Category: industry news

  • From Salad in a Glass to Centrifuge: A Cocktail Evolution

    This story was originally published on AlcoholProfessor.com


    Screenshot 2024-10-10 at 8.52.29 AM

    From Salad in a Glass to Centrifuge: A Cocktail Evolution

    Recently I was thinking about the early years of the craft cocktail renaissance, and how many of the drinks were quite… chunky. And I realized that we can track a lot of the progression in bartending via the various techniques for pulverizing, liquifying, and clarifying ingredients.

    Bartenders in California (more than on the East Coast, at first) embraced farmers market produce and seasonality, but in the early 2000s there were only a few techniques they knew for getting those fresh solid ingredients into drinks. One was infusing things like citrus peels or porous fruit into vodka or other spirits directly. This worked well for some ingredients, and the late 1990s was full of pepper-infused vodka in Bloody Marys and strawberry-infused rum in Mojitos, for example.

    Muddling

    The other main tool for getting solid fruits, citrus, and other produce into liquid form was by using a big stick: the muddler. Ingredients like tomatoes, kiwi, and every form of herb (those Mojitos were everywhere) were pummeled with muddlers, shaken with ice, then dumped into glasses. The resulting cocktails were often a quarter solid, with mashed up produce in the bottom of the cup.

    This style of cocktail with everything muddled together took on the nickname of “salad in a glass,” for every drink came with a full serving of fruits or veggies in the mix. They were sometimes challenging to consume, for all those solids often blocked the hole in drinking straws. One bar even manufactured a “stork” – a straw with a fork on the end- so that people could pick out the chunks and eat them after they were done drinking.

    Semi-Solids and shrubs

    Obviously, solids are hard to drink, and it didn’t take too long for top mixologists to start experimenting with other methods for transforming these ingredients into longer-lasting liquids. Crafty bartenders learned skills known to cooks and homemakers for millennia – the art of preserving seasonal produce. (While this may sound obvious today, keep in mind that in the 1990s nearly all drink ingredients came in shelf-stable bottled form; a lime wedge was as fresh as it got even in the “good” bars of the day.) Bartenders learned to cook fruit and spices into syrups; they canned jams and jellies; they pickled produce and preserved cherries in brandy.

    At one point, bartenders relearned the lost art of making shrubs – vinegar-based fruit syrups. Shrubs were a form of preserved liquids that could flavor nonalcoholic cocktails as well as boozy ones, and for a while the best virgin drinks came with a dose of vinegar. Read how to tart up your cocktails using vinegar.

    Old and New Methods

    Other old-school techniques used in the early 2000s included the freeze-thaw method used to extract tomato water from tomatoes (for clear Bloody Mary variations), candying with sugar, and making oleo-saccharum from citrus peels. Some bartenders used dehydrators to concentrate the flavors of solid ingredients to use for subsequent infusions, long before the current trend of dehydrating citrus wheels for garnishes to reduce waste. Yet others took on fermentation as a form of preservation and flavor creation.

    One technique that bartenders started experimenting with in the early 2010s (that continues to be popular today) is milk clarification. This technique for using milk to clarify and preserve cocktails dates to the 1700s, but was further explored and explained by people like Dave Arnold in his 2014 book Liquid Intelligence.

    Clarified milk punches can last at refrigerator/cellar temperature for months or longer. This makes them suitable for batching, which speeds up service at the bar compared with all that á la minute muddling of the previous decade.

    Clarified cocktails have very few solid particulates in the liquid, as those solids oxidize and spoil, and clog up tap lines if kegged. Knowing this encouraged bartenders to experiment with other methods of removing solids from even faintly cloudy liquids. Also in Liquid Intelligence, Arnold revealed several methods for clarification. One method was gelatin or agar agar clarification, which is similar to the milk punch method but using a different medium for filtration. Another method borrowed from winemaking is using fining agents that help particulates settle in a liquid.

    The Future… Is the Past?

    In recent years, the tools and technology have grown more sophisticated. Many bartenders now use a centrifuge to clarify cocktails and cocktail ingredients, often in combination with fining agents mentioned above. Sous vide equipment is often used to speed up flavor integration as well as promote consistency of the resulting syrups and infusions. In countries where it is legal, low-temperature distillation in rotovaps also allows for better flavor integration than cold or warm infusions. And bartenders are reaching for isolated acids (citric, malic, tartaric, phosphoric, etc) to replicate the flavor, and enhance, or extend the volume of citrus juices.

