My life on the rocks

50 Plates Media Preview Dinner

2008-07-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

I'd like to think that I'm not generally prone to hyperbole. I do get excited on occasion (usually about some obscure liquor that I've picked up at Corti Brothers, or I've seen a truly great bartender in action recently, but I've been involved with opening more restaurants than I'd care to count, and while some may have been better than others, after a while, its all the same thing. Opening a restaurant is a lot of work, and there are frequently several bumps along the way. In fact, while the public may get excited about an opening, frequently the staff can feel almost a sense of a letdown once previews start, leading to some less than promising starts for some establishments. Previews are especially hard as oftentimes only limited product is on hand and it can be next to impossible to accomodate our guests who may have a special request. I'm really happy to report that none of the above has happened with 50 Plates. In fact, the enthusiasm and passion that the staff is bringing seems to grow by leaps and bounds every day that we get closer.
This past Wednesday, we did our media preview dinner, which was a who's who of local media thanks to our phenomenal PR person, Bette Sinclair. I have to give Bette kudos for not just inviting the usual suspects, but also including great local websites such as Neighborhood Notes. As an aside, if you are a Portlander, Neighborhood Notes is essential to bookmark for local news and events of interest. Overall, we had approximately 50 members of the media for our event.
I don't want to mention too much about our food, simply because I think that its one of those things that you have to try for yourself. I will say that the food is fantastic from top to bottom, and our chef and his team are delivering one of the most creative and unique menus in the city. Its not an easy menu to execute well, but I'm delighted to see how well the kitchen has already formed into a cohesive team. Its going to be a real pleasure to work with this kitchen, and our chef Randall, well, I don't think I've ever met a chef more creative (and able to take a creative thought and turn it into good product) than him.
So, lets get onto the good stuff shall we? Cocktails. Suzanne Allard and I worked this event and we were asked to create a few of our signature cocktails for the event. We offered up a Ginger Collins, with Aviation gin, Clear Creek Pear Liqueur, lemon and club soda, the North Beach with Bombay Sapphire, Aperol, lemon and simple syrup, a Dark and Stormy with Gosling's Black Seal rum, house ginger beer (my recipe) and lime, and a Bourbon Marmalade Whiskey Sour featuring a 1/2 Seville and 1/2 Blood Orange marmalade that I designed specifically to go with the bourbon that we used, Buffalo Trace. Overall, I was very happy with the quality of the cocktails served, and even better, my first shift with Suzanne felt like we'd been working together for years. Suzanne is one hell of a bartender, and I'm glad to be working with her (plus, she appreciates vodka more than I do, which should work to our advantage).
We do have an ice crusher that we will be using for juleps, and I got someone to bring our julep cups in, so I did end up making a few mint juleps on the side as well. I'll just say, there are few drinks as good as the julep, and ours is a first rate julep. We might even explore some variations on the classic julep if things go well. As it is, I want to ensure that each and every drink that goes out to our guests is perfect, whether its made by me, Suzanne or someone else. Even in the middle of rush, we are going to measure each drink to ensure balance, structure and uniformity.
At the end of dinner, chef and I put together an adult root beer float with Barq's root beer, Navan (a vanilla cognac that I adore) and his Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream, which worked as a nice cap to the evening. Then, chef had prepared some of Mamie Eisenhower's recipe for fudge, and as our guests departed, they were given a nice box of the fudge to take home. That was the only downside of the night for me, I'd tasted the fudge earlier and was really hoping someone would decline so that I could have some more. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so I think I'm going to have to bug chef for either another batch of fudge or the recipe.
I'm going to be behind the bar at 50 Plates on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Stop in and say hi when we open on the 28th. I'd love to show off our new place to you.

Thanks for reading,

Lance

A Completely Lucky Mistake

2008-07-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, my friend Jeff Morgenthaler was kind enough to gift me with a bottle of his own, homemade gin. If you haven't read Jeff Morgenthaler’s guide to making your own gin, you really owe it to yourself to do so, its an interesting read and an even better experiment. Now I got my sample of Jeff's gin about a week before that post went up, it was really nice at the time I tried it, and then I put it in the refrigerator and promptly forgot about it (don't take this personally Jeff, I forget about everything as Raena can attest). Fast forward to tonight, when I was looking to make more room in the fridge and I came across the bottle of Jeff's gin again. I'd enjoyed it when I tasted it initially, in fact, I thought it was better than a number of commercial gins that I've had. However, the several months of cold and bottle age had added a complexity and depth that I was completely unprepared for when I opened up the bottle. Not only was this good, it was outstanding, it was if the flavors developed even more while they were in the bottle, which I assume is a possibility since this was cold infused versus distilled. Anyway, if you made a batch of Jeff's gin a while back, or happen to be lucky enough to be gifted some, start digging around in the back of your fridge for that bottle. You can thank me later.

