TOTC2011: Nonstop to Tokyo

As I mentioned previously, my favorite thing at Tales of the Cocktail this year was the Nonstop to Tokyo. It was by luck, and the kindness of my friend Nathan Luchansky, that I was even able to attend - the event was completely sold out at least two months ahead of time and Nathan gave me a ticket.

Here are some pictures from the event, as well as some details to give a sense of why it was great.

Departing NOLA
Starting out, we headed into a suite and were given a boarding pass for our trip to Tokyo. The event was sponsored by Suntory , and featured a variety of their whiskys (they don't use the "e") as well as a few other spirits that they handle in Japan. My friend Neyah White, now an ambassador for Suntory, but formerly head barkeep of one of my favorite places in San Francisco, was there as our tour guide.

On entry, we were given access to two side rooms - one where a cocktail with Hibiki 12 was being served, and one where we could sample a variety of Japanese whiskys and play a little putt-putt golf.

One of the spirits we were invited to taste was called "Chita." Not available in the US on it's own, it is used as part of the blend in the Hibiki whiskey. It's a really interesting, delicious spirit - made from 100% Japan-grown corn, and aged in used bourbon barrels. It tastes like a fine aged rum and was quite sippable.

The Main Event
After while, we were invited into the main room of the suite, where there was small bar with seven or eight seats. Hidetsugu Ueno from Bar High Five in Tokyo greeted us, and presented us with a menu of cocktail options. And then, essentially, he made us cocktails and told us a bit about cocktail culture and cocktail making in Japan.

Some of the highlights:

• He cracked ice by hand, using a three-pronged ice crusher
• He carved an ice block into a diamond-shaped cube for one of the cocktails
• One of the cocktails was served at room temperature in a tulip glass, with undiluted honey in the bottom, so that the drinker could adjust sweetness to taste by swirling the glass.
• The techniques he used, and the fluidity of his motions, were beautiful to watch.
  

A couple of trivia bits I learned:

• Both Midori and Southern Comfort are very popular in Japan.
  
• It is common to use knives completely up - the knife he used on the ice block was used for other things in the past, but the blade has shrunk over time and now it is only good for carving ice.
  

Thiswas a truly unique experience, and a wonderful introduction to the cocktail culture in Japan. And, I got to try a couple of new whiskys and get a couple of good ideas for cocktails, too.

Thanks again to Nathan for finding me and giving me the ticket!

Chicago Drinks News

Lots of great things are happening in the Chicago cocktail world, but I often forget to write about them. Every night, fantastic drinks are being made all across this city, and it's wonderful to be part of this growing, thriving culture. This month, three of our most accomplished mixologists brought home some more awards and honors:

Charles Joly - James Beard Award Nomination
In addition to winning a variety of cocktail competitions over the past months, Charles has just been named a nominee for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional by the James Beard Foundation. Congratulations to Charles on this great honor, and thanks for continuing to help build the profile of Chicago's mixology scene! You can find Charles behind the stick at the Drawing Room. (photo from The Boozehound)

Bridget Albert - Good Eating Award
Loved by everyone in the industry, Bridget Albert is truly the inspiration behind much of what has happened in Chicago in the last five years, not to mention throughout the country. She is an expert on spirits, cocktails and bar operations, and continues to mentor and guide most of the best bartenders in Chicago. Last week, when the Chicago Tribune announced their 2011 Good Eating Award winners, Bridget was among them. Congratulations to Bridget, and thanks! (photo from Chicago Tribune)

Debbi Peek - National Mixing Star for Disaronno
Late last year and early this year, the folks at Disaronno solicited recipes from bartenders across the US, and invited many of them to seminars and in-person competitions. Besting some great competitors here in Chicago, Debbi's cocktail advanced to the national round. And she won! Debbi's Italian 57 sounds delicious, and this certainly isn't the first time she has won a competition. Way to go Debbi! You can find Debbi behind the stick at The Bristol. (photo from Imbibe Magazine)

Crickets and a Cocktail Competition

Well, it's been crickets chirping here for a few months. I cannot believe how fast time flies by - it's just like my parents said it would be. Well, I'm going to do better on the blogging front, and I'm starting off with a post about a recent cocktail competition here in Chicago.

