Bibulo.us - We plead the 21st.

Masters of the Universe

Another original, designed for plotting and planning with dear fiends.

Friends! We mean friends.

 

Masters of the Universe

2 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz Beefeater 24
2 dashes Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve up, or over an ice cube with an orange slice.

 

Yessss. Everything is falling into place perfectly...

Judge Walker

Photo by Derek Powazek (all rights reserved), used by gracious permission.

A new cocktail in honor of the taste of sweet justice.

 

Judge Walker

.75oz Dewar's 12yr Scotch
.75oz Old Overholt rye
.25oz sweet vermouth
.25oz Dolin Blanc vermouth
quick dash of Angostura aromatic bitters
quick dash of Angostura orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve up in a chilled glass or on the rocks.
Garnish with 2 good cherries and cut a coin of orange peel, squeeze it over the glass, touch the glass rim and stem and discard.

 

Ideal for soothing the stresses of wedding planning.

Death's Door Spirits

Sometimes what you really need is a blaze of white.

The Classic and Vintage Roadshow bringing together a variety of distillers at Nopa in March also gave us the opportunity to sample the lovely range of clear spirits from Death's Door of Madison, Wisconsin. We've previously enjoyed their excellent gin in an Old Fashioned mixed by Kirk Estopinal at The Violet Hour – a recipe we don't normally associate with gin, but a truly fine spirit like this demonstrates exactly how that simple foundation is strong enough to hold up the whole modern edifice of cocktails.

Death's Door's vodka is a perfectly delightful example of the species, but vodka is never our first choice of ingredients, so we moved quickly on to taste their white whiskey. This chameleon spirit has been showcased for us in cocktails recently by the Nopa team, but it was fascinating to try it on it's own. White dog whiskey is young, but not too hot and brings a range of subtle notes ready to be amplified by the other ingredients in a drink. Paul Clarke has compared this spirit to Dutch genever with its rich, malty flavors.

We enjoyed spending a few minutes chatting with Death's Door president and distiller Brian Ellison and sampling his beautiful, small-batch products, all of which we recommend you seek out for your own enjoyment.

The Bitter Truth Creole Bitters

We had the tremendous pleasure of getting an early taste of these new bitters at a visit from Stephen Berg and Alexander Hauck of The Bitter Truth as part of the Classic and Vintage Road Show last month. At that time they were still in the approval process for U.S. sale and the latest word is that they are expected to be available here later this year. That's good news for those of you not in Europe where they're already out, because there's no way you're going to be able to pry our tiny sample bottle away from our tight grip.

This tribute to the spice and complexity of Creole culture is beautifully crafted with vibrant color and fantastic taste. These are a well-balanced bitters which fill an important void in the landscape: sweet red spice with significant complexity on the tongue evoking fennel and flowers.

Sorry, Peychaud's; we love your history, but this is how this variety of bitters should taste.

Recommended test drives: Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Vieux Carré.

Echoes of Prohibition

    At an innovative and acclaimed restaurant near you there is a jar of house-made brandied cherries at a dessert chef's prep station which are used to create a delicious chocolate-cherry bread pudding. Ten feet away on the restaurant's bar is a similar container of brandy with cherries in it. That bottle is intended for the dessert's companion cocktail. Between the two stands the bar manager – but not the pastry chef – being cited for violation of California law.

    The scene is fictional, so far, but the legal discrepancy is all too real. In the state of California the health and safety of the public as it relates to booze is the charter of the department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. By their definition – as issued in a May 2008 industry advisory, which was largely ignored – the process of changing the character of an alcoholic beverage through maturation, as in the case of the cherries sitting in the brandy, or fermentation, potentially by something like adding citrus and sugar to vodka to create limoncello, is considered “rectification” and as such is not permitted without a Rectifier’s license. Here’s the catch: no one who serves these beverages is allowed to get one.

    What could this mean legally? According to the ABC, no bar would be permitted to do anything but “the simple mixing of alcoholic beverages with other ingredients for immediate consumption.” For fans of infused spirits, classic cocktails, or the current bartending renaissance in general, it’s as if all a foodie’s favorite restaurants were told they could only serve raw food. Salad and sushi are nice and all, but some of us would like a broader spectrum of choices. For once the vodka advocates and the artisanal cocktail snobs are marching arm in arm together in indignation.

