FEATURE STORY
Great White Spirit
By Jack Robertiello
How many vodka bottles can an operator fit behind the bar? You might as well pose the age-old philosophical query, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" because there is not single answer that works for every restaurant.
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iSante Launches the iSante Spirits & Libations Blog with Steven Olson (aka wine geek)
Join Steven Olson (aka wine geek) in an irreverent yet relevant insider's view of the bartending industry. He will talk service and beverages of all textures and aromatic profiles. He will explore the most obscure historical tidbits, dispel all of the recurring myths and legends, unveil the latest in new research as it happens, reveal the changes in legislation as they occur, examine current and future trends, and attempt to deal with some of the issues that we face on a daily basis.
Read Steven Olson's blog
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The Right Bar Glassware
Choose bar glassware that is versatile and will allow you to present several drink categories without spending a lot on various glasses.
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Do you have a tip that you'd like to share with fellow iSanté readers? E-mail your idea to tgerstel@santemagazine.com today, and don't forget to include your name, establishment, and contact information.
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Almost Summer
Lynn House, master bartender, The Drawing Room, Chicago
1 oz homemade rosemary simple syrup
3/4 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1-inch piece seedless cucumber
1 egg white
3/4 oz Martini and Rossi Bianco vermouth
1-1/2 oz Kettle Citroen
Cucumber wedge garnish
Dice cucumber and place in mixing glass. Add lemon juice and simple syrup and muddle. Add egg white, vermouth, and Citroen. Shake ingredients vigorously. Add ice and shake again.* Double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cucumber wedge.
*Don’t skimp on the shaking. Shaking the un-iced drink vigorously before adding the ice for the second shake is critical to ensure that the egg white properly emulsifies, giving the drink its luxurious texture and signature froth.
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Cielo Rosso
By Manny Hinojosa, Walnut Creek Yacht Club, San Francisco
First-Place Winner of the Campari Mix-Off
3/4 oz Campari
2 oz SKYY Orange
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz Michele Chiarlo Muscato
Lemon and grapefruit peel garnish
Mix first four ingredients in shaker. Pour into a martini glass and add Michele Carlo Muscato. Finish with lemon and grapefruit peels.
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Bordello
By Victoria Damato, Monahan's
Second-Place Winner of the Campari Mix-Off
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Gran Centanario Anejo Tequila
1 oz fresh Meyer Lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 oz passion fruit juice
Spritz soda
Lemon and a cinnamon stick garnish
In a chilled tumbler, add the juice of half a lemon and the cinnamon. Mix well. Add the Campari, Tequila, and passion fruit juice. Shake well. Strain into eight-ounce Collins glass. Spritz with soda.
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The Dream-Inspired Cocktail
Lynn House, master bartender at The Drawing Room in Chicago has a very interesting way of developing cocktails: “A couple of weeks ago I actually had a dream about our long winter and kept repeating to myself in the dream 'It’s Almost Summer'. . . .I woke up and decided to create a drink that would help me get through the cold nights, using flavors that refresh and evoke thoughts of warmer times to come.”
Thus was born, Almost Summer, a special cocktail now appearing for a limited time on the menu of The Drawing Room. Almost Summer is different from traditional heavier winter drinks in that it is served cold and makes use of savory ingredients.
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Museum Awards BAR Scholarship
The Museum of the American Cocktail (MOAC) recently joined forces with Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) to award a scholarship to one outstanding New Orleans bartender, who was able to attend the Spring 2008 BAR session in New York City at no charge.
In late April, Danny Valdez of Commander's Palace, who is a certified Master Sommelier, joined 35 other bartenders from around the country for a five-day intensive BAR training program in downtown Manhattan, where they learned from masters such as Paul Pacult, Steve Olson, David Wondrich, and Doug Frost. Dale DeGroff, presudent of MOAC and one of the founding principals of BAR, said the organizations "plan to award at least one scholarship a year to rising stars in the beverage industry."
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Greatest T.G.I. Friday's Bartender in the World Crowned
Tony Adams, a 25-year-old bartender from the Haymarket T.G.I. Friday's restaurant in London was crowned The Greatest T.G.I. Friday's Bartender in the World at The Palazzo Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on February 25, following an intense finals competition between eight elite mixologists from around the globe. Brian Zachau from Minneapolis was honored for the fourth straight year as the US Champion. Adams received a $10,000 cash prize and a propeller engraved with his name to hang above his home Friday's bar.
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Standardized Spirits Labels Pushed
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) and other organizations, including the Consumer Federation of America, are urging the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to reevaluate its proposal for spirits labels. The TTB's current proposal would allow spirits producers to avoid listing the amount of alcohol per serving. The proposal would also prohibit a company from featuring "standard drink" (1.5 fluid ounces for 80-proof spirits, according to DISCUS) information on labels, opting instead for nutritional information such as carbs, calories, and fat. DISCUS is calling for the TTB to change the following aspects of its proposal: Serving sized are 1.5 fluid ounces for 80-proof distilled spirits, 12 fluid ounces for beer, and 5 fluid ounces for wine; the amount of alcohol per serving is required to be disclosed in the "Serving Fact" panel; and the text in the panel will state "a standard drink contains 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol."
