Part One: Manifest
“Anyone can make good cocktails. The art of mixing drinks is no
deep and jealously guarded secret … Yet actually few people do make
good cocktails. Nor is this disability limited to the amateur serving
drinks in his own home. Far too many professional bartenders likewise
seem wholly incapable of turning out drinks that are uniformly pleasing
both to the eye and to the palate. Why is this?”
-David A. Embury
Mr. Embury wrote his treatise on the Fine Art of Mixing Drinks many years ago. He experienced the
golden age of the cocktail, he lived through the Noble Experiment, he saw first hand the degradation of
bartending, and finally, what emerged from the ashes of prohibition. Embury's treatise directly comments
on why we are here, and within its pages, offers a glimpse of where we'll be going.
As we go forward, I can’t stress enough that you need to ask why. Question everything, don’t take
anything at face value--if it can’t be proven or justified it shouldn’t be in these pages. Be inquisitive, be
open to being wrong, remove your ego.
Unfortunately, since the resurgence of the cocktail & the archeological quest to dig up the past, we as a
community have split into camps of thought, and the need to be right often points toward the wrong
conclusion. The gravitational pull of ideology will lead you into a well where you’re suddenly surrounded
by opinions that only agree with your own. It’s ugly, and the result is pomposity and pretension. Let’s
have the acumen to gracefully accept failure.
It’s a liberating feeling when you step back and look at the diversity of expressions that are available to
us. Who are we to profess which style is superior: dive, club slingers, flair theater, or the oh so serious
mixologists? Free pouring versus jiggering. Until you have mastered all facets of tending, stick to what
you can judge, and choose a flavor that brings you happiness.
The service industry is a beautiful thing. No matter your background or past experience, there is a place
for you here. The urge to provide for others, intrinsic hospitality, empathy; there is a nobility in service.
The act of doing anything to the best of your abilities, even the most mundane tasks, shows character.
Putting love and care into our actions and discovering the importance of things that aren't normally
considered socially significant has the power to change lives. Whether this is only a chapter or if you
decide a longer study of the discipline is necessary, learning this skill will change your life. It’s a fucking
great thing to know how to do.
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“Gluttony without finesse is barbaric”
- Jim Harrison
Welcome to the The Four Seasons Minneapolis bar team!
Our goal is to create a unique & immersive experience for our guests, to surprise & delight, to make art,
to create a space of joy and showcase what exceptional service and true climates of hospitality can look
like.
A genuine care for the happiness of others is seldom a trait that necessitates success in business. Genuine
care, or hospitality, is what we at the Four Seasons Minneapolis will pursue on a daily basis; nurturing
relationships, encouraging vulnerability, finding qualities in others that enrich our own, and extending
trust are ethics that we lean into.
We are committed to a culture built on love, fun & taking care of each other. They are one and the same.
As the above pertains to hospitality, we are faced with two different models of service.
First, the establishment regards consumers as customers. Here is the sequence of events:
-
Customer has money.
A store supplies what they are looking for.
Customer purchases said item.
End of transaction.
Dreadfully boring.
Hospitality takes place in an establishment that treats consumers as guests. Words are powerful, and it’s
important that this change in dialect resonates in us as we conduct ourselves.
As a guest in my house, I will treat you with the utmost respect, and with everything in my power, work
to make your experience one that is truly memorable. I genuinely want to show you a little part of my
soul, and hopefully you can take this for what it is: A gift.
The majority of people will respond with the same respect and genuine care. It takes two to create a
beautiful moment of service.
There is a minority that doesn't want to be happy. People who are emotionally stunted will see your act of
kindness and try to ruin it. We don’t know where they have come from, what they have been through, or
in what state they have come to us in. Hospitality is based on empathy, and these unhappy individuals
deserve it. They need it the most.
We respect everyone, especially the rude ones.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Commitment to everyone’s happiness at the Four Seasons Minneapolis cannot be stressed enough. We are
promising to focus on the happiness of the employee, those who make the culture & soul of the
establishment. In order of importance:
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First: Us, The Employees
Second: Our Guests
Last: The Money
What this means is, from a management level, our priority is to support you. We will have your back
when making decisions in the moment. Trust in those critical opportunities, and take negative feedback
with an evolutionary stance, not a disciplinary one.
Beyond asking yourself what we want our guests to anticipate before their arrival, during their
experience, and as they walk out our doors, we must also ask how we as a staff want to feel coming into
our place of work, during our time spent together, and how we feel as we lock up.
Hospitality is the genuine care for our guests and fellow co-workers. We commit to this philosophy and
believe that it can change lives.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Bartending is as American as apple pie. We created it. We set up bars on the frontier, we facilitated deals
that impacted the course of history, we’ve been liaisons of pleasure the rest of the world has admired &
since adopted. Cocktails have permeated our culture and society, for better & worse. We’ve been the
muse for poets, painters, and writers. It’s messy and romantic, but a world without cocktails is almost
unimaginable. We’re recession proof. Food & drink rival music in social relevance.
Our intention is to constantly be setting the bar; not for others, but for ourselves and our commitment to
constant self betterment on the road to self actualization. By merely stating our goals, we’re creating a
standard that we’re all signing on to uphold. We intend to execute every movement and interaction to the
highest possible standard: Our own. We honor our commitment to ourselves, our craft, and our guests.
Our bar program strives to be the connective tissue of the Four Seasons Minneapolis. Connecting the
hotel to culinary through time honored offerings and hospitality; the Mediterranean to Minnesota by
highlighting poignant ingredients and modern technique; and our market to the rest of the world with
unparalleled dedication to hospitality, and unwavering resolve for excellence.
Rooted in classic cocktails(with mischievous twists) that have withstood the test of time, alongside wine
& beer that are storied and exceptional, our beverage program will stand on three pillars that will define
and guide our beginnings as well as our road map.
1. Highlighting exceptional expressions of craftsmanship
2. Honoring innovative and inspiring producers and leaders
3. Honestly representing Minnesota and Mediterranean regionalism
Craftsmanship will always take a back seat to hospitality, and any bespoke cocktail will time and again
fall to the wayside for a pink squirrel if that’s what we know will bring our guests genuine joy and
delight. While we may take pride in getting our hands dirty, bringing to life products that fulfill a creative
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side of us, our first and most important role is to make everyone that walks into our space feel like the
belle of the ball through playful, empathic, and vulnerable hospitality.
On Developing Cocktails
Association & Adaptation are the most straightforward paths to producing a succinct cocktail. There is a
plethora of information regarding flavor pairings, and through experimentation, an individual builds a
personal rolodex of smart combinations. By taking new partnerships, and plugging these expressions into
classic cocktail builds, we can create “new” libations. By taking cocktails that have endured the test of
time and then changing the angle we perceive it, we’ve achieved something personal and impose
ourselves onto said drink.
Deconstruction is an offshoot of the above principles, where we take a concept, isolate the core principles,
and put it back together in a counterintuitive manner. Minimalism takes this process farther, when we
purposefully constrict ourselves to one idea, and then figure out how to express that singular point in as
many ways technique allows us to.
Creativity is extremely hard to articulate. Most people think you have it or you don’t, the former gifted by
divine randomness. This is bullshit.
The pyramid of creativity:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Reproduction
Evolution
Combination
Conceptual creativity
“The more technique you have, the more freedom you can have as a dancer and the better performer you
can be.”
-Twayla Thwarp
Below is a list of expectations as a professional in hospitality .
5/10 Rule
Within 10 feet of a guest, everyone must acknowledge guests non-verbally. Smile, Nod, Salute, et cetera.
Within 5 feet of a guest, everyone must acknowledge guests verbally. Hello, Good Afternoon, How Are
You, Welcome, et cetera.
5 Hellos, 5 Goodbyes
Once a guest has reached a space, all staff within proximity must greet. It is not redundant, it is sincere.
Eye Contact. Smile.
As guests leave the space, all staff within proximity must issue a farewell. It is not redundant, it is sincere.
Eye Contact. Smile.
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Never Let Them See You Sweat (SPREZZATURA)
The chaos gets to all of us. This can never be reflected in our demeanor. You are not an island. Ask for
assistance. The Night will always end; take consolation in it.
Cleanliness
You touch your face, money, or dirty glasses; you go wash your hands. Please practice good hygiene.
Body
There are few things worse than an employee walking around with their arms crossed. You look like you
hate everyone and don’t want to be there. Same goes for hunched shoulders. Back straight, arms at
attention in front or behind. Don’t lurk. Smiling is the only language that universally says you are there to
help. Body language is responsible for 55% of what another person understands about what we’re trying
to communicate with them. The tone of our voices makes 38% and the words we choose make up only
7%*.
*Professor Alber Mehrabian’s famed communication studies at the UCLA in the 70s
Guest Frustration is an Opportunity
If service isn’t going to expectations (for all the reasons), we must not despair and wait for the experience
to disappear. This is an opportunity to build a relationship. Reach out, there is always a solution.
What’ll you have
Do you have 90 minutes to walk through every offering in the house? Probably NOT. It’s our job to have
a plan for our guests before they arrive. This takes knowledge and foresight on our part.
Never Jigger Shots
You look like a dick.
Avoid the Cliches
There are phrases that are incredibly redundant and ugly. To avoid:
Introducing yourself immediately without an emotional investment created through service. Do not say,
“Hi. My name is Marco and I’ll be your bartender tonight.” Wait to introduce yourself until you have
built a rapport with the guest. When you introduce yourself after, it will be understood that you sincerely
want to know them. After dialogue & personalities have been shown, introduce yourself AND your team.
“I’ll grab that for you” is awful. “May I?” or a non-verbal nod towards the empty glass or dish is perfect.
“Are you still working on that?” makes me want to take a rusty butter knife to my forearm and end it all.
“Are you still enjoying the [ITEM IN QUESTION] is good, “May I?” is the best.
“Is everything ok?” We’re in Minnesota; even if it was the worst thing they’ve ever tasted, they would
still tell you that it’s ok. Dig deeper. Read your guests.
Always Face Your Bills
This is one of those things that takes very little time to do, and shows that you give a shit. Giving a guest
an aesthetic stack of bills is beautiful, even if they don’t care. I promise someone is going to notice, and
we do it for them.
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Cut Your Tape
In clear handwriting label, date, and initial everything you bottle/deli. You cut your tape with scissors
because you give a shit and it looks nice.
Sharpie, Wine Service, Lighter
You should have these three items on you at all times.
Non-Gendered Language
“Hey you two / folks / friends / comrades / et cetera” is good. Let’s not assume someone associates with a
certain sex. Let’s call each other out when we stumble and fix our lexicon.
Move Silent
When placing bottles in the recycling or dishes in the bus tub, take a moment to place them softly in the
receptacle. Whenever you do anything, imagine how your actions will affect your guest. Will a loud clunk
accentuate or degrade a moment?
Spot Check
No chipped or spotty glassware. No wax residue on candle holders. No finger marks on silverware. No
blemished menus. Piece of paper on the floor? That’s not someone else's problem, that is your
responsibility. Attention to details elevates our program.
Don’t Shit Talk
Simple. Don’t talk shit about another restaurant or bar program. It’s petty and below us. We’re here to
be ambassadors, and pump up our city, not tear it down.
Four Seasons Rules for Good Conversation
Terry Gross, professional interviewer for NPR, always leads with “Tell me about yourself.” Avoid
pointed questions that assume the information to be true, such as “what do you do for work?” That person
just got fired. That would be awkward. Stay broad, stay open, let the guest steer the conversation to where
you can latch onto something. Be curious. I can respond to what somebody is saying by expressing if I’m
feeling sympathy or empathy, and explaining why. Be fun. Be fun to talk with. Be funny if you’re funny.
This is supposed to be fun. Make fun of yourself if all else fails. Be prepared. Mentally organize your
thoughts, prepare open ended responses. Read the news. You’re not too cool to know something about
what’s happening in the arena of the world. You don’t need to know how basketball works, but you
should probably know that Lebron James is on the Lakers and Kevin Durant ruined the sport by joining
the Warriors. Have an opinion dammit, not something you read from an expert and are regurgitating.
