Fall brings more cider. I want to be back in Orleans again!

Orleans Cider taken at Stowe Taste of Vermont Fair

Sometime ago, I posted a blog entry about drinking cider and fall imbibing.  I found that apples as a fruit where never my fancy, but when fall season would come, I would think about them for good drink.

You may have seen my video of visiting Hill Farmstead in Vermont for great beer, but I also made a discovery at a small food fair near Stowe Vermont, trying a little product I had never heard of from a craft producer.  That product was ice cider made by Eden Ice Cider in West Charleston Vermont.

You heard that right ice cider.  It was here I discovered a product known as Orleans.  Orleans unlike most ciders is actually a cider hybrid wine.  They took their fresh pressed cider from Vermont apples, then fermented the concentrate to make a dry wine that was then infused with a mixture of herbs.  The result is something truly spectacular.

At first sip Orleans is like cider, but then it tastes more like an ice wine when nicely chilled.  The nose is all apple aroma but filled with huge notes of basil and other aromatic herbs.  It finishes clean, with a palate rich in flavors of apples, honey, anise, slight pepper, and LOTS of basil.

Speaking with the booth attendant, she remarked the product was extremely popular with bartenders in New York City who were making lots of cocktails with it.  This was no surprise to me whatsoever, the applications you could do with this beverage made my headspin.  Cider and fruit check, incredible herbs, check, controlled sweetness, check.  It was practically a well crafted cocktail in a bottle by itself.

All I can say is that if you ever see this product where you live, you need to try it, it is really something special worth seeking out.

Hunting treasures in the home. Old home bars leave untapped secrets

Old Bottle of B and B found in home bar

I hadn't posted a blog write-up for sometime.  I am not always sure what to write about somedays.  I could easily "repost" video reviews, and also "repost" beer reviews, but the former is simply on my channel on You Tube, and the later being on BeerAdvocate's website.  It was becoming a bit redundant just for redundancy sake I felt to throw them up on here.  Once in awhile though, life events among good drink come into play, sometimes you can find a little piece of history.  Where can you find drink history?  I soon found out in other peoples old home bars.

First a bit of background.  My wife and I were invited to a wine tasting party for a couple we only knew a little bit about.  A classic, they are friends of friends of ours sort of thing.

We weren't sure how "much" of a wine tasting this would be, I debated about which wine to bring among a plethora of choices I have.  I do love wine, and I have "plenty", and nothing says like an excuse to get rid of wine than to go or have a party.  We grabbed a bottle of Sancere that we like, and off we went.

Shortly into our visit it was obvious this was really just a house party.  We nibbled, we chatted, we hung out, we met friends we knew, and some new people also.  It was not a sophisticated gathering of glasses and tasting orders, which was good, but hey we were prepared not knowing what to expect.  Bottles sat on the table, people dove in to the selections.  I am always interested in finding new wines, one bottle that was brought was a Romanian sweet white whose name I can't remember.  You certainly couldn't buy it here. A Hungarian co-worker of the host brought it, and it made a good talking point between us and him since my wife and I spent time in Hungary.  Who says drink doesn't provide good conversation worth talking about?

It became obvious though while we were outside that is was getting quite humid and warm.  While the setting was nice, it was a classic DC muggy summer day, sweat was pouring off my body, I found myself going into the inside of the house for water too often, and the chilled whites sweating on the table were getting consumed like crazy as the reds barely got touched.  It seemed like we just needed to cool off.  Our host recognized this and then said:

"Hey let's all go downstairs into our basement where it's cooler, what do you say?"

We all glanced around, and it was pretty obvious we all didn't have to say what was on our mind.  Then our host said:

"I have a bar down there!"

Hello did he say BAR?  Enter our hero!!

Pulling the sliding glass door, we all made a dash for downstairs, as the air conditioned blasted and evaporated the sweat off of my forearms.  I was excited to see another bar, perhaps we could swap stories and tips.

I went downstairs and noticed the bar that was definitely part of the house probably built when the basement was refinished.  The host had mentioned that when they bought their house, the previous older couple left many things behind, furniture, tables, much of it from the mid century modern period and totally retro, going with the style of the houses build date in the early 60s.  The previous owners had no use for these items, and left them for the new couple. One of the things they left behind also was a bar (although it appeared to be made much later), and with it were contents of glassware, shakers, instruments, the usual for any well prepped bar.  But also it contained... old bottles.

"I don't know what this stuff is?! What do I do with it?!"  the host asked holding up a Hawthorne strainer.

It soon became apparent to me that this was happening in homes across America.  I certainly remember this when I was shopping for a house years ago.  Many new homeowners were buying older homes, and there were downstairs bars in them.  Sometimes they didn't always know what to do with these bars, or get the most out of what they offered.  More importantly it dawned on me that these bars could contain bottles of a former era.  Thoughts of being a cocktail bar rescuer as a job fluttered in my imagination, but figured that wouldn't pay much.

I remember one DC rowhouse I saw way back while looking for a new home, extremely dated, in ok condition, but nothing to get excited about, until I was told by my wife to go in the basement.

"So what's down there?" I asked, "another purple toilet or something?"  I said.

"No just go take a look I think you'll be surprised.".

I held off my excitement that from what I had already seen in this house we were never going to buy it, a classic too many problems.  However, my jaw hit the floor when I went downstairs.

