I have many people ask me how to make lime sour, and it is quite easy.  You can also use this for margarita mix and sweet and sour.  Here is the recipe.

Lime Sour

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
7 ounces of fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 ounce of oj

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

With the arrival of my husband’s family, I’ve found myself thinking that afternoon cocktail trysts are more than agreeable – and I, unlike most, am in a lucky position to justify it as R&D work. Today, I remade all of the Cobblers – excited that I had a reason to disappear for half of the day and perhaps more excited that there are seven Cobblers, enough to leave from this afternoon’s jaunt in a spirited glow.

According to Jay Hephurn from Oh My Gosh (a really great blog if you enjoy
reading about cocktail history) the cobbler is an old form of mixed drink
that consists of a base spirit, typically some sort of wine, a wee bit of
sugar and fresh fruit. It predates Jerry Thomas by a couple of years and
perhaps gained popularity because it was one of the first drinks to contain
ice and come with a straw! Hephurn continues stating that the most popular
cocktail was the sherry cocktail, which is crazy because I don’t even carry
sherry at the bar because I NEVER have anyone ask for it. Anyhow, if you are not familiar with sherry – it is produced from a white wine grape in a certain part of Spain and fortified with brandy. The flavor of sherry can be all over the board, ranging from dry and less sweet to bold, syrupy, and jammy. (Point being – don’t diss on sherry until you’ve tried a couple.)

Sherry Cobbler

5 ounces of sherry (I used the Hidalgo Pedro Ximenez Sherry – which is brazen with a distinct flavor of plump raisins)
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Champagne Cobbler

5 ounces of champagne
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange peel
1 lemon peel
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Catawba Cobbler

5 ounces of Catawba wine (as it is really really hard to find, you could use
any rosé)
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Hock Cobbler

5 ounces of German white wine
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Claret Cobbler

5 ounces of claret
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Sauterne Cobbler

5 ounces of sauterne
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

Whiskey Cobbler

3 ounces of whiskey
1 tablespoon of fine white sugar
1 orange wheel (cut in four)
1 dash Maraschino
Add ice, shake – serve with the ice. Top with fresh berries and serve
with a straw.

So I finally broke open my bottle of Catawba wine for this series of drinks – and let’s just say that it tastes like a wine cooler and my guess is that it is mainly sold to people under the age of 21. As the catawba grape is one of America’s few native grape species (one of the others being the beloved jam grape the concord), anyone who loves any wine being produced in California, Oregon, or Washington can be extraordinarily grateful for the fact that European grapes were brought over – as we would be drinking terrible unbalanced  kool-aid wine that lacked any personality or depth.

My favorite of the cobblers – Champagne cobbler. The hint of sugar and fresh berries make a glass of champagne even the more luxurious.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

I have two types of company, those who open the doors to our bulging full cabinets and smile as they to find that there is no food lurking in these dark abscesses, but rather – bottles upon bottles of distilled spirits.   These are the ones who get giddy with anticipation of a flaming cocktails and a raging house party. But there are also those who catch a peak and cannot understand why any one human being would ever need even a tenth as much liquor as I own. From absinthe, to aquavit, to just plain ol’ vodka – there is a bottle for everyone in there. I cannot help myself if I see a bottle somewhere that I’ve never had before, I must buy it. And before I know it – it is befriending tens of other bottles that only have a sip taken from them. The problem lie when I have company that opens up the cabinets and deems that their son married an alcoholic, which is only exacerbated by the fact that I keep vampire hours and work in a bar.

Thus, I found myself trying to clean out the cabinets today – not quite sure where to stash everything and I finally decided on creating a bar shelf in my office – which now looks like I really can’t stay away for more than a couple of minutes. (But the wholesomeness it brought to the kitchen cabinet cannot be rivaled as the Corn Pops no longer reside wedged between three bottles of tequila and a bottle of Dekuyper triple sec – don’t ask. ) The crazy irony being that now that all the alcohol is right next to me, the bottle of Obsello Absinthe is a lot more tantalizing now that it sits in my peripheral vision.  Surely it is not the wind whispering over to me, “You look soooooo thirsty.”

Anyhow, the exciting news is that I am going to take all of these crazy bottles and do a sort of “open mic” night on Repeal Day with all the local mixologists. It will just be us, a lot of alcohol, and some creativity, which I do believe, equals a good time. If you happen to be in Bend, drop by The Blacksmith and join in on the fun (December 5 is Repeal Day! Mark it on your calendars.)

