Category: Tales of the Cocktail

  • How Column Distillation Works: Pot-Column Still Edition

    At the Tales of the Cocktail convention this year, I moderated a panel with three distillers who run column stills; one 5-column rum still, one continuous bourbon still, and one pot-column hybrid. 


    Deaths_door_spirits_logo 400x200John Jeffrey is the Head Distiller for Death's Door Spirits. He makes vodka, rum, and white whiskey and will be releasing aged whiskey in the future. The below information is what I learned from John and on my visits to other distilleries. 

    They run what I've been calling a pot-column hybrid still, though I'm sure there must be a better name for it. There is a pot on the bottom and then it is attached to one or several columns depending on how they configure it. 

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    Part of the reason I proposed the seminar for Tales is that I would see these types of stills (usually in start-up or small distilleries) and dismiss them as being column stills in another form; or working just like other column stills. 

    However, these stills, unlike those for bourbon and rum/vodka, are not continuous stills but rather batch stills. You make a batch, then start over with a new batch; as opposed to the other stills that can run 24/7 without stopping. 

    In some of these stills, solids and liquids (beer with grains, fermented fruit chunks, etc) are put into the pot on the bottom. The pot separates out the solids from the liquids, as well as separates out water from alcohol. The mostly-alcohol vapors then go up through the column for rectification. 

    Stripping Column

    At Death's Door, they don't put solids in the pot still though. They employ a separate 'stripping column', which is basically a bourbon column that separates the solids from the liquids as well as concentrates the alcohol a bit. (The column is mostly stainless steel, but as we talked about in the bourbon column post, the copper is important to have in the top of the column – you can see in the picture that the top of the stripping column is copper.)

     

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    Stripping column at Death's Door Spirits. Note copper at top of column.

    Making Whiskey, Vodka, and Gin on One Still

    This liquid alcohol then goes into the pot and is distilled. It is run through different columns depending on what product they're making. For whiskey, they don't run the alcohol over a ton of plates in several columns to remove all the flavor. However, they want to increase the amount of time the liquid spends in contact with copper in the column, so they run the vapor through one or more columns with no plates inside. 

     

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    Death's Door Spirits Stills

    Jeffrey said that for aged whiskey, they wouldn't do this, as many of the congeners break down over time in the barrel. But as they make unaged white whiskey, they want to get rid of more of those congeners right from the start. 

    For gin, they do not put botanicals into the pot still, but instead pack them into a different column (circled in pink below). The alcohol alone passes through the pot and column on top of it, then the refined vapors pass through the botanical column. 

     

    Death door still labeled

    Gin botanical column circled in pink. Stripping column circled in blue.

     

    In order to make vodka, they want a high-proof, clean spirit. Thus they refine the alcohol through several of the columns with lots of plates in them – over 40 plates in all. The two columns on the right are used for their vodka.   

    So that's what I think I know about this type of still. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to get them answered. 

     

  • How Column Distillation Works: Bourbon Edition

    At the Tales of the Cocktail convention this year, I moderated a panel with three distillers who run column stills; one 5-column rum still, one continuous bourbon still, and one pot-column hybrid. 

    Michter_Logo_385 x 407Kevin Curtis is the Distillery Operations Manager for Michter's Whiskey. This company is building a new distillery with a continuous column still. He filled me (and the audience) in on how bourbon stills work. The below post is a combination of information gleaned from distillery visits, books, and Kevin's information at Tales. 

    The Purpose of a Bourbon Still

    As opposed to some other types of stills, for bourbon the focus is not on getting a pure alcohol out of the still. By law, bourbon must not be distilled to above 80% alcohol by volume. The focus seems to be more on the continuous and stripping nature of the column still, as opposed to a discontinuous (batch) pot still.

    Scotch Vs. Bourbon Distillation

    More on that: If you know about single-malt scotch whisky, you'll note that it goes through a copper pot still. However, only liquids go into the still. Grains are fermented into beer, just like in bourbon, but in scotch the solids are separated from the liquid beer before going into the pot stills. In bourbon, the solids and liquids go into the still together (in practice; there is no law about this). In a pot still, one would have to be careful that the solids didn't burn against the still, making it even harder to clean than just scooping out the leftover solids. 

