First Gig

So I’ve just finished my first official post-Vessel job bartending for a private party tonight, and I’ve got to say that it would’ve been a blast except for one minor detail, which I’ll get into in just a minute.

First, I want to give a shout out to Murray at Zig Zag for thinking of me when one of his regulars asked him if he knew of any bartenders available for a Saturday night gig. He gave them my number and I received my first payday of quite some time. All would’ve been dandy except for that one minor detail that I’d mentioned earlier.

If I was a betting man (which occasionally I am) I’d say that my good “pal” Murray set me up, because as soon as people started arriving, they were telling me how excited they were to have the second best bartender in the city mixing drinks for them. Time and time again. Without fail. As if by script. I’ll let you guess who the best bartender was (it rhymes with “Blurry”).

As the night wore on, and people were starting to feel the effects of my prescriptions, I even had one nice gal tell me to not feel too bad about being number two as this means that there is no pressure on me, as there would be if I were the best bartender in the city.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll defer to that old coot Murray any day in the bartending arena, but come on! I was last year’s Seattle Magazine Bartender of the Year. I was in Time magazine last week as well as last month’s Details, this month’s Food & Wine and next month’s Esquire. Murray had Playboy last year, but this year it was my turn! I don’t need people to feel sorry for me god dammit! Just because I have no reliable source of income and live in the shadow of a Seattle legend it doesn’t mean that I need back-handed pitiful compliments of “don’t worry, your day will come.” I was just there to mix a couple of drinks in a person’s house, not to get the ego equivalent of a kick in the balls while someone pissed on my head!

Anyway, thanks for the gig Murray, but next time can you please not instruct everyone to remind me that you have a sixty year head start on me. My bruised ego won’t be able to take it even though my wallet will instruct me to grin and bear it.

UPDATED: It has come to light by some people that I may have a grudge with Murray. This is of course not true, I’m just having a little fun, and have no problem playing second fiddle to him. He’s earned it and it’s well deserved.

Next up, (finally), will be my blog about my New York and Kentucky trip.

Oh and while I’m typing, here is the drink that I’d created for the party, which had a fire theme.

LIGHT MY FIRE
1 oz gin
½ oz St. Germain elderflower
½ oz lemon juice
¼ oz green Chartreuse

place green Chartreuse in a cocktail glass
place remaining ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake
light Chartreuse on fire with a Chartreuse mister and flame
extinguish with the remaining ingredients (use a strainer)

Drink and picture by:
Jamie Boudreau

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Will Muddle for Food….

As of approximately 2:30 today I am no longer under the employ of Vessel.

Anyone needing a bartender, consultant, menu designer, or just needing to empty their wallets of a bit of cash in order for me to start my own bar, drop me a line.

Added: There are rumors going around that I am consulting for Vessel. This is not true. I have not been offered that role nor afforded compensation for such work. As of this date I no longer have any affiliation with Vessel.

How To Make Bitters

I’ve been asked many times, by many people about the “mystery” of making bitters, and today, finally, I am going to address this question.

Before we go into how to make bitters, let’s have a very brief discussion of what bitters are.

Bitters were originally used as medicine, curing pretty much every ailment under the sun but usually centered around issues with digestion (have you ever added Angostura bitters to soda or ginger ale to help settle your stomach? If you haven’t, give it a go; it works.) Unlike today, bitters were usually taken by themselves, and it wasn’t until the late 1700’s that people started adding them to spirits (in themselves a cure-all) giving birth to the cocktail (and cocktail bitters). Today, cocktail bitters are added to one’s tipple to introduce subtle new flavors and help integrate all of the components of the libation together, offering up a much more complex and interesting cocktail. Bitters while bitter tasting by themselves are usually only applied in small drops or dashes and will not make a cocktail itself bitter, a common misconception.

The first mystery of making bitters is quite simple: there is no mystery. It is a simple, but time consuming process involving macerating herbs and spices with alcohol and then filtering and bottling said maceration.

Looking through arcane tomes, and even the internet, one can find many recipes for bitters, and these are a good starting point for making your own, but almost every recipe that I have encountered has been flawed in one way, which I will reveal as we go on.

In theory, bitters are composed of three components: the bittering agent, the flavor and the solution. When making my own bitters I always keep this formula in mind. Let’s go through them.

THE BITTERING AGENT
This will be the ingredient that will make your bitters, well, bitter. Common ingredients are gentian, quassia or even wormwood (famous as an ingredient in absinthe). These flora are usually extremely bitter, and a little will go a long way.