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

For the meantime, I’ve been plugging away on the Jerry Thomas Project. I made a bunch of the cobblers – but I’m going to make some again after tomorrow’s farmers market (as they call for fresh berries and I’d like to get a nice photo). So I will wait to write about them. For the meantime, I made the Daisy drinks. I made the Whiskey Daisy a long time ago and it is actually on the Happy Hour menu at The Blacksmith. To make any the Daisy drinks you first need to make orgeat syrup, which is an almost syrup, or gum syrup (which is a pain in the ass and I recommend just using simple syrup). But here’s the link if you want to make gum (gomme)  syrup (you will have to purchase gum arabic on-line first – which is hard to find, so here’s the link).

As for orgeat syrup:

How do you say orgeat? OR Szhaaht

The simplest orgeat syrup (although the flavor will not be as complex) is to make a simple syrup and add a dash or two of almond extract.

Easy Peasy Japanesy Orgeat Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 dashes almond extract

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Take off the heat. Let cool and ad the almond extract.

To make a much tastier Orgeat Syrup, please follow this recipe.

Q’s Orgeat Syrup
2 cups blanched almonds
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 orange
1 teaspoon almond extract

Bring the almonds, water, sugar and one cut orange to a boil – take off the heat and let sit overnight.
Squeeze the orange of any fruit juice it might still have and add one teaspoon almond extract after the syrup has cooled. Strain the almonds and orange remnants out of the syrup.

* TO MAKE YOUR OWN ALMOND EXTRACT

If you are really ambitious, I recommend making your own almond extract – which is pretty simple. Take 2 cups 151 proof rum and allow 1 cup blanched almonds (you can toast the almonds for a nuttier flavor) to steep for two weeks. Strain the almonds off and you will have a fantastic almond extract. You’ll find this almond extract doesn’t have the perfumy, amaretto flavor you find in store bought almond extract.

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Brandy Daisy

2 ounces of brandy
2 dashes of Jamaican Rum
1 ounce of lemon
1/4 ounce of orange curaçao
1/3 ounce of gum syrup (if you are using regular simple syrup – please substitute 1 ounce as it is not as sweet as gum syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Whiskey Daisy

2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey (I prefer bourbon, although my father is a rye man)
1 ounce of lemon
1 ounce of orgeat syrup

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Santa Cruz Rum Daisy

2 dashes of Santa Cruz Rum (Santa Cruz refers to Virgin Islands rum, but any rum will do)
1 ounce of lemon
3 dashes of orange curacao or Maraschino
1/3 ounce of gum syrup (if you are using regular simple syrup – please substitute 1 ounce as it is not as sweet as gum syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Gin Daisy

2 ounces of genever gin (but you can use any gin if that’s what you have lying around – I would like to think that Jerry Thomas wasn’t so uptight that he wouldn’t just use what was in his cabinet)
1 ounce of lemon
3 dashes of Maraschino
1/3 ounce of gum syrup or 1 ounce of orgeat syrup (your choice – I like it better with the orgeat syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

I do love the Whiskey Daisy – it’s still my fave of the daisy drinks. I have to say that I always find when you mix rum with lemon juice and sugar; it tends to taste like cider – which the Santa Cruz Daisy definitely hints at.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

Just plugging right along now with the Jerry Thomas Project, I had a harsh reality of how far I had to go and how far I had gotten. I really want to finish by the end of the year so that I made all of the drinks in 12 months and the only way that is going to happen is to be way more on the ball.

A quick tidbit about slings, which I wrote about earlier this week. I was digging through David Wondrich’s book Imbibe (which if you have any interest in Jerry Thomas is a must read) he had a couple of interesting little bits about slings.

:::::: Slings most likely get their name from “slinging back” a drink.
:::::: In 1825, the Sling passed as a health drink. “It is stated with unshaken confidence, as the result of actual and repeated experience, that half a tumbler of gin sling, well powdered with grated nutmeg, proves a speedy and an efficacious styptic in that dangerous and alarming complaint, a bleeding of the lungs.”
* Makes you wonder what pharmaceuticals we consider medicine today and what people a couple of hundred years from now might think.
:::::: The Sling was often drank first thing in the morning! (Can’t say you’ve been drinking all day if you don’t start in the morning.)

