Filed under: Making Cocktails | Tags: cocktail, gin, La Tavola, small's american dry
Fiorello is an uncommon surname and an even more uncommon name for a mayor. But Fiorello La Guardia was a short man (no more than five feet tall) who served as mayor of New York from 1934 till 1945. The word Fiorello means “Little Flower” in Italian and has been served up as a delicious petit imbiber at La Tavola in Atlanta, Georgia by the great Alli Soble.
Fiorello “Little Flower”
Smalls Gin 1 ¼ oz
Cocchi Apertivo 1 oz
Elderflower Syrup ¼ oz
Shaken and served up in a martini glass
Orange Peel Garnish
I’m back at the cocktail lab and gainfully mixing more classic cocktails from Wondrich’s book “Imbibe!”
Today we sat down to take a look at Daisies, Fizzes and the Florodora. Right off the bat the group favorite was the Florodora. Wondrich tells of how this cocktail was invented in 1901 for one of the Florodora Sextettes by Jimmy O’Brien at a Columbus Avenue restaurant in New York. Not only is the cocktail delicious but the recipe is straightforward and the thing that I enjoy the most about the Florodora is that you can prepare the cocktail in the same glass that you’ll serve it in. So convenient.
Here’s the recipe and my notes on preparation.
Florodora (page 122)
Four dashes (2 tsp) Raspberry Syrup in the bottom of the cup
Juice from an entire lime
2 oz Gin (we used both Ransom Old Tom Gin and Small’s American Dry Gin to great, yet differing success)
Fill half the glass with crushed ice
Pour in the best ginger ale you can find. I had Barritts Bermuda Ginger Beer. And it worked great (the real deal for Barritts is in the glass bottle and is still made with pure cane sugar, the Barritts in the can, not so good. Their recipe for ginger beer dates back to 1874)
Stir until very chilled and garnish with a slice of orange.
Fantastic. This is our entire staff’s new summertime cocktail.
Next we made the New School Rum Daisy with Old New Orleans 3 Year Rum and their Cajun Spiced Rum. Old New Orleans is the pinnacle of Louisiana micro distilleries making about 4,500 cases of their three rums a year. Up until last year this was not available outside of Louisiana and thus the Big Easy had coveted this rum for decades and decades. Slowly and surely it is creeping its way north so us Yankees can enjoy a bit of the good Southern life. And I am delighted to partake in the northward crawl.
I preferred the Cajun Spice Rum in this recipe.
New School Rum Daisy (you could substitute gin or whiskey)
2 oz Old New Orleans Cajun Spiced Rum
Juice of 1/4 lemon, 1/2 lime
1 tsp super fine sugar (we used fine organic can sugar since the rum is made with Louisiana sugar cane)
2 dashes grenadine (we tried grenadine and marischino liqueur – preferring the marischino liqueur)
1/2 oz of carbonated water
Garnish with mint and/or fresh fruit
More next week on the classic New Orleans Fizz, aka Ramos Gin Fizz and Sours.
Filed under: Travel, Word on the Street | Tags: chicago, spirits, trade shows, US, wine
Trade shows are the ubiquitous gathering of wine and spirit professionals in regional areas where one distributor takes three or four hours to highlight all their wares and invites their entire customer base to attend. In major markets these events get very large. The question is how do distributors differentiate themselves in this rather cookie cutter style event; how do they position themselves to their customers; and how do the wineries and distilleries that attend make an impact amongst dozens to hundreds of other colleagues vying for the small attention of the buyers? And let’s be honest, palate fatigue sets in rather quickly, there is always a high percentage of consumption which clouds the rational mind (but makes the event a helluva lot of fun) and beverage professionals tend to have short attention spans, especially when coming from the fast paced and hectic environment of restaurants.
I believe that one way to stand out in the crowd, as a producer, is to be honest, humble and sincere (be yourself) and to offer better product and better prices than your competitor. Of course if you have a product that is completely unique, like the only Old Tom Gin produced in America, that makes a huge difference, but if you are making California Cab or Chardonnay, why are you unique? Not saying that you can’t be, but what is it that makes you unique in this over burdened supply side world of domestic and international wines?