    The increasing sophistication of processing methods may or may not have reached a high point, and in many ways we’re now reinventing the wheel. In the 1990s and earlier one could purchase powdered drink mixes made of flavors, sugar, and acids, or bottled “juices” that were essential oils with citrus acids. Rather than serving a guest a Zima or wine cooler, today’s bartender may pump out a clarified low-ABV cocktail from the soda gun or pop open a bottled or canned carbonated drink they assembled the previous month.

    Whereas once you’d find bar menus bragging about house syrups and infusions, now those homemade ingredients look a lot like commercially-available bottled lime cordial and sour mix. And while the dedication to lowering waste by using these techniques at the bar is admirable, often it comes at the cost of fresh flavor. Some bars’ drinks now taste like beverage versions of Sweet Tarts or sour Nerds candy as all the ingredients have been isolated and reconfigured into nearly shelf-stable forms.

    At some point we’ll need to ask ourselves if our increasingly sophisticated techniques and technology for improving cocktails are making them taste worse than they were in the 1990s. I, for one, would prefer that fresh-from-the-farmer’s-market flavor of 2006-era cocktails. But on the other hand, I don’t miss the chunks at all.

  • Non-Alcoholic Spirit Brands List

    Here is a list of non-alcoholic spirits brands. There are a lot more of them out than I realized! 

    Did I miss any? Please let me know and thanks to everyone who has been writing in. 

    List of Non-Alcoholic Distilled Spirits

    Note I recently added links to purchase products on Amazon (look for "buy" links) if available in the US. Most of these products are not. 