Tonight, I made a series of Fizzes (or as Jerry Thomas spells them Fizes). Not all the Fiz recipes are the same, but for the most part a Fiz calls for lemon juice, white sugar, and sometimes a part of an egg.

Santa Cruz Fiz

2 ounces of Santa Cruz Rum (Caribbean Rum)
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
ice
Stir the ingredients together; add ice, top with Seltzer.

Whiskey Fiz

2 ounces of Bourbon or Rye
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
ice
Stir the ingredients together; add ice, top with Seltzer.

Brandy Fiz

2 ounces of brandy
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
ice
Stir the ingredients together, add ice, top with Seltzer.

Gin Fiz

2 ounces of Genever Gin (might I recommend Aviation Gin, a genever style gin made right here in Oregon)
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
ice
Stir the ingredients together, add ice, top with Seltzer.

Silver Fiz

2 ounces of Old Tom Gin (definitely get your hand’s on Ransom’s Old Tom Gin if you can)
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
1 egg white
ice
Stir the ingredients together, add ice, top with Seltzer.

Golden Fiz

2 ounces of Old Tom Gin (definitely get your hand’s on Ransom’s Old Tom Gin if you can)
1 teaspoon of Baker’s Sugar
3 dashes of lemon juice
1 egg yolk
ice
Stir the ingredients together, add ice, top with Seltzer.

Let’s just say, don’t ever make the Golden Fiz. It is absolutely hideous, smells like raw egg and gin (kind of made me want to gag, and I’ve eaten pine tar just to know what it tastes like). There’s way too much egg for that amount of gin and it’s just kind of nasty looking as the soda water doesn’t mix well and the sides of the glass have an obnoxious layer of grimy sugar egg scum on the sides. The Silver Fiz isn’t much better, but the smell is a little bit more bearable as the white doesn’t have as much scent as the yolk. Nonetheless, save your egg whites for the Saratoga Brace Up.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

First I have to say, I am way behind on the Jerry Thomas Project and in order to get through all of the drinks by the end of the year, I’ve got to bump it up a notch. More than anything, you are going to see a lot more recipes popping up on the blog. So now it will most likely be the case that after every posting there will be a Jerry Thomas recipe that I made that day.

Otherwise, it’s a crazy week. It’s my birthday today, which is the first day of Virgo. Let’s just say I’m not that into astrology, but whenever I read horoscopes that have more contextual basis (i.e. what planet your moon is in or what sun your shnixna is in) I can’t help but find they are uncomfortably true. Anyhow, I work at an amazing restaurant with one of the best staffs that I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around and out of the 18 people that work there, five have birthdays between August 23 and August 26. A matter of fact, the other bartender that I work with the most, shares the exact same birthday as me. Guess the Virgo cuspers just make damn good restaurant workers. Happy Birthday to Justin, Keea, Dryden, and Clare!

A couple of interesting tidbits about the Virgo

Virgo is the only zodiacal sign represented by a female – but that doesn’t make a Virgo a pussy.

Virgos are probably smarter than you.

Virgos can get along with people of other signs, but they mostly just like other Virgos and an occasional Capricorn.

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The Jerry Thomas Project

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

I was hoping to work on some more intriguing Jerry Thomas cocktails on Sunday, but we decided spur of the moment to host a party after the March Fourth Marching Band concert.  (If you have never seen them, they are a 20 piece marching band with stilt walkers, burlesque dancers, and a hell of a lot of spunk!)   As it was the third late night (being that there was a dj until 2:30 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), I decided to make something easy and I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with The Sling – which just involves adding sugar and water to a base spirit. Sometimes I wonder why Mr. Thomas even bothered naming all of these drinks and cataloging them (my guess is that was being paid by the word.)

Brandy Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of brandy
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Brandy Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of brandy

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Gin Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of gin
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Gin Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of gin

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Whiskey Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
2 ounces of water
2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey
Ice

Dissolve the sugar in the water, add the spirit and ice and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Hot Whiskey Sling

1 teaspoon of Baker’s sugar
4 ounces of hot water
2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey

Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water, add the spirit and hot water and stir. Grate a little nutmeg to finish.

