Ardent Spirits e-letter
Volume 9, Issue 13, August 23, 2007
by Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan
© 2007 Reganomics, Inc.
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In This Issue:
Cheap Date
This date was so cheap we never spent a penny. Why? Cos this is
all about a date with the past. Come with us to the 1890s and take a peak
at the Manhattan Club, a joint that stood across the street from the Old Waldorf
on 34th Street. (The Empire State Building now stands on the site of the
Old Waldorf.)
This quote is taken from In The Golden Nineties by Henry Collins
Brown, 1928:
"In [The Manhattan Club's] window sat Tammany politicians hob-nobbing
with broad-clothed bulwarks of the Solid South over
Manhattan
cocktails, and bowling the smoke of Henry Clay perfectos toward the frescoed
ceiling in a futile effort to turn a stone refrigerator into a human
habitation. There was Judge Truax telling Henry Watterson how many bottles of
Medoc '69 reposed in the catacombs underneath; and Henry giving the Judge a
recipe for mint julep that made the judicial bosom heave like a movie star's,
and eye glisten like a bridegroom's."
Don't it make you wish you'd been there?
The Cocktailian
image courtesy of the good folks at
quanya
Cracking the bar code: Shaken or stirred? Take a short course on barspeak and
impress your friends
8/3/07
A few years ago I approached the owner of a local joint to ask if I could open
up his private bar for the occasional happening. Before very long, I was behind
the bar shaking and stirring and muddling and rinsing and rimming glasses and
trying to tell customers that no, they couldn't get a dry gin martini with no
vermouth whatsoever, but if they'd like some chilled gin in a cocktail glass, I
was more than willing to comply. Customers can be the bane of a bartender's
existence . . .
Hot Links
More cool videos from The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess
Whiskey
posted
last Monday
Whiskey is perhaps one of the most complicated of
the spirits, Irish, Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, Canadian, Blended, Straight... no
wonder some people tend to shy away from it. Hopefully we can simplify some
of these issues for you, so your next trip to the liquor store won't be
quite as stressful.
I feel that there are far too few good tequila
cocktails available, and so I'm always excited when I encounter a new one to
add to my collection. I'm hoping that you'll appreciate the complex
collection of flavors that the Rosita provides as much as I do.
There are countless stories that claim to herald
the origin of the Margarita, and to the best of my knowledge none of them
have been definitively identified as the real one. Go ahead and debate this
topic amongst yourselves if you wish, but in this episode we will instead
focus on how to make a proper Margarita using silver tequila, Cointreau, and
fresh squeezed lime juice.
Jamie Boudreau of Vessel - Seattle puts his own
twist on the classic Aviation Cocktail.
There is no better authority on the history of rum
than Wayne Curtis, author of And a Bottle of Rum - A History of the New
World in Ten Cocktails. Wayne dedicated three years of his life to
travelling the globe researching (read: drinking) rum. In this exclusive
interview he imparts some of his great knowledge of the spirit. We hope you
enjoy it.
The "Floridita" Cocktail gets its name from the
Floridita bar in Cuba. If you glance through various cocktail books, you
will most likely find a variety of different drinks that go by this name,
I'm not sure which one should be considered the original version, but this
particular one I find to be quite delightful. You'll also learn about how to
make homemade Grenadine in the process. (And as to the name of this drink
using the masculine "El" instead of the feminine "La"... I've been told that
while the establishment takes the feminine name of "Floridita", in Spanish
the bar itself is masculine, and thus "El" should be used. At least that's
what I've been told.)
Rum is a spirit who's history is tightly intertwined with
the discovery and formation of America. It's traditionally made from
molasses, and is often commonly used in tropically inspired cocktails. In
this episode we will examine the origins of rum and how it evolved from
being barely drinkable into becoming the foundation of such wonderful
cocktails as the Daiquiri.