    1. 52608823_2208723656045967_4959802790034538496_oSeedlip (UK) / Aecorn /NoGroni  [buy]
    2. Ceder's Wild (Sweden) [buy]
    3. Surendran & Bownes (UK) Labdanum
    4. Stryyk (UK)
    5. Herbie Virgin (Denmark)
    6. Pentire (UK)
    7. Three Spirit (UK)
    8. MeMento (Italy)
    9. Ghia 
    10. Fluere (Netherlands) [buy]
    11. Ritual Zero Proof (Chicago) [buy]
    12. The Bitter Note, Vibrant Note, Hidden Note (Italy)
    13. Lidl CeroCero [UK] review
    14. Sea Arch (UK) [buy]
    15. Lyre's [Australia] [buy buy]
    16. AtopiaMonte Rosso Non-Alcoholic Aperitif (still in production?)
    17. Xachoh
    18. Borrago  (UK) [buy]
    19. Everleaf (UK)
    20. Caleño [buy]
    21. Ginsin/Ronsin/Versin/Whissin  [buy Ginsin][buy gin sampler][buy Ronsin]
    22. GinFree – Aldi's version of GinSin
    23. Junip
    24. Silk Tree (Ireland)
    25. The Driver's Tipple (UK)
    26. Senser (UK) with "active botanicals"
    27. Celtic Soul (from Cedar's for Pernod Ricard)
    28. Feragaia
    29. Arkay
    30. ASDA Botanical Drinks
    31. Ecology & Co (New Zealand)
    32. Blutul Vermouth [buy]
    33. CeroAbstinence (South Africa)
    34. Nine Elms
    35. Crafted Spirits
    36. Spirits of Virtue (Scotland)
    37. Punchy Non-Alcoholic Spiced Rum (still made? no longer on website)
    38. Amplify (UK)
    39. Nona (Belgium)
    40. Lumette (Canada)
    41. Spiritliss (US)
    42. Brunswick Aces (Australia)
    43. Saint Non-Alcoholic Gin (South Africa)
    44. ISH Spirits GinIsh/RumIsh 
    45. Proteau (USA)
    46. Kin Euphorics (USA)
    47. Bax Botanics (UK)
    48. ALTD (Australia)
    49. Siegfried Wonderleaf (Germany)
    50. UnDone (Germany)
    51. Tinley Beverages [cannabis or "non-cannabis-derived plant terpenes "] (USA)
    52. Watersboten [buy]
    53. ROOTS (Greece) – Roots DIVINO Bianco & Roots DIVINO Rosso Vermouth
    54. Hooghoudt Zero Zero 24  Genever (The Netherlands)
    55. Kever Genever 0% (The Netherlands)
    56. LOOPUY_VIRGIN-PosterMonday Booze-Free Gin (San Diego) [buy]
    57. Nudo (Belgium)
    58. Gnista Spirits (Sweden)
    59. Sobrii (Canada)
    60. Wilderton (Oregon, USA) 
    61. Cordus Bitter Sweet Non – Alcoholic Aperitif
    62. Palermo non-alcohol red and white vermouth, aperitif 
    63. No Ghost in a Bottle Herbal Delight/Floral Delight (Belgium)
    64. Goodsack Virgin non-alcoholic vodka and gin (Netherlands)
    65. Loopuyt Virgin gin (Netherlands)
    66. Blancart Anise – Older n/a Anise product
    67. Cristal 100 Anise (France) Older product on market
    68. BdAdam & Eve Innocent Spirit (Belgium)
    69. Martini Vibrante and Floreale (Italy)
    70. Cotswold Green (UK)
    71. Quick Gin 
    72. Chastity Gin
    73. Berkshire Blend  
    74. Gin-Esque
    75. Kentucky 74 (US) [buy]
    76. Solbrü [Canada]
    77. Kvist 
    78. Mockingbird Spirit [UK]
    79. Windspiel-Alkoholfrei-0-5Damrak Virgin 0.0 [Amsterdam]
    80. Sacré [US]
    81. Guilty [Germany]
    82. Windspiel Alkoholfrei [Germany]
    83. Der Berliner Brandstifter Alkoholfrei [Germany]
    84. Humboldt Freigeist [Germany]
    85. JNPR and BTTR [France]
    86. Warner's 0% Botanic Garden Spirits [UK]
    87. Bonbuz [USA] with "amino acids, nootropics and adaptogens" and caffeine. 
    88. NLL (New London Light) [UK]
    89. Wilfred's Spritz [UK]
    90. Free Spirits GroupFlora Hemp Spirits "The World’s First Non Alcoholic Hemp Spirit" (CBD) [US]
    91. ZEO [UK]
    92. Sexy AF Spirits [Canada]
    93. Felix Spirituals [Georgia, USA]
    94. Free Spirits [California, US]
    95. Vera Spirits [Slovenia]
    96. M70a54KMGordon's 0.0% [UK] press release
    97. Beckett's Non-Alcoholic Spirits [CA, USA]
    98. Vermont VerGin [South Africa]
    99. Heimat Vogelfrei alkoholfrei [Germany]
    100. New London Light from Salcombe Distilling CO [UK] [buy]
    101. DHOS from Ransom Spirits [Oregon]
    102. Aplos Hemp-Infused Non-Alcoholic Spirit 
    103. Artet Cannabis Aperitif 
    104. Kinda Whisky, Rum, Pink Gin [Ireland] 
    105. Easip Fields/Woods [Germany]
    106. Flaneur/Flaneuse [Estonia]
    107. Distillerie Des Appalaches Alphonse [Canada]
    108. Bowser Leaf [UK]
    109. 206451760_336802718153946_2004349802251283203_nRasasvada "spirit restorative" [USA]
    110. Tanqueray 0.0% [UK] [press release]
    111. Spirited Euphoria [UK]  "distilled from hemp" plus CBD 
    112. Laori [Germany] alcohol-free gin
    113. Ginnocence [USA – Seattle]
    114. Ovant alcohol-free distillates [Australia]
    115. Novara Bitter Aperitivo from Bark and Bitter [Canada]
    116. Optimist Drinks [USA – Los Angeles]
    117. The Sober Bartender Spirits [Alberta, Canada]
    118. Amethyst NA Spirits [South Carolina, USA]
    119. Amass Riverine [Los Angeles, CA, USA]
    120. Sipsmith FreeGlider [London, UK]
    121. SeaDrift [Australia]
    122. Figlia [USA]
    123. Tenneyson [Austin, TX, USA]
    124. 271293199_240615408149688_1685324425690317380_nCrossip Drinks [UK]
    125. Melati Non-Alcoholic Botanical Aperitif [Singapore]
    126. Banks Botanicals [Australia]
    127. Eceaux Drinks
    128. Hellfire Bluff [Australia]
    129. SakuraFresh [Japan] Press release
    130. Herbarium [UK]
    131. Stillers Alcohol Free Distilled Botanical Drinks [UK]
    132. Djin Spirits [France]
    133. Selati Free Spirit [South Africa, coming 2022]
    134. Nulpuntnul1The Pathfinder
    135. Mokum Dusk [Netherlands]
    136. Slow Luck [Austin, Texas, SA]
    137. WhistlePig Devil's Slide [Vermont, USA]
    138. Palette by Bacardi Press release
    139. Sans Junipre Botanical Spirit from Great Lakes Distillery [USA]
    140. REBELS 0.0% [Switzerland]
    141. Nolow [France]
    142. Sir Chill Gin 0.0 [Belgium]
    143. OP Anderson Alkoholfri Snaps [Sweden]
    144. Bôtan Distillery Juniper Garden [Belgium]
    145. The Stillery Virgin [Netherlands]
    146. Opius [Belgium]
    147. High Point Aperitif and Digestif [UK]
    148. Marie Laveau 
    149. Maria and Craig's 
    150. HP Juniper [Canada]
    151. NEMA [Japan]
    152. BARE Zero Proof [US]
    153. APRTF [UK]
    154. Filibuster NA [US, coming soon]
    155. Four Pillars Bandwagon [Australia]
    156. Niets (otaniets Gin 0%, Havaniets Rum 0%) [Belgium]
    157. Seir Hill Non-Alcoholic Spirits [Connecticut, USA] 
    158. Cut Above [Houston, TX, USA]
    159. Dromme [San Diego, CA, USA]
    160. Polka [Australia]
    161. Dead Man's Fingers 0.0 Spiced Rum 
    162. Dr. ZeroZero AmarNo [Italy]
    163. MeShil [Korea]
    164. Limonzero [Netherlands]
    165. Pamos (cannabis)
    166. Seagram's 0.0% [Spain]

