Not at Tales Cocktail Crawl

This year, I did not attend Tales of the Cocktail. Instead of sitting at home drowning my sorrows alone while looking at all the updates and pictures on Facebook, I invited some friends out for a "We're Not at Tales" cocktail crawl. Granted, most of the great bartenders and mixologists in town were not around, but a few were left behind to hold down the fort, and a couple even joined us for the crawl.

Stop No. 1: Sepia
The lovely lady behind the bar, Logan Lavachek (at right), wowed our group with her mixing skills. We tried variations on the Aviation, Moscow Mule, French 75, and some of Logan's own creations too. All delicious. And only some of 'em were made with my stuff.

Stop No. 2: 160 Blue
Rich Szydlo was holding down the 160 Blue fort, and we enjoyed more great cocktails. I had a Corpse Reviver No. 2, and several Manhattans were enjoyed, along with a few of Rich's original creations. Plus, Thursdays are $4 burger night at 160 Blue, so we had some delicious burgers, too.

Stop No. 3: The Drawing Room
Charles, Tim and Cristi were all at Tales for various events and competitions, so Grant Hurless was left to hold down the fort. He invited guest bartenders each night to join him, and on Thursday Al Klopper from the Elysian Hotel was making cocktails. More Manhattans, some Ethels, and a Blackthorne or two were enjoyed, along with a few bartender's choice libations.

At one of these places that shall remain nameless (ahem, DR, ahem), a drink was attempted. The High Life 75, to be exact. It was a failure. Not. Good. At. All. Do not try this at home.

Unfortunately, it was a school night, so most of the crowd had to depart after the third stop. Next year, we'll go longer, and to even more places. Or perhaps I'll be at Tales, and reading about this on Facebook instead.

Joy and Suffering at the Hala Kahiki

Recently, we went to the Hala Kahiki in River Grove, IL (just as an aside, you get a very different website if you leave out the hyphen on the web address).

The Hala Kahiki has long considered the best tiki bar in Illinois, and one of the best vintage tiki bars in the country by some. So it's been on our list of places we needed to visit for a long time. Of course, since it's in River Grove, and keeps somewhat limited hours, we hadn't made it there. Until now.

The Good News
We were amazed by the decor and ambience. Truly a beautiful oasis in the middle of nowhere, will lots of great decor items, down to the small details like the puffer fish lights. It's a really big place, even without the outside patio space. The parking lot was packed, but there were still tables, so we got lucky.

Great ambience, great vibe, good crowd.


The Bad News
The drinks were not good. I know I'm a cocktail snob, and they're trying to hold their prices down in the tough economy, but the drinks were not what we expected based on the decor.

I ordered a Mai Tai (foreground) and Derek ordered a Fog Cutter. Our drinks tasted very similar to each other, with tons of crushed ice. Unfortunately we were not at the bar and did not see how they were made, but mine tasted like vodka with cheap sour mix - no rum flavors whatsoever, no orgeat, no fresh lime. And it seemed like they used lots of foaming bar sugar.

Maybe they were busy and took shortcuts, or maybe it was an off night. I'll probably go one more time and see if I can sit at the bar next time so I can see what's happening. But this was a disappointing introduction to the Hala Kahiki.

Cocktails for Independence Day

You Must be Joking
One of the consequences of being a cocktail blogger is that I receive press releases from PR people for lots of other spirit companies - several a week. And often they are for companies that only make products in the same categories that we do. It's not like I hide who I am or what I do for a living. Do they really think I'm going to write about that Russian vodka? At least I know what they're up to, I guess.

This week, I've received several with ridiculous suggestions for cocktails for the 4th of July holiday. In every single case, they suggest that we use an imported spirit for the cocktail. Really, for the celebration of American Independence? We should use imported vodka (from Poland, or even (gasp) England?), tequila, gin (from England again), or absinthe (France)?

What to Do, What to Do
I think a proper 4th of July cocktail should be made with an American-made spirit, perhaps influenced by what was popular back then. For what was popular back in the day, I'd go with RUM. A great American-made rum. I'm reading And a Bottle of Rum right now, so I've definitely got rum on the brain - and I know it was quite popular in that era, although it became scarcer once Britain stopped letting us import molasses from the islands.

As for other ingredients, I'll probably use what's in season, and what is common to the USA. Or maybe I'll go Tiki - an American phenomenon, after all. Or maybe back to cocktails from the 1770's, or with an American whiskey drink? Next week I'll report with some recipes for 4th of July.

In the meantime, anyone have any suggestions or ideas of what you'll be drinking on the 4th of July? Please share - as long as it doesn't call for tequila or imported vodka.

Good Tiki, Bad Tiki

I've been to no less than three Tiki bars in the last two months, more than I've visited in all my years until now. I still haven't made it to the Hala Kahiki, but I did get to the new Trader Vic's in Chicago, Forbidden Island in Alameda, CA, and the Conga Lounge in Oakland, CA. Seems like Tiki, along with classic cocktails, is having a bit of a resurgence perhaps? Or maybe I was just missing the boat until now.

Tiki is a lesser-explored segment of the cocktail realm for me, but I've been trying to learn more about the culture, lore and drinks favored by my Tiki-crazy blogger friends.

Chicago's New Trader Vic's
For some reason, we ended up here at the end of our St. Patty's day pub crawl. Perhaps it was because it was the only place we found without a huge line on a Saturday evening (and perhaps that was because it's not Irish). The decor is fantastic, and the menu has many favorite cocktails I've read about. We tried a few of them, but honestly my taste buds weren't at their best due to the beer and Irish whiskey consumed earlier in the day. We did enjoy the Pupu Platter (no longer called that) and the Tiki Puka Puka cocktail, but the Mai Tais were dyed green and too sweet. So were the crazy shots that our friend Maeve insisted on ordering for us.

