Trusting a Blogger

Earlier this week, in one of the industry update emails I receive, I noticed the following headline: " Wine drinkers trust merchants over bloggers." I scanned the article, thought to myself "huh" and kept going. Yet, for some reason, during the "Blizzard of 2011" here in Chicago, I kept coming back to this article in my head. So today, I actually pulled the article, as well as the press release on which it was based.

Provenance of the Claim
The email I received said the article was from "Harpers." So, I was thinking Harper's, you know, the magazine that's been around since the 1840's. No, in fact, it was in Harpers Wine & Spirit Trades Review, which appears to be an industry magazine published by a UK publishing company. The article was a summary of the press release put out by the folks at Wine Intelligence, a UK-based company "[c]reating value for wine businesses through strategic advice, branding and research."

The Gist of the "Research Results"
The Harpers article was pretty much a retelling of the press release, in which the following conclusions were asserted about US wine consumers:

• 20% of regular wine drinkers trust what independent bloggers write about a wine
  
• 80% of regular wine drinkers trust what their wine merchant tells them
• 66% of wine drinkers look for wine information online, and 33% of them use social media to do so
  
• The most used websites are those run by "wine shops, newspapers and smaller wine producers"

The summary quote says that "It looks as if the trust levels built up over time by local wine merchants are transferring into the growing power of the Internet, while word-of-mouth recommendations are also migrating into the Facebook era. Clearly bloggers will have a role to play in this new world, but this research shows how important it is to build up trust levels among your audience."


And So What?
The tone of the press release, and the article, clearly imply that bloggers are not widely trusted, and at least one writer took it as an attack. Another responded by pointing out why in fact some bloggers should not be trusted. I happen to agree with him in some respects - there are some bloggers out there who don't really know what they're doing. That's pretty much true of everything.

I also think there is another way to look at this discussion. In a study, by a UK-based company that works and is likely funded primarily by larger wine interests, and likely to have used a very broad brush in the study (we've only got the press release, after all, it's ₤1,300 for the full report), they're saying that 1 in 5 drinkers trust a blogger for information on what to drink! 1 in 5! Of the group comprising all regular wine drinkers, you've got all those people who love white zinfandel and/or other things most wine connoisseurs would not touch, and all those people who don't use computers regularly, let alone read blogs. Yet 20% of the audience not only reads, but also trusts, at least one blog! And of course that number is growing, as everything moves online.

It's a Question of Trust
Just as the press release, as well as the other writers, point out, the fundamental issue is trust. People take recommendations from those they trust. There are good bloggers, and bad bloggers, just like there are good retail wine folks and bad ones. Most people aren't going to trust Joe Schmoe liquor clerk who just started working there part-time. But they should (and I do) trust our guy at the local wine store, Keith, who is one of the most knowledgeable, thoughtful guys we've ever known in the wine business.

Bloggers can build up trust - many have already done so. It takes time and effort, just like building up a reputation as a trustworthy retailer does. And those folks have had many more decades to do so than the blogging community.

Go bloggers!

Absinthe Ice Cream & More

I've been traveling a lot lately, and somehow my blogging has gone by the wayside again. I even missed the last Mixology Monday, which was a good one and I had lots of ideas for it.
In the spirit of getting back into it, I bring you some highlights from my recent road trip. I traversed the middle of Illinois, and a good chunk of Indiana. I know you're jealous!

Most interesting Food: Absinthe Ice Cream
My friends at Radio Maria in Champaign, Illinois worked up a series of small plates that paired with pre-Prohibition cocktails for an event we planned together. And they surprised me with absinthe ice cream for dessert, made with our Sirène. It was fantastic, really kind of like eating your absinthe instead of drinking it. Sweet, but not overly so, creamy and oh so complex. If you find yourself in Champaign, stop by and ask if they still have any, or if they've made more - it was a big hit. In any event, their chef Matt is a genius and I highly recommend the food there.

Best Food & Cocktail Pairing: Ginger Gimlet & Scallop Ceviche
I helped organize four cocktail and food pairing dinners in the last month or so. The award for best pairing goes to Seven Saints in Champaign (sorry, no website), where we paired a Ginger Gimlet (gin, fresh lime, ginger syrup) with a Scallop Ceviche (ginger-cilantro oil, green onion and tomato). It was the most popular of the evening by far among the guests, and stands out in my memory as one of the best I've ever had.