     

    Possibly No Longer Produced Non-Alcoholic Spirits

    1. Willow.London [CBD] (off the market)

     

    Low-ABV Versions of Spirits

    1. Temperance Gin from Portobello Road
    2. Hayman's Small Gin 
    3. CleanGin/ Clean R/ Clean T
    4. Atopia [Scotland]
    5. Mary  "The low alcohol, low calorie botanical blend"
    6. Beefeater Light, Ballantine's Light press release
    7. 18.8 Vodka and Gin from Fluid Assets

     

    Some Sources where I found these:

     

     

  • 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

    SFD_Allergies_CR_Courtesy_Rhymes_with_Trick_Dog_2520x14203-768x433

  • 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. 

     

    Big ice copy

  • Campari is Made Differently Around the World: Cochineal, Coloring, ABV, & Eggs

    15541338_1840521116237235_1944647162307011240_nI was researching a few different topics and stumbled upon an interesting observation: Not only is Campari sold at a wide-ranging variation of alcohol percentage in different countries, the coloring used to make its signature red is different depending on the country. 

    As many people know, Campari was traditionally colored with cochineal, a scale insect native to South America that grows on the prickly pear cactus. (Cochineal is still used in many products today, as it is a natural coloring and doesn't need to be labelled as the unsightly 'artificial coloring'.)

    In 2006 cochineal was discontinued – but as it turns out, not everywhere. In the United States and it seems most countries, Campari now uses artificial coloring. Depending on which country one is located in, that coloring must be declared in different ways, so what is merely "artificially colored" in the US is labelled as three specific coloring agents in one country, and none at all in others.  

    But in at least one country, cochineal is still used. 

    In the United States, Campari is sold at 24% ABV and the coloring is listed as "artificially colored."

    Campari usa

     

    In France, the ABV is 25% and the colorings are listed as E122, E102, and E133. 

    Campari france 3 colors

     

    Next door in Spain, no special colors are labelled, but it's also sold at 25% ABV.

    Spain Campari 25 percent

     

     It appears it is the same in Argentina (with INS instead of E numbers), but the proof is 28.5%.

    Campari argentina

     In Brazil it is the same, and labelled gluten-free. 