THE FLAVOR
This is where you have your chance to show off your creativity. Simple bitters will have one flavor, such as orange or peach or grapefruit. But the sky is the limit when it comes to bitters. Want to add vanilla-cardamom? Go for it! Lemongrass and ginger? Why not? Xocolatl Mole? Been done!

Obviously more ingredients will add more complexity to your bitters, just make sure that they play together and remember, sometimes simple one and two flavor bitters are better.

THE SOLUTION
Most bitters are kept in alcohol, but you can make non-alcoholic bitters if you really wanted (they will have a very short shelf life). I usually try to find the highest proof alcohol I can get my hands on, as this seems to extract more flavor from my herbs and spices as well as give the final product an indefinite shelf life (alcohol is a preservative after all). For lighter bitters I may use a high-proof vodka or gin as my solution, while rum, whiskey and brandy are the spirits that I look to when creating heavier, darker bitters.

Now, if you read most bitter recipes you will see that they have you throw all of the ingredients in a jar and wait a period of time (anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months) after which you will filter and bottle your final product. Herein lay the problem with almost every bitters recipe I’ve read: control.

Different ingredients will release their respective flavors at different speeds and so to circumvent the probability of one ingredient’s flavor overpowering the batch, I give each flavor profile its own vessel. For example, if I were to do a batch of simple orange bitters, I would start with two jars of alcohol, one with gentian and the other with orange peel. After a period of one week I would strain out the gentian, and after three weeks I would strain out the orange peel. I would then slowly add the gentian mixture to the orange peel until the desired level of bitterness was reached. It is with this blending technique that I can ensure that I will never ruin a batch of bitters beyond repair, as an over powering flavors can be adjusted by increasing the other flavor components of the batch.

As for filtering, I am a lazy man. When I first started making my bitters, I used coffee filters, but as any of you who ever tried to do this knows, it is extremely time consuming and laborious. I then switched over to a Büchner funnel with a hand vacuum, but even this can be a little too much work for a slothful fellow of my nature. The solution? Water filters. You can just throw them in the top and come back a couple of hours later with a beautifully filtered finished product. Currently I am using a Pūr filtering system. Best money I’ve ever spent.

As most people who have tried my cherry bitters end up wanting a bottle for themselves, I’ve decided to give you the recipe, so you can make them at home yourselves (if you have the time and patience) and leave me the hell alone. (All I do is give and give…..)

CHERRY BITTERS
12 oz dried tart cherries
1 oz milk thistle
4 oz lemon peel
1 tablespoon black walnut leaf
1 tablespoon bitter blend (rose petal, burdock, milk thistle, dandelion, apple, barberry, fennel, fringe tree)
1 tablespoon wormwood
2 teaspoons clove
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons vanilla

Place 4 oz of cherries in an empty 750mL bottle and fill with 101˚ bourbon
Repeat with the rest of the cherries (3 bottles in total)
Place the milk thistle and walnut leaf in an empty 750mL bottle and fill with 100˚ rye
Place lemon peel in an empty 750mL bottle and fill with 100˚ (or higher) vodka
Place bitter blend and wormwood in an empty 750mL bottle and fill with 100˚ rye
Place the remaining ingredients in an empty 750mL bottle and fill with 101˚ bourbon
Shake all ingredients daily

After one week strain out bitter blend bottle
After three weeks strain out all but cherry filled bottles
After four weeks strain out cherry filled bottles

Blend all liquids together to achieve desired flavor profile
Add 6 oz honey vodka (42 Below) (for added complexity)
Add 4 oz Amaro Nonino (for needed sweetness, texture and complexity. Caramelized sugar would also do)

Taste again and make adjustments if necessary (perhaps sugar if too bitter)
if one flavor is too subtle, take the leftover solids that have been filtered and add water and cook over heat to extract more flavor: add to mix until balanced

Filter the resulting bitters
Place bitters in shiraz-soaked French oak cask and age for two months
Extract bitters from barrel and filter again
Add two liters of water and stir
Bottle

Depending on your cherries your finished product may or may not have enough cherry flavor. The first time I made my cherry bitters, this was the case. An easy fix that doesn’t entail you having to wait for more cherries to infuse would be to add a couple of ounces of Cherry Heering. Remember, there are no rules here, you are just trying to make a complex, flavorful bitters that will work in cocktails. How you get there is your business.