Most Interesting Drink: (ri)1 Whiskey
I only give this award to ri because it was the only thing I drank that I had never had before. I've tasted so many things anymore, it's very hard to find something new that I actually want to try. Thanks to Dennis Cheng at the Irish Lion in Bloomington, Indiana (another great restaurant) for sharing a taste of his new bottle of ri with me. It had a wonderful nose (and a great package), but was a bit lighter on the palate than I expected (especially for a rye). Not sure I'd pay $50+ for it, but it was definitely sippable. Interesting to note that there doesn't appear to be an age statement on the bottle.


Now that I'm back in Chicago, I'll soon be out and about looking for cocktail adventures. Stay tuned!

Chocolate and Cocktail Pairings

Lately, I've been working on a creative cocktail pairing idea. I met a woman here in Chicago who handmakes traditional chocolate truffles, and by happenstance we were at an event together (she was promoting her truffles, I was promoting my distillery). It turned out that one of my cocktails paired perfectly with one of her truffles. It was a classic pairing - each was great on its own, but together, they brought out new flavors in each other and created a different taste experience.

I've heard of wine & chocolate pairings, but only a few people in Chicago are doing anything with cocktails or spirits and any type of food, let alone truffles. It was a fun (and tasty) project, so I kept working with more of her truffles. I came up with some great pairings, and I also made some cocktails that were good on their own, but definitely not with truffles. Here's an update on what I came up with (the good ones, anyway):

Pairing No. 1 - Citrus

• Truffle: Semisweet chocolate, with lemon, orange, and lime; topped with homemade candied orange peel
• Cocktail: 2 oz. NS Tahitian vanilla vodka, 1 oz. fresh tangelo juice, splash of fresh lime and dash of ginger liqueur (I used Massenez); served up
  
• Notes: The underlying vanilla tones heightened the chocolate, and the citrus notes complemented each other well. Surprisingly, the drink did not drown out the citrus notes in the truffle.

Pairing No. 2 - Nuts & Spices

• Truffle: Milk chocolate, hazelnut puree, roasted ground hazelnuts
• Cocktail: 2 oz gin (I used Distiller's Gin No. 6, as you might expect), 1 oz fresh lime juice Juice, 1 oz ginger-infused simple syrup (1:1 ratio); shaken & strained through cinnamon stick resting in cocktail glass
• Notes: This pairing surprised my new chocolatier friend; the ginger, cinnamon & spices in the gin actually accentuated the nuttiness of the chocolate rather than drowning it out (her fear), and the lime balanced the sweetness.

Pairing No. 3 - Tropical

• Truffle: Bittersweet chocolate, dark rum, freshly toasted coconut
• Cocktail: 1 oz NS Vodka, 1/2 oz pineapple juice, 1/2 oz apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter), and 1/2 oz amaro (Averna); shake, then strain into glass of ice & top with club soda
• Notes: I wanted to use rum here, but alas we don't make one, and I wanted to stay within our product line. At first I tried using coconut in the drink, but any hint of it destroyed the delicate coconut in the truffle. So I went for other tropical flavors, with the pineapple and apricot, and then the amaro to cut the sweetness and add some depth.
  

Anyone else have pairing stories with chocolate? Wanna try your any of these or develop your own? You can get the truffles I was using from Katherine-Anne Confections. Chances are, you'll talk to Katherine herself if you order - she literally makes each truffle by hand (and they are fantastic). We had so much fun with this, we're thinking we ought to offer this more broadly as an event or something. We had one trial run so far, and it went great!

An Absinthe Dinner

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending the Absinthe Dinner put on by the team at The Drawing Room at Le Passage. For $45 per person, we were treated to seminar on absinthe, as well as a series of absinthe cocktails and matching food courses.

The cocktails and food were designed by The Drawing Room’s Chief Mixologist, Charles Joly, and their Executive Chef, Nick Lacasse. As the first-ever event of this kind in Chicago (at least in modern times), it was exciting to see how they presented absinthe to the diverse crowd in attendance.

The sold out room was intrigued with learning about absinthe and tasting it, and Charles began with a brief discussion of the history of absinthe, the reputation it developed, and the truth about what it is (and is not). Throughout the evening, he interjected with stories about absinthe and its rituals.

Here’s a brief rundown of the event:

Beginnings: The Amuse Verté

• Drink: Absinthe, lime, mint and pineapple
• Notes: A light, refreshing pre-dinner cocktail with only a hint of the signature anise flavor from the absinthe. Very popular with everyone around us.
  