Its coming! 50 Plates opens this month

2008-07-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, its almost here. The debut of 50 Plates is becoming a reality later this month. I'm excited to be a part of the bar staff there, as we have an embarassment of riches behind the bar. Andrew Finkelman, late of Alberta Street Oyster Bar and Grill is heading things up, joined by Suzanne Allard of Castagna fame (and at least two entries in Food and Wine's cocktail books), James Pierce (the best bartender under 25 in Portland) and myself. I'm pretty excited to be working with, and learning from all of these people and the closer we get to opening night, the more my anticipation grows.

Even cooler is that I understand that we've got one of the premier baristas in town to handle our coffee program. I've always wanted to learn more about coffee and espresso, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

This will by my first time working in the Pearl and I'm really looking forward to it. Stay tuned for more updates.

Drink Du Jour- Rabo De Galo (Sao Paulo style)

2008-07-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

This one is usually eyeballed in Brazil, but I broke out the old jigger anyway. This just went in a rocks glass with one ice cube to cool it down. This really brought out the "gasoline" flavors that I taste in cachaca sometimes. Rabo De Galo means "cock tail" in Portugese and this is a drink thats traditionally served up in a rocks glass. Anyway, not one of my favorites (even though I love Cynar) and I'll have to give it a go with some sweet vermouth next. I think I'm going to play with some traditional Brazilian cocktails for a while on here.

Rabo De Galo (Sao Paulo Style)
2 oz Augua Luca cachaca
1 oz Cynar
1 ice cube

Product Review- Agua Luca Cachaca

2008-07-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, I don't drink much cachaca. In fact, I tend to think that the majority of cachaca's that I've had are redolent of diesel gasoline, not something I usually want in my cocktails. I'm not even much of a rum man (cachaca being merely a subcategory of rum made from sugarcane and originating in Brazil), although I am looking forward to changing with my upcoming work at Beaker & Flaskwhere my good friend Kevin Ludwig is a huge rum fan. That said, the caipirinha is a great cocktail (and also the national cocktail of Brazil), and while seemingly a simple perparation, maddeningly complex to make correctly. I wouldn't walk into your neighborhood tavern and order a caipirnha tonight, but a good cocktail lounge should have bartenders capable of preparing this classic properly (if they carry cachaca).
As it is, only 1% of Brazil's cachaca production is for export, with the majority of that going to Germany, but the United States is starting to become a growing market for cachaca. In the Mayhew household, there are currently two different brands of cachaca in the house, an all time high. The reason for this is that the nice folks at Heaven Hill were kind enough to send me a sample bottle of Agua Luca Cachaca, along with a couple of other bottles of various liquor. I'm not familiar with Agua Luca (its not available here in Oregon yet), so I was intrigued by the bottle and especially the presentation. It comes in a bottle shaped not unlike that of Voss water , but with a clear glass fading into a blue green base. This is one of the prettiest bottles that I've seen in some time, almost the equivalent of the little black cocktail dress. It definitely hints that this isn't your run of the mill liquor inside. My wife commented that it looks more like a high end cologne bottle than the usual liquor bottle and its clear that a lot of thought and effort went into designing this package.
Upon opening the bottle for the first time, a sweet sugarcane nose became very apparent. Agua Luca has the best nose of any cachaca that I've personally tried, an alluring scent of the tropics and one that just seemed to reach out and ask me to mix it into something special.
Tasting Agua Luca was a revelation. This is a very mixable and versatile liquor, able to add some interesting notes to drinks where, say vodka or rum would be the norm. Even better though, when I tasted Agua Luca, I realized that I was drinking something that could best be described as sexy. I don't generally describe alcohol in these terms, but there was something raw and uninhibited about this cachaca, something primal and something that screamed sex. No wonder they dressed this bottle up. On the shelf, it sits and looks pretty, but once you pour it into a drink, hold on because this is one great liquor. I love mixing it with ginger beer and mint, two very flavorful ingredients and yet Agua Luca holds its own and complements both with its own unique taste. I've definitely got to stock up on this for the home bar, too bad its not in Oregon yet. I've got more drinks coming with this unique and versatile liquor, but I wanted to offer up my first creation with Agua Luca cachaca, the Seu Jorge cocktail named after my favorite Brazilian musician. This is a great drink for a warm July day, in fact, this was the drink of choice in our house on the 4th of July. Summery, spicy and refreshing, you can serve this tall with a little club soda on top to lighten it up if you'd like.

