Alcademics

Category: cocktails

  • Winter Drinking Guide in 7×7 Magazine

    Oh hello, giant sexy four-page spread in the December issue of 7×7 Magazine written by Camper English!

    7x7december2010

    Run screaming to your local newsstand to pick up the latest issue with a guide to winter drinking. In it you'll learn:

    • Where to get your fancy on in a hotel bar
    • The best hot drinks in SF
    • Bars with rooms for rent
    • The bar with 1200 Santa Claus dolls on display
    • How I worked the phrase "plaid-slathered" into a bar review
    • Gift ideas from local liquor stores
    • The best bar for hungover bartender spotting 

  • On FineCooking.com: Homemade Grenadine and the Jack Rose Cocktail

    Please check out my latest blog entry on FineCooking.com. It's about making your own grenadine and the Jack Rose cocktail. 

    Jack rose closeup_tn

    Read it here, and feel free to comment (over there) on your own grenadine or Jack Rose recipe improvements. 

  • Germany, Ensslin, Aviation, and Blue Cocktails

    My latest post on FineCooking.com is up. It's typical of my thought process: I was going to write about my time in Germany and ended up talking about a German bartender who wrote an American cocktail book in which the Aviation cocktail was first mentioned and later forgotten. 

    Read it here. 

    Aviation close1_tn

    (I took this picture- not bad for me!)

  • Intro to Negroni, over at FineCooking.com

    My weekly recipe is up on FineCooking.com, a quick introduction to the Negroni cocktail. Perhaps you have heard of such a thing?

    Check it out, and if you have a preferred way of making the Negroni different that the typical equal parts, stirried, up method, feel free to comment over there on FineCooking. Comments make me look good, like a deliciously sticky Negroni. 

  • Bar Eras in San Francisco and Beyond

    I have a great-looking four-page story in the August Eat + Drink issue of 7×7 Magazine. 

    The story splits up old bars and new bars inspired by old bars into five types/eras: Barbary Coast, Speakeasy,  Martini Bar, Tiki Bar, and Fern Bar. In each category I list some identifying factors and a few era-appropriate drinks. 

     There are also tons of great pictures by photographer Erin Kunkel, including these yanked from the 7×7 website. 

    Read the story online here or pick up the magazine on the newsstand for even more pictures than on the website. 

    Barbary coast bars in san francisco
    Fern bars in san franicsco history
      
    Tiki bars in san francisco history
     

  • So, So Many Orange Liqueurs

    Orangeliqueurdrink

    (Craig Lee / Special to The Chronicle)

    My latest story from this Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle is now online.

    Quest for best orange liqueur comes full circle

     Camper English, Special to The Chronicle
     Friday, July 9, 2010

    When a critic complained that the orange liqueur in the margarita at Tacolicious had an "off flavor," owner Joe Hargrave decided to do something about it. The margarita is the Marina district restaurant's top-selling cocktail.

    "After I was finished being (ticked) off, I decided we should see if this has merit," he said. Hargrave arranged a blind tasting of margaritas with different orange liqueurs to find the best replacement for the bargain-priced Bols triple sec he was using.

    With a flood of new orange liqueurs on the market, picking a reasonable number for the tasting was no easy task.

    My story about all the new orange liqueurs on the market– and the thrilling result of the orange liqueur taste test at Tacolicious- can be found by following the link.

    There's also a recipe for a drink (see picture above) from Kevin Diedrich of the Burritt Room. 

    For more information on the history and differences between triple sec and curacao, this discussion has some good information. And for the biggest orange liqueur comparison on the internet, see Jay Hepburn's blog posts.

  • Tiki Drinks in Fine Cooking Magazine

    Oh hey, my latest story for Fine Cooking magazine is online already. 

    Tiki Time

    Showstopping tiki drinks are back on the menu, and they’re causing quite a stir. Here’s how to create these tasty cocktails at home—don’t forget the swizzle sticks and umbrellas.

    by Camper English

    Sipping from opposite sides of a cocktail served in a hollowed-out pineapple, a young couple poses for a photo by a waterfall. This isn’t a scene from a Hawaiian vacation in the 1960s, but one I observed earlier this year at Smuggler’s Cove, a buzzing new San Francisco bar. This establishment, and the many others just like it springing up across the country, is a tiki lounge, serving classic Polynesian-themed cocktails. These once-out-of-favor joints and their kitschy cocktails, like the mai tai, zombie, and planter’s punch, are making quite a comeback.

    So what makes a cocktail a tiki cocktail? These drinks have several common characteristics…. 

    Read the rest of my feature on the return of tiki. 

    Liftoff 
    Chi chi pache 
    Barbaryswizzle 

     
     
    Not only does it contain thrilling information on tiki, it has recipes from three people you may have heard of:

  • The Double Rainbow Cocktail

    I decided to create a drink to honor the best video of the weekend, "Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10". (Scroll down to see it if you haven't already.)

    It's guaranteed to make you say, "DOUBLE COMPLETE RAINBOW! What does this MEAN?"

    Double Rainbow Cocktail by Alcademics3s

     

    The Double Rainbow
    by Camper English

     1 ounce vodka
    1 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur
    4 or so ounces of soda water
    4 dashes of grapefruit bitters (Fee Brothers brand)
    lemon peel for garnish
    rainbow ice cubes

    Make rainbow ice by adding food coloring to an ice cube tray, filling with water and freezing. (For more fun with ice, see the index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics here.)

    Cut lemon peel into stars. Add all ingredients to a glass filled with ice in rainbow order (two cubes per color, making it a double complete rainbow). Garnish with lemon stars.  

    Double rainbow by alcademics top views
    This cocktail I actually created for a wedding several months back, but thought it would be appropriate here. (It's not so original that I would be surprised if many other people have created this same drink. I just poured it on rainbow ice.)

    Note: If you enjoyed this video-inspired cocktail, perhaps you'd also enjoy the Honey Badger Shot.

    The video that inspired the drink is after the jump.  Double rainbow all the way!

    (more…)

  • Latin, Packing, Pisco: A Few Articles I’ve Written Lately

    I've had several stories come out recently, so I thought I'd share them here. This blog is also my resume, after all. 

    Friday I wrote about my recent piece in the daily email Tasting Table San Francisco. This one is about Encanto Pisco, brought to us by a bartender, a sommelier, and a distiller. 

    Attention people attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July: My story about what to pack for the week (for media, speakers, bartenders, PR, and brand reps) in the June issue of Tasting Panel Magazine is now online. 

    Executivetravelmaycover  In the July issue of Executive Travel Magazine I have a story on the Latin libations that are hot and the ones that soon will be. 

    I have recently become a regular contributor to SilverKris, the in-flight magazine for Singapore Airlines. Unfortunately the magazine is not online. Recent stories have focused on new classic cocktails, the return of absinthe, and where to drink in Wellington, New Zealand. 

  • The Perudriver: A Cocktail with Pisco, Orange Juice, and Orange Liqueur

    Perudriver cocktail pisco orange juice and orange liqueur

     

    I was trying to create a cocktail for my seminar at Tales of the Cocktail using an orange liqueur, a sponsor of my session. After attempts at an Orange Negroni and Orange Absinthe Frappe that both failed, I came up with this way-too-simple and drinkable-as-heck cocktail, perfect for summer days and morning cocktailing. I really don't like the screwdriver as a cocktail, but I *love* this. 

    The Perudriver
    by Camper English

    3.5 ounces fresh orange juice
    1 ounce pisco
    1/2 ounce orange liqueur (cognac-based)

    Add all ingredients to an ice-filled glass and stir. 

    Perudriver cocktail pisco orange juice and orange liqueur