And as a distributor, what are you doing to separate yourself from the crowd. Cream Wine Company in Chicago is doing a very interesting thing this year at their annual Small Batch portfolio tasting. And remember, this is one of the top five markets in the US. Only owners, winemakers or distillers are allowed to present at this years tasting. That means no regional sales managers, no marketing interns, no national paper pushers will be pouring and entertaining the beverage professionals. I have not seen this done anywhere else in the US and I love the idea. It gives separation from their peers (distributors) and offers the highest level of quality information to the buyers who attend this tasting because the get to speak directly with the man or woman who is responsible for making the wine, the whiskey, the vodka, etc.
I hope to see more innovations in trade tastings over the coming years. It’s all to easy to fall into conformity and do what the other guy is doing. Let me know what else you’ve seen out there that is unique and wonderful.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Word on the Street | Tags: estate, jancis robinson, negociant, wine
I was recently working in Minnesota and had a very intense and interesting conversation about negociant wines vs. estate wines. Negociant as defined by Jancis Robinson is a “term for a merchant who buys in grapes, must, or wine…and bottles under their own label.” Jancis Robinson goes on to explain that negociants, in particular in Burgundy, like Verget, Laurent, Chartron and Trebuchet or Olivier Leflaive now “successfully present their work as high art, with concomitant prices.” There is another layer to the negociant merchant class and that is the negociant eleveur. This is the negociant that oversees the production of their wines from earth to bottle, not merely a trader of bulk wine.
Estate wines are all those that are farmed and produced by a single estate. The grey area in between is what fascinates me the most. Not every winery or winemaker has the money to purchase large tracts of land and in order to be a sustainable estate winery you need to be able to grow enough fruit to pay for production, land cost, capital infrastructure, sales and marketing. As you can imagine the tipping point is well beyond some 50 acres of vines with a winery. So what do smaller and upstart wineries do?
They purchase fruit by farmer contracts and either have had the cash or investors to create their own winery and make the wines, or rent space in a larger winery where they can crush and vinify their fruit. As I look back in European history and the advent of the merchant class that handled production, blending, aging, marketing and sales of all things wine due to the land owners disdain of soiling their hands, it seems that negociants weren’t too different then they are today. After a generation or two the negociants would have enough capital to invest in their own land and their own wineries, thus spawning a new competitive producer in the region that had originally borne them as negociants.
As an estate winery your lively hood is directly dependent on your harvest. Yes, you can operate with stricter controls and higher quality, if you know what you are doing. But you are seriously at risk of aberrant weather, cyclical buying trends and the vicissitudes of the economy in general. Negociants, by nature, have a more flexible business model that allows them to move geographically, stay away from natural fluctuations in weather that inadvertently produce inferior crops and can change business direction as trends and the economy fluctuate. A lot is to be said for both ways of making wine.
At the end of the day the negociant vs. the estate bottled wine is a relatively moot point. Both can be done amazingly well and both can represent the highest quality of terrior and style that any region can produce. It really is about vision and execution. The greatest estate on the planet without vision and leadership can churn out mediocre product year after year. It is the dedicated artisans on both sides of the field that raise the bar and set standards for others to shoot towards.
Swim deep and drink large.
Filed under: Making Cocktails | Tags: classic cocktails, david wondrich, local, punch
We powered through another session of cocktails. This was day two of making more classic punches from David Wondrich’s wonderful book Imbibe.
I will list all the cocktail recipes on the next blog post, but let me start by saying that reading about cocktails and making them are two entirely different things. I know that sounds elementary, but until you roll up those sleeves and get into classic cocktails you have no idea what a head wind you are fighting. Case in point: I live in Chicago, a major metropolitan city with access to most all things your little mind desires, but finding ingredients like gum syrup, prove next to impossible. Ya, ya, I could order it online but I’m really not that organized. Just getting all the ingredients together the day before we make these cocktails is an ordeal enough. And the looks my wife already gives me as I’ve got three pots reducing on our stove all evening for simple syrup, fruit reductions and fruit syrups is enough to make me drink straight whiskey, forget the cocktails…I need to get to 30,000 feet cruising altitude asap!