The Seu Jorge Cocktail
2 oz Agua Luca Cachaca (no substiutions please)
4 oz Ginger Beer
10-12 mint leaves muddled gently (peppermint please)

1) In the base of a double rocks glass, gently muddle 10-12 mint leaves to release their oils. Do not overmuddle.
2) add Agua Luca cachaca
3) add ginger beer
4) add ice, stir to incorporate, and garnish with a fresh spanked mint sprig to express its aroma

Enjoy

One More Update

2008-07-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone knows, this summer seems to be filled with weddings and/or graduations and/or visits from out of town friends. So if I'm a little slow responding to people or seem just a bit stretched thin, well, this should pass by August.

A Personal Tales Update

2008-07-05T21:42:00.001-07:00

As we draw ever closer to the cocktail event of the year, its becoming even harder to announce this, but unfortunately, due to some family concerns, I won't be able to attend Tales of the Cocktail this year. No one is more disappointed about this than I am, but sometimes family must come first. Don't worry, all is well in the Mayhew household, but there is some family business that must be attended to. I love my family dearly and they just have to be my first priority at all times, and above all else. I'm going to be quite jealous of my friends who are attending, and it should give me plenty of desire to attend in 2009, but for now, its just not in the cards as much as I've really tried to make this happen.

I'd like to thank the Tales people and especially Paul Clarke for allowing me to participate in some of the events leading up to this years event. Perhaps I'll see some of you at this years Great American Distillers Festival in Portland next month.

Drink Du Jour- The Morinaga Cocktail

2008-06-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

I was in Anzen Japanese Market the other day, and I spotted something I haven't seen before, sparkling sake. Sepcifically, it was Gekkeikan Zipang sparkling sake, and while I am not usually one to create a drink around sake, I've been wanting to play with more asian ingredients recently. I decided to use create a new drink using the Champagne Cocktail as a base, but I wanted to give it my own twist (of course).
With a traditional Champagne Cocktail, you use a bitters soaked sugar cube and champagne, nice and simple. I decided that I did want to use bitters, but I needed something to work with the flavor profile of the sake. I chose Fee Brothers Peach Bitters, which ended up being a great choice.
I also didn't want to just add sugar into the cocktail. I wanted to create something that would deliver the sugar, but also create complexity and depth in the drink. I found just the thing in my refrigerator, a half drunk bottle of Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese. I figured the bottle would go south soon, so I took a cup and a half of the rose, put it in a saucepan with a cup of granulated sugar, kicked up the heat on the burners a bit and made a nice Sangiovese simple syrup. I love this stuff, its full of ripe strawberry flavors, and adds a nice deep pink color to whatever you use it in. I love drinking the Barnard Griffin rose during the warm summer months (its perfect with bbq'ed chicken), and now, I have a use for unfinished bottles.
Next, I felt like the drink would benefit from some regular sake to give it a bit more solidness. I have exactly one bottle of sake in the house, Momokawa's G Sake. I'm not a big sake fan, but its local Oregon product, so its in the old liquor cabinet. The flavor profile worked really well with the sparkling sake, so its more luck than anything as I wouldn't have a clue which sake to use if this one hadn't worked out. To be honest, I would have abandoned the drink as a failure.
So here is the drink. Simple proportions, simple ingredients, and yet, as Raena said, "Thats damn tasty". Its a nice switch from more traditional sparkling options and a nice libation for a warm summer evening.

The Morinaga Cocktail
1 oz G Sake
1 oz Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese simple syrup
2 dashes Fee Bros Peach Bitters
Gekkeikan Sparkling Sake to fill

Build in a champagne flute (note that I said flute not coupe on this one), and top with sparkling sake. No garnish needed.

Drink Du Jour- Nuevo Chi Chi

2008-06-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know, a Chi Chi is a vodka Pina Colada, but I hate that drink and wanted to rethink how its made. Recently, and in spite of my usual predelictions, I've been playing with vodka a lot recently. In fact, I rather like 42 Below vodka, and I've just received some interesting samples of Three Olives vodka's newest flavors (root beer, tomato, and triple espresso). I've also recently discovered coconut water, which in addition to being tasty, is incredibly healthy as well. So here is my loose interpretation of what the Chi Chi should be.

Nuevo Chi Chi

2 oz 42 Below Vodka
4 oz One Coconut Water
3 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters

Build over ice in a double rocks glass, stir to incorporate and enjoy.