Where are your boundaries? What emotion do you want to elicit from this conversation? Does broaching
a subject have the potential to steer the engagement into a territory that will make both parties
uncomfortable? Worst case scenario, steer the conversation into safety by using “let me tell you about an
experience.” We’re story tellers. If you have to dodge questions, be honest. “I’m afraid by answering that
I’m going to hurt somebody’s feelings and I don’t want to do that.” The only failure is not engaging with
a guest, when they leave without feeling any emotion.
Part Two: Foundational Principles
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To Shake Or Stir
Bond ruined everything. Not Ian Fleming’s Bond, but that asshole Sean Connery. Novel Bond drank
everything, blending into his surroundings while simultaneously staying toasted. Movie Bond is a
stubborn prick who thinks neutral grain spirit shaken to death is civilized. By God though, it sounds really
good---the almost unholy “shaken, not stirred,” when uttered from those gorgeous Scottish lips. 007
wasn’t the only government agent to fuck it up: we can also cite the Volstead Act. Regardless, the art
form that is bartending took a nosedive for almost a century, and the current resurgence is picking up
where we left off. We have nicer tools now and a better understanding of our ingredients, but not much
has changed. The fundamentals & classics have already been developed, and no matter how hard we try
to reinvent the wheel, the past smiles and giggles at us.
Simply, we shake cocktails that contain citrus or dairy; they have a different density point than spirits,
syrups, and other modifiers. The act of shaking mimics osmosis, a process where we’re introducing
oxygen into a negative space; creating a semblance of a whole. Using this method, we also drop the
temperature of the cocktail drastically and introduce needed dilution.
We stir to avoid the above mouthfeel. Similar liquids homogenize easily, and by stirring we’re softly
diluting & chilling. Adding oxygen to a classically stirred cocktail creates a flabby effect, and not a
luxurious one—it’s gross.
How to Build Cocktails
We’ll be using tins for both shaking and stirring. For both techniques, we combine our ingredients in the
smaller tin and fill to the brim with ice.
We build cocktails the same way every time for two reasons. First, if you mess up, the most expensive
ingredient comes in last, and hopefully you’ve caught it before you waste product. Second, if you get
pulled away from your build for a myriad of possible reasons, you can come back to your sequence with
confidence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Citrus
Syrup
Spirit
Modifier
NOTE ON EGGS: When using eggs, crack on guard rail, and either separate the white from the yolk into
the large tin, or when making flips, add the entirety of the egg to the larger tin.
Step by Step
1. Pull and prepare your garnishes.
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2. Build your cocktails. If you have stirred cocktails & shaken cocktails, start with the stirred
cocktails and add ice immediately. You’ve started cooking your drink and can focus on the
shaken cocktail(s).
3. Once we’ve built our cocktails, grab appropriate glassware. Chill using liquid nitrogen if served
up. For long or rocks drinks, do not add ice yet. Wait until the cocktail is ready to be strained.
4. Shake and/or stir till perfection. Shaken cocktails die very quickly and a warm martini is
sacrilege. Get ‘em out.
5. Strain your cocktail.
6. If your cocktail needs a finishing agent (seltzer, wine, beer, et cetera) add now. After topping the
cocktail, slowly draw the ice to homogenize the cocktail. We’ll explain in the Long Drink.
7. Garnish
8. Serve and smile, asshole.
9. Clean your tools and wipe down your work surface. Dirty bartenders will be excommunicated.
How to Shake a Cocktail
After we’ve built our drink and iced the smaller tin, we’ll pour our ingredients into the larger tin and tap
the top base, creating a seal. Do not bang tins--our equipment is really nice and I’d like to keep them for a
while. Bartenders who bang their tins also didn’t get enough attention as children. You’ll half step to a 3
o'clock position (lefties to 9 o’clock) and shake while turned away from the guest. We want to chill and
dilute the cocktail as quickly as possible, and a piston motion is the most effective technique to achieve
this. Ice needs to hit the top and bottom of the tin with gusto, avoid arcing or weird angle changes, and
shake on the same plane. You’ll feel the tin expand, keep shaking until it’s almost too cold to touch.
We’re looking at 15 seconds of vicious shaking, but each person will be able to achieve a maximum
velocity so we’ll work with you personally to perfect your technique. I’m convinced that more dilution
equals a superior cocktail, and while most bartenders shake to a 25%-30% dilution, we’ll be going to
40%-50%. After shaking, taste your cocktail. This is your opportunity to tweak and train your palate.
Citrus changes seasonally, syrups aren’t perfect, brix can vary, even the humidity comes into play. If a
note isn’t popping, take a bar spoon and add 5ml of what the drink needs, and stir in. Taste again, and if it
remains off, the cocktail is trash. Start over. If it’s delicious, strain.
How to Stir a Cocktail
Alrighty, we have the cocktail built in the smaller tin, iced; we’re ready to go. I like stirring more than
shaking, it’s like you’re in a cage match with yourself and losing. While shaken cocktails are usually loud
and have more room for imperfection, stirred drinks have zero margin for error. It’s only your palate that
stands between making a perfect cocktail or swill. Insert bar spoon, grab the base of the tin with your
weaker hand, go Spock [“AS IN LIVE LONG AND PROSPER,” homeboy] with your dominant hand,
invert, and place the bar spoon inside the third ligament in your third finger and second ligament on the
top of your middle finger. From 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock you’ll pull the spoon with the third, and from 6
o’clock to 12 o’clock you’ll push with the second. This should look sexy. There should be little to no
noise as you move the ice—the perfect stir is Zen as fuck. Taste your cocktail often. You’ll stir anywhere
from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The other beautiful part of stirring is that you actually don’t even need to
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stir. If you let that cocktail sit without agitation, eventually, it’ll achieve the same dilution and
temperature as if you were actively stirring. It allows you to build other drinks or shake or shoot the shit
with a guest. Once you’ve hit the perfect point (see above for dilution rules), strain.
Adventures in Egg
Egg white in cocktails have existed since the birth of the cocktail. The texture of egg is glorious, frothy,
and delicious. Egg white can be added to any of the shaken cocktail pillars. The downside of using eggs is
that the acid content within the shaken pillars will start cooking the egg, creating a sulfurous aromatic
after five minutes or so. To combat this, a strong aromatic garnish is required. Another side effect of
incorporating egg white is the drying qualities of the enzymatic structure. A simple addition of 10ml of
syrup fixes this.
Egg yolk has an insane amount of minerality, and it can be off putting to sensitive palates. When using
the whole egg in a cocktail, the rest of the ingredients need to be extremely loud. This is called a Flip.
We will be mime shaking (dry shake) our egg cocktails to emulsify, and shaking with large format ice for
dilution and temperature.
Acid
Citrus is the most important tree fruit in society. It’s been heralded and cultivated since 500 BCE, its
fragrance treated with a religious respect, its tartness used medically for over a thousand years. It’s the
anti-hero of sweetness, the only true applicable ingredient defining balance in shaken cocktails. For the
last five years I’ve fought with it, hated it, tried to replace it, and failed. I am constantly humbled by a
fucking lemon.
Fresh citrus juice litters pre-prohibition cocktail books. Such omni-present classics like the Daiquiri, the
Sidecar, and the Collins are only possible with the proper treatment of these fruits. Since the industrial
revolution, macro-production & introduction of synthetic flavorings, our brightly colored friends were left
in a beleaguered state. Enter the cocktail resurgence: now fresh citrus is universal in craft cocktail bars.
But look back only a few decades, and the mandate of fresh citrus would’ve been laughed at. You’ll find
a bottle of sweet & sour mix and Rose’s Lime Cordial behind the bar of every dive in America. Why?
Because synthetic citrus is cheap, consistent, and shelf stable. The only reason we deal with the fickle
animal is because, when you get it right, it’s perfect.
How We Juice Citrus
We use an electric juicer for volume and consistency. I can get in a fight with you personally about hand
juicing if you’d like to. Each individual lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit is a snowflake. Each have
differing levels of sweetness, acidity, oils, and quantity of terpenes. By juicing in quantity, we create a
product more closely approaching consistency. Depending on the season, geographic location of
production, humidity, et cetera, our citrus will change and we’ll need to account for such changes (see
5ml augmentation in How to Shake). To make matters even more confusing, the stem of the citrus (North
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Pole) versus the blossom (South Pole) embodies another list of variables. The North Pole has a larger
quantity of terpenes and oils, while the majority of acid and sweetness lies in the South Pole.
Start by first setting yourself up with a cutting board and utility knife, a medium sized cambro, and your
case of packer citrus (100 count citrus boxes are for garnishment, we only juice “ugly fruit” AKA packer
citrus). Take each citrus and cut neatly down the middle, tossing the halves into your cambro. We’ll
have citrus pars that fluctuate on season & cocktail menu, so to set yourself up for success & speed, here
is the average quantity of juice per individual unit of citrus:
Lime: 25ml
Lemon: 30ml
Orange: 60ml
Grapefruit: 100ml
After juicing (make sure you wash the juicer when changing what you’re juicing) we’ll strain through a
chinois and bottle our goods. Juice quickly, with one hand pressing the citrus, and the other hand reaching
for your next. A trash located conveniently for tossing is smart. Slow juicers will be excommunicated.
Lime doesn’t taste like lime until around 4 hours after juicing. Lemon starts to smell like shit after 8
hours. For a 5pm start time, idelly we’ll juice lime at 1pm and lemon at 4pm.
Lemon does not taste at all ok the next day. We’ll clarify leftovers for amuses & punches. Lime matures
excellently, so we’ll be using leftover lime during the opening part of the shift, and after we’ve gone
through the dated citrus, we’ll refresh our bottles with that day’s citrus pars. Grapefruit will last 72 hours,
make sure you gravity filter off the pectins that settle to the bottom of delis.
Cocktails that call for only orange or grapefruit (i.e. Blood & Sand or Kentucky Derby) are bullshit.
There’s not enough acid to balance the sugar, and it tastes muddy on the tongue. A combination of
grapefruit & lime and orange & lemon is the answer. For any of the shaken pillars a split ratio can be
made:
20ml Lime or Lemon
Or
15ml Grapefruit or Orange
10ml Lime or Lemon
Fermenting citrus has been used in Northern African cooking for centuries. In the past we’ve added 10%
fermented citrus and saline to all of our juices. Salt acts as a preservative and the fermentation of citrus
brings an incredible umami to our cocktails. It’s pretty fucking neat. Peel bitterness is also water soluble.
Through hot or cold leaching, you are able to create oleos and macerations without adding bitterness to
the end product. Optimal Storage Temperature of Citrus is 55 fahrenheit / 13 celsius.
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Citrus is a crazy world.
A Survey of Citrus
Lime: 1% sugar by weight
North Pole: 6 Brix
South Pole: 7 Brix
Lemon: 2% sugar by weight
North Pole: 4 Brix
South Pole: 5 Brix
Lime: 7% acid by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Lemon: 5% acid by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Lime: Contributing Aroma Notes:
Pine
Spicy
Floral
Lemon: Contributing Aroma Notes:
Floral
Pine
Orange: 10% sugar by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Grapefruit: 6% sugar by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Orange: 1.2% acid by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Grapefruit: 2% acid by weight
North Pole:
South Pole:
Orange: Contributing Aroma Notes:
Floral
Musky (sulfur)
Spicy
Grapefruit: Contributing Aroma Notes:
Musky
Green
Meaty
Metallic
The Modifier
A liqueur consists of spirit, sugar, and water. Alcohol is one of the best preservatives, and through the
process of reverse osmosis, ethanol will extract aroma molecules from whatever you put in it. The process
starts with a high proof spirit, preferably neutral grain spirit, and the matter you wish to extract. You can
macerate fruits, herbs, spices, flowers, or whatever thing you think of. After a duration of time (anywhere
from a few hours to months) you’ll strain your maceration. What you now have is a single ingredient
extract, or what’s known as a tincture. You can combine multiple botanical combinations to your
maceration to magical effect. Pineapple & vanilla, strawberry & rhubarb, ginger & peppercorn are a few
classic marriages.
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Once you have your extract, you’ll need to dilute the product and add sugar to make it palatable. Most
commercial liqueurs are lower than 70 proof, and their sugar content lies anywhere from 10 brix to 65
brix. It’s the wild wild west, and there’s no way of creating a universal ratio when using commercial
brands of liqueurs.
