Alcademics

Category: rye

  • Rye Cocktails and Advanced Barrel Aging in Whisky Advocate

    10402510_10152179316044150_1091080248043956648_nIn the Summer 2014 issue of Whisky Advocate magazine I have two articles.

    This is a rye-themed issue and it's pretty great, so you should probably just get a subscription or run out to a retail store that carries it. They don't typically put anything from the print magazine online so that's the only way to read these. 

    Advanced-Level Barrel Aging – Of Cocktails

    Bartenders are doing some amazing things with barrel aging. In the story I cite new/cool/innovated techniques from:

    • Tradition in San Francisco
    • Bergerac in San Francisco
    • Jamie Jones of Manchester
    • The Barking Dog in Copenhagen
    • Bon Vivant in Edinburgh
    • Manhattan Bar at The Regent, Singapore
    • Jack Rose Dining Saloon in DC
    • Liberty in Seattle
    • Pint + Jigger in Honolulu
    • Pomodoro in Boston
    • Half Step in Austin
    • Citizen Public House in Scottsdale
    • Ryan Chetiyawardana of White Lyan

    Phew, that was a lot of bars to include in a one-page article. 

    Malt Advocate Barrel Aging

    The Rituals of Rye

    Now that rye whiskey is back, what do you do with it? This story has a lot of new cocktails (like, a lot of cocktails), but I think the really interesting part is about which classic cocktails demand rye versus bourbon. 

    It includes recipes and/or quotes from:

    • Nathan Burdette of  Los Angeles

    • Jonathan Smolensky of Canada

    • Vincent Toscano of Rye in San Francisco

    • Brad Peters of Hock Farm Craft & Provisions in Sacramento

    • Enzo Errico of Milk & Honey, New York City

    • Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club, New York City

    • Brian MacGregor of Wingtip, San Francisco

    • Chris Neustadt of Jimmy at the James Hotel in Chicago

    • Brian Means of Fifth Floor Restaurant, San Francisco

    • Anthony DeSerio of Splash restaurant in Guilford, Connecticut

    • Ted Kilgore of St. Louis

    • Andrew Freidman, Liberty, Seattle

    • Molly Wellmann of Japp's in Cincinnati, Ohio

    • Michael Callahan, Bartender-At-Large in Singapore

    • Abigail Gullo of SoBou in New Orleans

    • Tamir Benshalom, Bull Valley Roadhouse in Port Costa, California

    • Geof Anderson of Annunciation Restaurant in New Orleans

    • Ray’s and Starck Bar in Los Angeles

    • The Passenger in DCAudio Discotech in California

    • Elixir in San Francisco

    • Barrel in Washington DC

    Rye Cocktails Malt Advocate

    Pick up a copy!

     

  • The Wide World of the Ward Eight

    In my latest column for FineCooking.com, I talk about how the Ward Eight cocktail is everywhere these days. 

    You know how you learn the definition of a word and then suddenly you keep hearing that word everywhere? Over the past month it has been that way with me and the Ward Eight cocktail. 

    I had just finished reading the book Drinking Boston: A History of the City and its Spirits by Stphanie Schorow, in which the author spends a great deal of time discussing this drink and its history. The Ward Eight is the most famous classic cocktail from Boston, supposedly invented at the Locke-Ober restaurant in 1898. 

    In trying to verify the date of the drink's creation, Schorow studies the history of grenadine, the pomegranate syrup used in the drink. It was a new ingredient in America right around this time.

    Coincidentally, I was also studying the history of grenadine on my website. I performed a literature review and drew some conclusions, including the surprising finding that grenadine has been made as an artificially flavored cocktail ingredient forover 100 years!

    In another coincidence, two of my favorite drink writers also decided to look into the Ward Eight in the January 2013 edition of magazines. Historian David Wondrich took a look at the cocktail's history in Imbibe magazine, and writer Wayne Curtis covered the drink in searching for the quintessential New England cocktail in Yankee magazine. 

     

    Ward eightM

    I went to look up a recipe to put on the post on Fine Cooking, and found that the Ward Eight recipe is different in nearly every book. 

    The simplest is just rye, grenadine, and lemon juice. The most complex is those ingredients plus mint, bitters, and simple syrup. 

    So I settled on a common recipe with rye, grenadine, lemon, and orange juice. Get the recipe here.

     

    Related articles
    When Did Grenadine Become an Artificial Ingredient?
    The History of Grenadine Use in Cocktails: Literature Review
    The History of Grenadine Use in Cocktails: Theories and Conclusions
    How to Remove Pomegranate Seeds and Make Grenadine the Easy Way

  • Home Bar Recommendations: One of Each

    OneofeachWhen Jonny Raglin and Jeff Hollinger were looking to open Comstock Saloon (hopefully this month), they had a big limitation to work with: the size of the back bar. It only has room for one or two types of each base spirit. This is a challenge for Raglin in particular as between his former post as Bar Manager at Absinthe and his consultant gig at Dosa on Fillmore he was working with probably 30 different types of gin alone. 

    This inspired a story I wrote for the April edition of 7×7 magazine. I also spoke with Martin Cate of Forbidden Island who had the luxury of choosing over 200 rums for the bar, but that didn't leave room for much else. Before opening he sent out an email requesting advice on one of each tequila (blanco, reposado, anejo) for the bar. I also spoke with Marcovaldo Dionysos, who was very selective when choosing the bottles for Clock Bar. He said he had to balance familiar brands that consumers know with less-recognized spirits he'd prefer to work with. 

    In the story I asked each of Raglin, Cate, and Dionysos to pick one of
    each- vodka, tequila, rum, whisky, and gin- that would work the best in
    the most cocktails, while also being good enough for sipping. The
    results should point home mixologists who may also not have room for 30 brands of gin toward the one bottle to buy.

    The Ultimate Five-Bottle Bar, Perfect for Apartment Dwelling

    by Camper English

    What happens when the city’s top bartenders are forced to choose? Introducing the ultimate five-bottle bar, perfectly sized for apartment dwelling. 

    Click the link above to read the story. In the print edition there are also recommendations for one each of sweet and dry vermouth and an orange liqueur/triple sec.