Well a couple of things with this series of drinks. First, none of them are that great – so I wouldn’t even say to bother, unless you are sick – in that case the Brandy Sling or Hot Whiskey Sling could be great for a sore throat and to induce some much needed rest. Jerry Thomas also has a typo in his book here, as in the Gin Sling he calls for brandy. I give the recipe with gin, as I cannot imagine that the Gin Sling is made with brandy. The worst tasting one was the Hot Gin Sling, it catches you off guard to drink warm gin. Thomas also calls for boiling water, which I made the first hot drink with and it was terribly hot – so I call for hot water. Maybe Thomas had to burn his tongue first so that he couldn’t taste the Hot Gin Sling.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

After a recent viewing of a Taco Bell commercial where beautiful young women put Taco Bell Bacon Chalupa Clubs in their handbags to bait men, I could not help but wonder what is it with these guys in Taco Bell Town that aren’t attracted to Perfect 10 bodies, flowing silky hair, and gorgeous faces but rather to stale cured pork belly. But even more I wondered – what is in these gigantic handbags that flood the bar each weekend? For the most part – all one needs is an ID and a credit card, two small items that will fit snugly in a myriad of places: a pocket, the side of a bra, or inside one’s shoe. Most of these handbags are large enough to house a bowling ball, a Chihuahua, and a copy of Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth.

So what is in these bags? My x-ray vision unfortunately comes and goes, but since it seems to only come tacked between the dream where the restaurant is going down in flames and one guy just wants some ketchup and the other dream where I show up to work naked – I decided it would just be easier to ask. Surprisingly, most women didn’t know what they were toting around. But once they started digging, the goods got ever interesting: beef jerky, men’s cotton underwear, rolling papers, a stapler, staples, a screwdriver, hot sauce, a hair straightener, numerous eye lash curlers, parking tickets, every size and shape of tampon imaginable, books, condoms, hand sanitizer, and in one case – another purse.

In a world where summer shorts barely cover the buttocks and summer tank tops allow for plenty of cleavage – it is the one last secret of the girl. And for that, I’d like to cheers the little black bag of, “It’s really none of your business.”

Bacon Bloody Mary

2 ounces of bacon-infused vodka
4 ounces of your favorite bloody mix

- Columbine Quillen
I am a mixologist bartender and this is my blog.

Are the best countries in the world to live the best countries in the world to drink?

This week Newsweek listed the top 100 countries to live in, but what would you drink in these countries? Newsweek did not use the national drink of each nation as part of the equation to decide what the best countries in the world are (instead they used things like quality of health care, education, economic competitiveness, and political environment – shush Newsweek – there’s another factor!). Here’s a list taking Newsweek’s top 10 countries while adding a little about their national drink.  Might this have skewed the results?

1. Finland

“The Finn will drink himself into forgetfulness, lose his money, horde, bridle, and return home poorer than a church rat.”
- Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin: Life’s Little Things (he visited Finland in 1886)

The Finns have a fondness for vodka (which they call viina) and their national brand Koskenkorva Viina (aka Kossu) is distilled from barley using a 200-step continuous distillation process after which they add spring water and a tiny bit of sugar. Finland is known for Finlandia Vodka – which is also distilled from barley, but it is distilled differently giving it a drier flavor profile. The Finns favorite cocktail is Salmiakki Koskenkorva, which is made by letting salt licorice steep in vodka for a couple of days. If you haven’t had salt licorice before – it is not a flavor that most people that didn’t grow up with it like, as it is a crazy combination of salt, anise, and ammonia.

Finns also like beer with the majority of the beer they brew being a pale lager. They also brew a juniper beer called Sahti which is brewed from rye or oat and is filtered through straw and juniper berries – it is one of the oldest continuous living traditions of beer making. Sounds delicious and impossible to try if you are not in Finland, supposedly there is only one place in the world to get it on draft and that’s in Sahtihaarika about 80 miles north of Helsinki.

One pint of lager in Finland costs $6.46 USD

2. Switzerland

A little unknown fact that Ovaltine originated in Switzerland where it is known by Ovomaltine. The Swiss also love rivella which is a carbonated soft drink made from milk whey. It was introduced to the American market in 2005, but was pulled soon afterward as it appears that none of us care that much for fizzy milk scraps. The Swiss also enjoy drinking wine and for such a small country they have quite a bit of wine production – most notably Riesling. And of course, absinthe’s birthplace is in Vald-de-Travers, which they began producing again in 2005 after a 96-year ban. I feel comfortable saying that Switzerland produces my favorite absinthe, Kübler.
Two little side notes to Switzerland – first they are seeing a resurgence of small micro-breweries and you only have to be 16 to legally buy wine and beer.