Sugar
The first time we experienced sugar was in our mother’s milk. Sugar is a fundamental pillar of the human
experience and our history. We committed mass genocide & enslaved free men, women, and children to
feed the obsession. All life is dependent on sugar. Greatest drug known to man.
There are two different types of sugar we’ll focus on: fructose and sucrose.
Fructose is found in a variety of fruits & honey. It is the sweeter of the two, and the most soluble in water
(4 parts fructose will dissolve in 1 part room temperature water). Fructose also reaches its melting point
far earlier than sucrose, at around 220° fahrenheit or 105° celsius. Its perceptive sweetness is at its height
at colder temperatures, and is nearly cut in half at warmer beverages averaging 140°F/60°C. On the
palate, the sweetness of fructose is sharp in the beginning and fades quickly.
Sucrose is created in plants through photosynthesis, and we extract it from sugar cane and beets. Due to
recent advances in technology, corn has become a major player through corn syrup in processed foods.
Sucrose starts to melt at 320°F/160°C and caramelize at 340°F/170°C. On the palate, sucrose is slower to
register and lasts longer on the tongue than fructose.
For our fructose syrups, we’ll blend the brix with 50% sucrose. This has been standard practice for a
while now, i.e. cutting honey or agave nectar with simple. We’ll also be cutting our sucrose syrups with
fructose.
Pre-Industrial Sugar Refining:
Clarifying the cane juice (gravity)
Boiling to remove excess water and crystallize
Filter
Washing the crystals from the remaining syrup and drying
Modern sugar refining
Juice sugar cane or beets
Centrifuge off the excess water and syrup leaving the crystals to be dried
Charcoal filter off discoloration
How We Make Syrups
We’ll have two different types of syrups; 50 brix (1:1) & 75 Brix (2:1)
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Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx) is the sugar content of an aqueous solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of
sucrose in 100 grams of solution and represents the strength of the solution as percentage by mass.
1:1 syrups will be used in all shaken cocktails. All four of the shaken pillars of cocktails will contain the
same amount of sugar content to balance out acid content. For modifiers containing sugar content, we’ll
blend to achieve 25 brix for all liqueurs. This allows us to play Potato Head without changing ratios.
To achieve a 1:1 syrup, the quantity of sugar to water needs to be the same. Set yourself up with a large
scale, a mixing vessel, whisk, and two measuring units. Make sure your vessels are dry and don’t have
any kitchen smells (please keep our tools away from the cook’s tools--garlic simple syrup is unpleasant).
First weigh your sugar, and place it in a mixing vessel. Then weigh out your hot water (180°D/82°C is a
fine temperature, we’ll call this teawater) and pour over your sugar. Whisk until fully homogenized.
A good many bartenders make their simple syrup on a stove top. This causes sucrose crystallization and
the bonds become fragmented and create off-flavors, similar to burnt nuts. We don’t do this.
We may occasionally use 2:1 syrups in stirred cocktails so we can better control dilution and temperature.
The process is exactly the same as 1:1, but you use twice the weight of sugar to water. It also takes longer
to homogenize, but a hand immersion blender makes quick work of the arduous task of whisking. To
achieve the same amount of sugar content when using 2:1 syrups, you can modify any cocktail that calls
for 1:1 by simply decreasing volume to 70% of the original recipe.
A Quick Look at Effervescence
We take bubbles for granted, but it’s a pretty recent addition to the dialogue of history. Carbonated water
was first discovered in the late 18th century, when a gentleman named Priestly accidently left a vessel of
still water above a fermenting tank of beer. After stumbling across the bowl, he was surprised by an
animation of bubbles created by excess carbon dioxide saturating and escaping the previously inanimate
water. In the scientific paper he subsequently authored, labeled amusingly Impregnated Water, he
describes this discovery as his “happiest.” A decade plus later, J.J. Schweppes founded the first
commercial enterprise in carbonated beverages. Today, the soda industry is worth over 100 billion
dollars.
How do we get bubbles today? The most organic way is yeast, which produces alcohol and Co2 as Mr.
Priestley found out. The Co2 disperses and releases, evaporating into air. But if you put a cork in the
bottle when the yeast is feeding, Co2 is trapped and dissolves into the surrounding liquid, creating
effervescence. This is how the champagne method works. If there is too much sugar left in the fermenting
beverage, though, the yeast will produce enough Co2 (and therefore pressure) and the bottle will explode.
The secondary method is the charmant method, where we introduce Co2 to a completely fermented
beverage. The pound of pressure per square inch (PSI) will create different levels of carbonation. Co2 will
not saturate in warm temperatures, meaning the colder the liquid we wish to saturate, the more carbonated
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it will become. When you leave an open bottle of Coke in the fridge versus the counter, the fridge cola
will retain carbonation for much longer.
To create the sensation of “fizz”, the Co2 needs to collect and nuclearize. This nuclearization point needs
to be an imperfect space where the waters are calm. To manipulate the desired fizz, many glass makers of
flutes will purposefully create a chipping at the base of the stem. If you see a beautiful stream of bubbles
the next time you raise a glass, this is why. As the Co2 evaporates, the fizz also releases volatile
compounds of polyphenols and terpenes in your beverage. In a long drink, these nuclearization points are
ice. Too many points and your drink goes flat very quickly. Too little and your trigeminal nerve won’t
elicit a strong enough reaction due to lack of aromatics.
Hypothetically, if you placed a carbonated beverage in a perfect glass at a controlled temperature, your
beverage would never go flat! The only time it would fizz is when your tongue was admonished by the
wrath and anger that comes with the lash of thousands of bubbles.
The by-product of carbonation is carbon dioxide, which contains carbonic acid. To balance out acid in
cocktails, we add sugar. For all long drinks, we drop the acid content by 5ml and add 5ml of 50 brix syrup
to balance out the addition of acid created by effervescence.
Alcohol
“Humankind has always had a thirst for alcohol, and now satisfies it with mass-produced drinks that
offer an inexpensive respite from the world and its cares. But some wine and beers and spirits are among
the most finely crafted foods there are, the best that the world can offer. Their flavor can be so rich,
balanced, dynamic, and persistent that they touch the mind not with release from the world, but with a
heightened attentiveness and connection to it.”
-Harold McGee
The reason we’re all here: booze is fucking delicious. Who was the first to look at rotting, bubbling,
oozing fruit and say to themself, “I’m going to try that”. If God wants us to be happy, a good indicator is
yeast. Yeast is everywhere: in tree bark, dead skin, abandoned cars, whore houses, and churches. Yeast
eats sugar, they fuck & reproduce, and excrete ethanol and carbon dioxide. In their hedonistic orgy, they
produce enough bi-product to actually create an environment they can’t survive in, and go dormant. There
are different strains of yeast that create different alcohol by volume, but it can only produce a 40 proof
beverage, tops.
Distillation is possible due to differing evaporation temperatures in water versus ethanol. Water distills at
212 fahrenheit and ethanol at 172.9 fahrenheit. There are few styles of distilling. we’ll touch base on two:
pot & column.
Pot Distillation is where a fermented beverage is placed in a sealed container, usually consisting of copper
or stainless steel, and heated to distillation temperature. Once the ethanol starts to evaporate, it will rise
into a funnel and meet the top of the still where it is considerably cooler, and therefore, condense. Instead
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of dropping back into the sealed container, it flows down the neck into a recipient vessel. This is a
somewhat crude form of distillation, and only after re-distilling the liquid can you achieve 60%-80%
ABV (120-160 proof). The crudeness has its benefits; companion congeners accompany the ethanol on its
journey, which include esters, terpenes, fusel oils, and volatile phenolics. Simply put, flavor.
Pot distillation is a fractured process, and one that is an art form. Methanol and some fusel oils are
poisonous, dangerous, and appear at the beginning and end of distillation. These are called the heads &
tails. When and how much to cut away from the main distillate is up to the head distiller, and drastically
affects the end product.
In Column Distillation, the fermented beverage is fed into the still from the top, and the bottom of the still
is heated from the bottom with steam. Methanol (bad alcohol) will vaporize from all but the top of the
column, while fusel oils and other congeners will condense on plates placed intermittently throughout the
column. Pure ethanol condenses at an intermittent point and is collected separately. When two or more
column stills are working in conjunction, you can produce 90%-95% (180-190 proof) alcohol
continuously. The benefits are speed, efficiency, and an almost pure product. The downside is that your
end product has little flavor.
After distillation, the product will be filtered and diluted for the market. Since we are in control of
dilution when stirring or shaking, we prefer a higher proof spirit of 90 or higher. 80 proof spirits are a
scam. It’s not fucking smooth, it’s fucking 40% ABV.
Aromatics
90% of what we taste is through smell. If you ever had to ingest a sickening medicine, plugging your nose
does wonders.
Your nose receives polyphenols and terpenes (aroma molecules) and deconstructs them in what’s called
olfactory intake. The olfactory nerve is also linked to the trigeminal nerve, which is in turn linked with
memory and emotional responses in your brain. We’ve all experienced an overwhelming moment where a
waft of air sends us into a tumultuous journey down memory lane, transporting you to childhood, an exlover, to a night sitting on a stoop on bourbon street. Smell is such a powerful tool, and one that we need
to constantly incorporate into cocktail creation. What story do we want to elicit?
Part Three: The Pentagram of Cocktails
There are five cocktail ratios that are singular and defined by the ingredients used. There are three
components to a shaken cocktail, two to a stirred cocktail. For shaken cocktails, we balance alcohol, acid,
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and sweetness. For stirred cocktails, we balance alcohol and sweetness. The Pentagram can also be split
into two camps: Shaken & Stirred. The first three points are The Sour, The Daisy, and the Long Drink.
The last two, The Old Fashioned and The Two Tone.
Within the Pillars, there are cousins that fall within its construct.
The Sour / 20 : 20 : 50
The Sour
20ml Citrus
20ml Syrup
50ml Spirit
Glass: Traditionally a Coupe or Nick & Nora
Garnish: Usually a wheel of the citrus used in the build (i.e. lemon or lime)
Instruction: Shake, Strain, Garnish
The Sour is the foundation of all shaken cocktails. The requisites of creating a sour is the balance of three
ingredients: Citrus, Sugar and Spirit.
The citrus component needs to be of a high enough acid content to balance out the sugar. Lemon or lime
can be used interchangeably, but orange, grapefruit, or other fruits don’t have the punch. See the below
citrus rules for balancing citrus blends.
The sugar component can be any syrup, as long as it’s 50 brix. 50 brix with equal parts acid cancels each
other out and creates mouthfeel to perfectly complement the base.
The base can be of any spirit, preferably 90 proof or higher.
Within its construct, these three ingredients have thousands of possibilities
Gimlet
20ml
20ml
50ml
Lime
Simple
Gin
16
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe & Sidecar
Lime Wheel
Shake, Strain, Garnish
Daiquiri
20ml
20ml
50ml
Lime
Simple
Rum
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe & Sidecar
Lime Wheel
Shake, Strain, Garnish
Whiskey Sour
20ml
30ml
50ml
1
Lemon
Unrefined Syrup
Whiskey
Egg White
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Nick & Nora & Sidecar
Aromatic Bitters Swirl
Reverse Mime Shake With Large Format Ice, Strain, Garnish
The Daisy / 20 : 15 : 40 : 10
The Daisy
20ml Citrus
15ml Syrup
40ml Spirit
10ml Liquor
Glass: Traditionally a Coupe or Nick & Nora
Garnish: Usually a wheel of the citrus used in the build (i.e. lemon or lime)
Instruction: Shake, Strain, Garnish
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----------------------The Sour--------------------------------------------The Daisy-----------------------------------
----------------------20ml Acid------------------------------------------20ml Acid-----------------------------------
Same acid content
----------------------20ml Sugar-----------------------------------------15ml Sugar----------------------------------
We drop the syrup by 5ml due to 5ml of sugar content being added by 10 ml of liqueur at 25 brix,
equalling out the sugar content.
----------------------50ml Spirit-----------------------------------------40ml Spirit----------------------------------
We drop spirit content due to the 10 ml of liquor at 80 proof/40% ABV, equalling out the alcoholic
content.