So I'm not much of a photographer

2008-06-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have a great camera. Our house camera at Casa De Mayhew is a Sony Cybershot thats about 2 years old. While I love the compact size of that camera, its really more of a snapshot camera rather than something to take serious pictures with. And recently, I decided to experiment with taking all pics on this blog with my iPhone, a decision I'm starting to regret. You see, my iPhone spends the better part of the day in my front pocket, where it picks up lint and dust, and, forgetful me, I always forget to clean the lens before I take a shot. Plus, it is a camera phone and it just lacks the features necessary to get good clean shots with it. So its back to the Sony Cybershot for now. I'll be back behind the bar soon, so maybe acquiring a decent digital SLR will become more of a priority for me. I'll never be as good a photographer as Boudreau, Morgenthaler or Ludwig, but at least I can commit to making my pics on here as clear as possible. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

How to Make Sangria

2008-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Summertime is a great time for outdoor barbecues, family reunions, graduations, weddings and any other social gathering that you can dream up. Being a bartender, I frequently get asked to provide libations for whatever events I'm invited to, and during the warm summer months, that usually means that I'm making a batch of sangria. This is a really versatile recipe, feel free to tweak it however you like to your tastes, but I think this recipe provides a great starting point, and is so easy even the most novice bartender should be able to get rave reviews on their creation. I have one rule of thumb when making sangria, thats use cheap wine and good liquor for the best possible sangria. A $20 bottle of wine will be ruined in this mixture, but cheap brandy or knock off Grand Marnier will ruin it just as quickly. Lastly, remember to keep this one refrigerated at least overnight to let the flavors get to know each other.

4 bottles cheap red wine (please find an actual varietal, not Carlos Rossi Hearty Burgundy. I like to use Charles Shaw Shiraz at Trader Joes)
6 oz Grand Marnier
2 oz VSOP level brandy or cognac ( I like Martell)
4 valencia oranges sliced thin (don't sub navels)
2 granny smith apples sliced thin
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in 1/2
9 cloves, studded onto 1 slice of apple
1 cup granulated sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large apothecary jar or punch bowl, stir to incorporate sugar into the mix, cover, refriegerate overnight before serving.

Can be cut with sparkling water 50/50 for a lighter option for guests.

Mixology Monday- The Screen Door Cocktail

2008-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

I know that I've been MIA for the last couple of MixMo's. My schedule has been completely crazy recently, with my consulting for a restaurant that just opened, helping to open another one due mid-July, my day job, etc etc. I could make excuses all day, but when I saw that the fine gentlemen at Scofflaw’s Den had chosen to host Mix Mo with a Bourbon theme, well, count me in. I'm probably missing some other deadlines somewhere, but I had to be a part of this.
Recently, I've been experimenting with a lot of Jerry Thomas' old drink recipes, especially a number of the ones featured in David Wondrich's great book, "Imbibe! From the Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash..". I've been interested in incorporating modern ingredients or styles into classic recipes. If you look past the unusual preparations on some of these ingredients, you'll see that this is simply a Fancy Whiskey Cocktail, nothing more, nothing less.
I also need to add a caveat to this cocktail. I'm using a bacon bourbon for this cocktail, and, while I would like to take credit for bacon bourbon, I actually saw Jim Meehan and Don Lee do this at the Grand Marnier Mixology Summit in Vail this year. I had been experimenting with fat washing before, and I am bacon obsessed, so when I tasted their bacon bourbon, I knew I had to attempt some of my own. For this batch, I used Bulleit bourbon as I felt both the flavor profile and the price point lent themselves to fat washing, and I'm very happy with the result.
In order to make your own Bacon Bourbon, the process is really pretty simple. Get some good bacon (I bought a pound of bacon at Whole Foods), cook it off, reserving the bacon fat, let the fat cool (but do not let it solidify), add to a fifth of bourbon, cover and keep in a cool dry place for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, place the container of fat/bourbon in the fridge overnight, then strain the bacon fat out from the bourbon using a coffee filter lined chinois. Voila! You've got bacon bourbon, and thats the basic idea behind any fat washed liquor.
I was inspired to create this cocktail after a visit to the Screen Door, a wonderful restaurant here in Portland that makes a praline bacon with brown sugar and pecans that is to die for. Its one of the greatest bacons that I've ever eaten, and I wanted to take some of the qualities from this bacon (sweet, smoky, pecan) and translate this into a drink.I already had the bacon bourbon, so I had to find a way to get some smokiness into the cocktail. While a classic Fancy Whiskey Cocktail uses plain gum syrup, I decided to smoke some brown sugar, turn it into a simple syrup (1-1) and cold infuse it with toasted pecans to try to achieve the flavors that I want to create. Hot smoking the brown sugar isn't the easiest thing to do, but after 3 hours of hickory smoke, I had a large, rock hard cake of brown sugar with a heady barbecue aroma of hickory smoke. I shaved the cake of sugar back down into granules and made a 1 to 1 simple syrup to which I added some toasted pecans, and then did a 2 week cold infusion in my refriegerator in order to extract as much flavor as possible from the pecans. I will add one caveat to anyone attempting to recreate this simple syrup. However many pecans you decide to toast, double it. You'll thank me, as the cold infusion takes a lot of toasted pecans (I used 1 c pecans to 1 1/2 c simple) for the flavor to pull through.
Lets get to the recipe shall we?

