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

Once many years ago in a futile attempt to leave the service industry, I found myself temping at a real estate development company in downtown Denver. It was the first time I became hyper aware of the office man’s caste system. There were many tools that the office men used to distinguish themselves from one another: placement of their office, number of windows in the office, the tardiness as to the time they found themselves at work, the length of their lunch, expense or their suit, quality of their haircut, but the easiest way to tell who was who was to look at their chair. The chair alone could tell you their rank amongst their fellow men. Obviously the nicer the chair: the higher up the back went, the quality of materials, and the element of the swivel told you immediately his place in life.

In a bar, all the chairs are the same and the bar truly is the great equalizer of men. There are no Misters or Misses in the bar, everyone goes by their first name. Great powers of industry sit next to guys who clean out sewers and chat about how their wives drive them crazy and how proud they are of their kids. Bars are these magical places, where it doesn’t matter who you are during the day, when you square up to the rail – you are just a thirsty man like any other thirsty man at the bar.

On special occasion, there is that one individual who is has grown accustomed to an air of obnoxiousness as he spends most of his day rolling around in a million dollar Pininfarina office chair (styled by Italian luxury car designers). He finds himself in the bar trying to wield his power, mostly by treating everyone around him like they are lucky to breathe the same air as himself. But within minutes, his neighboring bar customers and the bartender will remind him that this type of behavior has no place in such an egalitarian society. And it is on very rare occasion that such an individual doesn’t get the hint, typically after one or two he’s sharing stories and buying rounds on his quarter-inch thick Amex black card.

I find myself now, not behind a bar but rather in the caste system (sadly bottom feeding with all of the other hungry sucker fish). If only the only available chair on the market was a bar stool – well the world might just be a much nicer place.

Whiskey: the great equalizer of men.

Here are a couple of my favorite whiskeys that can be afforded on the budget of a hungry sucker fish.

Henry McKenna

The flavor of this bourbon is very light and crisp with a hint of sweet maple and toasted oak. I truly believe you can not get a better whiskey for the price (typically runs between $11 – $15 a bottle).

A brief history: Henry McKenna was a distiller originally from Ireland and settled in Fairfield, Kentucky in 1837. He built a distillery in his new home which opened in 1855. He made whiskey just like he did in Ireland, except he had to use corn – but believed he made a superior product and soon Henry McKenna’s whiskey became known as “Kentucky’s Finest Table Whiskey.” I also like one of their motto: “Henry McKenna Bourbon honors that heritage with a Bourbon that can be served with pride and poured without pretension.”

Four Roses Bourbon Whiskey

This is a real treat with light fruit, gentle spice, and the sweet taste of honey. However, if you find yourself a notch up from the sucker fish level, try their older whiskeys – awesome spirit in a bottle for a great value. Their run-of-the-mill bottle typically runs between $15 – $20 bottle.

A brief history: When you are at the liquor store looking for Four Roses, you will find that many of the bottles have beautiful roses sculpted into the bottle design. Supposedly the story goes that the founder, Paul Jones, Jr. had a huge crush on a beautiful Southern belle. He was said to have sent her a proposal and if she were to say yes, she would wear roses on her gown to the upcoming grand ball. She arrived with four red roses on her corsage and thus he named his second love after his first love.

If you live in Oregon, and have any interest in small batch distilling – you’ve probably heard of Aviation Gin which is distilled by House Spirits. Well things are changing at House Spirits – big things. I was recently able to sit down with Patrick Bernards who is one of the main reasons House Spirits is about to become two separate distilleries: House Spirits and Bull Run Distillery.

Q: Patrick, do tell!
Patrick: Well, Lee Medoff and Christian Krogstad who own House Spirits have decided to take their talents in new directions. Lee and I are launching Bull Run Distillery, which is going to make craft white and dark rum and whiskey with their own Northwest flavor. We are also going to continue producing Medoyeff Vodka. Christian is going to stay with House Spirits and continue with the proven success of Aviation Gin.

Q: Who is going to keep producing the apothecary line?
Patrick: House Spirits is keeping the line, but we’re excited to do our own version of the apothecary line that’s going to include very small runs only available at the distillery. We are also going to offer a Limited Edition, Small Barrel Program (15 gallons) that will enable individuals to purchase barrels that we bottle for them.

Q: Where is Bull Run Distillery going to be?
Patrick: This is something that we are really excited about. We are going to be in Northwest Portland next to shops and restaurants on NW Quimby between NW 22nd and 23rd. The distillery will use up most of the space, but we are also going to have a tasting room and a retail store.