Far off in the distance was a formed wall with a full seated bar, 4 swinging upholstered swivel chairs, cubed glass bar that went at least twenty feet in length, a full working sink.  I could easily see that the person who lived here was really putting his priorities into a great drink establishment, neglecting the rest of the house sans working kitchen with no new appliances.  The bar was not stocked, much of the bar items were of course boxed away in preparation for a move, but the bar was lengthy, a great giant slab of wood, a few touches of cigarettes odd burns and circular water stains.  Not many, but just enough to give it character.  A classic old cubed TV jutted in the corner, it was from the 70s, you could easily mistake it for a fish-tank.

The stories that place could tell, I dreamed of the African American couple who lived there, the guy who came home with his buddies, and made drinks for everyone, probably with a little bit of TV.. maybe Redskins games, slamming down drinks and perhaps making a good cocktail or two, probably during a better football era than now.  This bar had more charm and history that I think of any local watering hole I'd ever been in.

Getting out of my flashback, I quickly pulled out at my smartphone and said "here look, this is my channel, and this is my bar at home, I can show you some things."  Our host took one look and then exclaimed WE HAVE A BARTENDER!!  I was quickly voted in to make drinks for everyone.

"You have to show me how to make this stuff!" said our host.  I replied "Oh of course, but let's take a look around".

Investigating any new bar is always fun, but for the most part, many people don't have a lot of things bottle wise.  I realize I have a hobby and buy lots of different liquor, but most people aren't like me.  Most home bars usually contain one to 5 simple bottles, mostly just of something people like to drink all the time.  Usually there's just a bottle of gin, cause people like to drink gin and tonic all the time.  Or there's just a bottle of whiskey, or a bottle of vodka.  Sometimes people just want to do shots, but mostly the contents of ingredients in drinks for home use can fit on a small shelf.

"Make something!"  someone from the party exclaimed excitedly.

I saw a large bottle of Makers Mark.. ok plenty of this, but I started noticing that our hosts bar was quite empty.  "Do you have any bitters?"  I was thinking if I could get some Angostura bitters and find sweet vermouth I could make people Manhattans.  I noticed no bitters, that's ok, but we need vermouth.

I opened up a cabinet, and found some more bottles, and couldn't make out what they were in the darkness, so I grabbed the first one I could and brought it out.  The picture above is what I found, an old bottle of B & B or Benedictine and Brandy.  Most of the contents were still in, with about 1/2 the bottle still left.  We quickly made the rounds, based out some small liqueur glasses and drank.  Still good, classic herbal notes, almond, vanilla, and sweetness, it held up and was absolutely delicious.  The worn brown label indicates and older bottle, but I don't think this bottle is very old, or say... worth a lot of money.  But it's always great to taste some history.  If you know anything about how old that bottle might be from the picture, please contact me!

Stock picture of Galliano bottle

Digging back into the cabinet I found what I call, another relic classic from the so called Fern bar area.  In this bar was the classic bottle of Galliano.  I recognized this instantly, and it is something I distinctly remember from my childhood, but not because as a young 12 year old kid was I sipping it with pinky raised mind you.  The one thing that is unmistakable of Galliano is it's bottle shape.  A bottle of Galliano is very slender and thin, and extremely tall.  It's so tall and obnoxious that when you go to a bar somewhere it sticks out like a missile or something that belongs in an ammunition warehouse.

I noticed the bottle was old, probably from the 80s, since the lettering on it was identical to all the bottles I saw growing up.  I remember many neighborhood restaurants I went to as a repeat customer with my family.  These restaurant places I went to I had been going for many years, I would pass by the bar area and I would see that bottle of Galliano on the shelves. Through the early 80s up to practically the last of the early 90s, I could still go back to these places and see that SAME bottle on the shelf.  It... Never.... Moved... ever.  Something even in my gut tells me if I went back to these same places now in my old hometown that bottle would STILL be there.

Just like the downstairs bar, the Galliano was still there.  In here is where my fascination with this spirit lies.  It is the relic of my youth, it is my wonderment of always thinking, "what does that large ICBM bottle taste like?".  I just could never want to ask or try it, or even go buy it, I always made excuses.  Columnist Justin Wilson of the Washington Post describes it as: "a sweet Italian anise-citrus-vallia liqueur". but for me I have always been averse to trying it because to me the contents look banana colored, something I really dislike.

Unfortunatly, my free sip of Galliano was not to be either.  The bottle had barely an ounce in it, and I left it to be hoping someone might finish it.  Something tells me though... it's still going to be there like a spent radioactive fuel rod that just never goes away, and nobody wants to touch.

So while the party went on, some basic cocktails were made, including a whiskey sour with Makers.  Asking for sugar and eggs for the bar, the host was wide eyed.  "What are you going to do bake us a cake!?"

Au contraire, for within a bar there are secrets and memories waiting to be unlocked.

Beer Cocktails, stepping it up with Maui Coconut Porter and Chairman's Reserve Rum

Something seems to be happening in the drink world that defies explanation.  Two unlikely concoctions, beer, and liquor (in the form of cocktails) have come to a-head on meeting in a full collision melding with craft practice.  How did this seemingly happen?

Brewers have taken the world over with interesting beer.  Revisiting old styles, revamping them, taking on new twists, and giving many things for beer geeks to salivate over.