The Screen Door Cocktail
2 oz Bacon infused Bulleit Bourbon
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1/2 tsp Citronege
1 tsp Hickory Smoked Pecan Simple Syrup

garnish with a lemon peel over the top of this cocktail

I felt like this cocktail achieved what I was setting out to do. I didn't end up with a cocktail that was sickly sweet, instead, its a balanced cocktail with depth from the smoke and pecans. The lemon oil really seems to brighten some of the background flavors. Overall, I'm really happy with this one. I drink this and imagine myself sitting outside on the porch, somewhere on a humid, August night in Mississippi (I lived there once), watching fireflies dance in the air and listening to the symphony of cicadas as the sun slowly sets. Some drinks are just evocative of a time or a place, and for me, the Screen Door Cocktail has done just that.

Thanks for reading.

What I'm currently reading

2008-06-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

If you haven't picked this book up, run out and buy it soon. This is the first time I've read Amis, and he's incredibly funny, usually knowledgable, but sometimes stunningly wrong. A fun read that I've been savoring, chapter by chapter.

This is what a legend looks like behind the bar

2008-06-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the crappy photo, but its hard to get Morgenthaler to sit still for a minute when he's behind the bar. If you enjoy reading www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com (my favorite cocktail blog), you owe it to yourself to see the man in action behind the bar at Bel Ami in Eugene Oregon. I'm rarely blown away when I watch someone behind the bar, but Jeff is one of the best bartenders that I've ever seen. I can't wait to get back down to Eugene for another one of his cocktails.

Tooting my own horn some more

2008-06-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

When it rains it pours right? I'm posting this for two reasons. One, I can't believe that I'm in the company of bartenders like Jon Santer (SF) and Charles Joly (Chicago). Almost everyone in this article was someone that I was in awe of, and they all turned out to be a really cool group of individuals during the shoot.

And two, this was written by one of my favorite spirits writers, Camper English. If you haven't checked out Camper's blog at www.alcademics.com get over there now. He's on my must read list of blogs, and I always enjoy whatever he writes.

So here is the latest press...

http://www.bevnetwork.com/pdf/jun08_10Mixologists.pdf

Apparently, we are all supposed to be on the cover too. Maybe I'll scan that in and post it if my ego needs more massaging soon.

Shameless Self Promotion

2008-05-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

I don't usually get this excited over press stuff, but this is my first mention in the NY Times, so I'm pretty damn happy. Anyway, the article (miracle fruit, of course) is on the front page of the Dining Out section and my quote is right there. Check it out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?scp=1&sq=miracle+fruit&st=nyt

Now I just have to make the Wall Street Journal and I'm happy...

Drink Du Jour- The Mad Monk

2008-05-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today I took the world's best dog (ok, maybe not the best dog, but definitely the world's best great dane), Huckleberry, to a new groomer. Huck hates to go to to the groomer and he hates being bathed, so I leave that to the professionals. As he is so large (140 lbs), bathing and grooming sessions usually run around 2 hours for him, usually giving me plenty of time to kill.
I decided to go see if I could find a Russian or Eastern European market. I didn't have any ideas of what I was looking for, but I hadn't been to a Russian market in some time and I was curious to see what I could find. I harbor a fantasy of someday walking into a Russian market and being offered a stash of homemade buffalo grass vodka or some such nonsense, but thats never happened to me. Instead, I drove out to SE 82nd ave and drove around until I found I market with windows covered in Cyrillic lettering and a sign that said," Good Neighbor Market".
Let me preface this by saying that I love Russian food. Its a rare treat when I get to eat it (its hard to find a good Russian restaurant on the west coast), so I relish the opportunities that present themselves. While I consider myself a pretty good cook, unfortunately, my repetoire does not yet include Russian cuisine.
Good Neighbor Market was exactly that, a quiet, friendly and well stocked market filled with Russian and Eastern European pickles, meats, seafood, vegetables, candies and more. I don't read any Cyrillic, so the meat case and seafood were a mystery to me, although some of the smoked fish behind the counter were some of the most tantalizing specimens that I've ever seen. Other things, like the cheese counter, did have a few labels in English. For instance, a large, round, white wheel of cheese was simply labeled, "city cheese", which meant nothing to me. I'm going to have to find a tour guide to fully appreciate the treasure that I uncovered today. As it was, I was reduced to checking canned and dried products for a stick on label in english, which gives a name of the product and some basic nutritional information. I stocked up on some new and interesting things for the pantry, and then I came across the beverage section. A label stood out to be, "KBAC". I don't understand Cyrillic, but I knew that this was the spelling for what we call kvass.
Kvass is an old Russian beverage. Its essentially a peasant drink, and a cousin of beer. It was originally brewed with rye bread, although in modern times I understand that actual bread has been replaced with a dark malt and other flavorings. During the time of Peter the Great, kvass was the most common drink in Russian society. Kvass is mildly alcoholic (.05-1.4%), and I'm sure that the kvass I purchased was on the lowest end of that range. If you do happen to run across kvass, it also might be labeled as Russian soda.
Kvass is a wonderful beverage on its own. Its full flavored, full of rye and malt flavors, it almost tastes like a delicious glass of liquified rye bread. Its full bodied, yet refreshing in a way most of us with Western palates are unused to. To put it simply, I'm a fan. Its a very food friendly beverage, I started imagining good lox on rye bread, blinis with melted butter and caviar, and cabbage rolls while I was drinking it.
I decided to create a cocktail using kvass as a mixer. I obviously wanted to not only create a cocktail that tasted great, but also used appropriate ingredients for Eastern Europe. While a good Russian vodka is an obvious choice, I actually didn't have any in the house (ok, I'm not much of a vodka fan to be honest). I do happen to have a bottle of Bardenay vodka from Idaho, which I think may be one of the finest vodkas that I've tasted, so I decided to use that instead.
Next, I selected a bottle of aquavit from a local producer, House Spirits. Their Krogstad aquavit has nice caraway and star anise overtones which I thought would place some nice notes into this drink.
Lastly, as every cocktail needs a bit of bitters, I chose Angostura Orange Bitters. I don't think these have been released to the American market quite yet (I think they are a month off but I could be wrong). I love the pairing of rye with orange, so the match made sense in my opinion. Plus, among the orange bitters on the market, I find Angostura's to be the most complex, carrying notes of a well made English marmalade, and quite dry.
The resulting cocktail won't be for everyone. You'd better like flavors like rye and caraway if you are going to try this one, but if you have an appreciation for flavors like these, I think you'll be in heaven. This is a tasty little cocktail, and it will be very food friendly to boot. Without further ado, I offer up the Mad Monk.