We started with Pisco Punch. I’ve heard a lot about this little punch. Pisco this, pisco that and it seems to be the powerful rage in certain circles, or at least people think they like it. Maybe because Pisco is so darn fun to say and you can keep on saying it as you over serve yourself. It simply falls from your slightly pursed lips like drops of oil from your fried eggs. Wondrich writes about how Pisco Punch was such the rage in San Francisco that nearly every bar in the 1920′s had their own version. The reputed original was made by a Scottish barman, Duncan Nicol, proprietor of the historic Bank Exchange saloon (Exchange, what a great name for a bar). Pisco liquor is a type of grape brandy that was created in Peru dating back to the 16th century when Spanish explorers began planting grapes in the fertile south coast of Peru. Piscos were the names of the potters who threw clay containers used in all sorts of fermentations, including the epynomous Pisco Puro.
This punch seemed to me to be the most captivating. Again, it requires a bit of work in advance so you have to have great determination, patience and diligence to do this right. I have none of these saint like qualities and no wonder our Pisco Punch didn’t make it as the stand out punch this afternoon. 24 hours in advance you need to make a pineapple syrup with the use of gum syrup. So I don’t have gum syrup and I was told by a few mixologist friends of mine that I could substitute a reduced simple syrup and that should suffice. I didn’t soak the pineapple for quite long enough (does 15 minutes count?). Other than that we gave it a solid effort. The punch was good, not great.
Next we made a cold whiskey punch and a gin punch followed by a vanilla punch. In retrospect I should have made the vanilla punch the same day that I made the variations of the classic Brandy punch. They are so darn similar it was like taking a small half step the other way we would’ve been there. Vanilla punch, good, but not great, and probably the day’s most boring cocktail. No fault to the vanilla punch, it just left all of us wanting a little more.
The Cold Whiskey Punch was great. The original recipe calls for 3 oz of Red Top Rye whiskey. Right. That doesn’t exist anymore and Wondrich this time was kind enough to say we could just use Rye Whiskey. Well, I happened to have a bottle of 18 year old Sazerac Rye and we couldn’t decide if this punch was rocking delicious on its own merit or if it was because the Rye we used was fucking amazing. Maybe a little bit of both.
But the Gin Punch took the crowd by surprise this day. It was dynamite. Let me reiterate, dynamite. It’s like aromatic gin was made for punch and fresh fruit combinations. The raspberry syrup combined with the powdered white sugar made a sexy, feminine pink hue that said, “oh wow, that’s really pretty,” and the citrus of lemon, orange and pineapple gave a lift to this punch that the others just didn’t have. The citrus melted seamlessly with the herbal aromatics of our Small’s Gin and each sip was balanced, complex and extremely refreshing.
A successful day after dealing with a few irritations like pineapple syrup and gum (gomme) syrup. I will try the Pisco Punch again when I’m more organized and when I find a source for gum syrup. I do really want to compare gum syrup to simple syrup and taste/experience their unique qualities for myself.
Recipes to be posted next.
Sante!
Filed under: Libations, Making Cocktails | Tags: classic cocktails, david wondrich, pisco punch
Pisco Punch
Page 73 in David Wondrich’s book, Imbibe
½ pint (8oz) gum syrup and pineapple flavoring (see below)
1 pint (16oz) distilled water
¾ pint (10oz) lemon juice
1 bottle (24oz) Peruvian Pisco Brandy
Serve cold in a 3-4oz punch glass and do not keep in ice too long otherwise the punch will be too diluted
*Gum syrup and pineapple flavoring: Cut a fresh pineapple into small squares. Soak fresh cut pineapple in a bowl with gum syrup overnight. Use in above Pisco Punch recipe.
This has the potential to be one of our favorites and I’ll take responsibility in not preparing the pineapple syrup in advance nor having gum syrup on hand. We’ll revisit this recipe and try again in the coming months.
Filed under: Making Cocktails | Tags: classic cocktails, david wondrich, whiskey punch
Cold Whiskey Punch
Page 76 in David Wondrich’s book, Imbibe
One teaspoon of powdered white sugar, dissolved in a little bit of water
Juice of half a lemon or one lime
One and a half wine glassesful (3oz) of Red Top Rye
Fill glass with shaved ice
Add two dashes (1 teaspoon) of rum
Shake well and strain into stem punch glass. Garnish with seasonal fruit or thin slices of lemon. Serve with a straw.