    A bourbon column still thus performs two functions: It separates the solids from the liquids, and it separates the liquids into mostly-alcohol (to keep) and mostly-water (to recycle).

    How Liquid and Steam Moves Inside a Column Still

     As you probably know, a column still is filled with perforated plates. The beer to be distilled is pumped in near the top of the column (but not at the very top), and steam is pumped up from the bottom of the column. While the plates are perforated, this lets the steam come up through the still, but the beer does not drip down through these holes. Rather, the beer runs across each plate to the other side, flows down to the next plate and flow across it to the other side. 

    The steam coming up through the column vaporizes the alcohol from the beer (which then flows to the top of the column), while leaving the water and grain solids to keep dripping down to the bottom. (As in every still, it is tuned so that the alcohol that has a lower boiling temperature evaporates off, leaving the water with its higher boiling point behind.)

     

    Bourbon column diagram

    Artwork by Camper English

     

    The Top Part of the Still

     As I mentioned, the beer initially doesn't enter the very top of the still but near the top. Above that point in the still, the steam is being rectified on those plates. It is up there where copper is crucial, and where you find "bubble caps" in stills. More on those:

    Column stills can be built from stainless steel but there needs to be interaction with copper at some point. In other stills (as we'll see in a future post), the part of the still where beer is being separated and distilled is stainless, and where the steam is being rectified there is copper.

    Bubble caps provide additional refinement of the spirit and increase contact with copper. Some other stills (I learned this at Absolut) are filled at the top with bits of shredded copper or copper pieces that look like jacks for similar reasons.

    This also makes it easier to replace the copper at the top of the still or inside the top when needed, rather than the whole still column that can last for decades.  

    The Doubler or Thumper in Bourbon Distillation

    Most bourbon undergoes a second distillation in a continuous pot still called a doubler of a thumper. Sometimes it looks just like a regular pot still. In other distilleries, it looks just like a flat-topped metal container- you wouldn't know it's doing anything.

    In a doubler, the vapor off the column still is condensed back into liquid and this is run through the pot still. In a thumper, the vapor itself goes into the still to be redistilled (and makes a thumping sound that I've never heard but I associate with the sound of radiator pipes clanging in East Coast apartment buildings). 

    This second distillation is needed to raise the proof of the distilled spirit a little further, and this can be done in a pot still because there are no longer any solids to worry about. The waste product of the doubler/thumper is additional water.

    The only other place I can recall seeing continuous pot stills was in Jamaica for Appleton rum. According to my tour guide at Jack Daniel's, they do not run a second distillation through a thumber/doubler at all.  (see comments for a dispute on this)

    Update: I was given permission to post this bourbon still schematic. You'll see that the beer goes into the still at Plate 15, the new-make spirit is condensed and sent to the pot still (doubler), then recondensed before entering the High Wine Tank at the end. 

    Michters Still Schematic

     

     Anyway, that's what I think I know about column distillation in bourbon. If you have any additional questions (or corrections!) please let me know. In future posts, we'll look at other types of column stills and see how they work. 

     

  • A Whisky and Water Tasting

    Today, Friday July 12, is the last day to purchase online tickets for Tales of the Cocktail seminars. There are still plenty of seats in my Water World: Water in Spirits and Drinks seminar, and I encourage you to attend. It's going to blow your mouth.

    In previous posts, we've seen that different mineral waters affect the taste of scotch whisky, bringing out flavors such as sweetness, grains, and briney notes. These can be regional Scottish waters, or just different brands of bottled water. 

    In today's post I will go over what we'll taste in my seminar.

    1. Bowmore 12 on its own. 

    2. Mountain Valley Spring water (flat). 

    3. Perrier (sparkling) on its own.

    4. Bowmore 12 with just a few drops of flat mineral water added. What flavors change or become pronounced when we do this? 

    5. Water with whisky added on top of it. How does this smell different from water added to whisky? This is a a demonstration of Esterification/Saponification.

    6. Swirl the last two cups. Do they now smell the same? 

    7. Add more mineral water to whisky, up to equal parts. How does the whisky continue to change. At what point does it go flat?