The Mad Monk Cocktail
1 oz Russian vodka
1 oz Aquavit (I recommend Krogstad)
4 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
4 oz Kvass ( I used Ochakovo)

1) In a double rocks glass, add vodka, aquavit, and bitters, stir to incorporate
2) add ice
3) top with kvass, garnish with an orange wedge (optional)

Cocktail Du Jour- The Friedensreich Hundertwasser Cocktail

2008-05-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well, where to start this post? Should I thank the wonderful cocktail blogger and great personal friend, Jeff Morgenthaler for asking me to design a cocktail for a German publication? Or maybe I should actually explain who Friedensreich Hundertwasser is (a hint- he was a visionary, and some say crazy designer and architect whom I admire). Hundertwasser once said, "A straight line is ungodly". In the case of creating this cocktail, I took anything but a straight line in designing this, and yet I couldn't be happier with the results. This is a great summertime cocktail, distinctive, unique and flavorful.

I was asked to design something around the theme of "tropical liqueurs" and my first thought was Damiana. I wanted to avoid using, say Alize, to design something too sweet or out of character for me. A quick conversation with Jeff though, led to some brainstorming and an agreement to instead use John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum, a tropical liqueur made on the island of Barbados. Velvet Falernum has hints of lime, almonds and cloves which makes it particularly well suited to tiki style drinks, and as a liqueur, it contains a high percentage of sugar, so I find most drinks which have Velvet Falernum as an ingredient do not need a sweetening agent (i.e. simple syrup). I didn't want to go down the usual tiki-drinkish path with Falernum though, I wanted to create a cocktail with depth and complexity and a balance between sweetness and acidity.

Naturally, rum seemed to be a natural fit with falernum, but what kind of rum to use? I have Indian rum, rhum agricole, Bacardi, Gosling's Black Seal and more in my liquor cabinet. I tasted all of them, and each one eliminated itself for the exact flavor profile that I was looking for. I then tried cachaca, but it still wasn't quite right. Bardenay rum, however, was exactly what I was seeking. Distilled in Boise, Idaho, Bardenay may be the best kept secret in the distilling world right now. In addition to their rum, I have a bottle of their gin and one of the few vodkas that I actually care for. Bardenay's rum is distilled from 100% cane sugar, and has just enough age on it to give it the lightest amber coloring. This is a really well made rum, and a perfect match with the Falernum.

Now, I know Falernum and a good rum isn't the most unusual pairing in a cocktail, they are used together quite frequently, and specifically chose these two flavor profiles because I wanted to work with a new ingredient. Smoked Peach Vinegar. I'd smoked vinegar over hickory wood for 3 hours (at 180 degrees) this past weekend, and I was itching to use it, This was just the occasion, the smoke and sweetness of the peach are a perfect match for the complex flavors in the falernum and the smoothness of the rum.

I topped off the cocktail with some tonic water and added one dash of Fee Brothers Peach Bitters for added complexity. The Smoked Peach Vinegar is bold, painting with wide stripes and bold colors,, while the Peach Bitters add detail and more background notes, not discernible but providing subtle support to the main flavors.