With that, mixoligists and bartenders (can they be one or the same... sure) using their knowledge of solid cocktails, combine their smarts and find interesting ways to meld flavors, technique, and history to make something different and hopefully delicious.

Mixing alcohol into beer is really nothing new.  How many times have you heard of depth-chargers,  car bombs (or that other name that isn't so flattering), boiler makers, snakebites and so forth.  Sometimes adding things to a beer involved things that just seemed like an afterthought out of boredom, such as the stories I hear from people dunking a shot of whiskey X into a pint of brew.  I doesn't even have to be other alcohol, shandys, radlers also come to mind.

However, sometimes people put a little more effort into a good drink, and when they do the results can shine, and from that you can have a beer cocktail with true thought and great taste.

Beer cocktails aren't without their controversy either.  Some brewers cringe at the idea of a beer they concocted, slaved over, perfected after many repetitions, just to have someone seemingly pour something ELSE into the mix.  Dam them all some might say.  Others might be more flattered.  What if you could punch flavors out, enhance them, use good quality ingredients, just as the brewer intended, could it work?  For myself personally, I am on the fence, but I take exception to anyone who does things with good technique, and understanding of what came before, and those who use the right things at the right time.  A beer cocktail can truly get it right.

Pictured above is a beer cocktail developed by Gina Chersevani, and published in the Washington Post (recipe here).  In it, she uses a fantastic craft style American Porter beer made in Hawaii that I have actually reviewed before called Maui Coconut Porter.  Just toss a shot of whiskey into your glass after you pour?  Hell... and no.

In this drink, she uses classic cocktail ingredient and proportions, that enhance the character and flavor of the drink.  Chairman's rum is used, to give a molasses kick with a very dry match of the porters roast, coconut milk and sweet syrup come into the mix to pull out that coconut of the porter also, and add a sweetness not unlike a good refreshing summer cocktail.

I decided I had to try this drink out and get an idea if a beer cocktail can really deliver.  And when done right, it really shines.  There are plenty of other beer cocktails out there, and so long as they are done with thought and care, I'd love try more myself.  Check out the video below to see how I made this drink.

Cheers!

A gin fizz and an egg are much fun to have together

When I got into making cocktails, I always enjoyed using egg white and making frothy drinks. Unfortunately the by product of an egg white, is of course the egg yolk. I would stare at the white blob and say to myself, "Ok.. so what do I do with this now?" Well the reality is you can still use it in a cocktail, and a good way to show off an egg in a cocktail, is to make a fizz.

A fizz is a cocktail that has a standard base, mostly gin and lemon and some type of sweetener (simple syrup) with soda water. However, when you add an egg you can have three different types of fizzes. Adding egg white to a basic fizz makes a silver fizz, add only the yolk, and it's a golden fizz. If you add the entire egg you get a royal fizz. This is just a real basic fizz, and there are THOUSANDS of fizz recipes adding many ingredients. You can really go nuts with this type of cocktail in varying it.

This is actually a refreshing, but sometimes messy drink. It's fun to make a lot of froth and foam and feels like a good thing to have in the summer on a hot day. Watch below to see how to make one.

No fooling around! Tom's Foolery applejack is on the block

Back in the day, applejack was what American whiskey was. Way before moonshine, bourbon, all that stuff.. there was applejack. As we moved away from colonial days, and into modern time, this spirit has still for the past 50 years been very much under the radar, but lately it has been sort of coming back. For decades there has always been one name synonymous with applejack and that was Laird's. Laird's boasts itself as America's Oldest Family Run Distillery.

At one point there were actually several producers of applejack, but as time went on Laird's bought them out, leaving themselves to be the only producer of this product. In most circles this would seam like a lecherous act bent on mass producing a product while giving up quality control. If anything it seems the opposite happened, specifically two things. 1) The company wanted to maintain it's love for this product as the premier producer 2) By consolidating the other applejack producers they essentially saved this spirit from extinction. So when you think of applejack you would think of Laird's... until now.

Spending some time with other whiskey fans and spirit connoisseurs, I heard of a very small family run distillery that was run by a husband and wife team. The name was Tom's Foolery and they are out of Ohio. Once again, the pioneering small craft distillery is making things happen. They have made applejack and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of this stuff. There are currently only 240 bottles of this made, because this is a VERY small producer. Their website is also filled with lots of historical information and techniques on how this product was made so check it out.

I do wonder though how long it was aged, my wild guess is that it wasn't aged very long, probably about 2 years max and that I think is a stretch (who knows)? I've asked the owners about this and hope they will respond soon. Regardless, for applejack this is a great time to celebrate, and this is also a great product. I tasted them both in comparison side by side, and to have even more fun I tried them both in a simple cocktail... the one that makes applejack a win, and that is a Jack Rose.

Please Note that some consider this NOT a fair comparison. It should be noted that the Laird's used in the comparison is blended applejack. It contains GNS (Grain Neutral Spirits). The Tom's is 100% applejack. Laird's does make a 100% applejack product but it's not as widely distributed as the blend. 65% of this Laird's product is GNS.

Check out the review, tasting, and Jack Rose cocktail below. CHEERS!

Whisk(e)y Sour... take me home...

If there is one cocktail that I could have an desire anytime for the rest of my life it is the ubiquitous, an simple whisk(e)y sour. Through numerous bourbon tastings I have a lot of left over whisk(e)y being asked to play with. It sits in corners, book case drawers (I am not lying when I say that), almost screaming pick me pick me!