DAY TWO OF TALES OF THE COCKTAIL - NEW ORLEANS -
2007 BROUGHT TO YOU EXCLUSIVELY BY SMALL SCREEN NETWORK!
DAY ONE OF TALES OF THE COCKTAIL FROM NEW ORLEANS!
TUNE IN EVERYDAY THROUGHT SUNDAY FOR A DAILY VIDEO SUMMARY OF THE EVENTS
It is time perhaps that we tackle that quintessential
cocktail, the Martini. This drink originated in the late 1800’s, and quickly
became one of the standards, alongside the Manhattan. The pre-prohibition
Martini however was different from what you might expect today in many ways,
and frankly it was a lot better for it.
NOTE: Ok, so you got me pontificating about the Martini so much that I
messed up making the dry Martini in this episode. I should have added a dash
of orange bitters to the dry Martini cocktail just like I did to the sweet
version.
Potent Quotables
The Q Guide to Wine and Cocktails
Yep, the Q stands for queer, and Scott Pomfret and Scott Whittier, the guys
who wrote this tome, also pen the
Romentics series of romantic novels for gay men. Enterprising
couple of dudes, huh?
We can't tell you that this book is packed with absolutely solid facts about
cocktails--and we can't comment on the wine stuff cos we don't know wine
stuff--but we can tell you that Scott and Scott are a whole lot of fun, and we
can't see anything in this book that's so far out of whack that i will set your
cocktailian career back more than a few seconds.
There are helpful hints to be found in this book, too. They tell us not
to put single malts in the freezer, for instance.
Here are a couple of our fave quotes:
"The bartender is your friend. At least until she cuts
you off for leading a nude conga line down the length of the bar."
"At least one restaurant in Beijing has over thirty varieties
of animal penis on the menu. (This has nothing to do with wine or
cocktails but we thought it was important to share.)"
"Being a fabulous queer-worthy host means throwing more than
a party. It means throwing an occasion."
The gang at ardent spirits believes that, regardless of
sexual persuasion, the last quote applies to bartenders everywhere, and to
anyone hosting any event, anywhere.
And the gang at ardent spirits highly
recommends this book, too. It's a fun read, the authors don't take
themselves too very seriously, and all in all it's a refreshingly light take on
the subject. Click on the book cover above to buy it straight from the
publisher.
Bar Code
American Feast Cocktails
The Guys at American Feast, a new web site that lets you
order some great foods to be delivered to your door, are old friends of Ardent
Spirits. Hell, we knew them for years before Ardent Spirits was created.
When they got in touch to tell us that they were featuring cocktails on their
site, then, we just had to go have us a look-see.
The majority of cocktails detailed on the American Feast site
were created by the Chopin Vodka folk, and they're way more than a notch above
the usual spirit-company-created drinks. Well worth having a look at, we
think.
Wanna see for yourself?
Here They Are!
Worldwide Bartender Database
If you haven't joined yet, you won't know about the gigs we're letting our
members in on, will you?
You might want to join now so you don't miss the next issue
of the Worldwide Bartender Bulletin.
Join the
Worldwide Bartender Database
Wanna see where some of our members work? Click
Here
Ardent Events Calendar
September 9 - 12
Fancy a Few Days in the South of France with
Mardee & Gary?
Cocktails on an Island
Basics
Three days on the French
Isle de Bendor with Mardee and Gary
and a bunch of people just like you
1,500 Euros
includes workshop, boutique hotel accommodation, facilities, transfers and
ferries, all meals and refreshments.
Should be fun, huh?
Come Join Us Why Doncha?
Click
Here for More
Details or
Contact Isabelle Ferchaud on +33 4 94 05 15 61 or
Write to
efossard@barbusinessschool.com
September 15
Presents The Spirits of Mexico
Details Here
On the House with Jack Robertiello
Don’t forget to visit our friend, Jack Robertiello’s round up of blogs from cocktail geeks far and wide:
On the House with Jack Robertiello
*For details on advertising rates, etc., please contact
theguys@ardentspirits.com