    Brazilian Campari bottle

     

    In Toronto, it is sold at 25% and the color is merely misspelled (kidding!) as "colour."

    Toronto colour

     

    In Australia, it is sold at 25% with no special color labelling. 

    Australia campari

     

    In Malaysia it is the same – 25%, no color labelling. 

    Malaysia campari

    In Japan, it appears to be sold at 25%. Anyone ready Japanese and can tell me if it says anything about coloring or eggs? 

    (One reader responds: "Red #102, Yellow #5, Blue #1. Don't see any mention of eggs.")

    Campari Tokyo2
    Campari Tokyo2
     

    In Israel, it's sold at 25% ABV with E122, E102, and E133 listed as colorants.

    Campari_Israel

     

    In Iceland, it's sold at 21% ABV with no special color labelling. 

    Campari Iceland

     

    Now here's where it gets really interesting.

    I was wondering if the Swedish government website was merely out of date as it lists the coloring as E120 – that's cochineal(!), but a friend just picked up a bottle recently and cochineal is still in Campari in Sweden. Additionally, it is sold at 21% ABV. 

     

    Campari sweden cochineal still

     

    Update: A twitterer sent me a pic of bottles from Mexico – they also have cochineal! See the E120:

    Campari in Mexico E120 coloring

     

    And even more interesting is this bottle of Campari from Jamaica. Hold onto your butts:

    1. "Blended and bottled in Jamaica… by J Wray & Nephew" [Campari now owns JW&N]
    2. 28.5% ABV
    3. "Contains Egg"

     

    Jamaican campari contains egg

    CONTAINS EGG. Folks, that is some interesting news right there. Typically when eggs are used in wine, beer, and spirits (that aren't egg-based liqueurs), the eggs have been used in the fining process that helps filter the products to clarity. I think it's fair to assume this is how eggs are used in Campari. 

    My guess would be that because Jamaica has a Rastafarian community, many of which are vegans, products fined with eggs are required to be labelled. 

    What this means though, is that even though they took out the cochineal insect coloring (except in Sweden and Mexico apparently), Campari, at least in Jamaica, is still not vegan. 

    The question remains what it is in the rest of the world – I would bet that Campari is still not vegan

     

    Keep in mind that much cane sugar is whitened using bone charcoal, so any liqueur or sweetened alcohol has an okay chance of being non-vegan. 

     

    Thank you to my Facebook and Twitter friends from around the world who shared their bottle images. If you live in another country not mentioned here, please send me your bottle image to add to this discussion. Thanks! 

     

     

     

     

  • What They Got Right – and Wrong – at ABV in San Francisco

    ABV in San Francisco won the Best New Cocktail Bar award at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015. 

    I decided to interview one of the owners, Ryan Fitzgerald, on what he feels they did right and wrong, and what changed from initial plans, when opening it. 

    There are some really good and interesting tips for other bar owners to consider; stuff about bar ergonomics and having bartenders working the floor. 

    Check out the story here.

     

    Abv liquor

     

     

  • Potential Dangers of Homemade Tonic Water

    UntitledCoronavirus update March 28, 2020: Many people are coming to this page seeking advice on using cinchona bark to make their own medicine. 

    You are not qualified to make your own medicine. The bark available for purchase online is not labelled as to its potency. And if you read the article below or this one, you'll also find that an overdose of cinchona bark can be dangerous or fatal. 

    DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MAKE YOUR OWN MEDICINE USING CINCHONA BARK. RESPECT SCIENCE, LISTEN TO DOCTORS.

    More information about the safety of cinchona bark/homemade tonic can be found here at CocktailSafe.org.

     

    A few weeks ago, Avery and Janet Glasser drank some homemade tonic syrup in a Gin and Tonic at a bar and came down with the symptons of cinchonism, a condition caused by a buildup of quinine.

    Tonic water contains quinine as its active, bittering ingredient. Quinine comes from cinchona tree bark. Homemade tonic waters begin with this tree bark either in chunk or powdered form. The powdered form is particularly hard to strain out of the final beverage, and this could lead to an accidental overdose.