The past turkey holidays of November are gone, and back then it never felt like I had time to sit and make a nice drink. Now with the pleasantries of personal time to myself, I think I have stepped on to, a perfect sour, and discovering the ultimate key to a good one and how to get it. The big key (among many) is froth (pictured to the left) from the egg white.

A good whiskey sour is fun to make, but many times it is hit or miss. I demonstrated one in the past using my Boston shaker, and as much as I like that big burly bastard, it's cumbersome, I hate cleaning it, and sure you can hear a million times from others, just twist or tap to break the "seal" in order to get your yummy contents out.

The reality is though, that seal... isn't easy sometimes. I don't care how you stick your glass in, or angle it, it doesn't matter. sometimes... daddy doesn't want to play, and you can't get your liquid goodies inside no matter how much you beg and plead. Other times you think you have it sealed, then start shaking, and you realize you gave yourself a shower cause the contents edged out "somehow" and are now all over your face (or if its really bad the guest you are making it for). One guy who like me has made several drinks with one said he has been behind bars numerous times, just hammering the thing like a construction worker. I agree with this sentiment and have been there. So I went back to sour land drawing board, and stumbled upon what I call a happy find. I need to use... the little bullet as I call it, my really small 3 piece shaker (pictured).

One thing I noticed is that the Boston shaker when doing the dry shake for the sour didn't give as much froth. You had lots of air and little contents in the shaker, and had to REALLY shake hard, but also much of the froth just coated the shaker and didn't come out on the pour. The success really worked when I used my really small 3 piece shaker for the dry shake, as I got foam and froth that could have been used for a bubble bath. It hit me, my Boston shaker was too big for this (or I didn't have giant paint can shaking arms I guess).

So who likes things easy... yup me... If you put the liquid contents in for the dry shake in a TINY shaker like this one, you will get monster froth, and you won't have to shake as long or as hard either to get it. Do however, pop the seal half way because the can will literally want to explode. Shake vigorously, when you feel the pressure, STOP, break the seal, and do it again for a little while for the dry shake portion. Who said making cocktails wasn't dangerous huh! That's half the fun!

I ended up grabbing the Rare Breed which had giant tobacco on the taste for this drink, but why not... it was a Turkey holiday recently so lets have a turkey right!? Use whatever whiskey you like. When the cocktail was poured for the second part, a massive head of froth came out leaving about a good solid size finger of bubbles. It looked like a real good beer. More importantly adding the killer fabbri amarena cherries sealed the deal, and the head made a perfect playground to drizzle some of the juice with red specks on top. Looks great, tastes even better. Enter cocktail win.

Here's some more detail on how to make this drink, it's a standard:

Ingredients:

• 2 oz of whiskey (use your favorite I have many) if you really like whiskey add 2 1/2 oz
• 1 oz of simple syrup (make your own)
  
• 3/4 oz of fresh lemon juice (not the FAKE STUFF, use real lemons, if you don't your sour will taste like ass) and DON'T USE SOUR MIX!
  
• egg white from one egg

Tips:

• If you haven't made this drink before, start with just 2 oz of whiskey, it balances the cocktail out and you may prefer it, more whiskey may make the other ingredients harder to taste
• The ratio of sweet to sour here is 4:3 which is a common standard giving a decent tartness. Try this ratio first, if you like it sweeter, more sour.. then adjust
• Crack the egg OVER your shaker so the white will fall in the glass, toss the yolk between the shell until all the white is gone. Do whatever you want with the yolk, maybe make a Golden Fizz, bake a cake, custard, feed it to your dog, garbage... whatever...
  

Directions:

• Combine all liquid ingredients, with egg into a TINY 3 piece shaker with NO ice (this is a dry shake)
  
• Cap and shake hard, when you feel the shaker expanding, pop it to break the seal, then shake again. You should have a big froth inside.
• Open you frothy contents and add ice. Shake hard till its nice and cold (7-12 seconds).
• Strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, pour fast, if you're like me, get as much froth out as possible by opening the strainer and getting the remaining goodness.
• garnish with a cherry

And with that... you can have imbibing heaven!

Hunting close to home, DC dusty hunt brings up treasure and history

When I got in to tasting and enjoying bourbon and exploring it more, I discovered many people in the same boat. As times have changed and the Internet has made the world a smaller place, we can all get online in numerous forums to talk about our same joys. Those joys can be anything, cars, beer, paintings, movies, music... you name it there is an Internet forum you can find to talk about it. You can even get more specific... there probably is a forum for toy collectors, but I'll even take a wild guess there is a forum for toy DOLL collectors... even more how about toy doll babies? How did I do? I haven't googled it yet.. but I am guessing I am close... but I think you understand what I am saying.

There is a forum called "Straight Bourbon" I frequent often. I spend much time there reading up and talking with other bourbon imbibers, mostly reading than posting. It's a good community which on the Internet is rare. Luckily there aren't a lot of egos and jackasses giving their moronic opinions in the blunt form and justification of "you suck", which seems so ubiquitous on the Internet these days.