One pint of lager in Switzerland costs $5.12 USD

3. Sweden

The Swedes too are vodka drinkers, but they also have a love for aquavit (aquavit) which is a very high proof spirit distilled with caraway seeds and other flavors, typically fennel, dill, anise, and coriander. It is not sweet and typically involves involving a palate for it. The most popular vodka in Sweden is not Absolut (although you can find it everywhere – but I didn’t see as many flavors in Sweden as you can find in the States) but Renat, which is nearly impossible to find in the States. Swedes also like lager and are seeing a resurgence of microbreweries popping up.

Swedish Nightclubs vs. British Nightclubs (now you can see why the United Kingdom didn’t make the top 10)

One pint of lager in Sweden costs $6.95 USD

4. Australia -

Well, for the most part the Aussie is a beer drinker most likely enjoying a cold frosty Victoria Bitter (which they like to refer to as VB). Although most Australians claim that they don’t drink the chilled down piss they call Foster’s (a terrible hit amongst America’s refined Budweiser drinkers) Victoria Bitter is brewed by a subsidiary of Foster’s.
Australia is not nationally recognized for any distilled beverage, but when doing research on what they like to drink I did run across Tamborine Mountain Distillery which makes some really fascinating products – like a Turkish Delight liqueur (I assume it is pistachios and rose petals) and Mt. Michael’s Wort Herbal Schnapps which contains 50 different herbs, seeds, and spices as flavoring. I hope one day to visit there and to go tour their distillery – they are doing a lot of very interesting products.

One pint of lager in Australia costs $4.82 USD

5. Luxembourg

Luxembourgers tend to drink a lot of French wine along with Belgian and Dutch beer. Luxembourg has a long history of making wine, mostly on the north bank of the Moselle River. Luxembourg is known for its Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and Gewürztraminer. The Luxembourgers are some of the highest consumers of alcohol and in 1993 they had the highest worldwide per capita of alcohol consumption in the world – equaling three beers a day for each citizen (regardless of their age). Alcohol is also typically cheaper in Luxembourg than most other countries in Europe.

One pint of lager in Luxembourg costs $3.80 USD

6. Norway

For the most part, the Norwegians are mostly beer drinkers – with pilsner (pils) being the most popular type. Norwegians also enjoy a little nip of aquavit (akevitt), which is often chased by a light beer. One aquavit worth trying is Linie Akevitt, which is aged in the hulls of ships that travel all the way from Norway to Australia and then circumnavigates the globe back to Norway. (You can actually purchase a bottle of this through Wally’s Wine – here’s the link)

Just like the rest of Scandinavia, Norway has very strict laws concerning the sale of alcohol and it is extremely expensive.

One pint of lager in Norway costs $9.84 USD

7. Canada

Canada has a lot to offer from a wide range of decent canned beers to a variety of easy drinking whiskies – but it appears that what Canada wants to be known for the is the Caesar, which must contain tomato juice and clams. Walter Chell invented the drink in 1969 and he also helped Mott’s create Clamato (which I find quite tasty – regardless of reading the scary-sounding ingredients on the side of the can). The Caesar typically also contains vodka, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco with a celery-salt rim garnished with a stalk of celery and a wedge of lime.

Otherwise, Canadians beer drinkers – but in an unfortunate turn of events, most of Canada’s three largest breweries have been acquired or have merged with large foreign companies: Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman. Moosehead is still entirely Canadian. Canada is also known for it’s easy sipping whiskies, which are typically fruitier and lighter than their American, Scotch, and Japanese counterparts. As Canada didn’t see prohibition on the same scale as the U.S., the Canadian whiskey market flourished during the U.S. prohibition from 1920 until 1933.

One pint of lager in Canada costs $4.87 USD

8. The Netherlands

The Dutch certainly like beer and although they mostly brew Pilsner, almost every brewery also produces a white beer and a bok. White beer is a barley/wheat top-fermented beer which traditionally is not brewed with hops alone but rather gruit, which is a combination of coriander, orange, hops, and bitter orange. White beers can sometimes be sour due to a presence of lactic acid. Bok is a strong lager brewed with a high amount of malt to give it a darker sweeter flavor. The Netherlands exports a higher percentage of its beer production than any other country in the world – which is the reason you are so familiar with the names, Heineken, Amstel, and Grolsch.
The Dutch are also known for their own style of gin, genever (aka jenever which comes from the Dutch term for juniper). Surprisingly, it doesn’t have nearly the juniper component to it that you find in London Dry Gins. Traditionally it was used as medicine. Bols Genever Gin is available on the U.S. market and if you get a chance – taste it. It is one of the oldest gin recipes and it’s interesting to see the path that gin has taken.

