On Sunday we decided to make bitters. Watch out, Regan and Peychaud.
A trip to "Dual Specialty Store" on 1st and 5th yielded half of our ingredients. If you've never been here, go!
A trip to Bowery and Vine for Wray & Nephew’s White Overproof Rum yielded the other half.
We're experimenting with roots, barks, spices and rums. Specific recipes to follow, pending a taste test in a few weeks.
Filed under Spirits
Drawing courtesy of robotkatsen's flickr stream. Not what we're talking about here, but still awesome.
You may be a cute little heartbreaker, but the foxy I’m referring to today is a pretty negative term that folks use when a wine has aromas more like animal fur than fruit or flowers. The odor may also come across as grape-y, candy-like or similar to tiny wild strawberries.
Studies have shown it might be caused by methyl anthranilate and/or o-amino acetophenone. This is a little much for a Friday afternoon, so just know that it is commonly associated with grapes in the Vitis labrusca species, and the Concord grape in particular. Concords are widely planted in New York State and are best known for their role in Welch’s grape juice.
Earlier harvesting or longer cask aging has been shown to reduce some of Concord’s foxy characteristics.
Filed under Alphabet Soup, Wine
I just stumbled across this app and though the song in the video is grating, it has some good features; you can search for a pairing based on what wine you’d like or what dish you’re having, you can add personalized notes for every wine, dish or pairing and the data is stored locally on your device, so can access it regardless of the status of your internet connection.
To celebrate the birthdays of Nils and Dave (and as an excuse for skoaling), there was a party this past weekend. If this skoaling business is new for you, click here for full details.
Finger Lakes Distilling sponsored the majority of the booze. Have you ever had a corn juice cocktail?
The aquavit elixer, waiting for its next victims.
The ladies bring in the original skoaling Swede for inspiration.
Shouldn't these three start a band?
Their glasses may be missing, but there's plenty of love.
Hal over at A Muddled Thought recently posted about Gläce Luxury Ice Company. He did a side-by-side comparison with home made ice and the Gläce ice was not only more attractive, but also lasted longer. It ought to at $8 a pop. This is what I use at home:
For the price of 2 Glace balls, you can get a spherical ice tray at the MoMA store.
To their credit, it looks like the Gläce folks threw a pretty fun party at the Playboy Mansion.
Filed under Gadgets
Thirsty with a macedoine salad
After working at the FCI since 2006, I finally took my first culinary class this week; Knife Skills, Deboning and Filleting. I can jardinière, macédoine and émincer like nobody’s business, though, the cocotte is another story.
You may be asking what this has to do with a beverage blog. More professional looking drink garnishes and tastier meals to pair with wine are two things that come to mind.
A nicely-shaped and juicy bird to accompany your beverage of choice.
To be perfectly honest, when I heard we were trussing chickens, a certain Fox newscaster came to mind and gave me an excuse (albeit imperfect) to post this video clip on my site.
Rye, Aperol and vermouth; happy together
I was a guinea pig for my friend Leo last night at EMP, as he tested some of his spring cocktail ideas. Today, I re-created my favorite; it’s a take on an Old Pal and Leo is thinking of calling it Old Gal.
The original is:
1 oz. whisk(e)y – I’ve seen recipes using bourbon, blended and rye
1 oz. vermouth – Some recipes call for either dry or sweet
1 oz. Campari – one substitution I’ve seen here is grenadine
Leo mentioned that he had used rye, Aperol and equal parts dry and sweet vermouths. Here is what I did today:
1 oz. McKenzie rye
1 oz. Aperol
1/2 oz. Dolin Blanc (slightly sweet)
1/2 oz. Dolin Dry
I combined all ingredients over ice, stirred and strained into a rocks glass. Leo served his with a large ice cube and an orange peel garnish, which I think is the way to go. I could see orange or rhubarb bitters in this drink, to play off the prominent notes in the Aperol. Candied rhubarb could also be a pretty, spring-appropriate garnish.
To see where else I’ve spread the Aperol love, click here, here or here. This drink might also remind you of a Boulevardier. Cheers to warm weather and cold drinks!
Filed under Cocktails
An article ran last week in SF Gate about several restaurants in California and beyond starting to serve wine on tap.
Gus Vahlkamp, one of the wine directors interviewed, stated, “One of the things that’s always bothered me about wine prices is that you can’t get a decent glass of wine for the price of draft beer…here you can try a glass, and it’ll cost you $4.” Hells, yeah.
I just read today in NY Mag that the new branch of Terroir opening in Tribeca will feature a Finger Lakes Riesling on tap. I hope it’s just the beginning.
Filed under Alcohol in the News, Wine
Tickets for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic went on sale at midnight last night and while a few events have sold out already, there’s plenty of fun left to be had.
A cocktail party that takes up the entire New York Public Library? A double-decker party bus featuring Pisco and Cachaça cocktails? Exploring the terroir of tequila? Yes, please! The best and brightest (not to mention, thirstiest) of the New York cocktail scene will be there May 14-18.
I just got an email with a discount code, thanks to my friends over at Tasting Table. Through April 15, you can get tickets for 3 events as well as the gala for 25% off by entering TTMCC2010 at checkout. Cheers!
30% Tempranillo, 60% Garnacha (Grenache) and 10% Viura from the Tondonia vineyard. The 1998 is the winery's current release.
Look at the beautiful onion skin color! Believe it or not, that is a term used to describe the color of rosé.
Founded in 1877 and one of the few family-owned estates left in Rioja, López de Heredia is decidedly old-school; only grapes from their own vineyards, no chemicals, no pesticides, natural yeast, no machines (only hand harvesting), no chaptalization, prolonged barrel aging prior to release, 4 barrel-makers on staff, hand-racking with oak funnels, no filtration at bottling, and the list goes on.
This rosé was one of the most interesting and exciting I’ve ever had. On the nose were notes of almonds, strawberry jam, orange peel, honey, cardamom and earth, and on the palate some cherry kicked in, along with mouthwatering acidity. The complexity is due, in part, to the 4 1/2 years the wine spent in barrel (it was racked twice per year and fined with egg whites). We paired it with Vietnamese food and it would also stand up to Chinese, Indian and Mexican cuisines. It might be happiest, though, in your picnic basket, alongside some tasty sausage.
To top it off, wines from this producer tend to be a great value. I picked this bottle up recently, on sale, at Union Square Wines for $24. Oh, and Eric Asimov likes it, too.
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A Thirsty Spirit 