Very tasty cocktail, though not our favorite. We wondered if we’d used a lower quality rye (Sazerac 18 year) whether the punch would’ve been quite as good. Guess we’ll have to keep on practicing.
Filed under: Making Cocktails | Tags: classic cocktails, david wondrich, gin punch
Gin Punch
Page 77 in David Wondrich’s book, Imbibe
1 tablespoonful of raspberry syrup
2 tablespoonfuls of powdered white sugar
1 wine glass (3oz) of Holland Gin (we used Small’s American Dry Gin)
Juice of ½ lemon
2 slices of orange
1 piece of pineapple
Fill the tumbler full of shaved ice, shake well and ornament the top with berries in season. Serve with a straw.
This was head and shoulders the most exciting punch we made in Session #2. The aromatics of our gin added complexity and aromatic boldness to the fresh fruit and the dissolved powdered sugar brought the alcohol, citrus and herbal aromatics all together in a seamless fashion. Delicious.
Filed under: Making Cocktails | Tags: brandy punch, classic cocktails, david wondrich, vanilla
Vanilla Punch
Page 72 in David Wondrich’s book, Imbibe
1 tablespoonful of sugar
1 wine glass (2oz) of brandy
juice of ¼ lemon
Fill tumbler full of shaved ice, shake well, garnish with two slices of lemon and a few drops of vanilla extract. Serve with a straw.
A decent punch but not one of our favorites from Session #2. The plus was that this was a very quick and straightforward punch to make. Worth tinkering with if you are a vanilla fan. Might want to use real vanilla beans.
Filed under: Libations
I have been reading a lot of articles, blogs and news feeds on craft spirits and craft distilling over the last year. For instance, here’s a quote from a recent NPR Colorado radio segment, “Craft distillers are catering to drinkers who have a taste for the regional and the unique.” Or Max Watman’s excellent book, “Chasing the White Dog,” who seeks stories and truth from craft distillers and the American history of making moonshine. Do an internet search for craft spirits and you’ll be overwhelmed by more than 4 million hits.
From our distillery in Oregon, Ransom
So it makes me ask, what is craft? Where does this resonant term derive from and where might it be going?
Craft has traditionally been referred to genres of work and production that require specific skills. From Medieval times a craft began as an apprenticeship and graduated into a journey man’s status. Today this still holds true for most craft work. You learn under someone skilled, who is hopefully a good teacher, then you develop your “craft” and head forward on your own to establish a name and fame. Craft has a second connotation of being small production. Inherently, without the aid of modern machinery mechanized for mass production, craft production will be limited to what a few people can do on their own. Interestingly enough there is consensus that craft is skilled labor, small production learned from the hand of a master and skills honed over time, but there are not any legal definitions of what craft production is. For instance, yesteryear craft production was defined as using only tools by hand, not machinery. Later, post industrial revolution craft production is the assemblage of certain goods and products with the use of machinery and skilled labor (eg. a column or alembic pot still, or a lathe and drill press used in furniture). But how much is small? And how much is medium-sized production?
In my world of wine and spirits it is safe to say that anything you find on a Safeway liquor shelf has been made at extreme scales of largesse, especially when speaking about spirits. If you ever have a chance to visit a large tequila producers or a Budweiser plant or a winery that makes Yellow Tail you will be amazed at how much these production facilities look like energy or oil refineries with their giant continuous column stills, smoke stacks billowing steam from their hoods at 200 feet and silos holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of fermenting grape juice.
The small brand, craft spirit production is typically made by a dozen or fewer people working nuts to bolts with little to zero marketing budgets and getting by on word of mouth, grassroots and sweat of their labor. As I peruse craft spirits across the web and see how many people are excited about this budding cottage industry, about how many new distilleries have been licensed in the last 12 months (149!), and how bartenders, restaurateurs, retail buyers and consumers are clamouring for higher quality, unique spirits a smile fills my face. This is what makes America so damn great. Small businesses are leading the way to new ideas, new flavors, safe guarding history and the craft of our forefathers all doing something that brings social joy to the next level…the appreciation of a fine spirit.
Craft will evolve, and I predict that craft spirits will rival the micro brew revolution that we have seen over the last three decades. The people have spoken, and they’ve said they want higher quality, more choices, unique historical spirits and they want to know it was made by good human beings, not a board of directors far removed from their craft.