One pint of lager in Netherlands costs $2.77 USD

9. Japan

The Japanese love their Nihonshu, which we call sake. Sake is fermented and typically only contains four ingredients: rice water, koji (a type of mold to enhance fermentation) and yeast. It typically has an alcohol content around15%. Cheaper versions are called futshushu and use cheaper rice in fermentation. The better grades use sakamai rice, which is specifically grown for sake production. Perhaps one of of the most important steps in sake production is the first step of polishing the rice, which removes unwanted fats and proteins (which harm the flavor). Typically the more polished the rice is the better the sake will taste and the more expensive it will be. The water used in fermentation is very important and will influence the flavor of the sake significantly. Sake’s flavor can range from very dry and acidic with good minerality to sweeter and heavier. You will never find piping hot sake in Japan, rather if it is warmed it will be done so with warm water typically around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The Japanese also consume quite a bit of lager with canned beer available in vending machines all around the country. The Japanese also produce a style of whiskey very similar to single-malt Scotch.

One pint of lager in Japan costs $5.23 USD

10. Denmark

The Danes like beer, most popular is a pale lager by the name of Tuborg. Carlsberg and Faxe make similar beer, which are also quite popular (not surprising however as Carlsberg bought out Tuborg almost 40 years ago). It is rare that you see a Dane drinking a foreign brew, although the microbrew is becoming popular among a younger set of Danes. Danish beer consumption per capita is the highest in Europe.

One pint of lager in Denmark costs $7.89 USD

I’m not sure where to move to now – although I’m pretty sure it won’t be to a beer country.

Almost every day I feel like someone brings up the topic of mixologist vs. bartender and I thought I was sick of the topic. But it got me to thinking – why do we just have one term to describe what really embraces a myriad of desires and skill sets?

Bar chef: Anyone that has spent much time in the high-end restaurant scene knows that there are a plethora of different terms to refer to people in the kitchen: line cook, pantry, pastry, fry guy, chef de cuisine, chef de jour, and chef. Perhaps there was a day many years ago when everyone standing behind the bar carried out the same function, but that is no longer the case. Now there is someone that is in charge of ordering, inventory, recipes, hiring, and otherwise making sure that every night the cogs of the wheels are greased, tuned, and ready to roll. That if the shit starts to hit the fan, that the fan already has plastic wrap on it so the shit will never get to it. That is the bar chef. They work the hardest, they run the bar, and they are on the top of the respect ladder. They change the cocktail list, make sure the bar never runs out of Maker’s Mark, and know when limes doubled in case price. A bar chef typically works for a high-end independent restaurant that prides itself on service and creativity. They work long hours, but they gain a lot from the sense of pride of making something, running something, and making it good.

Mixologist: It could be the case at a restaurant that the person who does a lot of the managing aspects behind the bar (i.e. hiring, inventory, and pricing) doesn’t create the cocktail list and really doesn’t have the initiative, passion about flavors, or creativity it takes to be the mixologist. In most cases, the bar chef and the mixologist are the same person. But that needn’t always be the case. A mixologist comes up with new drink recipes, is creative in bringing new flavors together, and keeps their pulse on new spirits and what’s going on in the world of drink creation. They own recipe books, love to eat out and experience new flavors, and can tell you who Audrey Saunders, Tony Abou-Ganim, Dale Degroff, and Gary Regan are.

Bartender: As there are many types of bartender, I’ve broken it up into seven different genres of bartender.

Dive bartender: The dive bartender works at a bar that was probably just went smoke-free because of government regulation in the last couple of years. The dive bartender wears what he wants to, typically a t-shirt and jeans. He knows most of his customers by their first names and he depends upon a very strong regular clientele that mostly consists of men. The dive bartender typically works in one establishment for a long time, makes good money, but doesn’t always deserve the respect he deserves from either the guests or his peers. He is typically rough around the edges and sees things all the time that would make most people cringe. He is the word when he is behind the bar – and what he says goes. He works until the bar closes, cleans up for 30 minutes and then calls it a day.