As the cherry bitters recipe is quite complex, I’ll give you the recipe to a brand of bitters that were probably more popular than even Angostura in Jerry Thomas’ day: Boker’s Bitters. (If you’re reading Jerry’s book and see a reference for Bogart’s bitters, they are actually one and the same. It’s a typo)

BOKER’S BITTERS (from Workshop Receipts, 1883)
1 ½ oz quassia
1 ½ oz calamus
1 ½ oz catechu (powdered)
1 oz cardamom
2 oz dried orange peel

Macerate for 10 days in ½ gallon strong whiskey, and then filter and add 2 gal. water.
Color with malva flowers.

Just remember my rules for separating the ingredients (the cardamom is especially strong in this and will probably be the first thing that I would strain out) and filtering and this is an easy one to make.

Also, the amount of water called for is to make aperitif bitters, we’re trying to make cocktail bitters, so let’s only add ½ gallon of water.

Seeing as we don’t have the kind of whiskey as was called for in the 1800’s, I put the orange peel in vodka (Everclear if you can get it) the cardamom and catechu in 151˚ rum and the rest in 100˚ bourbon.

There you have it, you are now on your way to making an endless supply of bitters, limited by only your imagination and palate. Let me know how yours turned out, and if you have some extra, send it my way!

Pictures and Cherry Bitters recipe by:

Jamie Boudreau
Cocktail Whisperer
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Molecular Mixology and Tales

April first has come and gone, and now that everyone has played their pranks, I feel it is time to offer an announcement: Tales of the Cocktail is back! That’s right, tickets went on sale as of yesterday, but due to the antics of the day, I felt that it might be better that I let you know on another date, just in case you thought that I was pulling your leg.

This year has a fantastic lineup as always, with the added bonus(?) of yours truly taking part in a number of seminars.

First off will be the seminar that I will be moderating: Intro to Molecular Mixology. I have been truly blessed with having some of the best (if not the best) practitioners of this stream of bartending joining me. Eben Freeman, Eben Klemm and Claire Smith have all been gracious enough to give me a hand with the seminar (and probably straighten me out when I steer wrong) as well as showcase some wild drinks. This will be a fun seminar indeed, with the journey starting us out with the basics (like foams, airs and dusts) and leading us off into the twisted imaginations of the world’s best.

The other panels I will be taking part in are Paul Clarke’s Homemade Ingredients seminar and Darcy O’Neils Sensory Perception seminar. As I’ve mentioned before, this five day New Orleans line-up is jam packed with interesting topics led by even more interesting people, so stop reading this crap and click here to sign up for this year’s festivities!

On another note, as some of you may know, I write a Molecular Mixology (MM) column for a European bar magazine. This month’s theme was the martini, and I was given the task of trying to update this age-old cocktail using MM techniques. As much as I hate to mess around with that most venerable of recipes, I acquiesced, and given the timing of the sale of tickets to Tales, and thereby my seminar on MM, I’ve decided to share the recipe with you, so you can get a feel of the subject matter that we will be discussing in New Orleans.

When using techniques that usually fall under the heading of Molecular Mixology, I like to surprise the imbiber by adding textures or flavors that they wouldn’t expect, but still keep the resulting product recognizable as a drink. Every once in a while, however, I like to throw my guests a complete curveball and give them an experience that they would never have expected. This is the case of my Martini Sorbet.

As most people know, spirits don’t freeze. So it comes as a quite a surprise to most people when I tell them that I can make a sorbet out of a martini. The key, unbeknownst to them, is agar and xantham gum. A touch of agar to help solidify and a dash of xantham gum for elasticity and texture and the next thing you know, your martini is able to freeze to the consistency of a beautiful sorbet. And yes, it tastes just like a martini, alcohol burn and all.

One will notice that the proportions of my “martini” are quite high at 1:1. But do not fear, for after you’ve dissolved the agar, you are now left with a more reasonable martini ratio of 2:1, and a lovely dessert to boot!

MARTINI SORBET
8 oz vermouth
1 tsp agar
8 oz gin
¼ teaspoon xantham gum
place vermouth and agar in a pot on high heat
stir until all of the agar has dissolved
take off of heat
add gin and xantham gum and stir until completely dissolved
place in freezer until frozen with the texture of a sorbet

OLIVE CAVIAR
open and wash a jar of black olives
puree olives
push olive puree through a chinois to make olive water
take 8 oz of olive “water” and place in a pot on medium heat
add 2 ½ sheets of bloomed gelatin and dissolve
immediately remove from heat and refrigerate
place mixture into a squeeze bottle

place a container of vegetable oil in a freezer until almost frozen
squeeze droplets of olive mixture from the squeeze bottle into the almost frozen oil
when enough “caviar” is made, strain out of oil and rinse off with water

TO SERVE
place a small spoonful of olive “caviar” onto two scoops of Martini Sorbet
serve with spoon

Pictures and drink by:
Jamie Boudreau

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Travellin’

I’m taking a small trip in two weeks to check out some of the newer bars in New York, and then for a stint in Kentucky to learn a little more about my favorite spirit: whiskey.