May we all tipple a craft spirit tonight with someone we love.
Filed under: Libations, Making Cocktails | Tags: chicago, Cocktails, Maude's Best Bar, Ransom Old Tom Gin
A big thank you to our friend Jean Tomaro at Chicago’s newest hot spot Maude’s for the following Ransom Old Tom Gin cocktail. If you find yourself in the Windy City you deserve to treat yourself to a fantastic cocktail at Maude’s. Make sure to stay and eat as well, the food is fantastic.
Here’s their sublime Smokey Violet Smash
Rinse double old fashion with a few drops of Laphroaig
muddle 3 lime slices, 2 lemon slices, 7 pieces mint
add 1.25 oz Orchard Creme de violette
.5 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin
add crushed ice, rock back and forth 3 times.
top with Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters
garnish with a lemon swath, an orange swath and a mint cap
Voila!
Enjoy another cocktail brought to you by the proud folk at Local Wine & Spirits.
““My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky.” – William Faulkner
-In San Francisco last week the Exploratorium held the Science of Cocktails and Whipper Snapper Whiskey was in the Whiskey Mix-off and we have a winner!!!
This cocktail, the Suffering Barrister, was created by Ken Walczak, spirits blogger for DrinkingMadeEasy.com.
Here’s the recipe:
The Suffering Barrister
1 1/2 oz. Whipper Snapper Whiskey
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. + ginger-apple syrup (recipe below)
1/2 oz. (slightly less) lime juice
2 dashes angostura bitters
Combine ingredients in ice-filled shaker. Shake; serve up.
Ginger-Apple Syrup
Combine 3-4 oz. of ginger, sliced thin, 1 tsp. black peppercorns, the skins and cores of two apples, 2 cups sugar, and 3 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; simmer for about 40 minutes or until syrup has the desired flavor and consistency. Cool completely. Strain.
A whiskey recipe to relish. Thank you Ken!
Try this at home, you’ll be glad you did.
Filed under: Making Cocktails, Word on the Street | Tags: distilling, gin, history, vodka, whiskey
When did distilling begin? We are certain that a rudimentary distillation began approximately 3000BCE. As recorded records go our first glimpse into the technology of distilling (essential oils) can be found in written cuneiform in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Figure Drawing of an Ancient Still
In Babylon a technique was used placing a collection of herbs in a boiling cauldron, capturing the steam on the fluffy side of lamb skin, then wringing the solution from the fur to be caught in a bowl where the surface was skimmed for the essential oils: we have rudimentary distillation.
What a gorgeous thing to take a mash of herbs (or in our case nowadays fermented grains or fruits) bring it to a boiling point and make it disappear in a gossamer vapor, only to recapture this vapor from the grasp of the sky and distill it down to the essential ingredients of a pure, water like beverage. When you think of this it really is amazing.
This distillation technology is refined and begins to travel around the globe. By 500BCE the first signs of a distillation industry are evident in India in an area that was known as Taxila (now NW Pakistan). Large terra cotta pots filled with water were boiled, the steam filtered through a bed of fermented grains, thus picking up the essence of the grain and the alcohol,l then hits a second terra cotta pot that was filled with cold water (a condensation plate of sorts) and passed into a tube where the vapor would condense and be captured. Amazing! This technology spread rapidly through Asia and Africa. Finally by 1100 CE the Moors bring distilling to Spain and Italy on their conquests of Southern Europe and distillation begins to travel across Europe over the next several hundred years.
By 1600 CE texts are being written about distilling, and an industry springs forth during the Renaissance as the science of distillation is spread to the common man and no longer remains the domain of monks, scientists and the wealthy. This is a good thing for us today, otherwise we would never see the proliferation of styles and vast quantity of distilled elixir. One bump in the road to the populist movement in distillation was that the church and the wealthy did not want to give up their perceived monopoly on this industry. Thus we see the beginning of restrictions and taxation. More on this heavy topic in a later blog.
America is experiencing a revitalization of micro distilling, done for the love and passion of the craft that we have not seen since before prohibition. I recommend that you walk, run or drive to your nearest bottle shop and begin asking questions about what new craft spirits are available in your city or county and begin a wonderful journey of exploration. This might just lead you to a new passion, or a profound hobby and five years from now you’ll be sitting in a distillery in Oregon, talking with the men and women that have made this revolution happen and be the happiest person on the planet, sipping fine barrel aged gin, white lightening or exquisite vodka, straight from the source.