    However, once you dig deeper than the ABC’s own statements the situation is clearly more complex than it has been painted. According to the statutory definition in section 23016 of the California Business and Professions Code, a “’Rectifier’ means every person who colors, flavors, or otherwise processes distilled spirits by distillation, blending, percolating, or other processes.” There is no reference to any exemption for immediate consumption. Without that exception, unless this section is understood to refer only to those who rectify for the purpose of resale not for the purpose of consumption, then all cocktail making is illegal. Without that exception and unless it only applies to rectifying for resale, anyone who blends distilled spirits is rectifying and must be therefore be licensed, but as other parts of the law clearly state (see tied house laws like sections 23368, 25500 and 25505) those who serve can’t be rectifiers. Clearly that over-reaching result was not the intent or the state would never get any revenue from cocktail bar liquor licenses. Rectification regulations must refer to the act of rectifying for resale and not to bar service, but the legal challenges to defend this position and remove the ABC’s “immediate consumption” interpretation have not yet taken place.

    For the moment we are left with the ABC’s current “loophole” of immediacy and its side effect of chilling legitimate, long-time bar practices that have not been demonstrated to pose a public health risk. From its beginnings the craft of good bartending has included knowledge of spirits, responsible hospitality, and a prodigious memory for recipes, but it has also called for a deep understanding of all the ingredients of a good drink and the ability to create variations on them. That the exercise of this knowledge results in exceptional experiences is a matter of ample evidence; just look at any recent list of not-to-be-missed intoxicating beverages in our fair city and you’ll find examples which are prohibited under the current state interpretation of the law because of their extremely local, hand-crafted ingredients. This despite the probability that those bartenders most likely to be crafting such things are also those most likely to be following the precepts of a San Francisco bartender of over 100 years ago, the honorable William “Cocktail” Boothby, whose Ten Commandments for mixologists included “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” Not bad for a guy working in the late 1800s. Combine his philosophy of care toward your bar’s patrons with modern knowledge of health and safety practices and you’ll find Bay Area bartenders producing safe ingredients to support the ‘quality over quantity’ drinking style they encourage and which in a sane world one would expect to see supported by those intending to protect the public from abuses of alcoholic beverages.

    So what to do to solve this problem? As ever, drink responsibly and speak out in favor of businesses, organizations, and laws promoting safe fun. While you can, enjoy the most creative creations of our city’s talented bartenders and brace yourself for the possibility of a stretch of simpler drinks while we wait for the legal wrangling to resolve itself into better policies.

    There is a merciful exception to all this hard liquor news; bitters – crucial ingredient of many fine drinks – from what we can see, are not subject to this prohibition. According to the state Board of Equalization, who managed alcoholic beverage matters prior to the creation of the ABC in 1955, “Angostura bitters used as flavoring is too concentrated to be fit for consumption as a beverage. As such, Angostura bitters is not ‘fit for beverage purposes’ under the definition of an alcoholic beverage.” It seems unlikely that other bitters – be they Abbott’s, orange, or chocolate-chili – would be treated any differently. So take heart, cocktailians, all those former infused vodka drinkers are going to be searching for a new taste sensation. Should we tell them that the trendy “new” recipe they’re sipping had its origins in San Francisco a century ago? Shhh, no need to rectify that mistake.

Spread Eagle Punch

When you love your guests and want them to know it, make this powerful and premium punch. It's yet another winner from Jerry Thomas's 1862 How To Mix Drinks by way of David Wondrich and was featured in the December 2009 issue of Esquire magazine. (Do go subscribe; they really have been keeping the quality very high lately and we often read it cover to cover).

One key to this punch is the oleo saccharum – the potent oil which lemon peels will give up to sugar after half an hour or so. There was no liquid in the pot shown in the picture on the right when the peels and sugar were first stirred together. It's magic! (Well, fine, it's osmosis, but that's as good as magic).

As with all good punches, freeze up a big piece of ice using a small bowl 48 hours before you'll be serving.

On the day of your party, peel 1 dozen lemons, getting as little pith as possible. Put them in 2 or 3 gallon pot and muddle them with 1 cup sugar. Leave them alone for 30 minutes and then come back to marvel at the delicious lemon oil exuded.

Add 2 bottles of a nice smoky single-malt Scotch – we recommend Laphroaig – and 2 bottles rye whiskey – Wondrich was right about how wonderful Sazerac is here. Stir, then put in 1 gallon boiling water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and let cool.

When you pour it over your big ice block in your punch bowl later, add 4 thinly sliced, de-seeded lemons and grate half a nutmeg over the top.

Stunning. Possibly literally. This is a 44 proof punch. Put out the small glasses.

Pearlescent

"A subtle and pleasant drink, the Pearlescent also happens to be quite easy on the eye." - David Wondrich

Yet another winner from his Killer Cocktails.