Q: When do you expect the tasting room to open?
Patrick: This is highly dependent on when our licensing gets approved, which is always a bit of guessing game. But a safe estimate would be mid November.

Q: What’s the story of Medoyeff Vodka?
Patrick: Well, Lee and Christian started producing Medoyeff about six years ago. It’s a full-flavored vodka made Russian Style?

Q: What does that mean?
Patrick: Well, we start with 100% rye, which you see in many of Russia’s finest vodkas. We only put the vodka through one distillation because we are trying to retain as much flavor as possible. We then bring the vodka to proof using water from the Bull Run watershed – which is one of the naturally cleanest unfiltered water sources in the country. Lastly, we trickle filter through carbon and limestone – a process that Lee learned in a Russian distillery a couple of years ago.

Q: As there isn’t a lot of sugar production here in the Pacific Northwest – how are you making your rum and how is it going to have Northwest flair?
Patrick: We’re going to use Hawaiian Turbinado sugar which is the raw sugar from the initial pressing of the sugar cane. Considering that we get the sugar from Hawaii, we definitely have to put the emphasis on Pacific flair. But it will be distinctly Northwest as we’re going to use Bull Run water and all the aging will take place in Portland’s quintessential Northwest climate.

Q: How long are you going to age the dark rum?
Patrick: Using a modified solera system (which means we’ll be moving the rum from newer to older barrels as the rum ages) we plan to have a 6-Month Old, 1-Year Old and 3-Year Old at a minimum. But ultimately the rum will determine how long we age it. I’m excited about the 6-month old rum as although it is young by dark rum standards, we will be creating a dark rum that shows more on the true distilled spirit flavor and less of the wood from the barrel.

Q: How long until the whiskey is ready?
Patrick: Our signature product will be straight whiskey, which must be aged for at least two years. We are still experimenting with the aging process and we’ve been working with some wine barrels from the Willamette Valley. As with our rum, we will look to experiment with line extensions such as spirit whiskey and white-dog whiskey (for those who don’t know that is un-aged whiskey – a bit like moonshine). We will also look to put down barrels for longer-term aging, most likely for five to ten years.

Q: What is the Whiskey being distilled from?
Patrick: We will use two-row malted barley. We’ve chosen this because we’re huge fans of big, flavorful, NW Pale Ales and we think many of the best are made from two-row malted barley. There’s a richness to these ales that we’d like to impart in our whiskey. It’s also unique as most whiskey makers are using corn or rye and we’re lucky because the demand for two-row barley is so strong here in the northwest there’s a big supply so we’re excited to source locally.

So this week’s tasting note is Medoyeff Vodka which is beautifully packaged.

Nose: Very little nose and thankfully no rubbing alcohol smell.
Palate: Creamy, good minerality, citrus
Finish: Long sweet finish

Ivan Chong from Craft Distillers was very kind is sending me some Hangar One Vodka samples to show off what they are doing in their small distillery in the San Francisco area.  As for anyone that is afraid that I might just write a glowing review as many a product review sites do – let me assure you that there is a little more Simon Cowell in me than Stuart Smalley.

Anyhow Hangar One Vodka doesn’t use any artificial flavoring and distills from wheat in pot stills.  For those of you interested in difference between pot and column stills – please check out tomorrow’s post.  But it shows how much Hangar One cares about their product as pot still distillation is much more time-consuming and expensive.

I didn’t know much about kaffir limes before I looked into their vodka.  Chong even sent me some kaffir lime samples – which the boys in the kitchen went ape shit over and I had to confiscate one back so I was able to taste it.  The kaffir lime grows in Southeast Asia and is a main stake in Indonesian cuisine.  The juice tends to be more acidic than a conventional lime found in every grocery store in the U.S.  Hangar One actually almost created a shortage of kaffir limes, as they owned every available commercially available kaffir lime in North America.  They were selling heaps of lime vodka and it didn’t occur to them that supply might outweigh demand.  In a tizzy they went scouring the West Coast for any chance of a kaffir lime.  Starting to lose hope – they found a nursery that had an abundant supply thanks to Sunset Magazine having an article about how every home needs a kaffir lime tree.

As for how it tastes:

Nose: It smells like lime candies – a bit like the green Popsicle from when you were a kid.  Not very hot (which means you can’t smell the alcohol that well – for those of you who don’t read tasting notes all the time).

Flavor: It’s really dynamic and layered compared to other flavored vodkas.  The lime works well with black pepper on the front finishing with a hint of juniper.

Finish: Nice sweet finish for a vodka.  My guess would be the wheat that it’s distilled from.