I gotta go back and give Trader Vic's another shot, and I'll post more about that when I do.

Conga Lounge, Oakland, CA
I was hanging out with Melkon Khosrovian from Tru Spirits and Jonathan Forester from Penobscot Bay one night last month after a craft distilling conference, and we were trying to go and have dinner at one of our joint customers. Unfortunately, the place was tiny and also packed, with a 2 hour wait. So we wandered down the street and settled on pizza at Pizza Rustica. They didn't have any tables either, but said we could order pizza in their upstairs bar. So up we went.

What we found when we went upstairs was a decked out Tiki Bar called the Conga Lounge - fun, with lots of great things to look at on the walls and hanging from above. The pizza was great, but unfortunately our drinks were not so great. We only had one drink each, and didn't even finish those. Darn, we wanted to like the place.

Forbidden Island, Alameda, CA

Since I happened to be in Alameda, of course I had to go to Forbidden Island. Unfortunately, the legendary Martin Cate recently left, so I couldn't see him there, but I knew I had to go anyway.

Every drink I tasted was great, and the ladies behind the bar were a blast. My favorite drink was the Sidewinder's Fang (pictured), although the Forbidden Island and Painkiller were both great too. Definitely have to go back next time I'm in the area.

It was definitely fun to try some more Tiki drinks, I'll have to continue my explorations in Tiki.

Great Drinks, Bad Drinks

Last night was a lot of fun, and filled with a variety of interesting beverages. We started out at Drinks Over Dearborn, where we were pouring some cocktails and talking about our distillery. Even though it was very cold & snowy, some really great people came out and it was a blast.

Toward the end of the tasting, Winston, the Midwest brand ambassador for The Glenlivet came in. He was a lot of fun, and he also had brought a treat for Kyle, the owner of DoD - a sample of Glenlivet XXV. Winston graciously allowed us to try it as well.

The Glenlivet XXV
Some parts of the whiskey spend time in sherry casks, and it shows in a good way. Here are my notes: nuanced, enticing aroma; drier on the palate than the aroma suggests; rich, with well-balanced spice tones and a long finish of wood with hints of peat & caramel. Mid palate - vanilla, creamy, citrus peel. Lovely, and a nice treat on a cold day. I'm not sure I'd come up with $350 to buy it, but I really enjoyed it. Thanks Winston!

On to the Whistler
We'd been hearing about this new cocktail lounge and music space for awhile, but hadn't yet made it over there. When we arrived, it was packed - luckily we found one seat at the bar and staked it out. Turns out we had the best seat for a cocktail nerd like me - their resident mixologist Paul made most of the drinks right there. Paul was incredibly busy taking care of the crowd, but also a lot of fun and very attentive to his craft.

We tried a couple of his cocktails, including the Red Hook (Old Overholt, Punt e Mes and Maraschino) and the Cardinal's Blessing (Matusalem Rum, Yellow Chartreuse and Cherry Brandy). Both were well balanced, complex and delicious.

We sipped and listened to tunes by Matt Ulery's Loom (great, and an interesting mix of instruments - Matt on bass, with friends on accordion, trumpet/flugelhorn, drums and tenor sax).

At one point, some gentlemen came in and ordered a drink called the Golden Eel. One proudly declared that it was "off the menu" and a very special drink that they loved. I watched Paul make it, and he grabbed three things - gin, sweet vermouth and Jeppson's Malört. Later Paul mentioned that these guys were the only ones who ever ordered it, and that they used to drink Malört all by itself.

Digression on Malört
Malört is a Chicago thing, I've never seen or heard of it anywhere but here. It used to be made here, but now is made in Florida (do they drink this stuff down there?). And here's the gist of their marketing pitch - "Are you man enough to handle our two-fisted liquor?" And then they go on to say "Only 1 in 49 men will have a second sip" or something like that. Definitely targeted at a certain group of men, and needless to say, they are out there.

Malört is incredibly, incredibly bitter. More bitter than Campari, I realized (read on). I have had it one other time - I asked about it at a bar one time and they tried to talk me out of ordering it. They told me that when people come in and rudely demand their free birthday drink, that's what they pour. Undeterred, I tried it anyway. It struck me as very bitter, but that was about it. I seem to recall having a bit of fun with my companions that night, getting them to taste it without forewarning them, or something like that.

Back to the Golden Eel
Back to the Whistler - I ordered a Golden Eel. I'd had a couple of cocktails, and thought "how bad could it be," since it at least has some other good stuff in it. Plus, Paul insisted on toning down the recipe and using some nice ingredients. Here's the recipe he made, which as Paul said is basically a modified Negroni:

Golden Eel
1 oz Gin (We used our Distiller's Gin No. 6)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (we used Carpana Antica)
1/2 oz Jepson Malört

Wow was this bitter. More bitter than any Negroni I've ever had, and missing the good qualities of Campari. Paul graciously offered to take it away post haste, but since I knew what I was getting into when I ordered it, I wasn't going to let him do that. Instead, I asked him to add some soda water. And then some more soda water. That helped, really more of an Americano, but missing some of the flavor (but none of the bitter). Unless you're the 1 in 49, I wouldn't recommend that drink, but try one of Paul's other creations.

Then it was off to Kuma's Corner for some burgers.