• 2.5 ounces vodka
• 2 teaspoons orgeat syrup
• 1 teaspoon Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• lemon peel strip

Shake viciously (with the peel in the shaker) and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

This one premixes like a dream and since it's got no citrus juice will keep fine in the fridge. Just stick the bottle next to the ice, shaker, lemons, and channel knife and let guests go to town with these instructions:

1. Measure 3 ounces of the premixed cocktail into the shaker for each drink.
2. Cut a fresh twist of lemon peel for each drink over the shaker & drop in.
3. Add twice as much ice as liquid.
4. Close the shaker tightly.
5. Holding the base, with fingers over the lid, shake viciously.
6. Take off the little cap and strain your drink into a chilled glass.
7. Dump your ice & peels into the dump bucket.
8. Enjoy your drink.

Hoffman House

"The Hoffman House Hotel maintained New York City's best bar at a time when New York had nothing but great bars... It pulled in a strictly A-list clientele until it got hauled down and replaced with an office building. That was in 1915. Their version of the Martini is one of the most suave known to science." - David Wondrich

Again we turn to Killer Cocktails for another party winner.

• 2 ounces gin, Martin Miller’s or Plymouth is encouraged
• 1 ounce Noilly Prat dry (white) vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• To finish: orange peel strip

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze peel over glass & drop in.

Delightful.

Daisy Shim and Daisy Mocktail

• .75 ounces gin
• .5 teaspoon lemon juice
• .5 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine (ideally from Small Hand Foods or homemade)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Fill a small collins glass with ice, add ingredients and stir until chilled.

Top with .5 oz fizz water. This may be garnished with fruits in season, if desired.

This is an adaptation of the Gin Daisy (new school) intended for those seeking a lower-alcohol alternative. It's handy for that guest who needs to slow down their intake a bit while their body catches up (and if they really need it, you don't even have to tell them it's a shim; just get a little gin on your finger and wipe it around the rim and they'll never know).

For the Daisy Mocktail, omit the gin entirely.

Note to party hosts: premix all but the gin and put it in a squeeze bottle. 3 teaspoons is 1/6 of an ounce, so call it a scant 1/4 ounce pour and then add your gin or not depending on whether you're making a Daisy, Shim, or Mocktail. For kids and those with a sweet tooth, give 'em a little extra of that mix.

Gin Daisy (new school)

"Almost always just the thing for a man or woman in the dumps or out of them." - David Wondrich

• 2 ounces gin
• .5 teaspoon lemon juice
• .5 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grenadine (ideally from Small Hand Foods or homemade)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Fill a small collins glass with ice, add ingredients and stir until chilled.

Top with .5 oz fizz water. This may be garnished with fruits in season, if desired.

Yes, it's another party favorite from a Wondrich book, this time Imbibe. This is the "new school" version, which is to say the fancy grenadine-rocks Daisy of the 1910s as opposed to the original orange-liqueur-up version from the 1870s.

Garrick Club Punch

Yes, it's another party drink from a David Wondrich book, in this case, Killer Cocktails. Who is surprised? The man has an uncanny sense for what makes our guests happy.

"Back in the early part of the nineteenth century, the Garrick Club was one of London's sportier institutions, with a membership made up of actors, slumming aristocrats, and other racy types."

• 1 liter (1 bottle) Bols Genever
• 8.5 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice (preferably from Meyer lemons if in season)
• 8 ounces Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• peel, with as little pith as possible, from 4 lemons
• 1 liter chilled fizzy water (soda or seltzer)

At least 36 hours before serving, freeze a huge ice block for the punch bowl.
An hour or two before serving, peel 4 of your lemons (you’ll probably need 10-12 large ones) and put them in a closed container with the other ingredients except the fizz water to get to know each other.
To serve, put the ice block in the bowl, carefully pour the punch over it, and add the fizz water.
Serves 40-50 people for a while and instills in even the most cocktail-unaware an urge to buy obscure ingredients like genever.

Orange Blossom Martini

A very popular drink for parties. Easy to mix in batch.

4 parts Hanger One Mandarin Blossom vodka
1 part Lillet Blanc
drop of orange flower water (if only making a drink or two, or a dash for more. The idea is "just a wee bit since the Hanger One already has some")

Serve in a cocktail glass with a sugar rim and an orange peel garnish.

Martinez

Never mind that Dinah grew up there, the Martinez is one of our favorite drinks, made even more entrancing with these particular ingredients.

1 part Bols Genever

2 parts Carpano Antica Formula vermouth

2 dashes Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve in a cocktail glass or coupe with a lemon twist.