The Friedensreich Hundertwasser Cocktail
1 oz John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum
1 oz Bardenay Rum
1/2 tsp Smoked Peach Vinegar
1 dash Fee Bros Peach Bitters
Tonic
1 fresh slice peach (garnish)
1 fresh mint sprig, spanked (garnish)

1) Combine first 4 ingredients in a double rocks glass, stir to mix the flavors
2) Add ice to glass
3) Top with tonic
4) garnish with peach slice and mint sprig

I'll leave with two things. First, I'd like to thank Jeff Morgenthaler for inspiring me to make this cocktail. Jeff doesn't know how often I come away from conversations with him energized and full of great ideas because of him. Thanks Jeff.

Second, I'll share on more Hundertwasser quote with you, and this one is my favorite. "When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together it is the beginning of a new reality." Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000)

I now take all pics on this blog with my iPhone

2008-05-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't noticed. There are some limitations, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Rethinking the Cuba Libre

2008-05-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Some drinks are classics, not because they are terribly complex concoctions, or require a the skill of a master mixologist. Some are simple, easy, and perfect combinations. The Cuba Libre is one of them. Simply rum, coke and a wedge of lime, its a drink thats hard to screw up and, while not usually my first choice in cocktails, a safe bet in any bar.

I do have a couple of caveats. One, the lime needs to be a healthy wedge. An anemic little nugget of lime doesn't add enough acid to this drink to make it truly classic. I usually use an 1/8th of a lime on each Cuba Libre.

Second, be careful of your choice of cola. Ever wonder why no one orders a rum and Pepsi? Its because Pepsi is too sweet, it lacks the bite that makes Coke such a classic pairing with rum.

Today, I wanted to rethink what it is to have a Cuba Libre, to update this drink and possibly add some more interesting notes to it. First off, I wanted to use Mexican coke. Mexican coke is a far superior product to that made in the United States as Mexican coke is made from cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, the little Mexican market in my neighborhood only stocks Mexican Pepsi, so I was out of luck there. I went to Whole Foods and found Boylan's Cola made from cane sugar. In retrospect, I should have held out until I got Mexican coke as the Boylan's (which is a very enjoyable cola) was a bit too soft for what I'd ultimately like to achieve.

Second, instead of using Cuban rum (unavailable in the US anyway), I thought I'd continue the cane sugar theme and use cachaca. I was putting a number of things in the smoker today, and I put about 6 oz of Cabana Cachaca in the smoker for 3 hours. One note, even though I tried to keep the smoker to 180 or less, I still lost about 1/2 the volume to evaporation. The smoked cachaca added a very interesting note, almost reminiscent of a good, single malt scotch in some ways, but with a unique character all its own.

In the end, I ended up using 2 ounces of smoked Cabana Cachaca, 3 Tovolo Perfect Cube Ice Cubes, Boylans Cola to top and a 1/4 lime wedge as a garnish. The result was far more complex than a traditional Cuba Libre, but the Boylans didn't provide quite enough bite to make this a truly perfect cocktail. Next time, I'm using Mexican coke, and I think I've got a new classic for barbecues and parties at the Mayhew household.

Thanks for reading

Project updates

2008-05-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

The above picture is bacon fat left over from the bacon bourbon that I finally finished today. I'm looking forward to mixing this with a couple of different things tomorrow.

I smoked about 2 cups of light brown sugar, the smoking took all the moisture out of the sugar and it caked up. I ended up taking the smoked sugar and doing a 2-1 simple syrup. Its currently getting a pecan infusion and I'll strain that off tomorrow. I'm looking at this as an ingredient for my homage to the Screen Door's Praline Bacon.

The smoked maple syrup is amazing. I don't want to say too much about this yet, as I have some cool plans in store for it.

The peach vinegar really reduced, its a dark syrup now. I'm thinking of adding it to some aquavit and tonic to see how it does.

Anyone have a recipe for homemade Cynar?

2008-05-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

My two artichoke plants, which produced a grand total of 1 artichoke last summer, are now over 5 feet tall and between them have 10 artichokes growing on them. My only concern is that they will choke out the tomatoes in my garden, which would be unforgivable. As it is, I'm going to try to see how much they produce this summer and then make a decision about whether to pull them or keep them. I love artichokes, but they take up about 1/2 of one of my vegetable beds.
I know that a lot of Italian amari contain artichoke leaves, but I'm not sure about how to go about it. Anyone have any ideas? I'd love to make some homemade Cynar, but I've had no luck finding a recipe.

I'm smoking everything in sight today

2008-05-18T12:21:00.001-07:00

Updates once its done, but I'm currently smoking some Fauchon Peach Vinegar, Maple Syrup, Light Brown Sugar and Cabana Cachaca as well as some Chinese 5 Spice pork chops for dinner. I have no idea what I'm going to get, or how succesful any of this will be, but half the fun is in trying right?