Sante!
Filed under: Food and Drink, Making Cocktails | Tags: Cocktails, gin, leopolds, small's american dry
Tuesday, Jan 10th was the kick off of a great event. The month of Ginuary at Leopold’s in Chicago, IL.
Who doesn’t love a great gin cocktail? Hmmm, lots of people look the other way when they are presented gin. This probably happens because the sharp piney, or juniper aromatic of London Dry Gins. This precise, piney aromatic has a major turn off factor for many people, much like the cilantro effect. Or, non believers have never been educated on the panoply of styles and nuances of new modern gin. Gin is a fascinating spirit that expresses itself as “predominantly” juniper aromatic, but the word predominant can be interpreted in so many ways. And us small distillers are doing exactly that. Juniper can be expressed in manifold ways through different recipe combinations and different distilling techniques. And truth be told, gin is the most exciting white spirit with which to make cocktails. Why you ask? Because.
Because the complex aromas of a properly distilled gin adds aromatic texture and excitement in cocktails. Take for instance a simple classic; The Tom Collins. Gin, lemon, sugar and ice in a tall glass. It smacks of springtime and summer horse racing. Change this cocktail by substituting vodka and you have a relatively innocuous and simple drink. When a proper Tom Collins is made with gin the gentle citrus aromatics of classic gins harmonizes with the fresh lemon juice and essential oils from the lemon rind itself. The herbal aromatics add complexity and excite the olfactory. Much like serving a simple pasta with red sauce…it’s okay, but if you add roasted garlic, lemon zest and freshly shredded basil, topped with tiny shavings of parmigiano…now we’re talking a savory and satisfying dish.
Yes I believe in Gin. Sorry for the rant, but if you are a believer too don’t shy away from making your friends try your gin cocktails. They’ll thank you in the long run.
Here is a great cocktail for the winter:
The Heritage Gin Cocktail
2 ounces Charleston Sercial Madeira
1 oz Small’s American Dry Gin
1/2 oz Framboise
1/4 oz Orange liqueur
2 drops Bittermens Tiki bitters
Sante!
Filed under: Libations, Making Cocktails | Tags: Cocktails, Fortaleza, Tequila
Fortaleza Tequila, known in Mexico as Los Abuelos, is one of the most storied and rich tequilas that you’ll encounter in this lifetime. Made by the fifth generation Los Abuelos producer, Guillermo Erickson Sauza. Guillermo is a pioneer in the sense that he has returned to his ancestral home to create classic tequila. I believe that Fortaleza is unparalleled in quality, sensuality and pure tequila pleasure.
Our friend Adam Stemmler of Industree Brands in San Diego was kind enough to mix and share these fantastic cocktails. Remember the Alamo should become a weekly tippler if you care about your cocktails.
Remember the Alamo
1.75 oz Fortaleza Reposado
.5 oz Cointreau
.375 oz Laphroaig 10 year
.5 oz honey syrup
.5 oz lime juice
2 orange wheels
4 dashes of angostura
Muddle 1 orange wheel with the bitters, build shake and strain over fresh ice and garnish with an orange wheel.
Agave Fresca Punch
1.5 oz Fortaleza Blanca
.5 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
.5 oz sage simple syrup
1 oz agua fresca
.75 oz lemon juice
Build Shake Strain (or made in a punch format)
El Centro
1.5 oz Fortaleza Anejo
.5 oz Rittenhouse Rye
.5 oz Dolin Rouge Vermouth
.5 oz Benedictine
1 dash of orange bitters
Stir, strain into a chilled cocktail glass or over rocks
Spirits, like Fortaleza, of this caliber, truly invigorate and excite and it’s a pleasure to share their story. http://www.facebook.com/tequila.fortaleza?sk=wall
Salud!
Filed under: Food and Drink
Our zippy and zesty 2010 Murphy’s Law Riesling has been released to the world with a new label and a QR code that will link to our website with a 55 second video describing this vintage of Murphy’s Law Riesling.