    The symptons of cinchonism (from wikipedia):

    Symptoms of mild cinchonism (which may occur from standard therapeutic doses of quinine) include flushed and sweaty skin, ringing of the ears (tinnitus), blurred vision, impaired hearing, confusion, reversible high-frequency hearing loss, headache, abdominal pain, rashes, drug-induced lichenoid reaction (lichenoid photosensitivity),[1] vertigo, dizziness, dysphoria, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

    A scientific paper published in 2007 reported a case of a patient self-medicating for leg cramps with quinine and it turns out he gave himself cinchonism. His systems were intermittent fevers, chills, and tremors for approximately 12 days; general malaise that would begin with a bitter taste in his mouth that wouldn't go away. (On PubMed the article is at  PMID: 18004031)

    BS1-300x150Glasser wrote about his incident on his Facebook page, and I asked if I could reprint it. The Glassers are the founders of Bittermens, makers of bitters, spirits, liqueurs, and other products. Thus they are very familiar with quinine. He wrote:

    How did it happen? Well, we work with cinchona all of the time, which means that our bodies already have a small buildup of quinine. During Tales of the Cocktail, we had a gin and tonic at a restaurant where they made their own tonic syrup. By the amount of the suspended cinchona dust floating in the drink and the distinctive earthy tannins that mark incomplete filtration, we should have stopped drinking it at the first sip. But we didn't, and spent the next two days dealing with the very uncomfortable symptoms of cinchonism. 

    Safe Amounts of Quinine in Tonic Water

    The below information all comes from Avery Glasser. 

    There's a federal standard for the use of quinine in carbonated beverages, specifically that it cannot exceed 83 parts per million in the final tonic water (21 CFR 172.575). Now, if you're working with commercial quinine sulphate or quinine hydrochloride, it's easy to calculate. Basically, that ends up being 2.48 mg of commercial quinine per ounce of tonic water.

    So, let's expand this out: a typical gin and tonic is 1.5 oz of gin and 4.5 oz of tonic, 6 ounces total. That means we can expect 11.16mg of quinine in that beverage.

    However, most producers of tonic syrups don't use quinine hydrochloride/quinine sulphate… and there's the rub.

    Cinchona bark is approximately 5% quinine.

    The Most Popular Tonic Water Syrup Recipe Has Too Much Quinine

    Let's take one of the most popular tonic syrup recipes, published by Jeffrey Morgenthaler: Basically, it's 6 cups of liquid to 1/4 cup of powdered cinchona bark, which is about 35 grams of cinchona. Extrapolate from that and we're talking about 35 grams of cinchona per 1.4 liters of end syrup, which is 25 grams per liter, and if it extracts fully, contributes 1.25 grams of quinine per liter, which equates to 1251 parts per million. That's 15 times the CFR standard.

    If you use 3/4 of an ounce of that syrup in a Gin and Tonic, you're adding in 27.5 mg of quinine – more than double the amount of quinine in a commercial gin and tonic. 

    Note: Does a syrup extract quinine fully from the cinchona? No – but it extracts faster from powdered cinchona versus cinchona chips or quills.

    Note: Does a syrup that is sieved through a french press or a coffee filter have a high percentage of solids still in suspension? Yes – and any of the solids you swallow contribute the full amount of the quinine as your body digests the powder. 

    Quinine in Bittermens Bitters and Liqueurs

    Glaslser says, "We work with small amounts of cinchona in many of our bitters. At our concentration, there's only about 1.1 grams of cinchona per liter in the maceration, and all of the solids are removed down to 5 microns, which means there's barely any cinchona left in the mix. If we say that we get a full extraction of quinine from the cinchona before we filter it out, then we're talking about contributing about 57 mg of quinine per liter of bitters, or assuming a half ml of bitters per cocktail, we add no more than 0.0283 mg of quinine to a cocktail, or raise the total amount of quinine by 0.19 parts per million. Again, that's assuming that we left all of the cinchona bark in the final product, which we do not as we don't use powdered cinchona (we use larger pieces of bark). Most likely, we're contributing less than a tenth of that amount.

    "Just for full disclosure, our liqueur division (Bittermens Spirits) makes a tonic liqueur – but we had that tested before releasing it to ensure that our liqueur was below 83 ppm, meaning that any beverage use would still be well below the federal limits."
     