-----------------------0ml Modifier-------------------------------------10ml Modifier-------------------------------
If we can box in the modifier, we can now have a golden ratio for the Daisy. We have achieved
perfection.
Margarita
20ml
15ml
40ml
10ml
Lime
Simple Syrup
Tequila
Orange Liqueur
Glass:
Up: Coupe & Sidecar
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Instruction:
Rocks: Rocks
No Salt or Half Salt
Up: Lime Wheel
Rocks: 3x Fanned Lime Wheels
Shake, Strain, Garnish
Sidecar
20ml
15ml
40ml
10ml
Lemon
Simple Syrup
Brandy
Orange Liqueur
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe & Sidecar
Lemon Wheel
Shake, Strain, Garnish
White Lady
20ml
15ml
40ml
10ml
Lemon
Simple Syrup
Gin
Orange Liqueur
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe & Sidecar
Lemon Wheel
Shake, Strain, Garnish
Rim:
Garnish:
The Long Drink / 15 : 25 : 50 : 75
15ml Citrus
25ml Syrup
50ml Spirit
75ml Bubbles
Glass: Collins
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Garnish: Usually a wedge of the citrus used in the build (i.e. lemon or lime)
Instruction: Short shake, Add seltzer to iced collins, Strain, Garnish
The Long Drink is a Sour with the addition of a sparkling liquid.
John & Tom Collins
The first recording of John Collin’s Collins Punch appears in 1830, spreading from London through the
word of high diplomats, royals, celebrities & admirals frequenting the Garrick club. Before you know it,
“John Collins was following the sun and circling the world” becoming an indispensable summer staple in
American saloons. Telephone is a funny game, and for some reason, in Jerry Thomas’s book released in
1876, it’s solidified in ink as the Tom Collins.
“It’s that echo. In 1874, you see, an annoying bit of tomfoolery began crisscrossing the country. It
couldn’t be any simpler: Turn to the guy standing next to you at the bar and say that you heard Tom
Collins was going around bad-mouthing him and that you just saw said Mr. Collins in a bar around the
corner, down the street, across town, wherever. Exit guy, steaming. At the next place, when he asked for
Mr. Collins, those who were in on the gaga would repeat the procedure. It sounds moronic, but judging
from newspaper accounts of the high jinks that ensued - only a few of them fatal - it worked.”
-David Wondrich
Tom Collins
15ml
25ml
50ml
75ml
Lemon
Simple Syrup
Gin
Seltzer
Glass:
Garnish:
Instructions:
Collins
3x Fanned Lemon Wheels
Short Shake, Add Seltzer To Iced Collins, Strain, Garnish
Mojito
15ml
25ml
50ml
75ml
Lime
Simple Syrup
White Rum
Seltzer
Muddle:
Glass:
5-8 Mint Leaves
Collins
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Garnish:
Instructions:
Mint Bouquet, Menthol Spritz, and 2 Dashes Aromatic Bitters
Short Shake, Add Seltzer To Iced Collins, Strain, Garnish
Relatives of the Long Drink
A Quick Look at Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wine has acid, sugar, and alcohol. To Fit into the parameters of the Long Drink, we’ll need to
decrease not only the citrus, but spirit and sugar content as well.
French 75 / 15 : 20 : 40 : 75
15ml
Lemon
20ml
Simple
40ml
Gin
75ml
Sparkling Wine
Glass:
Garnish:
Instructions:
Flute
Wire Cage, Edible Flower, Lemon Spritz
Short Shake, Add Sparkling Wine to Flute, Strain, Garnish
A Quick Look at Wine Fortification
When we add a vermouth, sherry, sake, or other low proof aperitivos to the long drink, we’re creating a
Sling. Aperitivos have sugar and alcohol, and a decrease in syrup and spirit is necessary to fit into the
parameters of the Long Drink.
Sling / 15 : 20 : 40 : 15 : 75
15ml
Lemon
20ml
Simple
40ml
Gin
15ml
Aperitivo
75ml
Seltzer
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Collins
Pineapple Frond
Short Shake, Add seltzer to iced collins, Strain, Garnish
The Old Fashioned / 50 : 2 : 5
50ml Spirit
2 Dashes Bitters
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10ml Syrup
Glass: Rocks
Ice: Large Format
Garnish: Citrus Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Instruction: Build over ice in order, Stir, Garnish
Cocktail history was written on cocktail napkins, or pre-prohibition versions of cocktail napkins. Where
did the word cocktail come from? A stick of ginger shoved up a lame horse’s ass to make the mare more
appealing? The flaming tail feathers of a cock ready for battle? A famed New Orleans joint that served a
tipple in a french egg cup, or coquetier, and immediately shortened for speed of inebriation? It doesn’t
really matter. I like all of these stories. What is important is the realization that a cocktail pre-prohibition
was not an umbrella term for mixed drinks, but an actuall category of cocktails that we now call “The Old
Fashioned”.
You could order a gin cocktail, a brandy cocktail, a whiskey cocktail, et cetera. The basics of the formula
is spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. An improved cocktail was the addition of a splash of a modifier, like
absinthe or orange liqueur. During the dark ages of the cocktail, bathtub gin & other poorly made spirits
needed strong elixirs to mask the off flavors. If you look at the era’s cocktails, pineapple, grenadine,
honey, sodas, and other obtuse sweeteners litter recipes throughout the 1920s & 1930s. The old timers
that made is through the madness would look at the relatively prepubescent bartenders that now stood
before them, and would ask “I’d like a whiskey cocktail, the old fashioned way.” Telephone that over a
few decades.
Old Fashioned
50ml
Whiskey
2 Dashes
Aromatic Bitters
5ml
Unrefined Syrup
Glass:
Ice:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Rocks
Large Format
Orange Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Build over ice in order, Stir, Garnish
Sazerac
50ml
2 Dashes
5ml
Whiskey
Peychaud's Bitters
Unrefined Syrup
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Glass:
Rinse:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Rocks, Iced
2ED Absinthe
Lemon Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Ice your rocks glass, Rinse with absinthe, Stir, Discard iced glass, Strain, Garnish
Improved Gin Cocktail
50ml
Gin
2 Dashes
Orange Bitters
5ml
Simple Syrup
2.5ml
Absinthe, Orange Liqueur, or Maraschino
Glass:
Ice:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Rocks
Large Format
Orange Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Build over ice in order, Stir, Garnish
The Two Tone / 50 : 25
50ml Spirit
25ml Aromatized and Fortified Wine
2 Dashes Bitters (Optional)
Glass: Coupe or Martini
Garnish: Whatever the Guest Wants
Instruction: Stir, Strain, Garnish
I could write about the history and anguish of this cocktail (and probably will once I don’t have a
deadline) for a very long time. It’s a perfect drink, a litmus test of a bartender’s worth, and the most
disputed.
Martini
50ml
25ml
1 Dash
Gin
Bianco Vermouth
Orange Bitters (Optional)
Glass:
Martini
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Garnish:
Instruction:
Lemon Disc, Expressed, Discarded, Float Olive
Stir, When You Think You’re Done Stir Longer, Strain, Garnish
The only thing that everyone agrees on is that the Manhattan was made in New York. Was it invented by
Winston Churchill’s mother at the Manhattan Club? Black” from the Manhattan Inn? A tramp bellying up
to the bar ordering “a nice whiskey cocktail with a little wine in it”? Who fucking knows, but the
Manhattan’s ubiquity is undeniable and we’re thankful for that.
Manhattan
50ml
25ml
2 Dashes
Whiskey
Rosso Vermouth
Aromatic Bitters
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Stemmed Nick & Nora or Coupe
Orange Disc, Expressed, Discarded, Float Cherry
Stir, Strain, Garnish
Relatives of the Two Tone
Martinez
45ml
15ml
10ml
5ml
1 Dash
Gin
Dry Vermouth
Sweet Vermouth
Maraschino
Orange Bitters
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe
Lemon Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Stir, Strain, Garnish
Vieux Carre
30ml
20ml
20ml
5ml
4 Dashes
2 Dashes
Whiskey
Brandy
Rosso Vermouth
Benedictine
Angostura
Peychauds
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe
Orange Peel, Expressed, Inserted
Stir, Strain, Garnish
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The Negroni: I’m a sucker for the original spec. I think it’s delicious, but I like bitter. For those inching
into the esoteric, try the negroni with the stepladder spec (see Black Manhattan).
Negroni / 25 : 25 : 25
25ml
Gin
25ml
Rosso Vermouth
25ml
Red Bitter Aperitivo
Glass:
Ice:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Rocks
Chunk
Orange Peel, Expressed, Discarded, Halved Orange Wheel
Stir, Strain, Garnish
The Black Manhattan is a pretty weird drink. Originally 2 parts whiskey & 1 part Amaro, it’s sickly sweet
and out of balance. By creating a step-ladder ratio, though, it comes into harmony and approaches(?)
perfection. This is probably the most riffed stirred cocktail variance in modern bartender. It’s meant to be
deconstructed and put together. Try splitting the base (brandy, scotch, et cetera), split the vermouth
(sherry, port, rancio sec, et cetera), split the amaro (cynar, fernet, nonino, et cetera) and suddenly you
have a plethora of “originals.”
Black Manhattan / 30 : 25 : 20
30ml
Whiskey
25ml
Rosso Vermouth
20ml
Amari
Glass:
Garnish:
Instruction:
Coupe
Orange Disc, Expressed, Discarded, Dehydrated Orange Wheel
Stir, Strain, Garnish
Spirits
Vodka
Originating in eastern Europe, arguments over when vodka was first distilled go back and forth. Needless
to say, it most likely occurred between the 8th and 9th century in either Russia or Poland and is a staple in
eastern European culture to this day. Largely unknown outside of eastern Europe until the early-mid 20th
century (it was viewed as a drink of the lower-class), vodka rose to fame thanks to some great marketing
25
tactics from spirit producers and pop culture producers. At the end of the 20th century, with the
introduction of the Martini bar & the Cosmopolitan via Sex and the City it blew up even more.
Vodka, being the most simplistic of all distilled beverages, is a neutral flavored distillate of (primarily)
fermented cereal grains. Occasionally it will be made from other products such as potatoes, sugar beets
and even honey by a select few distillers. In most cases being a neutral tasting spirit, it has inspired many
to take advantage of its blank canvas and infuse or add extracts/essence to it in order to make it more
exciting and promotable. While there may be subtle nuances from one brand to the next, it’s safe to say
that there aren't different styles of vodka other than what its producers decide to make their respective
mash out of. Vodka is vodka. Everyone’s opinion is right, because it’s just that, an opinion.
Gin
Before Stoli Razz and the infinite array of flavored vodkas that now line our liquor stores walls there was
Gin, and before gin there was Genever. Like just about every other spirit known to man we can’t point to
an exact date of its creation, but juniper based drinks in one fashion or another can be traced back all the
way to the 14th century during the height of the bubonic plague (juniper based drinks were consumed in
hopes of avoiding the death). Fast forward a few centuries and juniper spirits had turned into a more
leisurely beverage amongst the European community. Some might say too leisurely. Consumed far too
often by the British we saw the “Gin Craze” hit the Island, turning the city upside down so to speak. The
“Gin Acts” were put in place to try and regulate the production and consumption of gin not only for
health reasons, but for the sake of a functioning society. The Gin Acts were put in place by the wealthy to
keep the Proletariat, the lower classes that they exploited for profit, in check. New “Gin Acts” were put
into place and ignored for years, even as temperance movements began popping up in hopes of silencing
the gin drinkers. With time, consumption naturally tapered off to a moderate enough level where citizens
were able to live functional lives once more. Gin, from its birth, has seen many new faces, all depending
on where it was being made and who it was being made by.
There are three ways to make gin and four different styles:
Compounded
Extracts are added to NGS to create the flavor profile of gin.
Percolated
Super old school and not used anymore, but you’d take botanicals and wash NGS through it.
London Dry
This is the right way to make gin, NGS and botanicals distilled together in harmony. There are three
different ways to make London Dry Gin:
Cooked Juniper
You take botanicals and macerate them with NGS over a period of time, then distill the juice and
dilute. This creates a robust pine style.