However, I discovered something that I hadn't heard before while reading the forum. Many bourbon fans were doing something called "dusty hunting". Dusty hunting? What is that I wondered? Suddenly my mind flashed back to Ted Haigh's Vintage cocktail book. That book was filled with numerous pictures of old bottles of liquor that he collected. They looked really neat I thought as he talked about ingredients made in classic cocktails that don't exist anymore. What if you could actually find these things?? and then it hit me... Old bottles in liquor stores are called "dusties" because they exist usually in old stores that have been around for decades, products that went on the shelf and never got sold. They went back in a box, or most of the time sat in a shelf somewhere never to be seen again... and normally... collected a lot of dust.

Before I get in to how I acquired these items, I will tell you about what I found first:

• A simple bottle of I.W. Harper bourbon 80 proof including old Maryland tax stamp

• small Hiram Walker bottle of Crème de Noyaux
• small Marie Brizard bottled in France, Crème de Cassis 40 proof
• small Marie Brizard bottled in France, Menthe (probably crème de Menthe) 60 proof
• small half bottle of yellow Chartreuse (I love Chartreuse MAKE ME A BIJOU!)
  
• Bottle of 20 year James Martin's Fine & Rare scotch whisky
• small bottle of Dekupyer Creme de Menthe (probably white but since turned to yellow)
• Large red ornate bottle of Trave cherry liquer a former Jim Beam product

All these items are unopened and contain their original existing contents.

These items were all found in a nearby liquor store in my area, sitting on a shelf, no joke... collecting a huge amount of dust (except the bourbon which is probably not even that old, and was in a packaged box to keep the dusties away).

I.W. Harper bourbon is no longer made anymore. This bottle is probably not that old and from talking to some bourbon hunters at 80 proof this is probably not their best product, since many hunters seem to prefer some of the higher proof Harper's that existed. However, that is up to personal tastes. It does have characteristics though of a typical dusty, particularly three things. One is that it has a paper seal on top. Two it contains a Maryland tax stamp. Three there is no "government warning" on the label.

Enjoy the bourbon? You mean people will drink this old product? The answer is yes.

Whiskey once taken out of the cask (barrel) and bottled never ages. Unless the bottle was maybe (and this is really stretching it...) sitting in the sun or perhaps exposed to extreme light and temperatures, the whiskey inside is unchanged and is drinkable. Whether it tastes any good is another story ;)

This is why dusty hunting is exciting for whiskey and particularly bourbon drinkers. This bottle of Harper is made (I think) from a distillery that used to belong to a company called Schenley. The label mentions Louisville Kentucky which notes that it came from the old Bernheim distillery, more than likely before it was acquired by United Distillers and Vintners (UDV) in 1987. To drink this whiskey (good or bad as it may be) is drinking a time capsule. Is it worth a lot of money? Probably not. Harper ironically in the day was a "gray market" bourbon, it was sold overseas in Japan for a high cost, but hardly distributed in the US and when it was it was not that expensive. Many people might recognize it, saying... that's what my DAD used to drink all the time...

Now you're thinking what about these other products? Well they are really more for the novelty but there is always the hope in my mind that you can find a product that is no longer made anymore that was used in vintage cocktails (such as bottle of obscure bitters). My mind flashed to being the Indian Jones of the cocktail world. I could find that bitter that no longer exists, or authentic Creme Yvette, resurrect it back from life to other fans and maybe someone could make it again by tasting it. My dreams were starting to get a little too big and grand, but one can still have joy and dreams right? Just for the record Creme Yvette is being made again...

So how was I going to find these things I thought? Well I did my research but also had a lot of misses. I started off... on the wrong foot

Finding dusties is a bit of a science, but mostly a lot of misses. I first tried it without thinking thoroughly first. To find these bottles you need to go to stores that have been around for some time. .

At first I didn't do this. I went off on my breaks in downtown DC usually during lunch hour to some of the downtown liquor stores. I went to one store that many times put overstocked items out on discount.

I saw the proprietor stacking bottles of wine, while I was eyeing the beer fridge. I figured this was a good time to ask him. I went up to him and said,

"Excuse me?" (he replied back yes? do you need help?) "Yes actually, I wondered if you had any old liqour bottles?"

He literally froze in his tracks as if the cooler went to liquid nitrogen and turned him into a block of ice. He stared at me (no joke) for about 3 seconds with icey eyes as if I was trying to score a bunch of drugs or something, then slowly opened his mouth saying...

"What....... do you.... Meeeeeann????"

I then explained that if he had anything in storage that had been around in the shop for a long time that he didn't sell. He then suddenly blurted out OH no naw we don't have any of that! Miss number one.

I realized that this store really wasn't a good candidate. As much as it put out old stock it couldn't sell, it was part of an office building. This didn't fit the profile but it never hurts to ask. I carried that same mantra to other stores in the area but stayed away from glass buildings. I had a feeling about some places near downtown in the gentrified neighborhood of Logan circle. Many of the old liquor stores still remain, but their original owners are gone, probably because they couldn't afford the property taxes as the areas real estate turned into condos and restaurants that now frequent the area. Logan circle used to be filled with prostitutes... those days vanished more than 10 years ago..

Trying my luck in these stores was no better, many of the stores were run by new immigrants who didn't have a clue what the heck I was talking about. I was beginning to give up... but I read that dusty hunters get LOTS of misses before they find anything.