I’ll be staying in Louisville for a day and then off to visit Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace (home to some of my favorite whiskeys of all time). Any suggestions for bar hopping while I’m in Louisville? The Seelbach is a must, but after that, I’m stumped.

Below is a neat little video about bourbon, with our favorite authors, David Wondrich, Paul Pacult and Dale Degroff. A fun little video for those just getting acquainted with bourbon. (Try not to cry when you see all of those smashed bottles of booze)

Rose

The days are longer, the skies are drier and the air is lighter. What’s your cocktail doing? Mine at the moment is reciprocating.

The Rose, a 1920’s Parisian creation by Johnny Mitta of the Hotel Chatham is the lightest of drinks, nice and dry with a long finish; just like the Pacific Northwest’s weather this Easter weekend (so far anyway).

The Rose’s cherries are a perfect example of what a garnish should do. All too often, garnishes are added to cocktails with little thought as to why they are being unceremoniously flung into the glass. I’ve always been of the mindset that if an ingredient doesn’t add anything to the drink, don’t use it: garnishes included.

The cherries in the Rose really pull this drink together, helping facilitate the flirtation between the vermouth and kirshwasser, keeping the resulting wet spot (in your glass that is) intertwined and connected. Bites of cherry in between sips draw this light airy cocktail into an extremely long finish.

Before you try this drink yourself, a word to the wise: maraschino cherries are no substitute. In fact, if you possess some of these radioactive abominations of nature throw them out post-haste, and get yourself to a specialty delicatessen (DeLaurenti’s in Seattle, Dean & Deluca in New York and California being some examples), and buy yourself some proper, brandied cherries. My current favorites are Griottine’s, and as such I’ve used them for the Rose.

ROSE
2 oz Noilly Prat dry vermouth
1 oz kirshwasser
1 bar spoon raspberry liqueur
stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
garnish with 3 Griottine cherries (essential)

 

Picture by:
Jamie Boudreau

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Languedoc Bramble

Work is finally getting to a somewhat normal pace, and as such we will finish with the last of our four Fat Bastard wine-tails.

For those of you who have just found me, I was recently asked to come up with four summery cocktails that had one common theme: they had to have Fat Bastard wine as an ingredient.

We started off with the Incan Gold, the Aude Man Thyme and the Witch Doctor. We are going to finish off the series with the:

LANGUEDOC BRAMBLE
2 oz Shiraz
1 oz marionberry (blackberry) purée
1 oz bourbon (Woodford Reserve)
½ oz lemon juice
shake all ingredients with ice
fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass
garnish with three blackberries

Now, for you cocktail geeks out there, I am well aware that a Bramble is not something that one would serve “up”, but naming drinks is tough work, and I always attempt to give a drink a classification in its title if it is at all possible. As I feel the key feature of the bramble is blackberry, I’ve decided to use its moniker for this concoction, so back off!!! (you know who I’m talking to….)

As for the blackberry purée, if you can’t find any at your local market, you can easily make some by taking frozen (or fresh if you can get it) fruit and puréeing it in a blender. Taste the resulting mixture and decide if you need to add some sugar (personal taste) as fruit will change in acidity and sweetness with the season.

Another option, if fresh blackberries are available, would be to substitute the purée with eight blackberries and ¼ oz of simple syrup. Muddle your blackberries to break them down a bit, add the rest of the ingredients with ice and shake, shake, shake Señora , shake it all the time!

The blackberries, shiraz and bourbon make for one rich cocktail filled with lush flavor. If you aren’t using Fat Bastard shiraz, and if your blackberries are sweeter than mine were, remember that you can balance it out by adding a little bit more lemon juice (or even a dash of peach bitters if you have them).

Happy imbibing, and we’ll return to our regularly scheduled posting with our next entry.

Drink and picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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Witch Doctor

Continuing with post two of our three post series, Better Know a Wine Cocktail, (thank you Mr. Colbert), we switch over to Sauvignon Blanc.

While creating drinks for Fat Bastard I had to be cognizant of the fact that the recipes had to be fairly easy to recreate. Some of my personal favorites entailed using wine syrups that I’d created with their product, but we decided to shelf those more complex recipes for the first batch, and go with equally tasty, but easier to recreate fair such as the:

WITCH DOCTOR
3 oz Sauvignon Blanc
1 ½ oz white rum (Appleton’s)
1 ½ oz pineapple juice
½ oz lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup
4 sage leaves
shake all ingredients with ice
fine strain into an iced Collins glass
garnish with sage leaf skewered into pineapple wedge

I’m often asked how I come up with my names for drinks; whether there is a method to my madness, or if it’s all just random. I’ve got to say that naming the finished product is usually the most difficult part of the creative process, but here’s how I do it.