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Gin Head
The botanicals of the gin are suspended above NGS inside the still. As the ethanol evaporates, the
vapor will extract aroma molecules as it passes the botanical basket on it’s way to condensation.
This will create a very light aroma structure and a more accessible product.
Vacuum
Distilled in a vacuum environment, very cutting edge with promising results. Really expensive
and low yield.
Dutch Genever
As alluded to in the name, Dutch Genever was created in the Netherlands and is the mother of all Gin. If
we’re being specific it’s the burly, tough mother whose rough exterior is matched only by her biting and
surly attitude. Genever was thought to have been originally created for medicinal purposes thanks in part
to the herbs and botanicals such as juniper that were added to the original distillate. Unlike other styles of
gin, Genever is made by distilling malt wine which contributes a much more rustic and full bodied flavor
and mouthfeel to Genever. There are two important styles of Genever to be aware of which are Oude
(old) and Jonge (young). Referring to them as such has no correlation with the age of the spirit or barrel
resting, but pertain to the distillate they are made from. Oude Genever refers to the traditional malt wine
style while Jonge can have other cereal grains as well as sugar based ferment in its mash. This is because
as time went on and distilling practices became more advanced we were able to distill spirits to a higher
proof, making a cleaner, crisper final product. The Great War also contributed to this switch due to a lack
of some cereal grains (including malt) forcing producers to find alternative starch and sugar sources to
ferment.
London Dry Gin
To be precise, London Dry Gin has to be made at no less than 37.5% ABV and has to have the dominant
flavor of juniper. Many producers will import their NGS from separate producers that make the NGS to
their specificities and then re-distill it for flavor. Some distillers will let their botanical cocktail steep in
the NGS and then redistill it, some will throw everything in the still right away and then re-distill, while
others will hang the botanicals in a basket above the still and when the alcohol vapor passes through the
basket the essence of the botanical will be picked up in the distillation. Some common botanicals you
will find in London Dry gins are coriander, cardamom, peppercorn, citrus peel, cinnamon, caraway,
angelica, and of course juniper.
Modern Gin
Defining modern gins can be tough. While London Dry gins need to have a dominant flavor of juniper,
modern gins only need to adhere to having “a flavor of juniper”. This legislature is incredibly open ended
on what constitutes a gin. This is great on a creative level but makes pinning down modern gin styles
fairly murky territory. Many distillers have broken away from the constructs created by our friends
across the pond, and have been having too much fun stretching what defines gin.
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Old Tom Gin
Popular in Britain in the 18th and 19th century, Old Tom Gin was a slightly sweetened gin that is more
similar to London dry than their Genever predecessor. It is also sometimes aged. In the last few years it
has seen a comeback thanks to brands such as Hayman’s and Ransom spirits.
Plymouth
No longer applicable, but Plymouth gin had its own DOC. Made zero sense.
A Very Abbreviated History of Rum
Europe was introduced to sugar in the 12th century, and the demand skyrocketed. The Caribbean climate
is not particularly suited for tobacco (England's main cash crop at the time) but sugar cane grows
abundantly. To till the land, cheap labor was needed, and the slave trade was developed.
Sugar
To make granulated white sugar, cane or beets are broken down and boiled at low temperatures to remove
moisture. Sucrose crystals formulate and are separated, leaving behind the by-product molasses. The
crystals are further refined through repeated runs in centrifuges and turbines. Turbinado sugar is
somewhat of a misnomer since it's a process, not a type of sugar. Demerara sugar is made from the first
pressings of the refining process, or “raw”. Brown sugar is granulated white sugar with molasses added
back in. Muscovado is the product before the sucrose has been crystallized and removed with as little
refining as possible. Plantation slaves learned that the “waste” that was molasses could be fermented into
alcohol, and later distilled, which led to rum's birth in the Caribbean, 17th century.
Demerara
This is a type of cane sugar with a fairly large grain and a pale amber color. It has a pleasant
toffee flavor.
Sucanat
Made from crystallized pure cane sugar, this truly unrefined sugar retains a higher proportion of
molasses than other types of cane sugars. It has an intense, rather burnt taste that can be jarring.
Muscovado
Another cane sugar, this one has a very moist texture and a strong molasses favor.
Jaggery
This sugar is typically made from palm, coconut, or java plants and comes compressed into a
patty cake or cone. It has an earthy, sweet flavor
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Piloncilo
Similar to jaggery, this uniquely Mexican sugar, has a strong and almost-smoky molasses flavor.
What is Rum?
Anything distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane by-product, rum is produced all over the world
with extreme contrast in flavors and techniques.
Rum Aging
Each region uses different barrels. Re-charred Bourbon and Cognac casks are the most universal,
sometimes new white oak. The Solera system is the practice of transferring young spirit into older
batches. Developed by sherry producers, the master blenders used this technique to create a uniform
product and a more balanced end result. Unlike scotch where the youngest entity of the bottle is the age
statement, rums follow the spanish tradition. This means that the age statement on most bottles of rum are
the age of the oldest drops in the blend (some countries ban this practice as it’s not very couth).
Haut Goût
Rum has come a long way since 1724, when Ned Ward, a London writerturned-bar-owner — so not a dumb man, our Mr. Ward — labeled it
"damn'd Devil's piss." These days if you pick up a bottle of, say,
Angostura 1919 or Appleton Estate 12 Year Old and pour some in a glass,
you'll have a hard time finding even a hint of, uh, "piss." Smooth, rich,
clean, and tasty, it's about as pleasant a spirit as you can hope to find. But
back when it was young, rum was possessed of a certain "haut goût."
Derived from the French phrase for the "high taste", game meats develop
when they're hung up to mature before cooking — and by "mature," we
mean "rot" — haut goût used to be a term of art in the rum trade to
describe the sulfurous, funky tang that raw-sugarcane spirits throw off.
For 300 years, rum distillers have sought ways first to tame and then to
eliminate it: high-proof distillation (more alcohol equals less haut goût),
filtering, tweaking the fermentation, long aging in barrels — all very
effective, particularly when used in combination. Perhaps too effective.
There's always been another way of taming that hogo, and it begins with
limes and sugar. While they're not miracle workers, in all but the most
extreme cases — the bottle of raw Haitian busthead we once purchased
in deepest Brooklyn comes to mind — they have an amazing ability to
turn that funk around, to make ugly sexy. They're like beer goggles for
rum. In fact, mixed with sugar and lime juice, a rough, funky rum is often
better than a smooth, pleasant one. Mixed up in the traditional way,
suave, hogoless sipping rums can be distinctly underwhelming, and some
rum drinkers are beginning to recognize that, as the new popularity in
cocktail circles of rhum agricole from Martinique and cachaça from
Brazil, both traditionally hogo-rich styles, attests.
Hogosity. (If that wasn't a word before, it is now.)
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-David Wondrich
THE REPROGRAMMING OF THE DISGUST MECHANISM
Three Umbrellas of Rum
Ron
Spanish Colonial: Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. White Ron (sometimes aged for one to two
years, sometimes not) best suited for the gateway rum drinker. Anejo is aged up to twelve years,
for scotch drinkers jumping ship or to add complexity to difficult drinks like a zombie.
Rum
English Colonial: St. Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados, and Guyana. Lot's of contrast. Light gold, and
dark are usually used as the distinguishing labels. Vanilla, butterscotch, with Jamaica taking the
cake for dark and dirty. Traditionally pot distilled and their age statement usually following
scotch rules.
Rhum
French Colonial: Martinique, Saint Martin, and Haiti specializing in Rhum agricole. Produced
from 100% pressed sugarcane juice; hardcore vegetal, grass, and smoke. It's got the funk. Rhum
industriel and rhum traditionnel are produced with the molasses by-product. The French oak give
these rhums a distinctive nutty flavor opposed to the vanilla forward American oak. Cognac
tradition and aging laws.
Agave
The national treasure of Mexico, Agave and the beautiful spirits it has birthed have begun to flourish in
the last few decades thanks to producers and passionate ambassadors of tequila who have made it their
goal to spread the gospel of 100% agave spirits and rid the blemished reputation that some products have
brought upon the category as a whole. Agave based spirits come from a fermented mash of the Pina, the
heart of the agave plant. This fermented mash shouldn't be confused with pulque which is made from the
fermented sap of the agave. Pulque, a milky somewhat viscous liquid with a vegetal, sour, and sometimes
yeasty taste consumed in Mexico. It is often flavored with other fruits to give it more depth. Tequila
lovers are avid about only drinking 100% agave spirits and rightfully so. The difference between 100%
agave spirits and mixto products are quite noticeable. The sugars from the agave plant are fructose based
as opposed to sucrose. Not only do our bodies metabolize these sugars in a different way, but they also
taste different and react to heat/cold in different ways. With a 100% agave spirit there is continuity in the
sugar structure but in mixto products only 51% of the fermented mash has to be made from agave while
the rest can be comprised from other sugar sources. This means that mixto producers can add 49% NGS,
caramel coloring, and artificial flavors to keep costs down. We don’t fuck with mixtos.
Styles of Agave Spirit
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Tequila: We all know tequila. It’s amazing whether you're having a bright, citrus forward, and vegetal
blanco or a rich anejo, bursting with vanilla, orange, and butterscotch. Tequila, like Cognac, is required to
be produced at a designated point of origin. All of the tequila in the world must be produced from Jalisco
and a handful of its surrounding states, those being: Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Michoacán, and Guanajuato. It
also needs to be 100% Blue Weber Agave.
Making any agave spirit takes patience on both ends. Agave plants can take up to 10+ years to reach
proper maturity and will be checked frequently by a Jimador to make sure they’ve ripened properly.
Once they are ready to be harvested, the Jimador will cut off all of the plants long leaves and take the
Pina, which will then be treated by either cooking or steaming, converting the sugars for fermentation.
The Pinas will then be crushed in a thong, or toma (old school and delicious), to collect the juice for
fermentation. Depending on the producer, some of the crushed agave will be thrown back into the
fermenting juice to give it a little heavier agave taste. Either pot distillation or Column distillation is
acceptable, but create very different products.
Agave, like grapes, have inherent terroir.
Styles of tequila
Blanco: Most Blanco tequila’s are bottled straight after or shortly after distillation
and proofing occurs, although they are allowed by law to be aged for up to 60 days in oak.
Reposado
Must be aged for a minimum of two months in oak barrels.
Anejo
Must be aged for a minimum of 1 year in oak barrels.
Extra Anejo
Must be aged for a minimum of 3 years and many age up to 5 years.
Barrels Used
Most barrels used for the aging of Tequila are ex Bourbon or Brandy Barrels.
Mezcal
There are 3 easy differences to point out between the mezcal and tequila. The first is that Mezcal has its
own specific production regions just as tequila does. They are Oaxaca, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero,
San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Michoacan, and Puebla. Oaxaca is the hub of all Mezcal
production and accounts for well over 50% of all that is made. The second difference to note is that
Mezcal does not need to come exclusively from the Blue Weber agave plant as tequila does. There are in
fact over 30 different varieties of the agave the Mezcal can be made out of. The last difference is the
production. Many tequilas are now being industrialized as far as production goes in order to keep up with
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its growing demand. Many Mezcal producers have the luxury of sticking to old time production methods
due to a lower demand. A particular method to note between the two is that the Pinas of tequila are baked
inside a large pressure cooker prior to crushing, while Mezcal’s Pinas are roasted in pits which give them
their characteristically smoky and earthy notes.
Raicilla
A newer product to the U.S. and worldwide, this Agave spirit was once considered the moonshine
equivalent of agave spirits, but the producers at Venenosa legitimized Raicilla when they created their
own legally recognized brand. This spirit is made in Jalisco, Mexico and like its cousin spirit Mezcal,
Raicilla can also be made from different varieties of agave.
Whiskey
Books have been dedicated to each individual style of whiskey, so it hardly makes sense to pretend that
we will even scratch the surface of what whisk(e)y really is. What’s important is that we have a general
understanding of what is in the glass.