My quest got more focused when I started thinking about my neighborhood. I bought a house 5 years ago, in a DC area that does not have a lot of the bells and whistles that many of the other gentrified areas of DC now have. There was a particular street not far from my house where a common characteristic of the businesses that adorned the sidewalk stood out. The sidewalk if you were to walk down it would repeat the same mantra every 3 blocks... it went... funeral home, check cashing place, box brick sized church, liquor store.. repeat.... There were lots of old liquor stores in my BACK YARD.

I'd occasionally walk to the closest liquor store from my house on the odd occasion out of necessity rather than desire. I would be disappointed knowing they'd never have craft beer, or decent wine stocked. I remember trying to talk to the Asian couple who ran the place who are nice people, but find myself repeating things too often. One time I was shouting numerous times at them behind bulletproof glass about beer they could get me. "FISH what you want a FISH BEER??" No I said "DOGFISH." "What's That! I got a Michelob Light.." To say talking and feeling customer appreciated was hard to accept.

Needless to say, a light-bulb went off when I immediately thought of one place in particular. A few blocks away though was another store I remember trying to go to in the past that was literally older than DIRT. I remember the first time I walked in to it with its wallpapered old posters barely hanging on of bikini clad girls selling weak ass beer, surrounded by glass and locked grated doors. It was a lot like the other places but I was amazed that the building was even standing. The remarkable characteristic of this place was that it contained the old phone number still on the building, and it had nearly NO lights turned on inside, it was like walking into a dungeon. The few bottles on the shelf sat behind in dark recesses, you could barely read the prices in the darkness surrounded by glass and stale air. It felt like a prison in reverse.

The place was run by a VERY old but polite man. I knew this place had to have something. I made my appearance after returning from work and asked him what he had inside.

He told me he'd look around. He went in the back and pulled out the Harper bottle and a few other things. I told him that I'd come back and to let me know if he found any old bottles of bourbon.

I returned again another day, and he let me back behind the glass wall that separated himself from his clientele, where it was easy to show off the dusty shelves. I bought the bourbon from the guy to give him some decent business (I felt like nicknaming him Gramps), but then inquired what my mind was telling me. You need to scope this place out...

"Do you mind if I look around for a bit!??!" I said enthusiastically.

"Naw sure, go ahead I got all night", Gramps replied, only seeming slightly annoyed.

I knew this place had buried treasure. I went looking around and found plenty of dusty things. What I told you about already was more than likely only HALF of what was there. I really got excited when I grabbed and saw the back label of what said "La Chartreuse est encore milleure si on la déguste très fraiche mème glacée".

I held this bottle in my hand shaking... then slowly... cocking my wrist dreaming of what I thought this bottle had to be. I was correct in my guess as I found a very old small half bottle of yellow Chartreuse.

There were others that I found. Marie Brizard products such as a Creme de Casis, and a Menthe product which I am guessing was creme de menthe which once was green but had now vanished and turned in to a gorgeouse blue color. The bottle contents resembled Windex glass cleaner, and I wanted to drink it RIGHT THERE.

There were some other finds, including an old Dekupyer bottle which I think once was clear but now was a yellow. I was stupidly in another world as I bought all these things, relishing and giving them new life and appreciation. My mind raced as to how long a bottle of James Martin's 20yr Scotch had been sitting on the shelf, its label browned and faded barely held on by scotch tape so old you could never get it off.

The other thing that struck me about the cocktail liquor ingredient bottles were how small they were. Back in the day cocktails were not the grand drinks that are served and shlepped in to peoples faces today. Back then cocktails were smaller, and for a reason. The drinks were small, they stayed cold, and you slowly savored them. You weren't served a 12oz martini and drinking its warm soupy contents for 20 minutes. You got probably a 4 1/2 oz glass at largest, and it was 3 wonderful sips to imbibe and finish with much joy.

I found a small bottle of what is Crème de Noyaux which at first got me real excited. For a moment I thought I found an ingredient that is no longer in production. Turns out I was wrong Hiram Walker still makes this product, but the bottle I had in my hand was not a pink/red color of its more recent sibling, it had turned to an almond brown. Or was it always this color to begin with???? The other thing about the bottles is that they had recipes on the back for cocktails. The Hiram Walker Crème de Noyaux was to be used back in the day for a classic cocktail known as... "The Pink Squirrel", an after dinner drink as for the few of us cocktail fans know about. I normally see this drink made with what is now called Creme de Almond.

I pulled the bottle out and showed it to Gramps. "Yeah Pink Squirrel" he bellowed out, "Yeah I remember back in the day when people use to make those all the time! At one point they were very popular" he mentioned while helping someone get a pack of Coors Light. The irony was not lost on me.

We sat and talked about classic ingredients as I pulled each one off the shelf. The irony is I could have been with Gramps all evening with the things he found in the store, but he wanted me out of there so he could do other things.

I paid the guy and took my first dusty collection home. I remarked about how I was excited to take the bourbon home. "So.. you going to stick that in Ebay!?!" he said.. "HELL NO" I said... "I am going to drink it if I can!!" I remarked enthusiastically... Who knows I like the bottle and its bronze hue so much I think I'll just keep it as is for when I stock my home bar again.

"Well yeah I remember that bourbon from times ago," Gramps remarked leaving with me some final words that will stay with me more poignant than ever.

"Nobody drinks bourbon anymore..."

Well Gramps I got news for you....

yes they do my friend.... yes they certainly do.