    8. Add Magnesium salts to mineral water and stir. What does this water taste like? 

    9. Add this water to Bowmore 12. What flavors does this bring out in the whisky? Are those the same flavors as were in the Magnesium water, or different?

    10. Add Calcium salts to mineral water and stir. What does this water taste like? 

    11. Add this water to Bowmore 12. What flavors does this bring out in the whisky? Are those the same flavors as were in the Calcium water, or different?

    12. Now double up on those mineral waters. What do the waters taste like with lots of minerals? Better or Worse? Add more whisky to them. Still good? 

    13. Add a few drops of Perrier to Bowmore 12. What does this do to the whisky? 

    14. Add equal parts of Perrier to Bowmore 12, as in a highball. Now how does it taste? 

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    I've gone through this tasting at home and with a victim friend, and the results are really fascinating. The mineral makeup and total amount of minerals influences the flavor of scotch whisky (and presumably other spirits) quite dramatically.

    I hope that this will cause whiksy lovers in the audience not to rethink adding water to whisky at all, but to think, "Which is the best water to add to this particular dram?"

    I hope to see you at the World World seminar, taking place on July 19th at 3:30PM in New Orleans. 

    The water project imageThe Water Project on Alcademics is research into water in spirits and in cocktails, from the streams that feed distilleries to the soda water that dilutes your highball. For all posts in the project, visit the project index page

     

     

  • All About Anise

    I attended a good portion of a seminar called Anise: Treasure of the Mediterranean at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July. Though I couldn't stay until the very end, the seminar was great. 

    The speakers were Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller of Mixellany, Franesco LaFranconi of Southern Wine & Spirits, and Orietta Varnelli of Varnelli. 

    Like all things at Tales of the Cocktail, my memory is spotty when it comes to the seminar, so here are my notes copied and pasted from my iPad. I hope someone writes a book on anise liqueurs (HINT HINT Mixellany) so we can learn more about the topic.

    Here's what I wrote down: 

    • Green anise and star anise are unrelated plants but both contain anethol
    • green anise is fennel
    • you should add water first and then ice when serving anise liqueurs
    • need to make anise spirits on copper alembic- copper interacts with grape spirit. also anise is delicate and too much heat would make it soapy
    • sambuca -1930s miletta (sp?) company created Sambuca
    • Chinchon – lighter and thinner than varanelli
    • Raki – an anise spirit – more intense than others. not much head and tails removed so it's a rougher base spirit
    • Lebanon – Razzouk – arak – more like a grappa base spirit
    • Ouzo – greek – has more than anise and fennel. some have bitter almonds, sometimes licorice
    • Licorice adds the perception of sweetness in spirits. Old Tom gin – some of it had no sugar, but used anise and licorice root in double the amount of juniper.
    • Marie Brizard anisette- 11 botanicals
    • Sambuca – has to be at least 76 proof, and 38 grams of sugar per liter (see comment for a possible correction to this)
    • recipes from some anise products date back to medical journals from 1600s
    • pastis – comes from a word that means lasagna, a mix/mess (referring to louche)
    • sage has 10 times the amount of thujone as wormwood

     

    Anise seminar 9

    This is how the seminar was described:

    …LOVE ANISE? Then Join Francesco Lafranconi-winner of the TOC 2009 Best Presenter Award- and his illustrious guests: Mrs. Varnelli-CEO of Distilleria Varnelli S.p.a. and Member of The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers, and the inseparable cocktail couple, Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown-Directors of Mixellany Limited. They will transport you through an incredible historical and cultural journey, including an exclusive tasting of anise-based liqueurs and aperitifs produced among some of the most cultural-rich Mediterranean countries.

    Anise has a history of use as a spice and fragrance. It has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years.

    Since the 12th century, the caravans were bringing anise from China to Alexandria, where the precious seeds were shipped to Genoa and Marseille, two major hubs of the Mediterranean Sea trade, before being sent to Paris to be assigned to Anysetiers. After maceration and distillation of the resulting paste, they used to manufacture drugs, ointments and liquids then they catered Kings and Lords.