Whisk(e)y is a general term for any spirit distilled from cereal grains. This can include wheat, rye, corn,
and barley/malted barley. Directly below this very broad umbrella term comes the following styles of
whiskey which all have their own rules and regulations to be followed to be labeled accordingly:
Scotch Whisky
Scotch Whisky (spelled Whisky, not Whiskey) can only be be produced in Scotland with the use of
malted barley, although other cereal grains can be used as well. (Small side note for anyone who isn’t
familiar with malting: It is the process of essentially tricking barley into germinating without setting roots
in order for it to have fermentable starch and sugars. Put simply, one has to soak barley until it sprouts,
and then halt the process by drying it out in a kiln.) The initial distillate has to be removed from the still
at 130-140 proof, bottled at no less than 40% ABV, as well as having to be aged for at least three years, in
oak casks in Scotland. The most common barrels used are Ex-Bourbon barrels but Sherry barrels are also
a popular second option. Not only are there different styles of Scotch, but there are DOCs within
Scotland. The five Scotch producing regions are the Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Campbeletown and
the Islay. The Highlands and Islay, in particular, are known for peaty and salty/briny scotches, while
speyside and the lowlands have a more subtle fruit forward and nutty style of Whisky. The specific styles
of Scotch are as follows:
Single malt: Can only be produced in pot stills from one distillery using malted barley. Single
malts can only be blended with other whisky following the same recipe, and any age statements refers to
the youngest liquid in the bottle
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Single Grain
Single grain Whisky’s have to be produced at the same distillery but can use other grains other
than just malted barley
Blended Scotch
Blended Scotch is a blend of two or more single malt scotches fromt the same distillery.
Blended Grain
A blend of single grain scotches from more than one distillery
Blended Malt Whisky
A blend of two or more single malts from different distilleries
Irish Whiskey
A bit less complex than its Scottish neighbours, Irish whiskey is more simply defined in regard to
regionality and styles. It must be produced and aged in Ireland, distilled between 60-70% ABV and aged
for no less than three years in 185 gallon barrels. While malted barley is still used in Irish whiskey, we
also see unmalted barley along with corn, wheat and rye. While most scotches are double distilled, Irish
whiskey gets its characteristically “smooth” taste and mouthfeel from triple distillation in column stills
more often than pot stills. The breakdown of Irish whiskey is as follows:
Blended Irish Whiskey
Blends of different Irish whiskies that may be from different grains.
Single Grain
Irish whiskey that has been made in a single distillery but can contain a blend of different grain
sources. Typically distilled in column stills.
Single Malt
Irish whiskey made at a single distillery using a mash of only malted barley and distilled in a pot
still.
Single Pot Still
Irish whiskey made from a blend of malted and unmalted barley, from one distillery and distilled
exclusively in a pot still.
Canadian Whisky
Regulations on making Canadian whiskey are far looser than most other whiskies world wide. The only
real specifications are that it has to be produced within Canada, bottled at 40% ABV and aged at least 3
years. There are no specifications about what it has to be distilled to, what it can be aged in, or what its
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mash bill has to contain. Usually it’s a blend of lower and higher proofed rye with some corn to give it a
more body and flavor. These regulations, or lack thereof, make it much easier to pump out from a
production standpoint.
American Whiskey
American Whiskey is arguably the most diverse of all styles of whiskey in terms of what it can be made
out of and its array of production styles. The few regulations that they share as a whole is that they must
be distilled between 60-80% ABV, be stored in new, freshly charred, American oak barrels, and bottled at
no less than 40% ABV. From there on out they all have their own select rules to adhere to.
Bourbon
Bourbon whiskey is required to be made from a grain mash that consists of at least 51% corn, comes out
of the still at no higher than 160 proof and put into new American white oak barrels for aging at no more
than 125 proof. Since Bourbon and almost all other American whiskeys can only be aged in new barrels,
producers of other spirits/beer/wine will use the casks after use. It is a misconception that Bourbon has to
be made in Bourbon County, or even in Kentucky for that matter. It just has to be made in the U.S. and it
must follow the proper mashbill, ABV proofing and any further aging requirements.
Rye & Wheat Whiskey
Both follow the same rules as Bourbon in regards to aging and having to use 51% of their names
respective grain mash bill. Thanks to the cocktail renaissance, Rye whiskey is seeing a comeback,
particularly as a whiskey that can stand on its own two feet instead of just a whiskey intended for
blending. Wheat whiskey is most often seen in blends though.
Tennessee Whiskey
Tennessee whiskey, like bourbon must be aged for at least 2 years in new American oak barrels, and
made from 51% corn. It differs in the fact that it must be made in Tennessee and filtered through
charcoal after distillation. [AND THAT CHRIS STAPLETON WROTE A HIT COUNTRY TUNE
ABOUT IT] Charcoal filtration strips most of the flavor from the whiskey and creates a “smoother”
beverage.
Corn Whiskey
When the first settlers arrived in America, corn was abundant and easy to grow--so this was the first style
of whiskey made in the Americas. It has to be made from 80% corn and is usually un-aged. If it is aged
though it is usually for no longer than 6 months or so, and it doesn’t have to be in a new American oak
barrel, it can be aged in a used one.
Japanese Whisky
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Scotch Whisky has been highly influential in the production of Japanese Whisky. So much so that the
Japanese initially planned the location of their distilleries based on locations similar to that of Scotland’s
climate and terrain. They also have an affinity for single malt whiskys. A majority of what they produce
though happens to be blends, and while they are becoming more liberal about sharing in recent years,, the
structure of distillery ownership in the past led to a lack in potential creativity in their blends. In Japan,
the whiskey companies own the distilleries and the blended brands--because of this they like to keep their
secrets close, but it also means there is a lot of other juice on the market they aren’t privy to using to
bolster their own personal blends. I digress. They have gotten better about this however, and regardless of
their secrecy, Japanese whiskies are beautiful and have a full range of styles from floral and fruity all the
way over the peaty/briny styles.
Brandy
Brandy goes back to the 16th century, when a Dutch trader was exploring ways to make wine that could
withstand the long journey from France to the northern countries of Europe without going spoiling. He
discovered that by removing the water from wine, it could be fortified enough to travel a great distance,
and then once he arrived at his destination, he would then add the water back.This product was originally
called Brandwijn or “Burnt Wine.” As you you might guess, this was the beginning of the distillation
revolution.
Brandy is a wine based distillate, and while it is most often associated with grapes, it can extend to any
fruit based fermentation as a base.
Styles of Brandy
Cognac
By French law, the Cognac region in the southwest of France, is the only place Cognac can be made.
Made in Cognac is one of the few spirits that has a (DOC). Within the larger region of Cognac there lie 6
different appellations: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borders, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, and Bois
Ordinaries. These designated appellations refer to the quality and type of soil that the grapes are grown
in. Chalky and clayey soil is preferred, which can be found in the greatest abundance in the Grand and
Petite champagne appellations, while some of the outlying appellations have sandier soil. Strict laws have
been set in place in regards to the wine used to produce Cognac, as well as how long and what it can be
aged in. 90% of Cognac has to be made from Ugni blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes & distilled
twice in a copper pot still. Once distilled it has to be aged for a minimum of 2 years in new French
Limousin casks, although many Cognacs are aged far longer than that.
Armagnac
A lesser known brandy producing region in the southwestern city of Gascony, France, Armagnac was
actually produced 200 years before cognac, but was never made on the same quantity as Cognac, and
hence didn't gain the same global attention. The 3 appellations within the region are called Bas-
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Armagnac, Armagnac Tenareze and Haut-Armagnac. There has been a recent addition to this list as
Blanche D’armagnac which produces and un aged brandy has been added as an appellation. The mash in
which Armagnac can be produced from can come from 10 different grapes but the important ones to
know are Colombard, Folle Blanche, Ugni Blanc and Baco 22A. Unlike Cognac, Armagnac traditionally
uses column stills instead of pot stills in its distillation process and only goes through one distillation in
that column still instead of two distillations like Cognac.
A brief word on labeling Cognac & Armagnac
The French have a special labeling system to indicate how long each of their respective Brandies have
been aged for. To clarify, when the French say that something has been aged for 4 years it means that the
youngest liquid is 4 years not the oldest. With many rums the opposite holds true which can be very
misleading to consumers. The grading scale for Cognac/Armagnac is as follows:
V.O.(Very Old): Everything in the bottle has been aged 4 years
V.S.(Very Special): Brandy has been aged a minimum of 2 years
V.S.O.P.(Very Special Old Pale): The youngest cognac must be 4 years(though
often is older) and 5 years for Armagnac
Napoleon: Cognac that is 4 years old or armagnac that is 6 years old
X.O.(Extra Old): Congac that is aged a minimum of 10yrs
Varietal: Cognac that is made from only one grape varietal
Vintage: When a single years grape harvest goes into a single bottle of Cognac/
Armagnac
Hors d’Age: Really fucking old juice
Cru: Designates a specific region where the brandy was made
Pisco
An un-aged brandy made in the Southern American countries of Peru and Chile. It was brought to them
by the Spanish who were looking for an alternative to their pomace brandies from back home. Distillation
of Brandy in South America starts around the 17th century but at the time was mostly performed in order
to preserve wines. The muscat grape is an important varietal between both countries’ wine base. Peruvian
Pisco has to be distilled in pot stills and has to be bottled without any additional diluting which puts
pressure on the distiller to get it right the first time. Chilean Brandy must be made from grapes that have
been grown by the distillers and must be labeled based on the proof of the spirit. The raw and
untamed/un-aged brandy made in Chile and Peru are fiery, floral and funky. While probably not the best
way to try and convert newcomers right out of the gate, Pisco is a beautiful spirit that never lacks spunk.
Singani
A Bolivian pomace brandy made from Muscat grapes. It is known as the national spirit of Bolivia.
Grappa
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(Pomace Brandy) - Grappa is a uniquely Italian Pomace brandy that is known for having an extremely
funky nose with barnyard aromas and taste, especially when un-aged, as it usually is. A pomace brandy is
a distillate made from the leftovers of wine making process which can include leftover pressed grape
juice, stems, seeds, and the skins. Pomace brandies roots are in Spain and Italy so it’s not hard to find
other versions of it (such as Singani) in Southern American countries that were colonized by the
Spaniards and Italians. While there are many pomace brandies made all around the world, in order to be
called Grappa, three specific guidelines must be met:
1. It must be produced in Italy, San Marino or the Italian part of Switzerland.
2. It must be produced from Pomace
3. Fermentation and distillation have to be done on the pomace without the addition of any
additional water
Apple brandy/Calvados
Apple brandy and Calvados are both Eau-de-vie, distilled from Apples (duh). Over 200 varietals of apples
are used to produce all of the apple brandies made around the world, so I leave discovering all of them up
to you! They usually are not apples that you or I would eat, however. Much like the acidic grapes used
for brandy, the same principle holds true for many apple brandies. Calvados is the Cognac equivalent in
the apple brandy world. It can only be made in the Normandy region of France and has to be aged at least
2 years in French Limousine casks. It saw its international recognition soar during WWI, when phylloxera
destroyed most of France’s grape vines, in turn lowering the production of grape brandy. Calvados
producers saw their opportunity and jumped on it.
Eau-de-vie
Any variety of fruit-wine based distillate outside of grape wine. Eastern Europe is well known for having
numerous high quality eau-de-vie. Clear Creek distillery in Portland Oregon is also renowned for their
line of Eau-de-vie.
Vermouth
The first time I remember tasting vermouth, we were stumbling from Trastevere through Old City in
Rome, searching for a bar called the Jerry Thomas Project. It was proving extremely difficult. The streets
were eerily empty that evening, and the few people we summoned for directions seemed puzzled by our
request. It didn’t particularly matter, Rome has a way of making time lost seem not all that important in
the first place. We walked across cobblestone streets, through plazas, and talked about what we wanted to
become.
Maria really wanted to work with the bears. She was spitting out facts as fast as a Google search about
different species, from the unique traits of the marsican, to the average weight of the American grizzly, or
how deep the polar bear could dive. I laughed listening to her, she was so happy, a glow in her eyes as she
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waxed poetically about the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, a place she’d never been. Maria abruptly
punched me in the ribs, admonishing me, trying to keep a straight face.
And then, miraculously, we arrived. I tried to explain to the large bouncer in a poor fitting suit that I
didn’t feel safe. “Abuse!”