On a different note, I'm bacon obsessed. Really. The best bacon in Portland Oregon is the praline bacon served at the Screeen Door on East Burnside. I want to use my bacon bourbon in a cocktail that is an homage to the praline bacon at Screen Door. My thoughts are to either use a smoked brown sugar simple syrup infused with pecans, or to smoke maple syrup and infuse pecans. I think that the restaurant uses brown sugar, but sometimes flavors don't quite move as easily from food to cocktails. Anyway, the idea behind the brown sugar and maple syrup being smoked is obvious.

As for the peach vinegar, I thought it might make an interesting component for a drink. I have not spent any more time developing that idea.

As for the cachaca, orginally I just wanted to do a smoked rum and coke. But then I realized that I prefer Mexican coke, with cane sugar, so I thought cachaca would be an interesting addition, and the smoke might add an interesting note. I hope I don't evaporate it all ( a real possibility I think).

Drink du jour- The Monkeytown Cocktail

2008-05-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

Its been blazing hot here in Portland, unseasonably so, and I've been looking for something new to cool off with. Yesterday, I was at Uwajimaya, the best asian grocery store in the area and I spotted some interesting drinks. I ran across Yeo's Sugar Cane drink, and I thought that it might make a great base for a cocktail, so I picked up a few cans.
After rolling it around in my head for a while, I realized that I had a bottle of Cabana Cachaca that had been generously provided to me for blogging about Tales of the Cocktail. I've been really intrigued with cachaca recently, and have really enjoyed having Cabana in the house. It seemed like a natural fit, a distilled cane sugar spirit with a cane sugar beverage, but I wanted a little more complexity, something to add depth and interest to the drink and keep it from being too one dimensional. So I turned to an old standby, green chartreuse, and a new favorite, Bittermens Xocolatl Chocolate Mole Bitters. Both added needed notes to this drink, and the combo of green chartreuse and Bittermens chocolate mole bitters won't be soon forgotten.
The only downside that I can think of with this drink is that it did come out almost the same color as Midori, an almost neon green, but the drink is both tasty and complex, so I'll live with the color.
One last thing, as I'm sure people are going to ask. What or where is Monkeytown? Well, I liked the name, and its a suburb of Monroe Utah, and I have no idea why that area is called Monkeytown. I just felt like calling something Monkeytown more than anything. So there you have it, the Monkeytown cocktail.

The Monkeytown Cocktail

1oz Cabana Cachaca
1/2 oz green Chartreuse
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Chocolate Mole Bitters
4 oz Yeo's Sugar Cane Drink

Build dry
add ice
enjoy

Mea Culpa

2008-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

For those that read this blog on a regular basis, you'll notice that the previous post is missing. I've deleted it, and while it might not still be on the internet, I'd also like to apologize for that post. Ryan Magarian was kind enough to call me today and share his perspective on what I had written and, for that, I'd like to thank him.
In a nutshell, I'd written a post critical of a local establishment, that on further review, came off as very personal and negative. I don't know the owner of this establishment personally, I think we've met twice and only for a brief moment. After Ryan's conversation with me, and rereading the post, I've chosen to take it down. One of the risks of having a blog is that they don't come with an editor, or someone to be a second set of eyes to say, "Hey that might be over the line". Instead, its very easy to write a post that, to the author, looks like what he or she is trying to achieve, but to the reader sends an entirely different message. In the end, its not about what I meant to say, its entirely about how people who read this post interpreted what I wrote, and its my responsibility to ensure that my message is clear and on point. Clearly, I failed to do this, and I take full responsibility for the message that was, regrettably, posted. I sincerely apologize to anyone that I may have offended, and I'm afraid that I have offended a few people.
In retrospect, this has gotten me thinking about why I even blog, To be honest, it started as an exercise in writing for me. I'd just completed a magazine article and I wanted to get disciplined about organizing my thoughts, and writing on a regular basis. Additionally, I wanted to move away from what I've seen in some blogs as a need to be always right. I wanted to share my successes as well as my failures in creating drinks, I wanted to attempt to foster a positive atmosphere in which people could learn from my mistakes and share their successes. I also wanted to help to bring the cocktail community together, not to sow more division. I've clearly gotten a little off track, and I'm recommitting myself to fostering a positive cocktail community, especially here in Portland. What we share is an enjoyment of cocktails. Its that simple. We shouldn't turn it into anything more than what it is, and tearing others down is not the way to help our community.
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who reads this, and who takes the time to share the opinions and thoughts on my writing. I appreciate any and all thoughts that you'd care to share with me. Hopefully most will be good, but I can also accept that my opinion my not be the gospel truth, and I can take responsibility for the posts that I have made,

Thanks for reading,

Lance