42 Below Vodka sponsors a cocktail competition each year in a variety of cities around the globe, and the Chicago round was last week. Unlike many competitions, this one is judged based primarily on the taste of the drink and the competitor's performance while making it. I've missed the competitions in past years, but have heard stories of costumes, singing throughout the 5-minute time limit, and various other stunts to win. So I had to go this year and check it out.

The event did not disappoint - it was fun and fast-paced, with a variety of cocktail styles and performances. Since the sponsor is a vodka brand, of course all recipes involved vodka, and interestingly, many used the straight version, not the flavors, which are a bigger differentiator for the brand (Manuka Honey, Kiwi, Feijoa, etc.).

A quick recap of the ten competitors and their drinks:

James Keener from the Signature Lounge
"The Beet Martini" made with the straight vodka, beets, caraway syrup, grapefruit zest, and creme fraiche caviar. Much to my surprise, it did not taste very "beet-y," which was a good thing because I don't like beets.

Milan Mijatovic from the Silversmith Hotel
"Fall in Loooooooove" made with cinnamon and cranberry-infused vodka, fresh lemon, bitters, and agave syrup. Delicious and seasonal, with dominant cinnamon notes. Milan wore a fantastic mask, and managed to make all of his drinks on time and without spilling, despite the mask.

Edith Rubicala from the Signature Lounge
"The Black Widow," made with the manuka honey flavor, horchata and some other ingredients that I unfortunately missed. It was a classic dessert-style drink, sweet and creamy.

Andy Gold from Bonny's Bar a/k/a the "Boston Brawler"
Andy was fun to watch, he was witty and funny while making "The Pigeon and the Squirrel." He used the straight vodka and Koval rose hip liqueur, Chartreuse, fresh grapefruit and egg white. It was herbaceous and complex, with nice texture.

Dante LoPresti from Double A
I missed the name of Dante's drink, but he used Bonal Gentiane-Quina, jasmine tea, and egg white, with a fresh orange zest garnish. The drink was balanced and tasty.

Andre Cunningham
Andre was quite funny and energetic during his cocktail-making session, and had the crowd laughing. For his cocktail, he used the plain vodka infused with pear skins, Luxardo Maraschino, red chili simple syrup, rhubarb bitters and fresh lime juice. His garnish was a bruleed pear in vanilla sugar.

Bryson Ryan from the University Club
Bryson's "The Sweetest Light South of the Equator" contained an unusual combination of ingredients, using the plain vodka, blanco tequila, creme de banana, spiced rum, and icewine. I must admit I was skeptical on hearing the ingredients, but it was better than I had expected. Sweet, but with some interesting, complex flavors.

Tim Lacey from the Drawing Room
Tim was the only competitor to bring on-stage assistants, and he took the event's "Cocktail Carnival" theme to heart. He brought his very ow n carny with a bull horn, as well as a lovely assistant making cotton candy garnishes (played fantastically by his wife Lisa). Tim used the Manuka Honey flavor, as well as honey syrup, lemon juice, apricot liqueur, ginger beer and tiki bitters. His "All Sales are Final Void Where Prohibited by Law" was delicious, balanced, and complex, and seemed to actually play to the flavor of the vodka.

Sergio Serna from the Drawing Room
While he didn't have on-stage help, Sergio instead brought Capoeira dancers to accompany his drink making and music, and they were great. He used the Kiwi flavor, along with fresh lemon, green tea syrup, falernum and a flamed thyme garnish (soaked in Chartreuse). Unfortunately, I didn't get to taste this one - I'm sure it was great.

Tim Williams from Province
While he didn't have dancers or stagehands, Tim was funny and witty, and brought his mom along for good luck. Tim used the plain vodka, ancho chile-infused honey, Cherry Heering, fresh lemon juice and candied lemon peel for garnish. His "The Federale" was spicy, smooth and complex.