He must have had a sense of humor, because I probably wouldn’t have let us in.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust as we slunk into a delicious sofa. The bar was beautiful. As
we settled in and my ribs stopped throbbing, a comically appropriate dressed bartender popped a squat
next to us as we ordered libations. He could tell I was American from the accent, and switched to English
to save me from embarrassing myself. Our trip was not in vain. I was now the one with glowing eyes, as
we talked amari, the Futurists, and Italian hospitality.He tilted his head slyly, looked behind his back and
swooned “I want to show you something.”
We sauntered to a musty back room. Floor to ceiling, unmarked bottles threatened to swallow us. It was
very quiet. Our new friend whispered, “this is vermouth” in a tone that would make a casual observer
think he was speaking of the Holy Ghost.
That night, for the first time, I truly tasted vermouth.
Half a decade later, we opened a gin bar, an homage to the perfection that is the martini, and those bottles
haunt me because I won’t be able to make (or use) that vermouth. But it’s ok, because the pursuit of that
moment is all that is really important.
In an era where cocktail bars make everything, it is odd that more bars aren’t making vermouth. It almost
seems like the golden calf that bartenders don’t touch out of respect. Which I get. I imagine Antonio
Carpano’s ghost appearing whenever finalizing a batch, exclaiming that we’re doing it wrong.
I then remind myself that vermouth is only aromatized & fortified wine. That’s it. It’s very similar to the
air of mystery that lies behind bitters. Bitters are liquid spice. That’s it.
It’s a very liberating feeling.
In the same manner that Italian bartenders took the American cocktail and made it perfectly Italian, we as
a community should acquire the craft of vermouth production out of respect and courtesy. Since
prohibition, how many bottles of vermouth lay on the back bar collecting dust, denaturing, and spoiling
negronis? How many individuals reach for an overpriced bottle of whiskey, and with the same hand grope
for masquerading swill when making manhattans? Where’s Antonio’s apparition when we need him?
In the spirit of the Futurists’ insistence on using Italian ingredients in cocktail production, we use
American wine to make our vermouth. Here is the base recipe and basic instructions on production.
Undoubtedly, someone is going to say that this isn’t how you produce Italian vermouth. They’re right.
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We’re making vermouth the American way, by deconstructing the process, re-examining the production,
and streamlining it.
Here you go, add more ingredients, change the ratios, and attack it at every angle. Have fun with it. For
fuck’s sake, it’s just a martini.
Step 1: A Bitter Base
Select your bittering agents. These are going to provide the foundation of your vermouth and will be the
ship that anchors each additional ingredient and sails them forward towards flavor country. Additional
thoughts would be Angelica root, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, et cetera.
.1g Gentian Root
.3g Orris Root
.3g Dandelion Root
Step 2: Citrus/Brightening Agents
Pick out your citrus and brightening agents. The fragrant oils from the citrus and various fruits will give
your vermouth lift and will help vitalize your cocktail. We personally enjoy a blend of orange, lemon, and
ginger but ingredients such as lime, strawberry, peach, and rhubarb are fun.
21g Fresh Orange Peels
16g Fresh Lemon Peels
9g Finely Chopped Ginger (skin on)
1g Vanilla Bean, Decorticated
Step 3: Herbs and Flowers
Add your dried herbs and flowers. This is the heart of the vermouth. They’re the sultry jazz. Pick
botanicals that you enjoy to use in cooking or go regional. Tiki? Alllspice, hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger,
and black peppercorn. East Asia? Five spice blend, maybe some coriander and jasmine.
2.5g Wormwood
1g Clove
3g Lavender
2g Bay Leaf
1.5g Cubeb Peppercorn
3g Cinnamon
3g Coriander
Step 4: Combine, Strain, and Sweeten
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Combine all of your ingredients with a 750ml of macerating liquid and let your creation sit for a week,
shaking the contents daily. After a week goes by, strain through cheesecloth or coffee filter. We’ll call it
the vermouth base in the below ratios.
Step 5: Ratios
Dry
8 Parts
1 Part
1 Part
White Wine of Choice (Ugni Blanc all day)
Simple (1:1)
Vermouth Base
Americano, Rosa, or Blanc*
8 Parts
White Wine of Choice (I like a Trebbiano with a little more body)
1 Part
Simple (1:1)
1 Part
Vermouth Base
*Add Gentian, Cinchona, or Hibiscus to the base
Sweet
8 Parts
2 Parts
1 Part
White Wine of Choice (Moscato)
Burnt Sugar Syrup
Vermouth Base
Step 6: Bottle Conditioning
Once we’ve finished our ratio, it’s important to let the liquids sit and homogenize. You’ll want around
200 microns of air, or half of the neck in a 750ml bottle. Just like a soup or a braise, it’s going to get
better over time. We try to wait for the 3-week mark, but sometimes that isn’t an option. We’re thirsty.
It’s delicious after a few days. We hope you think so too.
Defining Vermouth
Vermouth is aromatized and fortified wine. Wine must make up at least 75% of the final product. You can
use roots, barks, flowers, and herbs for aromatizing, and traditionally, a distilled spirit of fermented
grapes or grape must for the fortification.
Levels of sweetness and botanicals define the subcategories of vermouth. Here’s an over simplification:
●
●
●
●
●
Extra Dry - Less than 80g of sugar per litre
Dry - Less than 50g per litre
Semi Dry - Between 50g & 90g of sugar per litre
Semi Sweet - Between 90g & 130g per litre
Sweet - More than 130g per litre
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You can use multiple styles of sugar to achieve different results. The most important two are that
traditional French vermouths use beet/granulated sugars while Italian Vermouths use burnt sugar. In the
EU you can use caramel coloring for consistency, but the rustic deep leather color of sweet vermouth
comes from the burnt sugar, not red wine (common misconception). All vermouths are made from wine
that has little to no contact with the skins.
There are subgenres of aromatized wine with different botanicals; rules listed below:
●
●
●
●
Quinquinas - Necessitates a quinine component. The most widely known is cinchona bark, which
is also the necessary ingredient in tonics.
Bitter Vino - Must contain gentian root, one of the most bitter botanicals known to man, which
arguably is number two only to quassia bark.
Americano - Must contain the dominant character of gentian root & wormwood. Just like London
Dry gins need dominant juniper (pine tree aroma) to be classified as London Dry, Americano’s
need to has a bitter astringency to be called as such. It is also mistelle based instead of wine.
Egg Based Aromatized Wine - Must contain 10 grams of egg yolk & 200g of sugar per litre. Holy
shit, I haven’t done this before but I totally am.
The alcoholic content must reside between 14.5%-22% alcohol by volume.
The last general rule, at least in the EU, is that it must contain one of three varieties of wormwood.
●
●
●
Artemisia Absinthium
Artemisia Pontica
Artemisia Maritima
Protected Geographical Point of Origin
Vermouth is cherished in Europe, to the point of designating DOCs (designation of origin). There are
two:
Torino (Piedmonte) - A northern Italian city where Antonio Carpano famously created the first vermouth.
Carpano has moved to more industrial Milan, but there are a few commercial brands that still are
produced in Torino. Cocchi is the most widely known brand.
Chambéry (Savoy) - Located in South Eastern France, this is the birthplace of French dry vermouth.
Creating a DOC for vermouth protects these brands from mass production, cheaper alternatives, and a
loss of tradition. This hasn’t stopped mimicking garbage from being sold, but it allows us as consumers to
know that vermouths produced in the Piedmonte & Savoy region as artisanal and quality crafted.
A Note on Wormwood & Thujone
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Thujone is a chemical compound found in wormwood tansy, yarrow, and sage. At high levels, it can kill
you. The amount present in our vermouth is well below 5mg and safe to consume. It’s still important to
recognize that we understand the dangers of consuming larger quantities, and that the answer is always
moderation. Don’t drink more than a bottle or two of vermouth in one sitting. I can’t believe I just said
that.
The History and Aesthetic of Punch
“One of Sour, Two of Sweet, Three of Strong, Four of Weak”
The Age of Exploration: Magellan crossing the Cape, the East India Trading company building an empire
on the soil of Asia, the Triangle Trade that built this country we call America, pirates and privateers
pining over abundance, and the collision of Western and Eastern philosophy. This is also the Age of
Punch, and the inevitable birth of the cocktail in the horizon.
A properly executed punch is a true testament to the host and the experience a host can create. Punch is a
bright, subtle, and light libation; one that should develop throughout the night in tune with the atmosphere
of friends, lovers, and family.
Our imbibing forefathers never had a shaken cocktail, but they did create a system to extract fruit flavors.
Why do we shake a cocktail? To homogenize citrus with its incompatible counterparts. Yet, we can't
make a punch without citrus notes. Oleo saccharum is the process of extraction of oil through sugar. If we
peel a lemon and let the rind rest in sugar, in several hours the sugar will have melted into an extremely
thick syrup screaming of lemon. Not having any citric acid or the density of fresh squeezed juice, we can
add this to our other ingredients without unpleasant side effects. The possibilities are endless, anywhere
from cucumber skins to apple peels, we can extract flavors without the addition of heat, heat bringing
bitter and pungent flavors in softer botanical structures.
The punch bowl is a beautiful thing. Aesthetically, from glass to copper, the glasses being crystal or tin,
the engraved ladle or a wooden spoon, it's all romantic. Yet, what always catches our eye is the
domineering block of ice laying dormant within. Punch is meant to be shared, to live within the party, left
unattended less for the tippling. This block is important because less surface area means less dilution, and
the integrity of hard work will stay relatively stable throughout the hours. Another question for punch is:
still water, seltzer, or sparkling wine? This changes depending on the punch and the mood, and should be
clear after some “research and development.”
At the end of the day, punch is fun, whimsical and the true testament to the power of the overflowing
bowl. Keep it simple, don't take it too seriously, but respect the procedure, palette, and the presentation.
Advanced Techniques
Fat Washing
To first understand fat washing, we must first understand fat. Fats and oils are part of the same class of
chemical compounds: triglycerides (also known as fatty acids). Triglycerides are a type of lipid. Lipids
are a class of compounds that encompass fats, oils, hormones, and waxes. All fats and oils are lipids but,
not all lipids are fats and oils. For this chapter we will mostly be exploring fats and oils and the primary
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difference between them: their melting points. Fats are solids while oils, in essence, are liquid fats. Thus
here we will simply refer to both oils and fats as just fat.
Breaking Down the Structure of Fat
As animals eat, their bodies consume food and convert it into usable energy in the form of fat. Fats vary
per animal depending on the diet they consume and the microbial environment found in their intestines.
The fats they produce are made from the
foundational chemical compound
triglycerides. These triglycerides are
formed with a backbone of glycerol with
three fatty acids attached (see Diagram …).
The combinations of different types of fatty
acids, glycerol, and intestinal microbes
affect the flavors of fat.
Fats are either unsaturated or saturated.
Saturated means that their carbon atoms are
filled to the brim with hydrogen bonds.
Hydrogen atoms connect to carbon atoms
and eventually the carbon chain in fat
molecules saturate fully. Unsaturated fats
still have unbonded carbon atoms (see
Diagrams below).
Saturated fats are denser, and more shelf
stable while unsaturated fats have more
carbon atoms that can react with oxygen
and become rancid. This explains why
hardier fats such as butter, are more shelf
stable than olive oil which is composed of
mostly unsaturated fats.
This is a saturated fat. As you can see, all of the carbon atoms (the C’s in the middle) are filled with hydrogen. These flavors tend to be richer
and denser.
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This is an unsaturated fat. In the middle of the chain are carbon molecules that have not bonded with two hydrogen molecules. They are more
volatile and are easier to react with oxygen and spoil. Their flavors tend to be lighter.
Animal fats are about equal parts saturated and unsaturated and are solid at room temperature and
vegetable fats are about 85% unsaturated, thus are liquid at room temperature. This is also why fats that
are solid gradually melt as it is heated up. Unsaturated fats melt first while the saturated fats with tighter
bonds will melt last. In our practices in fat washing we will melt all of the fat to achieve a more rounded
transfer of fat flavor to our solvent or spirit.