Country-club bartender: The country-club bartender wears a button down long sleeve shirt tucked into trousers with pants. It is very likely that he wears a tie. The country-club bartender garnishes every drink with either a lime wedge, lemon wedge, lemon twist, or a cherry. Every drink gets a bev nap under it. The country club bartender very rarely calls his guest by his first name, unless the member has been at the club’s bar for years and only then will the country club bartender steer away from the preferred Mr. Blank. Typically the country club bartender is older and more gentle. He works in an atmosphere where people are typically well-behaved and because of this he maintains a sense of dignity that is nearly impossible to hold on to when you are habitually sentenced to taking care of drunk people day in and day out. The country club bartender can almost always be in bed by midnight.

Club bartender: The club bartender is young and hip, typically allured by money and hype. They wear hip attractive clothing. A good club bartender is amazing to watch, as they know they are on stage and they are fast, resourceful, and charming. They typically have a sex appeal that you don’t always see in other fields of bartending. More and more the club bartender tends to be a woman. The club bartender works late, parties afterward, and usually goes home when the morning sun is well into the sky. The burnout rate is high for the club bartender and rarely do you see someone stay in this position for more than a couple of years before they move to another club (as often times there is not a long shelf life on nightclubs) or another style of bartending.

Service bartender: The service bartender works the service well at a busy restaurant and barely interacts with the guest. A good service bartender is quick and knowledgeable, organized, and has impeccable mis-en-place. They have an amazing drink repertoire and can just produce, produce, produce. They typically stay at a restaurant for many years until a better opportunity opens up. This is another style of bartender that can be in bed by midnight except for maybe Friday and Saturday – but even then they will be in bed by 2 a.m.

Catering bartender: Perhaps the lowliest of the bartenders, the catering bartender works off a cart. They typically wear white stiff starched shirt and fake bow ties with wretched polyester black pants that flatten out even the best ass. Their drink knowledge goes little above drinks where the ingredients are given in the title: vodka tonic, rum and coke, or whiskey sour. They typically work for a catering company for only a few months while they look for solid work and they are typically the most miserable and bitchy of the bartenders.

Corporate Restaurant bartender: The corporate restaurant bartender is typically a bartender who most likely decided that the money is good bartending but they need more stability in their life – most likely because they bought a house or are about to have a baby. They typically hate their job because they gave up a lot of identity to wear a uniform and make blender drinks according to a recipe created in an office over 2,000 miles away. Not always, but many times these guys will work for years at the same establishment eventually turning into bland human beings filled with pipe dreams that they never expand on.

Just a regular bartender: A regular bartender is the guy at the bar you like to go to who knows your name, is comfortable in his space, and makes you feel like you are home. He has a good knowledge of spirits, beer, and wine and a wealth of information on almost every topic so he can strike up conversation with almost anyone. Dress depends on the place, but most regular bartenders wear their own choice of clothing and they always look nice. They typically stay at the place for years, have a strong regular clientele, and eventually open up their own bar. They go home when the guests leave and like it that way.

Might this bring an end to the debate Mixologist vs. Bartender.

- Columbine Quillen
I am a mixologist bartender and this is my blog.

What does CSS stand for?

CSS stands for Certified Spirit Specialist. The test is administered by the Society for Wine Educators, the same group that administers sommelier testing. A Certified Spirit Specialist quite simply put is a hard liquor sommelier. Hopefully in the future, there is a catchier term for this certification as Certified Spirit Specialist doesn’t have the same allure to it as sommelier (or the even catchier phrase that I’ve been hearing lately – somm).
If you don’t know what a sommelier is – a sommelier is a wine steward who specializes in wine pairing, grape and terroir knowledge, and service. There are three levels of sommelier testing. The first being certification, anyone who is interested in wine and continuing their education can take this test. The second is an advanced degree or a Master Sommelier candidate. Anyone who has passed the first examination can take the second test, which is much more difficult and specializes in blind tasting, practical knowledge, and service. The third level, Master Sommelier is invite only to take the exam and is extremely difficult to pass. There are only 105 Master Sommeliers in the world of which just 15 are women.

What is on the CSS exam?

