It’s that time of the year to re-cap the best of 2011.

What’s hot?  What’s not?  I honestly don’t have a clue, but here’s what I do know about what happened this year.

The craft spirit industry is on fire with over 200 small distilleries producing vodka, gin, whiskey, and liqueurs all over the country. (I have yet to hear of one making American tequila – if there can even be such a thing???). Here in Oregon, Portland alone has thirteen distilleries and then there are other small batch distilleries sprinkled throughout the state such as Superfly, Oregon Spirit Distilleries, and Stein Distillery. The practice of opening a distillery has become so commonplace that there is now a website ran by the state of Oregon giving you a step-by-step guide as to how to do it! link here

What are people around the country excited about this year in the craft market – surprisingly a lot of people are talking about whiskey! I have felt that all of the new whiskeys I’ve tried need five or six more years in the barrel – but word on the street is that some of these distilleries are turning out a respectable product.

 Northwest

In the Northwest people are excited about

Black Mariah Marionberry Liqueur :::::

Sweet and thick, made with locally harvested marionberries, local botanicals, and hazelnuts this will make you laugh in Chambord’s face when it comes to making a jaw-dropping kir royal this New Year’s eve.

 The West

In the West, people are raving about

Dancing Pines Chai Liqueur which won double gold medal winner from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this year. The liqueur is distilled in a hand-crafted copper pot still with their own blend of chai tea made from whole leaf black tea and five secret spices. Jacob T. who told me about this delicious sounding liqueur said, “I’ve never really tasted anything like it before: balanced, complex bouquet, sweet ….but not too sweet, perfect in a hot drink or over ice cream! They really did a nice job!”

Roundhouse Imperial Barrelhouse Gin  :::::

My favorite new spirit I tried this year was Roundhouse’s new barrel-aged gin. They took their award-winning gin and decided to barrel age it for six months and it is delicious. It tastes like a fragrant well-balanced gin met a honey=kissed bourbon and fell in love so you could fall in love with it.

The Midwest

In the Midwest, there’s hype about Templeton Rye.

Jeff H. who told me off this whiskey said, “It’s out of Iowa and they allegedly were one of Capone’s major producers during prohibition. It’s delicious!” Templeton claims that they have been producing whiskey for eighty-five years. Their claim to fame is that during prohibition they secretly produced in very small quantities for a few select customers.

The Northeast

In the Northeast people are pysched about what Tuthillton Distillery is creating out of New York and about a very small distillery called Ryan & Wood which is in the small town of Gloucester, Massachusetts right on the Atlantic Coast.

Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey is crafted from New-York grown corn and aged in small American Oak barrels. As for their rye, Hudson was the first distillery to make rye whiskey in the state of New York in 80 years. It is crafted one small batch at a time.

Sarah S. who told me about this spirit said, “Baby Bourbon or Manhattan Rye … oh So freaking amazing! why? because when I sip on them, the subtle flavors pop in just the right way…I’m not a whiskey drinker either…”

Ryan & Wood Rye :::::

Frederic Y. told me about Ryan & Wood Rye, “Tastes like a fuller flavored Sazerac 6. And unlike many small distilleries’ whiskeys, it was well worth the price.”

Ryan & Wood might have one of the most beautiful stills I have ever seen – it looks like a musical instrument.  It is 600 liter alembic copper pot still which was crafted in Germany.  See a photo of it here.

The South

What’s hot in The South? (Well more than the weather.)

Southern Corn Whiskey :::::

Clare H. told me about this Southern Belle, “I love it with just a cube or two of ice to allow a sweet spicy flavor with just a little bit of heat.”  Getting your hand on a bottle might be a problem as the distiller Thirteenth Colony Distillers  did a tiny run of only 400 bottles last year.

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As for the the cocktail world, I was able to ask Alan Dietrich, national sales manager for Crater Lake Vodka, a bit about trends he’s seen this year.

What spirit surprised you?

::::: There has been a huge jump in interest in gin this year. It’s really noticeable in the number of inquiries we have received to create private label gins.

What trends have you seen in the bar scene?

::::: I have noticed an increase in the number of bartenders trying to create new drinks. The mixology trend appears to be growing.

What trends did you notice in mixology?

::::: I have also noticed that the established mixologists are tending toward simpler concoctions. They seem to be acknowledging that the average drinker is not very sophisticated yet. It might just be the holidays but I have seen a number of new champagne drinks showing up on menus and in the trade press. I have also seen a growing interest in Prohibition era cocktails – maybe due to the Ken Burns series?

What will 2012 hold? Keep me posted.

thank you Public Domain for the 2011 photo

Most recently I was asked by the Library to be a part of A Novel Idea which is one of the coolest literary programs I’ve ever been privy to (saying a lot since my mother and father are both writers, my mother is also a librarian, and my sister has spent her entire career in either a bookstore or a library).  Every year Deschutes Public Library chooses one book and then spends a month bringing that book to life in every dimension imaginable.  They will hold discussion groups about the book, show movies and documentaries that pertain to the genre or era of the book, encourage reading of similar books, have storytellers tell their tales related to themes in the book, invite the author to speak about his/her book, and lastly have a food and cocktail demonstration pertaining to the book’s genre.

This year’s book is The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which I highly recommend reading.  The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi and is the tale of the affection shared between black nannies and the white children they raise.  The intrigue of this story is that the love they share is a dirty secret that no one will own up to as they all are afraid of what it means to cross these strict racial lines that are commonplace in 1960′s Mississippi.  The story is smartly written through three different characters, which brings about a dynamic that couldn’t be achieved with one narrator.