The White Manhattan Cocktail... twist on a classic standard. You can teach an old white dog new tricks!

Sometimes, everything comes together in life. When it comes to a good cocktail, it's also the finer things and the patience involved to make it, that somehow makes it more rewarding.

I had done a previous whiskey tasting of young whiskey as part of my series. While tasting the whiskey I realized that much of it sat on the shelf and I cared not often to bring it down for my liquid pursuits.

However, after finishing the tasting I went back to some old articles and came across one for white whiskey in the Washington Post, and there it was ... there was included a recipe using white whiskey in a classic standard cocktail favorite of mine... a "white Manhattan".

I love Manhattans. I am normally a Bourbon fan with them and particularly like them on the rocks. What my biggest pet peeve with them though was, were the ubiquitous companionship of cocktails.. those things that I could not escape no matter how hard I tried... the dreaded red fake cocktail cherry.

But even then I fixed that solution purchasing Italian Wild Cherries that were just DIVINE. I was all set, I even decided to order some other French Vermouth, only to receive dry vermouth instead of Blanc (white/sweet). My plans were put on hold, I would have to wait... WAIT to make this drink... My temptation to just make one, sans true cocktail cherry, sans Dolin Blanc (perhaps even ruining it with an old long shelved bottle of Martini Rossi Bianco), no I would have to be patient... A true good cocktail need EVERYTHING just right. And the wait was well worth it.

Subtle, sweet glycerine taste, orange slight bouquet, Benedictine... oh what a great liqeur you are... and then topped with a great tasting cherry. This is a great sweet drink, which you white whiskey fans may be all over... Benedictine is not a normal component in a classic Manhattan. Put here with the sweentess of a Blanc Vermouth it really adds a great texture along with orange bitters. Definitely worth a look.

I present to you... the White Manhattan. Cheers!

So what's the deal with cocktail cherries?

Cherries.... I always hated those things...

To many people who know me, they know I am not in to sweet things. I usually do not care for sweet drinks (although the right occasion sometimes calls for them!) and I usually have no interest in dessert. I like to tell people when I eat out that when I am asked if I am interested in having anything for desert I'll say give me another steak. So I usually steered away from sweet things and that included fruit.

My admonishment for all things fruit also goes back to how I grew up eating fruits in general. I grew up in a very Northern climate that was also very far from typical fruit growing regions in North America. Fresh fruit was not common. Cherries to me were always a rare thing. I did seem to make an exception for citrus.

My first impression with cherries was... it was those bright red things that came in a jar. It was what you found on a banana split at the Dairy Queen. They were bright red almost florescent soaked in a sickly disgusting syrup that was filled with lots of artificial flavoring.

I absolutely HATED them, they were repulsive.

So to this day when it comes to cocktails, the cocktail cherry is something that I really despise. People still use those sickly corn-syrupy artificial red dye things. I ranted about this in my Old Fashioned video. So many times when I was at a bar asking for a Manhattan I would constantly tell them to not put cherries in my glass. However, after moving to an area with a better change of produce in season, I discovered cherries actually were different.

My wife came home from the farmers market with a bag of cherries. The first thing I noticed was how DARK they were. "What are these?" I asked her.. she looked at me as if I had three heads. "They're CHERRIES... try one." And I discovered that in season cherries I really liked.

So I would throw those in cocktails and they'd hit the spot, occasionally I'd make a cherry syrup, but the problem was they wouldn't stick around. I figured well that was it... no cocktail cherries for me any more, but I somehow felt there was a way around this. And boy was there ever.

Enter the picture above. I read and found out about these cherries that come from Italy. They are wild and selected Amarena Fabbri cherries. These... are just perfect. I know feel I can but these in my glass and not be disgusted. They tasted absolutely divine, not too sweet, great texture, almost alcohol brandy like, and they look like the real thing.

So all is not lost, and the imbibing world just got a little better, so this time, pretty please make a Manhattan, with Fabbri Wild Cherry on top!

When life gives you lemons... you make grenadine...

I hate running around for shit. I will confess, I am a person who doesn't have a lot of patience.

I have my mind set on something, I know what it is, I want it, so I should go to that store and get it. It should be there right? Heck I am an educated consumer, and when it comes to imbibing I want the best of the best... I don't want something ordinary.

I would go to liquor stores, grocery stores, specialty gourmet stores in the area. I would ask or look around and go up to the sales staff and say......

"Do you have any Grenadine other than the regular stuff that isn't made with corn syrup, or artificial color???"

Trades people would then look at me like I had three heads. The most common response I got was, "What's Grenadine??"

This was bad enough. Don't get me started on walking in to liquor stores and talking to proprietors who don't know even what the flying fuck they are selling half the time when I have a question. I could write pages of that... ALL DAY...

Getting back to the point, and I am getting out something on my chest that obviously has been bothering me, if me crassness hasn't been apparent to thine reader right now...

What has been bothering me for the longest was trying to find real Grenadine. The most common brand is of course everywhere and it is called Rose's. As I started becoming more of an imbibing connoisseur, and a bigger cocktail aficionado, I was learning that Rose's seems to have become a bastardized grenadine. Grenadine is a syrup that back in the day was normally distilled from pomegranate fruit. Sort of a generic purple/red syrup.