First, I try to determine if it falls within a drink category such as a Sour, Collins, Flip, Daisy, etc, etc. If it doesn’t fall into a known category I then try to give it a name that has some sort of relation to the ingredients. In the above case my thought process went as such: the drink has sage. A pun on sage is a wise man. The drink also has rum and pineapple juice; the hallmarks of a tropical drink. What’s a tropical wise man? Witch Doctor! (Scary thing being inside my head, isn’t it?)

 

Drink and picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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Aude Man Thyme

Spring is slowly rolling around the corner over here in the Pacific Northwest. I am aware of this fact not so much by the calendar or by the occasional appearance of the sun, but rather by the more accurate barometer of my itchy eyes and sneezes (ahhh hay fever, how I missed thee). With spring approaching, the ensuing changes on my cocktail list reciprocates, going from heavy brandy, calvados, and whiskey cocktails to lighter fair with gin, pisco, tequila and wine.

I’ve had the opportunity as of late to work with Fat Bastard wines in developing a cocktail program using their product. Most people think of wine as a product that should be consumed straight and often forget that some of the best cocktails in the world have wine as an ingredient, in the form of vermouth, port and/or sherry. Well, Fat Bastard wants people to be aware that there is more to wine in drinks than sangria and as such chose chose four cocktails to promote this spring in hopes of getting more people to see wine in a new light.

You’ve already experienced one of the cocktails that I’ve created for them with the Incan Gold. Now we will explore the other three over the next couple of days, starting with the:

AUDE MAN THYME
2 oz Chardonnay
1 oz gin
2 sprigs thyme
1 oz peach puree
shake all ingredients with ice
fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass
garnish with sprig of thyme
If in season, muddle ¼ of a peach with ¼ oz simple syrup
(instead of puree) in shaker and then follow other directions.

This is a wonderfully light beverage that almost demands to be consumed on a warm spring patio. The peach and chardonnay play nicely and hold hands while the thyme gives the whole play date some interest.
Stay tuned over the next couple of days and I’ll share the other two recipes.

Drink and pictures by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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Cocktail Books

I’ve often been asked by guests at my bar which books one should get when beginning their exploration into the world of cocktails. Seeing as my bar’s cocktail program focuses on classics and twists on those classics, I assume that they are looking for a book that will reflect my passion for these classics. While many good cocktail books from Prohibition and earlier and not in print anymore and quite expensive, there are some older books that are still in reprint and would be a benefit in any cocktail geek’s collection.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. The Savoy Cocktail Book (by Harry Craddock)

2. Jigger, Beaker and Flask: Drinking around the World (by Charles H Baker)

3. Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

4. The Bartender’s Guide (by Jerry Thomas)

5. The Stork Club Bar Book

6. 173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails (by Tom Bullock)

7. The Art of the Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics

8. Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century (by Paul Harrington)

9. Killer Cocktails: An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking

10. Imbibe! (by David Wondrich)

11. Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, (by Ted Haigh)

While this in by no means a complete list, it is a good start for anyone who is getting serious about cocktails, and doesn’t want to hurt their wallet too much.

Now, if I were to pick out a book that I think every bar should own, I would have to go with diffordsguide to Cocktails #7. With over 2250 cocktails in between its thick hard covers this book will have a drink recipe for everyone. Not only is it authoritative and encyclopedic, it’s also damn pretty. Each drink recipe has a picture of the finished drink in beautiful glassware, and in the notes each recipe is accompanied by a comment and/or origin of the drink. Simon (as in Simon Difford) was also kind enough to throw in a five-star (circle) ranking system for each cocktail.

As I’ve mentioned, the photography is beautiful, and interspersed throughout the tome are little vignettes with thorough descriptions of drink classes (like the Crusta) or specific cocktails themselves (like the Sazerac).

Overall, I can’t say enough about this book, if you own a bar, this is a great resource and darn cheap at $23. If you don’t own a bar, I would still suggest it, as it is easy to read and it will inspire you to start creating your own concoctions.

That’s all I have for you today. If you’re wondering what brought on this post about books, I’ve recently been interviewed by a magazine that was curious about my collection, and wanted a picture of me surrounded by my library. Below is that picture, with some of my books in the background. That huge book that I’m holding? Well, it’s two months of newspapers from November and December 1933. (That’s right, the year and month that Prohibition was repealed. Interesting reading indeed.)