I just ran across this map that points out many of America’s small batch distilleries.  It’s an easy way to blow ten minutes online when you probably should be doing something else – so I thought it would be a good thing to post on Friday.  Anyhow, here’s the link to the interactive map that is a bit more interesting than what I posted above.  If you’ve tried any of them – please leave some tasting notes in the comments.  Obviously I’ve drank plenty of Crater Lake Vodka – which is great, especially for the price $22.  And Organic Nation – a must try in the organic scene as there are not many organic spirits on the market.  I was able to try Tito’s when I was in Las Vegas and I was surprised by how smooth it was since it is distilled from corn and often times corn whiskey drinks a little harsh – or should I say, a lot harsh.  Otherwise I’ve had the 44 Degrees, Hangar One, Dry Fly, and Charbay.  The one’s that looked the most interesting that I haven’t tried are Bee Vodka – distilled from honey (sounds cool, although I’m not typically a fan of mead distilled spirits) and Chase Vodka from Nebraska, I have the sneaking suspicion it’s awful at a $13 price tag, but I wonder why it is so cheap compared to everything else.  What happens if it is this golden gem in the heartland?  They do grow a lot of wheat, rye, and potatoes out there.

Small Batch Distillery Map

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.

Oh Julie and Julia, taking the blogosphere to a whole new level. I was quite sure that you couldn’t turn a child’s action figure into a feature film but the colossal hit Transformers proved why I am still standing behind a bar and not working for a big studio in L.A. So I certainly could never have guessed that you could turn a blog about epicurean cooking into what is one of this summer’s most talked about movies. But it inspired me to make all of Jerry Thomas’s cocktails and put it on my blog. Jerry Thomas isn’t a name you hear often, even in the upper echelon mixology world. It’s too bad most of us don’t know more about him as he is considered the father of American mixology and published the first cocktail recipe book, Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide. Not only was he a master at mixing drinks, he also had a show of flare with flashy clothing and some juggling tricks.

So for the next couple of months, I will make all of Jerry Thomas’s cocktails from the book Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide that was published in 1887. These cocktail recipes are all pre-prohibition and were certainly created long before the spirits market started spiraling into what after spending two days at a liquor convention will convince you has gotten completely out of control. There were certainly no TY KU’s (which is a spirit distilled from sake and yuzu that comes in a glowing green bottle) or vodkas with caffeine and guarana. I have to wonder with the plethora of vodkas on the market, who is thinking that they can out-market Absolut or Grey Goose. The people not buying one of the five major labels who decide to buy a small batch spirit are unfortunately few and already there are hundreds of choices. Not that I want to discourage the small batch distilleries, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by one spirit after another that has very similar flavor profile and slightly more or less attractive packaging.

I’ve decided to make the drinks in order of the book. The first drink is a Brandy Cocktail. Obviously, Thomas didn’t have the menagerie of glassware we are accustomed to today either. He specifies either a large, medium, or bar glass. He also doesn’t use ounces, just the measurement of wine glass.

The first drink is a Brandy Cocktail which calls for a small bar glass. As he later specifies to shake and strain it into a cocktail glass (what many call a martini glass), that is the glass I went with. He calls for 3 to 4 dashes of gum syrup, which he doesn’t give a recipe for, but I used simple syrup which we make using equal parts sugar to water. He then calls for 2 dashes of bitters (Boker’s or Angostura) and as I don’t have Boker’s bitters – I used Angostura. I have desperately tried to make Boker’s bitters but unfortunately, I have not found anywhere that sells catechu or tincture of cochineal (although it sounds like this might have only been used for color and I don’t know if it affected the taste of the bitters or not but as the recipe calls for such a large quantity I do believe that it must affect the flavor),.

Thomas calls for a wine glass of brandy, which we use Riedel stemware at my bar (a 30 ounce glass) so I decided to not use an entire wine glass. I was a bit afraid to add the 1 or 2 dashes of Curacao, as I only have blue and I thought it might turn the drink some nasty color. But the few dashes did very little to the hue and actually added some depth to the amber color of the brandy.

The drink was a lot tastier than I thought it would be. I assumed that it would be a bit too sweet with the simple syrup and the Curacao, but it was more like a brandy Manhattan with nice vanilla undertones.

Nice job Mr. Thomas.

Here’s a recipe for Boker’s bitters. Send me a sample if you find all of the ingredients to make them. (you might want to decrease this recipe – or else you are going to have six lifetimes of Boker’s bitters)

4 liters of whiskey
3 ounces of quassia
3 ounces of catechu
3 ounces of calamus
2 ounces of cardamom
40 ounces of tincture of cochineal
5 ounces of burnt sugar
24 liters of water