Small-batch Cocktail Supplies

There are some great little companies making quality cocktail ingredients and supplies these days. You can use them to make better drinks, without going to all the effort of making these things yourself (and potentially not making them as well as these folks). Unfortunately, very few of these products are making it to Chicago (yet). Luckily, you can order them online.

Here are my favorite sources for the more esoteric ingredients, as well as a couple of new discoveries:

• Small Hand Foods - San Francisco-area bartender Jennifer Colliau started this company to provide local bartenders with great ingredients for classic cocktails. I first found out about her company when I was in SF last spring, and I have since had an opportunity to use the grenadine and pineapple gum syrup. The syrups are great, as good as you'd want them to be if you were making them, without having to go to the effort (and have less than stellar results). The website lists a Chicago-area distributor, but I haven't seen these anywhere yet. Hopefully they'll start showing up soon.
  

• Trader Tiki - Portland area cocktail enthusiast and bartender extraordinaire Blair Reynolds (aka Trader Tiki) started this company to provide great ingredients for quality Tiki cocktails and other libations. He got started late last year, and I am anxiously awaiting my first order of
  • 
  cinnamon syrup, Don's mix, and orgeat. I see some great Tiki drinks in my future, which I need after my last tiki bar trip. Blair is one of the first people I met at my first Tales of the Cocktail, at which time he gave me a small bottle of his house-made bitters (which are great). I always knew we'd be friends after that! And besides, who can resist this description: "A brilliant combination of Barbados grapefruit and Asian cinnamon creating a newfound flavor which is best tasted to be believed. Best used in the Donga Punch, this recipe applies perfectly to a Zombie and creates a wonderful punch with just rum, lime, and ice!"

• Scrappy's Bitters - I just found these at Provenance in Logan Square, and picked up the grapefruit bitters. Unfortunately, that was all they had in stock at the time - apparently the chocolate bitters and some of the others have been popular with a couple of local mixologists. I really like these bitters so far, although I have just started working with them. I can't tell from the website who is behind these, but Joe at Provenance said they're coming from Seattle.

• Cocktail Kingdom - I haven't ordered from these folks yet, but they have a great array of bitters, syrups, books, and tools on their website. You can order most of the above products at once from them, and more, if you wanted. I've got my eye on a couple of things on there, and my birthday is coming, so..... fingers crossed!
  

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.

Illinois USBG Holiday Party & Mixoff

Late last month, I had the distinct privilege to be on the judging panel for the 2009 Illinois USBG Mix-Off/Holiday Party, which was sponsored by Skyy. I must admit I was a bit skeptical of having a tiki-themed event sponsored by a vodka company, but many folks really got into it and it was a heckuva great time.

Here are a few pictures of the competitors and the drinks.

Pictured mixologists include Lynn House (graham elliot), Kyle McHugh (Drinks Over Dearborn), Josh Pearson (Sepia), Milan Aquarius, Ari Silver (Bice Bistro), Charles Joly (Drawing Room, in the coconut bra), and Todd Appel (Crimson Lounge). In the end, Charles won the competition, and the cash prize - congrats to Charles!

The evening ended with a group toast, and much celebration. It was a fantastic evening.

Proper Independence Day Cocktails

In my last post, I promised to suggest some proper cocktails for this upcoming July 4th holiday weekend. I got some great comments from visitors, and some cocktail suggestions too. Then I promptly got busy with a bunch of stuff and didn't post anything else. Before the holiday passes me by entirely, here are a few ideas.

Guiding Principle: Drink American
In these tough economic times, on this most patriotic of holidays, you should support American-owned and run companies with your Independence Day libations. Maybe that small craft distillery in your area, or that craft brewery or winery. If you don't have those, or don't want/like those, then stick with American-made, traditionally American spirits & beverages.

OPTION ONE: Rye Whiskey
A spirit similar to the rye whiskeys you find in liquor stores today was popular in the US early on in the colonies - immigrants came here and brought grain distilling traditions with them, which they applied to the grains they found here. Rye was common, so rye-based whiskey was common too. It was popular enough that when the government tried to tax it to pay off the national debt in the1790's, we had the Whiskey Rebellion.

Whiskey Smash
(Adapted from this one on the Rye Whiskey is for Patriots blog)
2 oz Rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
2 sprigs of mint
Add ingredients to shaker, including one sprig; shake well with ice. Strain into ice-filled old-fashioned glass, and garnish with additional sprig of mint.

As far as I know, this drink originated in the US, and derives from the julep - a faster version, really, without all the pomp & circumstance. Some recipes leave out the lemon juice (and have less sugar), but I like that bit of citrus to lighten it up a little for the summer.

Or Try Rock & Rye
This is another interesting rye whiskey-based option, that I must admit I've not yet tried. Rock & Rye was created in the US, and was one of the few US-made spirits poured at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 according to Eric Felten's recent article. It was originally a medicinal tonic, thought to help colds and other illnesses.

I've never bought a bottle of the pre-mixed product labeled "Rock & Rye" at the liquor store. I imagine, like so many things, it won't taste like what it's trying to be. So I'll be trying this recipe, by the legendary LeNell Smothers:

LeNell's Homemade Rock & Rye
1 750-ml bottle rye whiskey (I prefer Rittenhouse 100 proof)
1 6-inch string rock candy (add more according to your sweetness preference)
2 orange slices
2 lemon slices
2 fresh cherries pitted or perhaps brandied or whiskied cherries (not the fake red maraschino, please)
2 dried apricots
1 pineapple slice
Tea bag full of dried horehound (optional)

Put all ingredients in a large jar and cover. You can start enjoying after one day; however, the flavor will change as rock candy dissolves with time. As you deplete the supply, add more whiskey and candy as needed. If the fruit slices show signs of breaking down, replace. Always keep fruit covered with alcohol; this stores indefinitely as long as the fruit is submerged. Of course, like all alcohol it will oxidize after a really, really long time.

Note: Horehound adds an extra bitterness to balance the sweetness and also acts as a cough suppressant. If you do use horehound, only steep for a couple of hours, then remove to prevent overly bitter flavors.

While some drink Rock & Rye on it's own over ice, I would recommend trying LeNell's Rock and Rye Cooler, or perhaps some other concoction with it. I better start mine tonight so I can have it on the 4th, assuming I can find or make some rock candy!

OPTION TWO: Bourbon
Bourbon is another distinctly American creation, and there are many fine brands available. With bourbon, I am inclined to either try one of the recipes that Alex Smith suggested in the comments (in the spirit of the great melting pot, using a few accents from other places) or do something with the fresh berries coming out in the farmers markets near me, such as:

Blackberry Julep v3.0 (adapted from v2.0)
1 1/2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Blackberry Liqueur
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
4 fresh blackberries
6 Mint Leaves + One Mint Sprig
Muddle the mint, blackberries and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add the liqueur and bourbon. Strain into a highball (or julep) glass filled with crushed or shaved ice. Swirl with a bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts up. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a fresh blackberry.


OPTION THREE: TIKI
The whole concept of Tiki culture in restaurants/drinks is a distinctly American creation as well, and most of the drinks use rum, which was popular back in the 1700's. So there are lots of options - I'd recommend consulting one of the great tiki bloggers, or try this one from the legendary Kahiki restaurant:

Polynesian Spell
1½ oz Gin (we used Distiller’s Gin No. 6, are you shocked?)
1 oz Grape Juice
¼ oz Triple Sec
¼ oz Brandy
1 tsp Simple Syrup
¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Whatever you drink this Independence Day, enjoy it and have fun with your friends & family!

Note: pictures in this post are from istockphoto.com.

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.