Good night and happy collecting!

MixMo: Variations

Somehow another Mixology Monday has snuck up on me, (thanks to Jeffrey for posting early which alerted me) and once again I am stuck at work with none of my resources, and thereby forced to wing this month’s theme: Variations.

Hosted by Jimmy, the theme this month is one that is close to my heart, as, truth be told, almost every recipe that I make is a variation of the original. It just seems that I have a much different palate than many of those great esteemed bartenders of old, and I find myself constantly tweaking the proportions in order to make the resulting libation less sticky and more balanced (or maybe it’s just that the spirits that we are using are so very much different than those available in the late 1800’s).

The cocktail that I’ve chosen for this post is perhaps not so much about “Variations”, but instead more likely to be found under the heading “Evolutions”. The Sazerac, that venerable concoction of Antoine Peychaud’s has changed a lot through the ages. First created around 1838 in Mr. Peychaud’s apothecary in New Orleans (it’s now a gun and coin shop) it was made famous at John B. Schiller’s Sazerac Coffee House. Basically the Sazerac is an Old Fashioned made with cognac and Antoine’s proprietary brand of bitters, which when I mix it up, goes a little something like this:

SAZERAC (v. 183
2 oz cognac (Sazerac et Fils, if you can get it. Good luck.)
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
dash of simple syrup
stir all with ice and strain into a chilled rocks glass
garnish with lemon twist (if desired)

Then around 1855 (or so), a hired gun by the name of Leon Lamothe came up with the brilliant idea of adding absinthe to the libation, kicking up the complexity factor a notch. His version went a little something like this:

SAZERAC (v. 1850)
2 oz cognac
¼ oz absinthe (BAM!)
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
dash of simple syrup
stir all but absinthe with ice
strain into a chilled absinthe-rinsed rocks glass
garnish with lemon twist (if desired)

Well this was a fine and dandy concoction until the double whammy of phylloxera and Thomas Handy (he bought the bar) hit the Sazerac circa 1870. We then see the cognac being replaced by rye (mmmmm rye) with the following being the result:

SAZERAC (v. 1870)
2 oz rye
¼ oz absinthe
3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
dash of simple syrup
stir all but absinthe with ice
strain into a chilled absinthe-rinsed rocks glass
garnish with lemon twist (if desired)

And so there you have it, the evolution of the Sazerac as most of us know it. But did you know that some cocky, young (ok not so young) Canadian by the name of Jamie Boudreau furthered the evolution in 2005 by adding a fourth variation? He was curious to see what would happen if you combined all three versions. And he threw in some Angostura bitters to boot.

And so we have the:

SAZERAC (v. 2005)
1 oz cognac
1 oz rye
¼ oz absinthe
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
dash of simple syrup
stir all but absinthe with ice
strain into a chilled absinthe-rinsed rocks glass
garnish with lemon twist (if desired)

Now I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has come up with the rather obvious solution of using both cognac and rye, but I will say that I did come up with it by myself, and at one point I’ve even offered up a flight of Sazeracs so that people could taste the evolution for themselves.

One may also note that none of my versions are finished with ice in the glass. I’ve never been a fan of watery rye (or cognac for that matter) so I find that omitting the cubes does a great service to the drink (provided that your glass is ice cold).

Happy MixMo all, and remember, I came up with all of this at work, with no references, so a date or two may be off by a year or so, but I think that my memory regarding this venerable cocktail will stand fairly solid. So cut me some slack, will ya!

Picture and Sazerac (2005) by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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Violette Heaven: Part Deux

Here we go with part two of our two part series regarding violette liqueurs. Why a two part series you ask? Well, due to the insanity of my schedule, I figured I could take one topic and spread it over two posts to keep you coming back for more (yeah I’m sneaky and conniving like that). In case you missed the first post, it can be read here.

We’ve covered tasting notes on three of five different crème de violette’s in descending order so far, therefore without further ado, here are the top two violette liqueurs in my collection.

2. G. MICLO LIQUEUR DE VIOLETTE

This liqueur is easily the lightest in hue with a nice pale lavender color. The nose has a slightly musty air about it, but smells the most like a flower than any of the five samples. Light and elegant with a subtle violette palate this is a fine specimen although I did find that I had to increase the quantity of liqueur used in cocktail recipes when using this brand as compared to the others. Due to the smaller brix of G. Miclo one can add more violette to a recipe and not have to be overly concerned about the sweetness of the cocktail taking over.