First Course: Corpse Reviver and Fennel Pollen Gnocchi

• Drink: Gin, absinthe, Lillet Rouge, fresh sour
• Food: PEI mussels, fresh fennel gnocchi, baby spinach and pepato reggiano
• Notes: The use of Lillet Rouge rather than Blanc was a nice change of pace (never seen/done that before), and it really worked well in the drink. The drink paired well with the saltiness and richness of the food, and each accentuated flavors in the other.
  

Second Course: Forbidden Fruit and “Cobb Salad”

• Drink: Absinthe, elderflower liqueur, peach puree, orange bitters
• Food: Chicken roulade, corn mascarpone, avocado, vinaigrette
• Notes: Another excellent pairing, with the sweetness of the cocktail balancing out the savory flavors in the salad. The cocktail was not as sweet as it sounds from the ingredients, and the salad was much more complex than the description lets on.
  

Third Course: Heightened Senses and Roasted Pineapple

• Drink: Crème liqueur, Absinthe, vanilla cognac liqueur, peach bitters
• Food: Shortbread cookie, yogurt-rosemary sorbet, vanilla-bean caramel
• Notes: Both the drink and the food were delicious on their own. The pairing didn’t quite work though, they didn’t really complement each other; instead they were competing.
  

Grand Finale: Louche Final

• Drink: 3 parts Water, 1 part absinthe, sugar cube optional

This was what many in the audience were most excited about – the opportunity to drink absinthe in the traditional way, with a fountain on each table. It was interesting to see the varied reactions to the cocktails once they were ready.

While some of us really enjoyed them, some did not. Anise is not popular in the U.S., and for some of the attendees, this was the first time they had tasted something with so much anise flavor. The other couple at our table did not finish their cocktails, saying they were just too much licorice flavor for them. We, of course, finished ours and had a second.

It was a great evening. Given the general aversion to anise in the U.S., however, it will be very interesting to see if absinthe really catches on or if it will be more of a fad (or cult) phenomenon.

Crust and the Alchermes

We recently had lunch at Crust, an organic restaurant in Chicago that makes terrific flatbread pizzas and salads from fresh, seasonal ingredients. Full disclosure, they are a customer of ours - they carry our gin in their bar. But this article isn't about gin or gin drinks.

Like a few other bartenders in Chicago, the head beverage guru at Crust, Andrew, is doing some really interesting things. He makes a full line of infused organic vodkas using seasonal ingredients, and then develop cocktails to feature them. He also makes fresh organic liqueurs and other spirits from time to time.

House-made Alchermes
One our most recent visit, we tried Andrew's latest creation, an Alchermes (can also be spelled Alkermes), which he made by infusing neutral grain spirit with cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon and coriander, sweetening it and blending with a bit of rosewater. He didn't use the ingredient that gives this spirit its name (and also led to its disfavor, once people found out what was in it) - the kermes insect. These insects have a bright red color, and the resulting spirit would be deep scarlet in color if the insect coloring were used.

Tasting Notes
We tasted it chilled, which was the recommendation from the bartender. The nose was very spicy, with the cardamom and cinnamon dominating, followed by a hint of rose. Upon first sip, the spices hit your palate first, but the vanilla and coriander slowly made themselves known, and the rose water remained in the finish. The balance with the rosewater was just right - it has a tendency to overwhelm, but Andrew managed to keep it in check.

I don't know how much this tastes like the Alchermes of olden times (it used to be a healing tonic made by monks), but I'd recommend you go and taste this spirit if you get a chance - it was a very nice change of pace.

Is the Gin Market Flat?

I read a lot on the Internet, including many blogs. I am often inspired by others, and I enjoy learning from my online adventures. Occasionally I read something that sticks with me and gets me thinking. A couple of weeks ago, this article by Jordan Mackay appeared on chow.com. In the article, Mr. Mackay writes that the “gin market is flatlining” and that “[t]he proliferation of new gins is not a response to a market demand, but instead seems angled to create one, fueled by bartenders, distillers and booze enthusiasts rather than the general public.”

To be candid, the only reason I knew about it was because our website received a few hits from the article. In the interest of full disclosure, I am the co-founder of a small distillery (North Shore Distillery), and our flagship product is a thing called Distiller’s Gin No. 6. Mr. Mackay mentions our gins (neither positively nor negatively) in the article, so we got a few hits.

This article got me thinking. Is Mr. Mackay right? Is the gin market really flat? Is the proliferation of new gins really not a response to market demand? I am sure the statistics Mr. Mackay cites are accurate, but I don’t think they tell the whole story of what is happening with gin.