Source: Wine & Spirits Daily
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Breweries Recognized at 2008 World Beer Cup
Brewers from five continents earned awards from an elite international panel of judges in mid-April during the 2008 Brewers Association World Beer Cup. This year, 644 breweries from 58 countries and 45 US states vied for awards, with 2,864 beers entered into 91 categories. The top three entries in each category won gold, silver, and bronze awards. In addition, Champion Brewery and Champion Brewer awards were given in five categories, based on the awards won by each brewery. Highlighted awards included: World Beer Cup Champion Brewery and Brewmaster, Large Brewing Company, Blue Moon Brewing Company/Warren Quilliam; Gold Award, American-Style Cream Ale or Lager, Special Export, Pabst Brewing Co.; Gold Award, American-Style Hefeweizen, Widmer Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.; Gold Award, Specialty Beer, Morimoto Soba Ale, Rogue Ales; Gold Award, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer, Cuvee de Tomme, Port Brewing Co. and The Lost Abbey; Gold Award, German-Style Pilsener, Trumer Pils, Trumer Brauerei Berkeley; Gold Award, Baltic-Style Porter, Amnesia, Grumpy Troll Restaurant & Brewery; Gold Award, Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale, Salvation, Russian River Brewing Co.; and Gold Award, Irish-Style Red Ale, Samuel Adams Irish Red, Boston Beer Co. For a full list of winners, visit beertown.org.
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Tequila Category Continues to Grow
According to IRI scans, the fastest-growing spirit category in February 2008 was Tequila, with a growth of 8.7 percent (dollar) and 5.3 percent (volume). Leading the growth were ultrapremium Tequilas, which saw a formidable 30 percent growth in dollar value, and 33 percent growth in volume; super-premium Tequilas also grew significantly (18.2 percent and 22.7 percent, dollar and volume respectively).
Source: winespiritsdaily.com
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US Breweries to Manufacture European-Style Beers
The cost of importing beers from overseas has two of America's largest brewers considering a launch of their own European-style specialties. Anheuser-Bush (AB) and SAB Miller have both revealed that they are taking steps to create new brews that they hope will appeal to high-end consumers. AB is in the midst of creating a new division that will push the company's Michelob brand and its new labels, Michelob Brown Ale, Michelob Red Ale, Michelob Dunkel Weisse, and Michelob Bohemian Pilsner. For its part, Miller has announced a nationwide launch of its Lite Brewers Collection, to take place in September; the line includes a blonde ale, amber ale, and wheat beer.
Source: Distinguished Brands International
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from the may 2008 issue of santé magazine |
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Local Libations
Original cocktails by Dustin Dickson, bar manager at The Heathman Restaurant & Bar in Portland, Oregon, featuring locally-made spirits.
Download recipes >>
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Responsible Alcohol Service
The responsible alcohol service training decisions you make are critical. How can you make certain that your front-of-the-house staff is prepared for every situation? Where can you find training that works in their world, and works around their hectic schedules? The answer is ServSafe Alcohol™.
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The Original Cocktail Art Custom Drink Recipe Cards
Kyle Branche
For Los Angeles-based professional bartender and cocktail specialist Kyle Branche, who is also a frequent contributor to Santé magazine, bartender education has been a lifelong passion. He has pursued this mission in various forms, including self-publishing professional bartender reference and management books and a high-production-value DVD series of cocktail preparations and recipes. Now he’s devised a literally hands-on teaching concept: The Original Cocktail Art Custom Drink Recipe Cards (kbranche@earthlink.net; 818-225-8009; $39.95). Volume one is a 50-card set of classic and popular drink recipes that span the gamut of mixology---each easy-to-use 3 x 5-inch card contains a handsome image of the finished drink on one side and Branche’s complete recipe on the other. Branche’s convenient recipe cards can help any bartender increase his skills and repertoire, and they make excellent staff training tools for bar managers.
Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas
David Wondrich
Perigee Trade
Cocktail writer and historian David Wondrich presents the colorful, little-known history of classic American drinks in this homage to Jerry Thomas, father of the American bar. The 336-page book includes never-before-published details and stories about Thomas, along with definitive recipes for 100 punches, cocktails, sours, fizzes, toddies, slings, and other essential drinks, plus 20 new recipes from today's top mixologists, created exclusively for the book.
Buy at amazon.com >> 1001 Questions Every Bartender and Lounge Lizard Should Know How to Answer
Robert Plotkin
Barmedia
Santé Contributing Editor Robert Plotkin covers every facet of bartender knowledge. The questions (1,001---no more, no less) are arranged in four main sections and several speciatly segments (e.g., 21 questions on "Testing Your Vodka Geography"). Entry-level, intermediate, and advanced exams are included, along with all 1,001 answers.
Buy at amazon.com >> Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776
Ian Williams
Nation Books
A book that should be immensly appealing to history buffs and rambunctious rummies, Ian Williams traces the Caribbean spirit from its pre-rum roots in Asia and North Africa and its first iteration in Barbados, through the turbulent Colonial and Revolutionary War periods, to is exquisite expressions today. The author's thorough research, when combined with a gift for storytelling, lifts the book high above the ordinary.
Buy at amazon.com >>
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