The Society of Wine Educators gives you a study guide before you take the test, which is comprised of 126 pages that it is broken into eight sections:

1.) About Spirits: Fermentation & Distillation
2.) Whiskies of the World
3.) Brandy
4.) Vodka
5.) Liqueurs & Cordials
6.) Gin
7.) Rum
8.) Tequila

Each section talks about the mash used to make each spirit, fermentation techniques, distilling techniques, government regulation, aging techniques, and tasting wheels.

How difficult is the CSS exam?

Extremely difficult. Let’s put it this way, I spend most of my day in a bar. I spend most of time reading books about booze. All of my friends like to talk about spirits. I studied by reading the entire text very carefully and by using flashcards and I still barely passed the exam. Most of you who take the test will spend the day in a course covering many of the topics, I however did not have this luxury and I wish that I did.

What should I study?

I assume that each time they proctor the exam that it is a different test. I would recommend reading the study guide and reviewing all of the key terms and study questions. This is what I used to make my flashcards. Then after you have studied, I recommend reading the text one more time to pull all the information together. I was really surprised by how many liqueur questions there were and how little that I knew about liqueur when I got to the test (just a head’s up, pretty much anything in the world can fall under the liqueur category).

How long did you study for?

I studied intently for four weeks. I think I would have done a lot better had I read the entire text one last time as I missed some questions that weren’t on my flashcards – but I know were in the text.

Are you glad that you did it?

I’m very glad that I did it. I learned a lot and it pushed me to be more creative by trying to make my own cold-compress liqueurs. (A liqueur made by steeping and maceration rather than distillation.) The test is very expensive, and that would be my only balk. Although, no more expensive than a good dinner and a hotel room in a city. Overall, I think this is really going to change the world of bartending, just like the sommelier testing changed what it meant to be a wine geek. As more and more bartenders, bar chefs, and mixologists get certified the more widely recognized this title is going to become and it is only going to be a good thing to have a standard that states how knowledgeable someone is about their field of work. I encourage anyone who has an intent interest of spirits to at least read the study material for this exam.

How much does the exam cost?

Depending on a few factors, it is around $300.

How do I take the test?

Click here to go to the Society of Wine Educators web page. The test is typically only offered on certain dates in certain major metropolitan areas. You have to contact them to find out about test dates. I was fortunate that Mark Merrick from East Bend Liquors was able to put together a group and find a proctor for the exam so that we could take it in Portland.

Jason Evers (real name Doitchin Krasev) was regional manager of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission until he recently applied for a passport and was found to be an illegal immigrant who’s true identity was known by no one in the community. On top of this terrible lie, he used his power at the OLCC to make most of the restaurant and bar owners and managers’ lives a living hell while he wielded an uncanny power over them. Unfortunately, the OLCC is still in existence in the same form and Evers is still living in the State of Oregon.

For those of you who followed my tale of Jason Evers – well you might be excited to know that it has a happy ending. That’s right – he’s getting married! The Source Weekly is even offering you the chance to be his bride – just click on the link and tell them why you should get to share in marital bliss with a compulsive, egotistical, monster and you could be that lucky gal.

Unfortunately for your tax dollars, Mr. Evers was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria but now he is still in jail as the state of Ohio is considering pressing charges of identity theft against him for stealing an Ohio citizen’s information. And his fiancé has decided to speed up the wedding process, forget about the dress and party, and marry a man who’s name she probably can’t even pronounce. This is a man who has never told anyone who he is and is a chess master not only on a chessboard, but also in his actual life; maneuvering those around him like pawns and rooks he secures his safety at their loss. I don’t know much about his actual bride, but I know that she is considerably younger than Evers and quite honestly I believe brain washed. Might we remember the tale of Charles Manson and his alluring charm. Although I don’t think Evers plans on turning her into a killing machine he is obviously capable of a psychological wit that is alarming. I thought at first he should be extradited to Ohio for trial, but now I just wish he would go back to Eastern Europe and stop duping us Oregonians, especially at our own expense. Nonetheless, congratulations Doitchin Krasev it looks like you beat the system again, this time with the bonus of conjugal visits.

Don’t know the whole story? It’s pretty fascinating – just click on these links.

Jason Evers – Who is he? A Tale of Murder and Disguise.

Jason Evers – Man of Mystery

Who are you Jason Evers? We’re dying to know.

Jason Evers – mystery solved Doitchin Krasev

Jason Evers – The Saga Continues