Conclusion: Fantastic if you can get it. Rumor is that it can occasionally be found at Sam’s.

 

1. HERMES VIOLET

It’s fitting that the rarest and also most difficult to acquire brand of violette is also the best. Made in Japan, Hermes of Suntory fame has long been known to make great liqueurs and bitters. Their violet is no exception. A rich deep purple, Hermes has a nice sweet flowery nose. Taken straight, this is in my humble opinion, the brand with the best effect on the palate. Deep sweet waves of floral goodness pass over the tongue, accompanied with what is easily the longest finish of the five violettes tasted.

Conclusion: if you have extremely deep pockets, pick up this bottle. While the product itself isn’t terribly expensive, shipping will cost you an arm and a leg. Your other option will be to take a trip to Japan, but last time I checked, that’ll run you even more than the shipping costs.

 

Now that I’ve given you a run-down of the five violettes that I have at my disposal I also feel the need to give you a caveat. The tasting notes given are based on the spirit tasted straight. When the violette is mixed with cocktails it becomes a whole different ball game. With only one exception (Monin) each one of these liqueurs will make a good cocktail (a perfect example of this was my discovery that the Rothman’s made a better Aviation than the Hermes’).

A more common example of this phenomenon occurs when people ask me which brand of maraschino tastes best. While I would never choose Stock, both Luxardo and Maraska make a good maraschino, with one shining in a certain set of cocktails and the other shining in a different set. Is one better than the other? In my mind the answer is: no, they both have their uses.

While we are on the subject of maraschino, let me get this off of my chest: it is pronounced mar-uh-skee-noh, not mar-uh-shee-noh. The cherries originally came from the marasca cherry, which is why one should use the hard “c”, just as one does when saying bruschetta (tell me you still don’t say brush-ett-uh).

We’ve talked about the spirits, now let’s deal with the cocktail end of things and enjoy an:

ATTENTION COCKTAIL
2 oz gin
¼ oz absinthe
¼ oz dry vermouth
¼ oz violette
2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
stir with ice
strain into an iced cocktail glass
garnish with a lemon twist

Pictures by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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It’s a Violette Heaven

Lately I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to pull down my pants, point at my “male area” and proclaim loudly, “Whose is bigger?!? Whose is bigger!?!?!”

What am I going on about this time, you ask? Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to receive, from different sources, not one, not two, but five different violettes. As any of you who have tried to procure this elusive spirit in the last couple of years knows, it is not an easy product to come by (in North America anyway). Essential in such cocktails as the Aviation (the original recipe), violette was unavailable to anyone in the US until Haus Alpenz came along a year or so ago and started importing it. And now I have five! FIVE!!!! Mu wah ha ha!!!!

Since everyone isn’t able to come down to Vessel and have cocktails made with the different brands of crème de violette, I’ve decided to share (virtually anyway) my collection, and offer tasting notes as well as the odd recipe.

So here they are, the violettes (standing shoulder to shoulder in a kick line), in reverse order of rank, as determined by yours truly:

 

5. MONIN VIOLETTE

While this spirit has an excellent deep violet hue, and a powerful flowery (if a bit soapy) nose, it unfortunately falls really short in the taste department. Pretty much all I get is sugar and a touch of alcohol and nothing else. If I were to guess, I’d say that Monin took their already produced syrup, added a bit of alcohol and called it a day. Unfortunately, this takes an already weak tasting syrup and dilutes the flavor with neutral grain spirit. It might have been a touch better if they would’ve concentrated the syrup before adding the spirit in order to preserve at least some of the flowery characteristics that one looks for in a violette.

Conclusion: Do not waste your money; the syrup is better than the liqueur (and cheaper).

 

4. ROTHMAN & WINTER’S CRÈME DE VIOLETTE

This, thanks to Eric Seed, is the only violette that is currently available in the United States. It has a deep lavender color with a nice, light violette palate. What it does not have however, (especially when compared to the other four violettes), is a nice nose. It reminds me of rotting petals, and is slightly offensive. However, keep in mind that this perception is based on consuming the spirit straight, a practice that I would never normally do. When mixed in an Aviation, the musty notes are held in check, and all of the positives of this spirit start to show through. While this is rated number four of five, keep in mind that all of the products tasted were pretty close (with the Monin being the exception) and if it wasn’t for the nose, I would’ve rated this much higher (perhaps I received an off bottle?)

Conclusion: A good cocktail violette, but I might not use it in a pousse-café.