    Found in nature two different species of this plant which belongs to the Umbelliferae family: anise (Pimpinella anisum) and star anise, or anise (Illicium anisatum).

    Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly fashionable to satisfy the palate of the guests and for their pleasure, to serve many cocktails containing anise. Finally, in order to be exhaustive, let us not forget its use in its usual form of aniseed aperitif and liqueurs as presented by some major Italian, French, Spanish, Greek and Libanese spirits brands.

    As a special occasion during Tales of the Cocktail, The Ordre Internationale des Anysetiers will launch the FIRST chapter in the United States to revive the legend and tradition of the medieval guild of Anysetier, BIG THANK YOU TO VARNELLI!

    We look forward to having you join as a member of this treasured and historical guild established in 1263!

     

  • My Enthronement: The Ordre International des Anysetiers

    I probably won't be part of an enthronement ceremony too many times in my life, so I thought I'd make a big deal out of this one: I was inducted into the first American Chapter of the Ordre International des Anysetiers during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this July. 

    The Ordre International des Anysetiers is a charitable organization that seeks to revive the legend and traditions of the ancient guild of Anysetiers, founded in 1263 in France. 

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    Just ten of us were inducted: Southern Wine & Spirit's chief mixologist Francesco Lanfranconi, Tales of the Cocktail’s founders Ann and Paul Tuennerman, Liz Williams (Chair of Southern Food and Beverage Museum in NOLA), Laura and Chris McMillan of the Museum of American Cocktails, journalists Camper English and Brenda Maitland, mixologist Jacques Bezuidenhout and importer Paolo Domeneghetti.

    They flew in a multi-national group of officers from various Ordre chapters to lead the ceremony.

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    During it, we wore a ceremonial collar and were tapped on each shoulder with an anise hammer like being knighted.

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    We walked away with our ribbon and giant certificate that I guess I'll need to get framed.

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    And of course, we sealed the deal by taking a sip of an anise liqueur- in this case Varnelli dry anise. Varnelli sponsored the chapter and the ceremony.

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    I'm not quite sure what my responsibilities to the group are other than spreading a love of anise drinks, but that part I'd do even without the enthroning. 

  • Blue Cocktails on Details.com

    I attended an awesome seminar on blue drinks at Tales of the Cocktail this weekend, lead by Sebastian Reaburn, Jacob Briars, and Phil Duff. 

    Then I wrote a piece about it for Details.com, the website of Details magazine. It's my first story for the website. 

    Details Blue Cocktails Story

    I learned a lot more in the seminar than is in the story, which is more of a trend piece.

    Fun facts:

    • Phil Duff worked at the same bar Tom Cruise trained at to prepare for the movie Cocktail (not at the same time)
    • The first known blue drink was a non-alcoholic soda called Soyer's Nectar, from 1851. It was created by Alexis Soyer, the first celebrity chef. 
    • Blue cocktails were futuristic. "In the 1860s people were excited about the future; now we're merely afraid," said Jacob Briars.
    • The first known blue cocktail was from 1908.
    • Modern blue cocktails may start with the Blue Hawaiian from 1957 – at the end of the classic rum-heavy tiki drinks at the beginning of the silly ones.
    • Blue cocktails are popular in countries that either never had a super serious classic cocktail phase (Asia) or in places and with people that have gotten beyond it, like New Zealand and the top cocktail bars mentioned in the story.

    Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story on Details.com!

     

  • The Science of Dilution

    While at Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver, I attended the seminar on dilution by Audrey Saunders and Harold McGee. Saunders is the owner of the Pegu Club in New York and McGee is the author of the seminal work On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

     

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    Part of the discussion was about why we get more aroma in weaker drinks rather than stronger ones. People add water to whisky and other spirits when nosing them to release aromatics, yet this is counter-intuitive: shouldn't the whisky on its own have a more intense flavor that a whisky with just water in it?

    The explanation is:

    • In strong spirits, alcohol runs out of water molecules to bond with, and the alcohol molecules begin to form clusters. This is at around 30-40% alcohol.
    • Aroma molecules like alcohol more than water. They want to leave the water they're in and release into the air.
    • When a liquid has a lot of alcohol, the aroma molecules stick with the alcohol clusters and don't escape the liquid as much.
    • Dilution dissolves the clusters and releases aroma molecules.

