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!

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.

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.

Holiday Cocktails

This time of year is pretty crazy in the distillery business, so this post is going to be to the short and sweet. My blogging friends have posted some great holiday cocktails already, such as the Snowshoe, classic Eggnog and Hot Buttered Rum, and Glogg, for starters.

Here are a few more holiday cocktail ideas - one with vodka, one with gin, and one with whiskey. They whiskey one is from our friend Charles Joly at the Drawing Room, he serves them this time of year and they are great. The other two have been featured at our tasting events this season, which means they are easy to make in batches, and appeal to a broad range of people. Not exactly high-brow mixology, but delicious just the same. In fact, I'm off to go pour some of these today.

Happy holidays everyone!

Apple Cider Punch
2 oz (North Shore) Vodka
3 oz High-grade Apple Juice
1/2 oz German Apple Schnapps
Dash of Ground Cinnamon
Dash of Ground Nutmeg

Pour ingredients in mixing glass, stir. Fill tall glass with ice, pour contents into glass. Garnish with slice of fresh apple and dash of ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Also delicious served warm instead.

Cranberry-Ginger Gimlet
2 oz Distiller's Gin No. 6
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Cranberry and Ginger-infused Simple Syrup

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and slice of fresh orange for a fun, festive look. For the syrup, use 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries and 2" of fresh ginger, peeled & sliced. Simmer 5 minutes, then mash cranberries. Cool completely, then strain. Can be made ahead, and stored in refrigerator for a few weeks.

The Guild Meeting, by Charles Joly
1.5 oz White Sugar
12 oz Hot Tea (orange or chai is nice this time of year)
2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
5 oz Fresh Orange Juice
2 oz Domain de Canton ginger liqueur
2 oz honey liqueur (Drambuie, Wild Turkey American Honey or even Benedictine is nice)
5 oz Rittenhouse 100
2 oranges

Use a vegetable peeler to cut 4-5 strips of orange peel. Place peels and sugar in bowl and muddle to allow sugar to absorb orange oils. Add hot tea and stir to dissolve sugar, then add remaining ingredients and stir.

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.

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!

Fall Cocktail Ideas, Part II

With the change of seasons, favorite cocktails change as well. Here are a couple that feel like Autumn to me. These both were developed for the Fall Flavor Festival that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Pomegranate Punch (aka the Fall Fizz)
1½ oz Vodka (I used North Shore, of course)
½ oz Brandy (used Paul Masson Grande Amber)
2½ oz Pomegranate Juice (POM)
½ oz Fresh Orange Juice (used Cara Cara oranges)
½ oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice (yellow grapefruit, not red)
½ oz Ginger Simple Syrup (1:1)
1 oz Club Soda
Combine first six ingredients over ice, stir well. Top with soda and garnish with fresh orange slice.

This one works great as a punch, you can simply change the oz to cups and have servings for 6 people. It's great for football tailgating, you can just mix in the soda right before serving, top the glasses at the event with it, or just leave it out entirely.

Fall of Brazil
My partner in crime, Jessi Brickner, developed this one - it's delicious
1½ oz Cachaça (Leblon)
½ oz Vanilla Liqueur (Navan)
1 Egg White
Sparkling Apple Cider
Lime Wedge
Rim a rocks glass with cinnamon sugar, fill with ice. Shake first three ingredients, plus lime wedge, with ice. Strain into ice-filled glass and top with cider.

When we served this one en masse to our class, I stirred the first three ingredients with a whisk first to emulsify the egg, then poured the mixture into a shaker. It worked really well. This was a great one for introducing people to egg whites in drinks.

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.

Sweet 16 of Mixology, Elite 8 Round 2

Last night saw another great cocktail competition as part of Boka Restaurant Group's Sweet Sixteen of Mixology. The field was narrowed to eight competitors in the last round, and we're on our way to the final four. Despite the competition, this event is full of laughs and fun, as you can see from the pictures.

This match featured Charles Joly of the Drawing Room vs. Maura McGuigan of the soon-to-open Mercadito (and formerly of Graham Elliot). This was a tough match, both drinks were delicious. The sponsor was Bacardi, so Bacardi Silver was used in both cocktails.

• Charles used fresh canteloupe puree, lemon balm, and spearmint, and garnished with mini melon balls and herbs.
  

• Maura added Rittenhouse rye, fresh grapes, ice seasoned with Herbsaint, fresh citrus and a fresh mint sprig garnish.

The guest judge this week was R.J. Melman from Hub 51.

In the end, Charles emerged victorious, and will advance to the final four in a few weeks. He joins Benjamin Schiller, newly of BOKA (formerly of In Fine Spirits), who won last week's match.

Sweet 16 of Mixology, Round 6

Perennial is hosting a good-spirited mixology competition among Chicago-area bartenders, and this week I was finally able to attend one of the head-to-head matchups.

This round, it was Adam Seger from Nacional 27 versus Tim Lacey from the Drawing Room. Both used Bacardi 8 as their base, with a variety of juices, fruits, liqueurs and bitters. Tim even brought his lovely wife Lisa, to play along with his Tiki-inspired drink on her ukelele.

It was a close, close match. The guest judge, Lin Brehmer from WXRT deemed it too close to call, and deferred to the popular vote among the audience. Once the ballots were counted, the tally was 49 to 47. Adam Seger won the nail-biter. Congrats to Adam, and well done, Tim!

Here are some photos from the night.