And the Winner Is....
The competition was fierce, and the judges had some tough decisions to make. And the host made it tough on the two Tims when he announced the winner. He said it's "Tim........." and drew it out for a long time. Luckily, the winners were Tim Lacey AND Tim Williams.

Congrats to Tim and Tim, who are off to New York City next month to fight for the national title and a trip to New Zealand!

Liquid Nitrogen in a Cocktail. In Rockford.

Last Saturday, I was in Rockford, Illinois for a tasting event at a great little wine, spirits & beer store (the best one in Rockford, as far as I know). I have a friend who grew up in Rockford, and the last time I saw him, he mentioned that there was a new restaurant doing great cocktails in Rockford. This I had to see.

Low and behold, I found Social, which looks to be a great restaurant (the pork belly tacos were delicious). They have several people behind the bar who actually know a few things about cocktails, even! In talking with them, it turns out they took inspiration from a few places in Chicago in developing their approach to food and drink, and they are offering something completely different for Rockford.

Full disclosure - they do carry our absinthe behind the bar, which was my first beverage of the night. Then, I asked Greg and Jeff for whatever they felt like making. Greg made me what they call a JFK. Essentially, it was classic daiquiri (reportedly JFK's favorite drink). However, rather than serving it the traditional way, they actually chilled it with liquid nitrogen.

They shook the drink with ice quickly, strained it into the glass, and started adding in liquid nitrogen with a ladle. You can see from the pictures just how cold the ladle was, and when a drop of liquid nitrogen scattered across the bar, they warned me to steer well clear of it. It's so cold, it will freeze alcohol (and do some damage to you too).

The resulting drink has a smooth, icy texture, reminiscent of a well-blended frozen daiquiri, without all that extra dilution. It was fantastic on a hot day, and a real delight to try, especially in Rockford.

If you find yourself in the area, you must go there.

Cheers to Chicago Mixologists

I have been remiss in writing about the achievements of our local mixologists lately, even though some great things have been happening. Here are some highlights:

National Sherry Cocktail Competition
Charles Joly from the Drawing Room won the 4th annual Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition in December, beating out prominent mixologists from around the country in the finals. He won a trip to tour the Jerez region, along with a scholarship to the BAR Masters program. Congrats Charles!

Bread & Wine, by Charles Joly
(Photo courtesy of Iñaki Vinaixa via the Sherry Council of America)
1 oz Lustau “Don Nuño” Dry Oloroso
1½ oz Balvenie Scotch Doublewood 12 year
5 dashes Absinthe (preferably Sirene Absinthe - thanks Charles!)
½ oz fresh lemon juice ¼-1/3 oz maple syrup (depending on
tartness of lemons)
Fill Old Fashioned glass with ice, dash with absinthe and set aside
to season. Combine Sherry, Balvenie, lemon juice and maple
syrup in mixing glass. Add ice and shake well. Empty Old
Fashioned glass, coating sides with absinthe. Add Kold Draft or
large pieces of ice. Strain cocktail into glass. Cut a strip of orange
zest using a vegetable peeler. Mist top of glass with orange oil,
rub rim and place decoratively in glass. No straws please.

National Benedictine Competition
Lynn House from graham elliot took second in another huge national competition sponsored by the fine folks at Benedictine with her drink The Grail, finishing ahead of a number of prominent mixologists around the country. She was featured in Esquire in January, and has been mentioned in a number of other major publications recently. Go Lynn!

The Grail, by Lynn House
2 oz Benedictine Liqueur
1/4 oz Esprit Orange Liqueur
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz Fevertree tonic water
3 dashes of Fee brothers orange bitters

Local Competitions
Debbi Peek, the portfolio mixologist extraordinaire for Bacardi USA, won the local Best Bartender contest sponsored by Domaine de Canton in November, and she won a trip to St. Martin to compete in the nationals. Congrats Debbi! Hope that trip is coming up soon, it's cold around here!

There have been a few other local competitions recently as well, with more to come. Daniel de Oliveira of Crimson Lounge and Double A won the latest, sponsored by Absolut, and Todd Appel of Crimson Lounge made to the finals of a recent late-night tv show on mixologists (also sponsored by Absolut).

