November 27, 2009
Posted by Paul Clarke, November 25, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Remember last Thanksgiving? When you sat down at the table with the best intentions of not overdoing it, then after seconds of everything (including pie) and enough picking at the serving platters during clean-up (that it really should count as thirds), you settled into a chair and felt like an overinflated balloon?
Hey, we've all been there. And in all likelihood, that's where many of us will be around this time tomorrow.
But as Eric Asimov writes in today's New York Times, there's a solution for those who've managed to overdo it yet again: amaro.
I've touched on the beauties of these (mostly) Italian bitter liqueurs before, and while in the U.S. they're typically used in cocktails—if they're used at all—in Italy and much of Europe, they have a long history as digestifs perfectly suited to remedy that post-indulgence discomfort.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, November 18, 2009 at 8:00 PM
[Flickr: edwardkimuk]
A little over a year ago, inspired by the unexpected acquisition of a bowl full of beautiful fresh quinces—and imagining what their ethereal perfume and flavor would be like in a drink—I started a small project.
After removing the core and finely chopping the quinces, I placed the fragrant fruit in jars and covered it with cognac. Adding a piece of cinnamon to one jar and a few cloves to another, I sealed the jars and stuck them in the back of my liquor cabinet. And though I blogged about it at the time, I soon moved on to other projects and quickly forgot about my jars of boozy quinces, macerating away behind bottles of bitters and boxes of bar tools.
And there they remained, all but forgotten, until late October, when I finally pulled them out, assuming the fruit had turned to mush and the contents of the jar would be a complete waste. I couldn't have been more wrong—even after almost a full year of soaking in cognac, the quince pieces were still firm and crisp, and after straining the liquid off the fruit and spice, I took a taste and was floored: this stuff is amazing.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, November 11, 2009 at 5:30 PM
"Secret passwords and exclusive policies be damned."
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
In yesterday's Diner's Journal, Pete Wells writes that Pegu Club co-owner and bartender extraordinaire Audrey Saunders is opening a new place, the Tar Pit, with chef Mark Peel in Los Angeles next month.
With this move, Saunders—one of the most talented and influential bartenders in the ongoing cocktail renaissance—becomes the latest New York bartender to spread the craft west of Weehawken. Sasha Petraske, whose New York bars Milk & Honey and Little Branch (among others) helped spur the trend of the now ubiquitous speakeasy-style cocktail bars, played a hand in opening The Varnish in Los Angeles earlier this year, as well as taking his skills to the nation's capitol, working as a consultant on the Rooftop Bar at the W Hotel.
Toby Maloney, who came up through the bartending ranks at Pegu Club and Milk & Honey, took his talents on the road several years ago, opening The Violet Hour in Chicago and, more recently, consulting on The Patterson House in Nashville and Bradstreet Craftshouse in Minneapolis.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, November 4, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Bartenders are getting into the game, not only producing high-quality bar ingredients for themselves but for wider audiences.
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
As Jonathan Miles wrote in Sunday's New York Times, the vintage-cocktail renaissance has a few drawbacks. While this interest in the drinks of yesteryear has led to the revival of once-lost favorites such as the Aviation and the Corpse Reviver #2, assembling some of these cocktails can still be frustrating. He writes:
It's the ingredients that can get really arcane: ground gentian, capillaire, raspberry syrup, tansy, ambergris, gum syrup. Throw in some eye of newt and toe of frog and you've got the cauldron from 'Macbeth.'
Fortunately for those who love vintage drinks, it's easier to find the once defunct or simply unavailable ingredients. Several years ago, importer Eric Seed began sourcing hard-to-find spirits and liqueurs such as Batavia arrack, all-spice dram and crème de violette through his company, Haus Alpenz. These products are now available in select markets nationwide.
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Posted by Paul Clarke, October 28, 2009 at 5:00 PM
©iStockphoto.com/ManuWe
Autumn is whiskey season in Kentucky, and at the recent Whiskyfest in San Francisco, I was able to try out some of the recent releases now appearing in bars and liquor stores (typically in very small amounts).
One of the most appealing American whiskies I tasted was Wild Turkey "Tradition," a 14-year-old, 101-proof bourbon that entered the U.S. market last week in a limited run of 14,000 bottles. With the characteristic spicy tang of Wild Turkey bourbons, the Tradition bottling has a deeper, richer character that comes from its older age, as well as its aging position in the "center cut" of the distillery's warehouse. Also memorable is the latest bottling of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, a 12-year-old, 97-proof whiskey that's pleasantly mellow with the aroma of wheat and iodine.
And of course, it wouldn't be autumn without the annual release of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, a series of limited edition and very much sought-after whiskies that appear each fall (and are usually snapped up by Christmas).
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