    Avery Glasser's Conclusion

    All I'm saying this this: be careful. Bitters and tonic syrups can be fun to make, but they can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. I'm not saying that you need to be a food scientist or a compounding pharmacist to do things safely, but you have to understand that you're working with potentially harmful substances! Indian Calamus root, Virginia Snakeroot or tobacco – even in small amounts can have horrible and irreversible effects. Just last week, I was told about a bar that was soaking stone fruit pits in neutral grain and had no idea about cyanide toxicity.

    For us, it's now five days later and the symptoms are basically gone, but it also means we have to be careful about having cinchona for another week or so.  

    That's it. No rant. Just a plea for my health and the health of all of our friends and customers: think carefully before making your own tinctures, extracts, bitters and syrups.

     

     Thanks to Avery Glasser for sharing his story – and the math – with us. 

     

  • Caring for Mini Barrels – Beware of Chlorine!

    2,4,6-Trichloroanisole.svg

    image from wikipedia

    If you're using barrels or wood chips to make barrel-aged cocktails, be aware that they can develop 246-TCA, better known as "cork taint." 

    Cork taint doesn't only come from corks, it turns out; it can come from barrels. One way that it forms (in part) is when chlorine bleach is used to clean corks (or barrels). 

    Wikipedia says, "Chlorinated phenols can form chemically when hypochlorous acid (HOCl-, one of the active forms of chlorine) or chlorine radicals come in contact with wood (untreated, such as barrels or pallets.) The use of chlorine or other halogen-based sanitizing agents is being phased out of the wine industry in favor of peroxide or peracetic acid preparations."

    Much tap water contains chlorine or chloramine, so don't clean out your barrels with untreated tap water. 

    Depending on whether your water is treated with chlorine or chloramine you may take a different approach to getting rid of that in the water (as opposed to buying gallons and gallons of distilled water). Chlorine and chloramine require different filters or amount of time boiling the water or time to leave it to fizz off. 

    A little bit of research gives widely different answers as to how long you'd have to boil water to eliminate chloramine (that's what's in San Francisco's drinking water). The answers are everywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours to 2 days of boiling. Carbon filters also remove chloramine, but they have to be really good/fresh filters. Some detailed information from a brewing perspective is here.

    This was first brought to my attention by Carl Sutton of Sutton Cellars. I asked him what a good cleaner for barrels would be and he recommended Proxycarb. Some research tells me that has the same active ingredient (Sodium Percarbonate) as OxyClean (though I don't know if OxyClean is food-safe so you should probably buy it from a wine/beer store).

    Have fun with your barrel aged cocktails, and remember to avoid chlorine when cleaning them out. 

     

  • ABV, A Forthcoming SF Bar from Dalva, Beretta Folks

    Coming not-so-soon (January most likely) in the former Tokyo GoGo spot on 16th Street in the Inner Mission of San Francisco will be the bar ABV. 

    ABV is a partnership between Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud (owner of Dalva, Dalva Hideout), Ryan Fitzgerald (former Beretta bar manager and Del Maguey Mezcal brand ambassador), and Todd Smith (bartender at Dalva Hideout, distributor rep with Pacific Edge, founding Bourbon & Branch bartender). 

    ABV Crew

    The specifics are likely to change a bit as they transfer the liquor license and build out the space, but here's what I learned in a meeting with the partners: 

    The concept is a bar that will offer about 10-15 cocktails and around the same number of small plates dishes, also priced around the same as each other (ten bucks more or less). So, like at Beretta, if you are having great drinks there you may as well order something to great eat as well.

    The goal with the food (they're hiring a consultant chef to work out specifics) is to have high-quality, regularly-rotating, finger-friendly foods that will probably include some pickles and something fried, but not jalapeno poppers or standard pub fare like that. Food will be served until late; probably 1AM, and they are considering opening in the early afternoons, seven days a week. 

    The space won't be completely gutted for the rebuild, but they will make the kitchen smaller and remake the bar bigger; extending it to be the focus of the space. You shouldn't expect to too many bar design elements that they feel have become cliched, liked reclaimed wood and bare Edison bulbs. Seating will be primarily at high-top tables and shared tables in the back, to avoid that situation where people at low tables have standing bar patrons' butts in their faces. It will not be a lounge. They'll have some sort of table service and a doorman checking IDs, but not a host stand or typical restaurant reserved seating. 