Best Cocktail Lounge is in Chicago!
And last but not least, The Drawing Room was named the Best Cocktail Lounge in the US for 2010 by Nightclub & Bar Magazine. If you haven't been there yet, you're missing out!

Congrats all! Great things are happening in our cocktail scene, with more to come.

Sweet 16 of Mixology Wrap Up

Second Semi-Final Round
Back on October 22nd, the folks at Boka Restaurant Group held the second semi-final of their "Sweet 16 of Mixology," a casual cocktail competition that's been going on all summer and fall. This round saw Zach Friedlander from Relax Lounge (and the coming soon Gilt Bar) against Charles Joly from the Drawing Room.

Both competitors brought their A-games and mixed up great drinks. Bacardi 8 was the sponsoring spirit, so rum drinks were in order.

Zach Liked it Hot
Zach modeled his drink after the classic Hot Buttered Rum, with a few twists. He made his own butter mixture, infused with some wonderful spices, and had homemade marshmallows that he roasted with a handheld torch.


Charles Kept it Cool
Charles used some rich spices as well, including Rosehip Liqueur and Pimento Dram along with fresh juices to create a rich, savory concoction.

Charles served his punch style, while Zach had heated tureens holding his warmed rum mixture.

Both drinks were great, and the vote was close. Zach won the day, and advanced to the finals.

On to the Finals
The final match, between Benjamin Schiller of Boka and Zach Friedlander took place on Wednesday, November 11th. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend, but I heard the drinks were fantastic and the crowd was huge. Read more about it here.

Congratulations to Benjamin Schiller, who took top honors!

Everyone's Gone to Mercadito

Mercadito, the well-known NYC restaurant group, just opened a branch here in Chicago. I had a chance to visit last night and try a couple of cocktails.

My expectations were high, given that a number of Chicago's most notable mixologists left other gigs to go and work there. I was a little surprised at just how many people went to work there either full or part time (Jen Contraveos, Dan de Oliveira, Maura McGuigan, Casey Sullivan, Daniel Love, Kyle McHugh), especially since the well-known Tippling Bros. had been brought in to do the cocktail menu.

So how was it?
In short, I was impressed. Although all the cocktails and mixed drinks use an agave spirit for the base, they offer a range of options - from the accessible margarita (made the right way, with fresh juices and fruit) to more esoteric offerings with mezcal.

Here are the drinks I tried, both of which had insider-y names (which was entertaining to me, but I wonder if the general public cares and how they respond):

Misty's Sleeve

• Named for Misty Kalkofen from Drink in Boston (or more properly, her tattoo). Misty's a fantastic bartender and advocate for the industry, a founder of LUPEC Boston and a heckuva lot of fun too.

• Made with Blanco tequila, ginger, hibiscus, fresh valencia orange juice, a touch of serrano chile, and a half rim of hibiscus salt.

It was delicious. Spicy, complex, and fresh - very well balanced. Jen Contraveos, at left, made it for me.


Tres Coops

• A salute to three liquor industry folks who have the last name Cooper - Ron Cooper from Del Maguey, Rob Cooper who owns St. Germain, and John Cooper, who owns Domaine de Canton. Rob and John are brothers, from a long family line of liquor industry professionals, but they're not what you'd call close, according to word on the street. Ron is not related to either of them, but is a heckuva fun guy and he imports fantastic mezcals.

• Made with the Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal, St. Germain, Domaine de Canton, Averna amaro, egg white and grapefruit. Casey Sullivan, pictured at left, made mine.
  

Apparently this drink is polarizing among the staff, some love it, some think it's a bit too dry and a bit forced - trying too hard to make the three Coopers idea work. I thought it worked really well, and the drink was delicious. It was also well balanced, with the creamy texture from the egg and deep complexity. It was drier than the first, but I like 'em dry so I enjoyed it very much.


One other thing I thought was great at Mercadito was the lineup of flavored salts and spices for the glasses. Rather than the stacking trays that could have been there for months with who knows what in them, they have small dishes out for each options that they clean & refill often.