So this is my challenge: to create two cocktails that bring together the issues of the book – racism and love; are typical to the South and the 60s, and can be made easily by the modern day home mixologist.  I am also trying to only use gin and vodka as Bendistillery has been kind enough to donate the spirits for the presentation.

The first drink will be a gin julep.  It’s a spin off the mint julep which is a staple to Southern cuisine and is traditionally made with bourbon, sugar, and mint.  I am going to steal the smash idea from my favorite cocktail guru Jerry Thomas which involves steeping the mint in the spirit rather than muddling.  This way I can do the cocktail in bulk without much effort.  A little sugar, some fresh lime, and a dash of soda water will finish this drink off gorgeously.

Gin Julep

2 ounces of Cascade Mountain Gin

8 mint leaves

2 tablespoons sugar

1.5 ounces of fresh lime

1-ounce soda water

Tear the mint leaves in half and place them in the gin along with the sugar.  Allow to steep for at least 15 minutes.  After steeping, stir the sugar into the gin.  Add fresh lime.  Stir and add ice.  Top with soda water.

As for the next drink – I am excited to use vodka because the 50′s and 60′s is when vodka came to popularity in the States.  We can thank James Bond for his vapid expression, “Shaken not stirred,” which helped bring the martini to popularity and thus send vodka on its trajectory of becoming America’s favorite spirit.

When I think of Mississippi, I think of cotton and pecans.  The pecans are easy – I make a lot of orgeat (almond) syrup for the bar which is a traditional cocktail staple.  So instead of using almonds, I’m going to use pecans.  As for cotton – I am going to use a maple cotton candy, which I love this idea of as there is a lot of discussion in the book about North vs. South and I think that the maple brings that dichotomy into the drink.  Furthermore, pecan and maple taste delicious together.  To add some depth and complexity to the drink, I’m going to steep ginger tea bags in the vodka to create ginger vodka and then to balance the cocktail I’ll be using fresh lemon juice.  The cotton candy will be a used as a garnish meant to dip into the cocktail so the drink will be mixed a bit tart with the cotton candy bringing perfect attunement to the drink.

As this cocktail is created exclusively for the book – so should be its name.

The Help

2 ounces of ginger vodka

1 ounces of fresh lemon juice

1.5 ounces of maple pecan syrup

small ball of maple cotton candy

Put the ginger vodka, fresh lemon juice, and maple pecan syrup in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously until ice chips form.  Strain and place a small ball of cotton candy of the rim of the glass.

To make ginger vodka take a fifth of Crater Lake vodka and let six ginger or lemon ginger herbal tea bags soak in it overnight.

To make maple pecan syrup – one-cup maple syrup, one quarter cup white sugar, one-cup water, and one-cup pecans.  Bring to a boil and immediately take off the heat.  Allow to cool and sit overnight.  Strain the pecans the following day.  If you have pecan extract – you can add a couple of drops to enhance the flavor of the syrup even more.

To buy maple cotton candy – please use this link.

Ransom Gin

This evening I was able to turn on a couple of people to Ransom’s Old Tom Gin which is a pre-prohibition style gin made right here in Oregon.  For those of you who don’t really know that much about gin – here’s a short lesson.

First, gin is vodka…vodka that is juniper flavored.  Distillers then tweak the flavor so that their gin is unique with herbs and botanicals.  Most gin sold in the U.S. is London Dry gin, like Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire.  London Dry Gin tends to have a stronger juniper flavor and be a bit bitter.  Genever Gin originally came from Holland and tends to not have a weak juniper flavor.  There are not a lot of genever gins on the U.S. market.  Bols makes a

Genever gin and Aviation from House Spirits makes a “genever inspired gin.”  This gin tends to drink more in line with vodka with less flavor and a sweeter vanilla finish, light herbs, and botanicals.

But the Ransom Old Tom Gin is something in it’s own rights.  First, Ransom is the name of the distillery and Old Tom is the type of gin.  Old Tom is a style of gin from the 1800’s, which was popular in Great Britain.  It’s always been slightly sweeter than London Dry Gin.  The first thing you will notice about Ransom’s Old Tom Gin is its rose-petal color that comes from finishing the gin in pinot noir barrels.  When you taste it, all the different flavors that pop off of your tongue will surprise you.  You can taste mint, allspice berries, cardamom, and just a hint of juniper.  I totally recommend getting a bottle if you are a gin drinker and you love to try new things, you will be wowed whether you love it or you hate it.

When I’m making Jerry Thomas’s* drinks I have been using the Ransom Old Tom Gin because it was the popular gin when he was mixing drinks.  If you happen to get a bottle, try this little gem.

THE PINEAPPLE JULEP

1.5 ounces of Old Tom Gin

.5 ounce of Maraschino

2 teaspoons raspberry jam

.5 ounces lemon juice

1 ounce pineapple juice

Shake these ingredients and strain into a cocktail glass.

top with an ounce of champagne or another sparkling wine

(Don’t have maraschino liqueur – do without.  Don’t have raspberry jam – try the drink with another flavor of jam.  Don’t have a bottle of sparkling sitting around – this drink is delicious without the sparkle also.)

* If you don’t know who Jerry Thomas is – well he is the grandfather of mixology in the U.S. and published the first cocktail book in 1862.  He was a great showman with a set of sterling silver bar tools and a drink he made where he shot a flame between two metal cups.  Enjoy my blog where I am writing about remaking all of his drinks.