 

3. ELIE ARNAUD DENOIX CRÈME DE VIOLETTE

Number three on my list today, is Denoix’s crème de violette. With a nice deep purple (cue music) hue and an air of dusty, candied flowers this is an elegant showing. While this violette was lighter than the others, it was also very smooth and not too sugary. At this point in the tasting it was getting increasingly difficult to decide which crème was better. This violette also fared well when being used in cocktails.

Conclusion: If you see it, and you can afford it, buy it.

 

Stay tuned for my next post which will give you my top two picks and a recipe which calls for the violette. (Be warned that it may take a couple of days as I am on the road, even as I type this.)

As all of this crème de violette talk may get you thirsting for a cocktail, why don’t you try a:

VIOLETTE FIZZ
1 ½ oz gin
½ oz crème de violette
1 oz lemon juice
½ tsp sugar
shake over ice and strain into a Collins (or Fizz if you have it) glass
top with soda
garnish with a flower

Pictures by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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Mardi Gras

This is just a quick note to let all of you who are going to be near the Seattle area on Fat Tuesday (February 5th) know that Vessel is having a Mardi Gras party.

What does this mean?

Well, it means New Orleans jazz and zydeco will be playing, and we will have a couple of cajun-style food specials.

It also means that we will have Hurricanes and Pimm’s Cups on for $6.

Did I mention we had beer from $1.50? (OK it’s bottles of Bud and Bud Light, but still…)

You knew that we are going to extend our Happy Hour drinks all day long (yes even the $4 Monmousseau Brut) but did you know that we are going to have a contest? The person who walks in wearing the most beads will win a gift certificate for Vessel valued at $250. Just approach a server and have them count your beads; at the end of the night we’ll figure out the winner and contact them so that they can claim their prize.

And of course we’ll always have those great cocktails that we have become known for. So that’s it! Why don’t you pop by after work and have a drink, and then when you go home and become bored with the lack of quality t.v. due to the writers strike, grab all the beads that you can find and come on back for another Hurricane and a chance to win the $250.

See you soon…..

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Taboo Or Not Taboo…

That is the question.

Recently Canada has been blessed by a local distiller creating his own artisanal absinthe. In an earlier post, I had mentioned that Frank Deiter, out of Okanagan Spirits, was beginning to make his own absinthe, Taboo, and that I was lucky enough to procure a bottle of his pre-sale blanche (clear or white absinthe).

Well, it seems that our good friend Frank has had a change of heart and has decided to go a different route, and instead released a verte (green) absinthe. Sold in 500 mL bottles (contrary to the 375 mL reference on their website) for $55, this for me is the clear winner out of the four absinthes that I have at my immediate disposal.

St. Georges’ absinthe while darn tasty (I honestly can’t wait to get my hands on a reliable supply) just didn’t have enough anise notes for my liking, and Kübler, contrary to the score that it received in the Wormwood Society, is just a one hit wonder that smells and tastes like one thing and one thing only: black licorice (I still love you guys at the Society though). I won’t go too much more into it as I’ve already posted about Kübler here.

Lucid, by our good friend, Ted Breaux, has also been mentioned in previous posts, and while it is quite tasty for its price point, I feel that my Canadian friend has come up with a slightly superior product.

Taboo, while possessing an unfortunate name (I know it helps sales, but really?), is a quality spirit made by a company that is quite well known in Canada for their exceptional eau-de-vies. Possessing a clear, light green color, Taboo louches beautifully and not a minute too early or late (making Goldilocks proud). Complex minty herbaceous notes balance out the anise. While this is a sweet absinthe that I would not recommend adding sugar to, it finishes with a nice almost imperceptible bitterness. Taboo is the one (and only) spirit that makes me miss Vancouver, BC.

In a nutshell, if you run a bar in Vancouver, this is the absinthe that you should be carrying, and if you don’t run a bar/restaurant, but find yourself at one of BC’s better stocked liquor stores, do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle for yourself. Now. Before everyone else discovers the beauty of this absinthe and it becomes increasingly more difficult to find.

The initial question has now been answered.

Since we’ve been talking absinthe, I’ve decided to give you a recipe that they unfortunately no longer recognize when you go to New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. (You will also get nothing but blank stares if you order an Astoria as well.)

WALDORF
1 oz absinthe (Taboo today)
1 oz bourbon (try out Woodford Reserve)
1 oz sweet vermouth (I usually use Cinzanno)
3 dashes Angostura
stir over ice
strain into a chilled cocktail glass

This may look like it’s not going to work on paper, but believe me, even though you’ve just put a whole ounce of absinthe in a cocktail, you do taste the other components. And yes, it does work with pastis as well.

Taboo picture by:
Jamie Boudreau
www.vesselseattle.com

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