Drinking in San Francisco

Well, this post is now way overdue so I better get on with it before I forget what happened! Here are a few of the highlights from my cocktail drinking adventures in San Francisco in April, beyond the Tiki drinks I wrote about last month.

I tried to cram a lot of bars into a short amount of time, with so much to see and so many great people to meet. I didn't get as many places as Rick over at Kaiser Penguin, but I did pretty well considering that I often was driving and had other commitments during my visit.

Perennial Favorite Stops: Nopa, Alembic, Absinthe
Although I don't have pictures of them from this trip, I really enjoyed seeing Neyah White the cocktail genius at Nopa again, and hanging out at The Alembic again and meeting Daniel Hyatt. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jonny Raglin at Absinthe and having lunch (and a fabulous cocktail) there (and my own personal autographed copy of Jeff Hollinger's book too).

Day One: Alembic, Heaven's Dog, Beretta
After a light dinner and cocktails at Alembic (one of our friends had never been there, so we went again) we headed to Heaven's Dog. Lucky for us, we found some blogger friends there, as well as Erik Ellestad and Thad Vogler behind the bar. Great drinks again (I only had sips since I was the driver), and fantastic food. I got to try a new (to me) absinthe, Leopold Bros.

At right, a shot of Camper English, cocktail and spirits afficionado and writer extraordinaire, at Heaven's Dog. When it was closing time,Camper took us over to Beretta, which we closed down as well. At Beretta, my most memorable cocktail was the Single Village Fix with smoky mezcal, pineapple gomme syrup and lime. I noticed many mezcal cocktails on menus, and also many with gum/gomme syrup, so I hunted down some Small Hands syrup to bring home.

Day Two: Clock Bar, Cantina, Dosa on Fillmore
On my next free evening in the city, I stopped in at the Clock Bar to meet Marco Dionysos and try the Chartreuse Swizzle that I'd been hearing about. It was really busy, so I enjoyed my drink then continued my adventure.

It was a short walk to Cantina, where I met Duggan McDonnell, and found our friend Gabrielle Barnes behind the bar. Gabrielle was one of the first people we met when we came to San Francisco a couple of years ago - she was working at Bourbon & Branch then, and when we asked where else we should go for great drinks, she recommended Nopa (sit at the bar). We had an amazing time there with Neyah behind the bar.

This time around, Gabrielle had just returned from the Mixology Summit, and made me a great cocktail with Black Seal rum, Grand Marnier, and Cynar - she didn't have a name for it, but it was a fantastic drink. Gabrielle is competing in one of the cocktail competitions at Tales of the Cocktail this year, so I'll be cheering her on there.

Wrapping up the night, I stopped in a Dosa on Fillmore, and had the Bollywood Hills made with Subrosa's Saffron-infused Vodka, as well as a nice little cocktail made with our Distiller's Gin No. 6. The cocktails (menu designed by Jonny Raglin) were great, and so was the Dosa Masala (yum).

That was it for this trip, so many bars, so little time....

Illinois WCC Cocktail Competition Finals

Last month, I had the privilege of judging the Illinois finals for the World Cocktail Cup. I was a last-minute add to the judging panel, as one of the judges was not able to attend. On the plus side, I got to hang out with some fun folks and taste lots of cocktails and comment on them. There were many drinks that I liked, and a few that I loved. On the minus side, I didn't get to cheer on my friends who were competing and watch all the action.

I did my best to not hear who was competing, nor what they were using in the drinks - I wanted to judge the drinks solely on their own merits. Unfortunately, this was not always possible - the competition was taking place in the next room, and there was no divider. Plus, we had our fantastic host for the evening, Serafin Alvarado, talking on a microphone and giving the full play-by-play.

As taste judges, we evaluated drinks based on appearance, aroma, taste and overall impression. The taste score had the highest weight, but all elements were important. There were also technical judges assessing each competitors performance on a variety of technical measures, and the scores were combined to determine a winner.