What's it turned into now is a sugary mess. I say to myself NO MORE of that, there must be something out there, but my hunt turned into lots of brick walls. It was becoming a hopeless cause until something came to mind that made the most obvious sense. I wish I realized it earlier, when life give you lemons... you make you're own GOD DAM GRENADINE!

I was researching online and discovering people just easily made their own. Keripes why didn't I think of this? I make enough syrups as it is this should be a piece of cake. As per suggestion I grabbed some real POM juice, threw it on the stove and began my work. I was tempted to throw all sorts of herb in here, but I really should take it slow at first... baby steps... baby steps I kept telling myself.

I let the solution reduce for some time, until I was satisfied with the flavor. I really wanted to get some of the pomegranate to come out. Then I added sugar. After that it was all combined and set.

The results were quite good. It tasted like a very fruity pomegranate syrup just as I planned, although it was tempting to put herbs in there but that probably wouldn't be a good idea and would make it over complicated.

The results are pictured to my left, and they are what I expected and from what I heard. You will get a much darker syrup than the Rose's brand.

I only made a small amount to start with. There will be many practice attempts to decide on the ultimate ratio and reduction of juice to sugar.

Rose's also make a lime cordial product, and that is actually perfectly used in a Gimlet without a needed substitution.

But for me, I want the pomegranate and don't want to be staring all day at a giant red fire hydrant. So far on first go this one actually seems very promising in terms of texture and taste! Can't wait to officially try it out in a cocktail. Don't take my word for it though, make some yourself!

There is GOLD in dem dar mojitos! Organic sugar becomes diamond in the rough

While going back and tasting libations, there is much to decipher. Summer is coming to a close in DC, suddenly there is a hint of chill in the air. This is not a bad thing, it has been particularly hot this summer so we are all ready I think for a change, and with change comes different imbibing. However, the mint has been revived a bit and I went back to try some of my other rums and still mojitos and daiquiris still keep calling.

The gold rums I tasted were all very good (if you refer back to my blind rum tasting). The last rum I tasted however though was the 10 Cane a product from Trinidad/Tobago. While I did conclude that it was good I had to admit the other golds were superior with the Oronoco being just sublime. Just to note the Oronoco rum is not worth a mojito it really should be drank on the rocks with NOTHING. There was nothing to hate about the 10 Cane rum but it needed to be tested, I couldn't "TASTE" anything off of it. To cut to the chase, I decided to try the 10 Cane with my standard mojito making and also in a daiquiri. There was one slight difference though, I pulled out another weapon in my arsenal for making of the mojito. Something I wish I used more often... a bag of organic sugar.

Lets just cut to the chase. I remember when doing the tasting that the rum didn't have much sugar coming off of it in the taste. The Mount Gay Special Reserve seemed to fit that a bit better. However, when making the mojito with the organic sugar something wonderful happened. Suddenly the drink exploded in flavor.

Organic sugar has a much different appearance. it is slightly gold and brown much like it's gold rum namesake and partner. It's as if they were made for each other. When pairing the organic sugar with the 10 Cane suddenly the rum came alive, there was bouquet, vapor, the mint came off even more, and there was a lingering sweet finish but not a harsh sweetness. Long story short, it seemed the sugar brought out the rums flavor considerably.

I still had to be convinced and even used a light rum with the organic sugar for another mojito (Appleton). Still great, but the sugar didn't bring out the flavor profile as much, somehow it seemed the 10 Cane and organic sugar were in harmony.

Some things just happen by accident, some by research, other times you just get friggin lucky.

Unfortunately, I traded my Special Reserve Mount Gay for some 7 year dark, I am now missing it so for this drink. I am trying to get in as many 10 Cane organic sugar mojitos as I can, before time runs out... Seems like summer... is coming to and end.
Cheers!

Ah how sweet it is! Vermouth tasting becomes a romp of greatness.

Vermouth. That wonderful little aperitif, that seems to be pushed to the background. My experience with vermouth up to now has been nearly non existent. The only thing that seemed to be ubiquitous with vermouth was a bottle of Martini and Rossi. Some feel this is also where the name for the Martini cocktail came from, although that's a subject for another debate.

What I am getting at is that my impression of vermouth has always been that it was something to be pushed aside, it is just a simple little ingredient you add to a better drink, such as buying just cheap tequila (which is not REAL tequila) to a giant bucket with crummy sour mix.

However, when doing this blog and research it became obvious as my drinking and imbibing skills have improved considerably from my younger days, there was a whole entire world about vermouth that I was unaware about. I first learned about this from my wife who when in Europe would have great chilled glasses of straight vermouth on ice. I soon realized that this was a common thing, that there were specific vermouths that were not just made for mixing and an afterthought for something else. There were even vermouth bars, some (those Spaniards) would even mix vermouth with olives and then head out for a fantastic lunch.

It became apparent that I was not appreciating this drink well, and so I set out to change my attitude. I tasted 4 vermouths, 3 of which were common place the other... might as well have been from a different planet. Within one sniff I was suddenly transported into a world that I had never been before, and realized... I had been missing out.

To understand more, watch the red vermouth tasting below in the video. From here on this is a drink worth exploring more for the true imbibing enthusiast. Great vermouth to be had for the cocktails (Manhattan etc..), but sometimes you just want to have it for yourself all alone!

The four red sweet vermouth tasted were:

• Stock
• Martini & Rossi
• Noilly Prat
• Antica Formula
  

Cheers and Enjoy!