color; the bottom half that opens separately is the scientist wearing a dress as he abandons science for the fashion industry. 

     

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    Thanks to Hanna Lee for taking and sending me these pictures, and the Rutte for sponsoring the talk, the props, and the special printing of the book!

     

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  • Bugs are Back in Your Booze

    In my latest story for SevenFifty Daily, I wrote about the return of cochineal coloring in spirits. As you probably know, Campari removed the cochineal from their formula around 2006. Now a lot of brands – some of them Campari substitutes, some not – are putting it back in. 

    Read the story here. 

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  • This Guy will have Visited all the World’s 50 Best Bars

    Nico de Soto of Mace in New York has visited 49 out of the World's 50 Best Bars 2016 list. He'll hit the last one shortly, and if his predictions are correct, also finish the 2017 list (announced October 5th in London) soon afterward. 

    I interviewed him for SevenFifty Daily. 

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  • Sensors in the Whiskey Warehouse Sending Data in Real-Time

    In my latest story for SevenFifty Daily, I wrote about new temperature and humidity sensors installed in warehouses at Buffalo Trace, and what those could mean for studying aging of spirits and adjusting future blends.

    Check it out here.

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  • The ROI of TOTC

    TalesIn my latest piece for SevenFifty Daily, I asked a bunch of people about the return on investment of Tales of the Cocktail: How they measure it and how they maximize it. I also interviewed Tales' founder Ann Tuennerman to get her advice on how to maximize the event as an attendee or small brand sponsor, and addressing the question, "Is Tales too big?"

    I think there's some really good information and insight throughout the story, especially for people and brands experiencing some growing pains as Tales seems to grow ever larger. 

    Please check it out. 

     

  • New Business Models for Large Format Cocktail Ice Providers

    Large format cocktail ice providers have been around for a while, but now big cube/sphere/spear providers are branching out into new shapes, sizes, making machines, and pushing into retail. 

    In a story for SevenFifty Daily, based in part on my talk at Tales of the Cocktail, I wrote about what several companies are doing to bring more larger clear ice to more people. 

     

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  • Copyright, Trademark, and Patents for Bars, Brands, and Booze Recipes

    CopyrightMy second story for the new industry-facing site Daily.SevenFifty.com is up! 

    For this one, I covered a Tales of the Cocktail seminar called Intellectual Property Law Issues in Cocktail Land. It was lead by Trademark Attorney and Hemingway enthusiast Philip Greene, along with John Mason, a lawyer with Copyright Counselors,  Steffin Oghene of Absolut Elyx, and Andrew Friedman of Liberty in Seattle. 

    It clarified the basic definitions of copyright, trademark, and patents, and there were tons of interesting examples – including the Curious Case of the Copper Pineapple!

     

    Check it out here. 

     

    The seminar description was:

    If I make a Dark ‘n’ Stormy, do I have to use Gosling’s Black Seal Rum? What about the Painkiller, will Pusser’s Rum sue me if I use another brand? What about those iconic (and sometimes poorly made) New Orleans classics, the Sazerac, Hurricane and the Hand Grenade, will I get a cease and desist letter from anyone if I make them at my bar claiming trademark infringement? I keep hearing about Havana Club becoming available again from Cuba, but didn’t I also hear that Bacardi is planning to market their own Havana Club? What’s up with that? And speaking of Bacardi, didn’t they sue bars and restaurants back in the 1930s because those establishments failed to use Bacardi Rum in the drink? Is that true, and how did that turn out? Did I hear correctly that Peychaud's Bitters was the center of a trademark dispute way back in the 1890s, with the same family that founded Commander's Palace? And if I create a great drink and give it an awesome name, can I patent or copyright the recipe, and trademark the name? What if I get hired by a bar or restaurant to develop their beverage program, will they own the rights to the drinks that I invented or can I retain ownership rights in the recipes and names? Join the one veteran Tales presenter who is uniquely qualified to moderate this topic, Philip Greene, intellectual property and Internet attorney by day Trademark Counsel for the U.S. Marine Corps) and cocktail historian on the side (co-founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail and author of two cocktail books, To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion and The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail, in an in-depth, informative and fun seminar, and learn how to make (and enjoy samples of) some of these contentious classics while discussing this highly intellectual topic!