The 2010 vintage was sourced from a couple of outstanding vineyards including Amado Contreras, Balcom & Moe, Oasis and Evergreen. The high levels of natural acidity carry the 1.26% residual sugar like a butterfly floating on a summer zephyr. Aromas and a palate of stone fruit, lemon and lime zest with a slate undertone makes this a riesling ideal for sipping or pairing to farm fresh, spicy dishes as well as delicate seafood. We were just eating at Bar Agricole in San Francisco and Murphy’s with pickled sardines would fill the bill: now I guess I’ll be pickling sardines at home for the rest of the summer.
Here is the video link to the QR code on the back label. We love exploring new technology and the QR code system has enormous potential. Grab a bottle and your IPhone or Android and give the QR a whirl.
Our small batch approach to making wines and spirits means that the wines are limited by nature. We produced a wonderful 1500 cases of Murphy’s Law Riesling this year. Enjoy it now, till it runs out.
Thank you
Filed under: Libations, Travel, Word on the Street | Tags: american history, flappers, old tom, prohibition, spirits
Did you know that women were not allowed in bars in the 19th century? Really? That seems like a serious flaw in the social fabric of attempting through swagger, humor or dumb luck to pick up girls at the local tavern. God bless the generation of our great, great grandfathers who persevered until we arrived at the age of Liberalism.
The term “flappers” comes from the 1920′s during the Prohibition Era and connoted women who eschewed rigorous social standards and did crazy things like drink alcohol in bars (speakeasies) drove cars and wore shorter skirts. I guess if you have to look for something positive in the failed social experiment of American Prohibition, flappers should be at the top of your list. The dawning of the age of Liberalism is deeply entwined with our American history and the founding of this nation, the pursuit of liberty and equality, which takes social roots in women’s right to vote, right to drink and right to drive. John Locke, the earliest philosopher, political proponent of Liberalism, and a major influence on the founding fathers of America, said, “New opinions are always suspected and usually opposed without any other reason but because they are not already common. “
America is and will always be a nation of invention, perseverance and leadership. Will we make mistakes? Of course. Will we have prohibition again? Absolutely not. And now that women drink with men (depuis circa 1920), America has exported the concept of cocktails to the world, craft distilleries are on the climb, and classic cocktails are du rigueur.
It was only a few years ago that a bar in middle town anywhere USA would have the same five beers, Bud, Bud Light, Corona, Heineken, Amstel and if you were lucky Sam Adams. Today it is nearly impossible and improbable that you will walk into the same sort of establishment, your local watering hole, neighborhood restaurant, liquor store (excluding the gas stations and 7-Elevens of the world) and not find it replete with micro brews from around the world.
As we experienced a tremendous downturn in our economy an interesting phenomenon occurred. The Federal and State governments were and are in a budget crisis, so what do they loosen up? The right to own permits to brew and distill. Today there are nearly 450 micro distilleries across this great nation. That’s a rocketing 300% growth in the last decade. And good for us the consumer. Our choices for distilled beverages is rapidly increasing and with the increased competition the quality of spirits across the board is getting better and better. Now it’s our job as consumers to ask for more and interesting spirits. I’ll know the day that Main Street has beaten Wall Street when I can walk into an airport in Dallas, Texas or Raleigh, North Carolina and ask for a martinez cocktail, and they’ll not only have Old Tom gin, but they’ll know how to mix this elixir.
Drink well, and ask for the good stuff.
Do you ever wake up in the morning and say to yourself, “maybe I shouldn’t have had that last beer…or three?” I have to admit that I am victim to this sort of self questioning. It must be a function of working in the beverage industry that so seductively draws you in to excellent food, wine, beer, spirits and once the ball gets rolling, stories are being shared and more corks are pulled, those early AM’s with two young children know no sympathy.
I was fortunate to be introduced to a classic liver cleanser that is so effective that I had to share it.
Use organic fruit whenever possible.
4oz fresh squeezed citrus (orange or grapefruit)
1 whole lemon squeezed
1 whole lime squeezed
1 clove of garlic
1 inch of fresh ginger (remove the fibrous skin with a pairing knife)
1 TBLS of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Take all this and throw it into your blender for 2-3 minutes. Drink away! And don’t forget to brush your teeth, otherwise you’ll smell like a citrus wrapped garlic clove.