Proliferation of Gins
Indeed, as Mr. Mackay writes, there are a number of new gins coming to the market. He singles out some of the smaller brands in his critique, but the new gins are coming from a variety of sources. Some are from big houses (e.g., South Gin from Bacardi, Martin Miller from Skyy), others from small craft distilleries (e.g., Aviation, Distiller’s Gin No. 6) and still others from small marketing companies that seem to have lots of capital and big aspirations to launch national/international brands (e.g., Bulldog, D.H. Krahn). This isn’t so different from what you see in other segments of the alcoholic beverage industry. You could point to a similar variety of sources (and volume of new products) in beer, rum/cachaça, and tequila, and there are far more new entries coming in the vodka market.

As with any category of spirits, there are a variety of flavors and styles represented in these news offerings. Some are closer to a flavored vodka, with very little juniper flavor (and some with very little flavor at all), while others are an entirely new take on gin. The federal government’s definition of “gin” is very broad, so the distiller has a lot of latitude. And indeed, as Mr. Mackay writes, some of these gins are being made by people who don’t have a lot of experience. Based on what I’ve seen in the industry, any poor quality product will surely be dismissed as such by the consumers and critics.

Consumer Interest in Gin
Just as background, I spend several hours nearly every Friday and every Saturday in a liquor store or wine shop. I’m there to pour samples and tell people about our company and products, but I also have an opportunity to observe consumer behavior. I also spend nearly every Thursday and quite a few other nights a week in the restaurants, bars and clubs in the Chicago area. So I consider myself well-exposed to what’s happening in the alcoholic drinks world, at least in Chicago.

What do I see? I see a lot of younger people asking about gin, and interested in gin. They like the variety and options available in gin, and that it’s something different. Many folks have been turned off by all the hype and marketing around vodkas, and are looking for something else to drink. At least some of them are turning to gin as an alternative. The marketing approach used by Hendricks Gin is at least partly responsible – it aims to appeal to the person who doesn’t like to follow the herd. And there are a lot of them out there.

Now are these people the “general public”? No, but they are the trendsetters. In my experience, this is how new trends start. The general public doesn’t set new trends, it tends to follow rather than lead. Now, at least some of the leaders are going toward gin. This is all part of the resurgence of the cocktail culture, and interest in old-time cocktails (and properly made cocktails) rather than artificially flavored schlock.

A couple of other observations:

• There is a dramatic difference between what people who live or hang out in the city are drinking from those who live in the suburbs (and beyond), and the city usually leads the trends.
  
• More and more people in Chicago (and elsewhere) are beginning to appreciate high quality cocktails, as evidenced by the tremendous success of the cocktail programs at Nacional 27, the Spring Restaurant Group, The Violet Hour, and the newest entry, The Drawing Room at Le Passage.
  
• Gin is an essential ingredient in a classic cocktail program, along with rye whiskey, bourbon and other spirits that are also experiencing a bit of a revival.

Craft Distilling
Another trend that Mr. Mackay noted is the growth in craft distilling, and that some of the new gins are coming from small craft distilleries. When we started our distillery three years ago, there were about 65 small distilleries in the U.S. Now there are 90 or so, so craft distilling is definitely a new trend. It’s a relatively uncharted frontier – the spirits industry has long been dominated by very large players (Diageo, Pernod-Ricard, etc.), and distribution is tightly controlled by very large distributors in most markets. Nonetheless, intrepid adventurers are making spirits and trying to bring them to market.

Like the craft breweries before us (and small wineries before them), true craft distillers are often trying to challenge the status quo and showcase their capabilities as craftspeople. We use real ingredients rather than flavorings from flavoring labs, and sometimes step outside the traditional bounds and categories. As a result, we will sometimes make things that not everyone will like (especially those purists or traditionalists among us). But this is how real innovation occurs. We don’t use big focus groups and test marketing strategies like a Pernod-Ricard would (e.g., Indigo Gin, which seems to be disappearing from the Chicago market (can't even find a website for it)).

Are some craft distillers going to put out bad products? Undoubtedly. But some will also put out amazing things, the likes of which have not been seen before. While the former can be said for the big houses and the spirits marketing companies, the latter is less likely to come from those two groups.

The Bottom Line
The bottom line for me (us) is we love gin. We’re really excited to see people exploring gin again, and we see it all across the market, not just among the bartenders & booze enthusiasts.