    Saunders has been making a series of "inverted cocktails" in which she uses 2 parts of a weak ingredient like a fortified wine to 1 parts of the strong ingredient like whisky. These inverted cocktails are more aromatic than the stronger (1:2) versions of the same drink.

    Other fun facts learned in the seminar:

    • Chilling also decreases aroma release, as molecules are moving more slowly.
    • Some chemicals help increase the release of aromatics into the air, such as salt, sugars, and carbon dioxide.
    • Of course, these will also affect the flavor of our drinks.
  • Every Drink I Had at Tales of the Cocktail 2011

    Below are the tweets sent out as I was recording every drink I had at Tales of the Cocktail for the second year in a row. 

    The totals are: 

    Wednesday: 18

    Thursday: 41

    Friday: 28

    Saturnday: 19

     Compared to last year, this looks like a ton more drinks. But really I kept it to small sips and tastes for the most part. I came home feeling less poluted than usual, so don't let the numbers terrify you. Tales is for amateurs too!

    Thursday was the big day again, due to the Diageo happy hour event. I had the same number as last year, 25, but it looks like more drinks before and afterward. 

    Below are the individual drinks from my Twitter feed, many with pictures. Note they're in reverse order. 

    (more…)

  • Camper English Wins Best Cocktail Author at Tales

    Camper English TOTC Best Writer Award 2011

    I'll post more when I can get to a computer (I lost my power cord) so long story short: Hooray for Me!

    I win the best non-book cocktail author award last night at Tales of the Cocktail.

    That is awesome.

  • Tales of the Cocktail Preview: The Chainsaw Shift

    This is a preview of a seminar that will be given at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, which takes place July 20-24, 2011.

    The Chainsaw Shift

    There are two seminars this year at Tales about setting up an ice program. I'm pretty sure this one will be the only one with chainsaws though. The other, How to Build a Cutting Edge Ice Program, is part of the professionals series, though both seem geared toward professionals.

    I was treated to a preview of sorts of this seminar in San Francisco, as Andrew Bohrer came down and gave bartenders a demo of cutting a huge block of ice into workable blocks at Heaven's Dog. 

    For those of you who saw this post on Alcademics in August 2010, the below is a repeat of that post, and hopefully a preview of what we'll witness at Tales. 

    Note: there is some NSFW language in the videos along with chainsaw noise.

    First they started with the giant block and shaved off slices. 

    Then they cut those slices into rectangles

    Then they cut those rectangles into cubes.

    Then Andrew Bohrer demonstrated cutting an ice cube into an ice sphere using the shaving method.

     

    Then he showed how he makes shaved ice by shaving ice.

     

    Then he showed how he takes a big chunk of ice and with a knife can reduce it down to cubes.

     

    Then Amanda Womack shows how she cuts ice spheres- by tapping at the outside with a knife rather than shaving.

     

     

    An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

    The Details:

    Time: 10 AM to 11:30 AM
    Date: Friday the 22nd of July, 2011
    Venue: La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone
    Moderators: Andrew Bohrer
    Panelists: Anu Apte

    The Chainsaw Shift is about offering to you a shift in thinking about the buzz phrase, “ice program.” The Chainsaw Shift is the lowest waste, highest quality way to have an, “ice program,” as well as being the simplest way to do so. This seminar is a shift in thinking on how bartenders treat their most essential and common ingredient: ice. Quality ice allows the bartender to reevaluate and reimagine every step of the drink making process and brings new joy and beauty to the simplest cocktails.

    This seminar will cover the basics of safely and efficiently processing 300 lb. blocks of crystal clear ice with the aid of carpenter’s tools and a trusty chainsaw. We will also discuss and demonstrate techniques for cutting ice to improve aesthetics and quality of every cocktail. Examples will include in-glass ice sculptures, crushed ice, shaved ice, cracked & cubed ice for mixing and carving spheres, diamonds and other shapes. The Chainsaw Shift will never replace the ice machine; rather it will make every bartender into an ice machine.