Appearances First: Garnishes
There were lots of creative garnishes, and a few were a bit over-the-top. Some of the judges responded quite negatively to the larger or more unusual garnishes, while a few really loved them - it was interesting to see how divergent the views were on garnishes. Garnishes were sometimes quite intricate, others simple and elegant, and a few were a bit strange.

The Taste: Drinks
The category for the cocktails was aperitif, which means they should be a before-dinner drink, to stimulate the appetite, and made with no more than 3/4 of an ounce of sweeteners. Many of the drinks were great contenders for the category, only a few were too sweet, or too heavy, for a before dinner libation. The event was sponsored by Pernod Ricard, so their products were used for base spirits in all cocktails. Many competitors used gin, while some chose cognac or rye whiskey. I think there may have been a vodka drink or two in there, but as I said I was trying not to listen, so I'm not sure.

One of my favorites was the first whiskey drink we tasted, but because it was the first whiskey drink and no other brown spirit based drinks had been tasted, some on the panel felt it was too heavy. Of course, once we tasted some of the other whiskey drinks, that one wasn't heavy at all. Unfortunately, as judges we were not allowed to go back and revisit scores after seeing the full spectrum of drinks, so what was done was done.

Here are shots of the drinks that I managed to photograph:


Victory
Competitor no. 19, DJ Love from Le Bar at Sofitel, won the day with a beautiful, tasty drink. Congratulations to DJ, who is off to San Francisco next month to compete in the WCC nationals. In the meantime, I think you might be able to try his drink if you stop by Le Bar.

And I'm going to have to go and find out who made the other drinks I loved so I can order them again - all I got was a sip (so as to be able to judge 20 cocktails), and I want more!

Adventures at Bar DeVille and More Malört

A few weeks ago, we stopped in at Bar DeVille (701 N. Damen in Chicago) on a Sunday evening, and I am terribly delinquent in writing about it.

We'd heard about this new bar several times, and knew our friend Brad Bolt was running the show there, so we were happy to get a chance to check it out (finally). Brad and his comrades Eric and Jason were a blast to hang out with, and we tried a few fantastic drinks. We also had a fun discussion about Malört, something I've done a few times in recent weeks.

First Up: Bar DeVille Cocktail
I asked for whatever they felt like making, and Jason made this fantastic concoction for me. Here's the recipe:
1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse 100
1/2 oz Campari
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
1 egg white

Shake the ingredients together, without ice, thoroughly. Add ice, shake well and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Apply a few drops of Peychaud's bitters to the foam, and swirl them.

We also tried Brad's take on a Hemingway Daiquiri, which he called the Ernest Cocktail, also delicious. Far better than any of the so-called Hemingway Daiquiris we tried in Key West back in February.

Ernest Cocktail
2 oz Flor de Cana 7 year
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
Half Dollar Slice of Lime
3 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters

Combine ingredients in a rocks glass, add ice and stir. Garnish with a big, fat grapefruit peel.

The Hard Sell and the Malört
As I wrote about awhile back, Malört is a Chicago thing. Funny enough, Brad mentioned that Mike Sula at the Chicago Reader was working on a story about Malört, and asked several Chicago mixologists to develop recipes for it. Mike even had the owner of the Malört brand try them, and Brad's drink was the winner. Here's the recipe:

The Hard Sell
3/4 oz Gin
3/4 oz Jeppson's Malört
3/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze a large swath of red grapefruit peel over the drink, to add the essential oils from the peel to the surface.

It's an interesting drink, balanced and complex, with those fresh but bitter grapefruit notes on top. Some of that Malört flavor (is that the right word?) comes through on the finish and lingers. It's always the finish with the Malört that gets ya, and stays with ya for a long while. Eric's apt description of Malört was that it "tastes like earwax... earwax and bug spray aged in a gymshoe."

I'm still not loving Malört, although I do find it quite entertaining to talk about lately. At any rate, thanks to Brad, Jason and Eric for a lot of laughs and some great cocktails! Check out Bar DeVille if you haven't already, it's a great addition to Chicago's cocktail scene.