    The drink program doesn't have a specific direction outside of "things that we like," according to the partners. "We're not trying to have every single whisky or tequila," says Reichborn-Kjennerud, though with Fitzgerald's mezcal affiliation you should expect to see a fair amount of that. 

    The team spoke mostly about what they are planning to avoid: barrel-aged cocktails, bottled cocktails, cocktails on tap; things they feel are more gimmicky than practical. "There's not going to be a uniform and it's not like everyone is going to wear a certain kind of hat." That said, they will have "great ice". 

    Cocktails will reflect their personal preferences and those of the bartenders who work there. Smith says, "A few years ago I was really into boozy drinks, but lately I've been enjoying lighter aperitif-style drinks, so for example you should expect to see some of that." The plan is for a good portion of the drink menu to change fairly regularly. 

    As time goes on, they plan to have a themed night or two, educational programming likely to take place in the balcony area, and perhaps some different food at brunch. They mentioned a quality soundtrack as a focus, but also that it could be radically different from night to night depending on who is working (as it is at Dalva Hideout currently). 

    The key words for the bar are "comfortable" and "affordable" they say. "We're not trying to reinvent anything," says Fitzgerald. 

    My overall impression is that they're trying to create a casual-but-quality themeless bar with great music, easy-and-delicious food, and amazing cocktails, reflecting the preferences and tastes of the owners. It's fair to say that's that goal of most people opening up a new neighborhood bar these days, but in this neighborhood with these owners, our expectations probably should be raised to match. 

    IMG_2949

    As ABV will be the second-closest cocktail bar to my house, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep you updated on its progress. 

     

  • When Pot Distilled Whiskey Is Not Pot Still Whiskey

    What is pot still whiskey?

    The obvious answer is "whiskey that's made in a pot still," but apparently that's not true if you're in Ireland.

    I was on a trip recently with whiskey writer/expert/class clown/author Dominic Roskrow and was showing off my sexy Irish whiskey distillery diagram, when he called me out on it. He said that the Cooley distillery makes no pot still whiskey.

    "But they have pot stills in which they make whiskey, so obviously they make pot still whiskey," I said. It went back and forth for a few days, but the argument comes down to this:

    In Ireland, "pure pot still" whiskey has long meant whiskey distilled from a combination of malted and unmalted barley. Thus "pot still Irish whiskey" doesn't tell us the type of still used to make it; it tells us the barley blend used. They claim if you distill another type of whiskey in a pot still (such as all-malted barley) in Ireland it is not pot still Irish whiskey.

    That's like a basketball player arguing that an soccer ball is not a ball because it's not a basketball.

    But apparently there is no use arguing logic in Ireland… so let's look at the law. 

    In his efforts to prove me wrong, Roskrow turned to someone with even more expertise in Irish whiskey, Peter Mulryan. Mulryan filled us in on how they've changed the legal definition to fit their local definition of pot still Irish whiskey. Mulryan wrote in an email:

    Until very recently there was no legal definition of what constituted a Pot Still Irish whiskey, this allowed John Teeling [of Cooley distillery] to say that his single malt was a pot still whiskey, as it was distilled in a pot still. This was of course nonsense, as the traditional industry definition of a pot still whiskey has nothing to do with the distillation process itself; it was and is, all about the mash. A pot still whiskey is made from a COMBINATION of both malted and unmalted barley. Simple.
     
    The industry and the Irish Government have recently clarified this new definition and it is now certified by the EU, John Teeling has backed down and he too now endorses this new legal status. At the same time the word 'Pure' was dropped from packaging, as the word had no standing in law, it was replaced by the word 'Single', this now appears on all Irish Distillers bottlings and literature.

    So from the start of 2012 a single pot still Irish whiskey is one made on the island of Ireland, from a mash of malted and unmalted barely, which has been matured for at least three years in oak. However that was always accepted as the norm, the law simply enforces best practice.

    But here's the thing: in order to conform to international standards, they had to drop the word "pure" from "pure pot still Irish whiskey." So apparently you can't just completely make things up in Ireland after all!

    It's just too bad their also-historically-accurate-but-logically-nonsensical definition of "pot still" made it through legislation.