Breaking Down the Structure of Alcohol
The alcohol molecule is a small one where its back bone is composed of just two carbon atoms. One end
of the alcohol molecule, CH3 is similar to fats and oils and the other end, OH, is two-thirds of a water
molecule (H2O). Thus, alcohol mixes easily with both water and fatty substances, making it the perfect
solvent for extracting flavors from fat washing.
Fat washing is a process in which we utilize proteins and fats found in various foods to add or subtract
flavor.
Dave Arnold’s, Liquid Intelligence, has a poignant metaphor on fat washing and compares it to washing
clothes.
In washing clothes, you use a, “detergent” to stick onto the threads of clothes to remove dirt and residue
that are undesirable.
In cocktails, you add fat through milk or eggs and wash them to remove flavors. Much in the same way
detergents bond to dirt and grime, the fat can be utilized to bond to undesirable qualities in concoctions to
remove flavors. These include astringent qualities such as tannic compounds in aged spirits & tea as well
as colorants derived from suspended particles.
The opposite however, is also true. You can utilize fat washing to impart the flavor that you desire. A
good example would be the Benton Old Fashioned created by Don Lee at PDT, in which they took bacon
fat and washed bourbon with it to create a bacon-flavored bourbon old fashioned.
It can be hard to navigate which fats do what as each will remove and add different flavors. While this
can be confusing at first, the results are remarkable and you’ll soon understand how and why fat washing
works as well as what flavors are added or removed. You’ll be able to creatively and selectively
manipulate your concoction to achieve flavor profiles otherwise impossible without fat washing.
Clarification in Fat Washing
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Fat washing to clarify beverages is an age old process. The earliest known recipe dates back to 1711 and
is attributed to housewife Mary Rockett. Benjamin Franklin wrote a recipe for milk punch in 1763.
Bottles of clarified milk punch were found in Charles Dicken’s cellar after he died in 1870. I imagine this
technique became popular as not only is it a way to make the rougher spirits of the past more delicious, it
also makes concoctions shelf stable once clarified. The resulting drink becomes silky, clear, and subtly
milky with mellow flavors.
Clarifying through fat washing utilizes protein to target and bind to a group of chemicals created by plants
called polyphenols. These polyphenols help plants survive as they have bactericidal, insecticidal, and
antigestive properties to make predators leave plants alone. A lot of them are astringent. Tannin for
example, is a polyphenol that derives the astringent qualities in grapes used in wine and wood for
whiskey, and tea. Same with fruits such as cranberry, cassis, and apple. When these tannins are not
strained out, they bond with the proteins in our saliva, creating the dry puckered feeling of astringency.
Protein-rich agents such as egg white, casein from milk, isinglass from fish gelatin, gelatin, blood, and
agar from seaweed, bind to impurities and polyphenols in complex ways. Once removed, they strip away
color and some flavors. They also can impart flavors from their fats in this process.
When these items are strained, they make up a complex 3-D network, trapping the liquid’s cloudinessproducing particles by creating a solid, “raft”. Denser particles get trapped in this raft network while
lighter ones pass through.
When filtering we prefer to use a chinois strainer that has been covered with a linen or a simple restaurant
cloth napkin. They’re the most effective filtration support medium as they are single layer, durable,
tightly knit, and organic. They allow for the product to pass through quickly, have strength to hold the
densely packed raft that’s formed, and don’t pass on off flavors. If those aren’t available, #2 Cone Coffee
Filters are second best.
Regardless of which filter is used, the first liquids to drip out will not be clear as the raft of curds will not
have packed tight enough. Over time, as the raft strains through more liquid and the network of curds
tighten, the clarification will improve. Thus, we always strain through our product at least twice for
optimal results.
The best way to learn is to experiment and taste. Below we will go through different types of fat and how
they affect your beverage.
Methods for Separating Fat
During fat washing there are many different ways you can separate it. The four primary ways we separate
are freezing, separator funnel, centrifuge, agar, and chinois with linen. They each have different strengths
and weaknesses.
Freezing
We utilize freezing primarily when utilizing fat which is solid at room temperature. We first melt
the fat so its molecules are broken down and increase the surface area in which the spirit can latch
45
onto and absorb flavor. We then freeze it to resolidify the fat and then strain off the resulting
product off.
This process has a high level of flavor absorption and picks up any flavor that fat soluble
aromatic compounds have absorbed into it. It’s great as it is a quick and easy way to transfer
flavor and does not require any special tools aside from a container to store your fat and spirit in.
Separator Funnel
Separator Funnels are great to diffuse oils or when fats selected are liquid at room temperature.
With a separator funnel we combine spirit and oil. Shake vigorously to increase surface area and
incorporate the flavors of oil into spirit, and then let rest. Eventually the oil will rise to the top and
clear liquid is at the bottom. We can strain the clear liquid through the spigot at the bottom,
stopping the strain before it hits the oil.
Centrifuge
Centrifuge utilizes gravity to clarify items. It spins upwards to 4,100 RPM with a g-force of
almost 2,000, separating denser particulate matter away from the lighter particulate matter.
They’re awesome but larger units are still quite expensive.
Agar
Agar comes from seaweed and creates a gelatinous like web similar to the curds from milk and
egg washing. Add two grams of agar for every 1L of product. The agar will set and then you can
freeze thaw (see freezing) or quick thaw (see chinois with linen). Freeze thawing will be more
effective but it takes more time.
Chinois with Linen
A linen wrapped chinois is a great way to clarify curds of protein from fat washing. The curds of
protein raft together until they thicken to a tightly linked network. Great for egg and milk
washing.
Working with different fats
Milk Washing
Milk is wonderful and has been the source of nourishment for mammals since the dawn of time. The
creamy beverage is primarily composed from water, whey, casein proteins, and lactose. When milk
washing, the casein proteins bond to the astringent polymers found in tannin and removes them, leaving
the whey behind.
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The whey adds both mouthfeel and creamy flavor primarily driven by lactose (milk sugars). Having whey
in cocktails creates a better mouthfeel and silky texture in both shaken and unshaken drinks. It is the
primary stabilizer in the satisfying milk foams and coffee drinks we know and love.
Milk washing is done by adding milk to a beverage, utilizing acid to curdle it, and then using those curds
as a filter to clarify your beverage as a whole. The ratio we’ve had most success with is 4 parts spirit to 1
part milk. There are many different ways to curdle the milk to clarify it and they each lead to different
results. As a whole though, you will want to add your ingredients in a methodical order to reap the
greatest benefits which follows:
●
●
●
●
Milk
Sugar (if present)
Spirit
Acid
If you would like to remove less tannin from an aged spirit, add the spirit after the acid so the milk curdles
before hand.
While we primarily use cow’s milk, swapping out cow’s milk for goat, buffalo, or sheep milk will yield
different flavors from their fat and whey content.
●
●
●
Buffalo Milk: mushroom, freshly cut grass
Goat Milk: nutty, sharp
Sheep’s Milk: funky, woody
According to Harold McGee’s, On Food and Cooking, lactase-less adults can consume about a cup/250
ml of milk per day without severe symptoms, and even more of other dairy products.
While we do not advocate lactose intolerant adults consume milk-washed beverages, we find that the
amount of milk-washed spirits used in cocktails (50mls or 2oz), is negligible and safe.
There are three different ways we can incorporate acid into milk washing. For the most part, we use
lemons as they work well in tandem with aged spirits and spirits that have been infused with tea. Lime
juice and citric acid can be used as well. The three ways are: juice, citric acid solution, and cutting citrus
into wheels.
Juice Curdling
Utilizing citrus juice will add the flavor of the citrus juice itself. Use 30mls of juice per 1L of
spirit.
Citric Acid Curdling
Great for creating clean flavors as it does not add any juice. Use 15mls of 15% Citric Acid
solution per 1L of spirit.
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Citrus Wheels
Take citrus and cut it into thin wheels. The increased surface area allows the milk to curdle.
Imparts the bright flavors found in the oils of the citrus skin. Use three lemons, cut into thin
wheels per 1L of spirit.
Milk Washing Technique
15g
1L
250ml
and
Tea
Vodka
Milk
30ml of Lemon Juice OR 15ml of Citric Acid Solution OR 3 thinly sliced Lemons
Instructions:
Steep tea with vodka for fifteen minutes. Set aside.
Grab a container that is large enough to fit the entire recipe above. We like utilizing 1GA glass jars. Add
in the milk.
Slowly add the spirit. You will want to pour it at a rate that is a gentle trickle. This is important, if we
added the spirit too quickly or added the milk to the spirit, the milk will curdle too quickly and not have
adequate time to bond to the polyphenols to remove them.
Once all of the spirit has been poured, pour your acid component and gently mix.
Let sit in a cooler or refrigerator for one week.
Strain through fine linen covered strainer. Eventually the casein curds will have created a filter cake. You
might have to pour additional product through depending on the size of the strainer.
When the cake is dense enough, you should see that your product is crystal clear at the other end. Once
this has happened, transfer the strainer to a clean vessel so it can continue straining. Add the cloudy
product to the strainer so it can refilter.
Strain until everything has been clarified.
Egg
A whiskey sour with eggwhite is sublime. The eggwhite mellows out the whiskey and helps aerate the
cocktail, rendering a lush drink that would otherwise be too astringent at the temperatures and dilutions of
a traditional sour.
Egg Washing is a powerful technique that removes tannin but does not leave whey behind. It mellows out
the astringent tannins quite effectively. A ratio of 20:1, booze to egg is enough to remove undesirable
tannins. Use less booze to strip it even further.
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In general, if you’re looking to add silky texture to a drink, milk wash. If you prefer the denser texture of
spirits, egg wash.
Egg-Washing Technique (from Liquid Intelligence, Dave Arnold)
32g
Egg White
30ml
Water
750ml
Spirit (40% abv or higher)
Instructions:
Combine Egg White and Water together and gently whisk to combine. Slowly add spirit to the mixture
much like you would when milk-washing.
Let sit in a cooler overnight.
Strain through fine linen covered strainer. Eventually the spirit will run clear on the other end.
Once this has happened, transfer the strainer to a clean vessel so it can continue straining. Add the cloudy
product to the strainer so it can refilter.
Strain until everything has been clarified.
Meat Fat Washing
Fat cells in meat are storage tissues for animals and any sort of fat-soluble material can end up in them. Its
flavor derives from the animal’s diet and gastrointestinal microbes. It’s what gives beef, lamb, pork, and
chicken its unique flavors and are the result of many different kinds of aroma molecules. Fat molecules
can be transformed by heat and oxygen and are easily transferable to anything that latches onto them
Transferring the flavor of these fats is quite simple: melt the fat, add spirit, shake, freeze, strain.
Heating the meat transforms fat flavor molecules and releases a bunch of esters, ketones, and aldehydes
that contribute to its fruity and floral, and nutty and grassy flavors.
Whichever fat you choose, make sure it is of high quality. The flavor of fat or oleogustus, may go rancid
if not taken care of properly.
We find that meat fats pair best with aged spirits. As we are utilizing fat and not proteins to wash our
spirit, the astringent qualities of tea-infused spirits and wood-aged spirits are not removed.
While it is possible to strain through the gelatin found in meat like you would with stock, we do not
recommend it as you will need to heat up chunks of meat until its collagen breaks down into glue-like,
sticky gelatin. Cooking cocktails in meat for extended periods of time will impact the quality of your
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product. Fat washing, however, is an effective low heat way to impart the richness of meat into your
beverages.
Meat Washing Technique
25g
Meat Fat
1L
Wood Aged Spirit
Instructions:
Take fat, and melt with a sauce pan over medium heat. Take off heat immediately after it has been melted
to not overcook it and transfer to a heat resistant, glass container. Let cool slightly.
Add spirit to container of melted fat. Seal container and shake to increase the surface area between
droplets of fat and spirit.
Let sit in freezer overnight. The fat will solidify overnight.
Strain the spirit from the fat and discard the leftover fat.
Olive Oil Washing
Within the world of food, oils are typically extracted from either a dry grain or nut. Olive oil is unique in
this way as it is extracted from fruit and carries many aspects of this fruit. From grassy and floral to spicy
peppery notes, olive oil gets its golden color from the chlorophyll of the fruit and 90% of the world’s
olive production goes into creating said oil.
We can use this oil to extract those volatile aromatic compounds that spark so much joy. The peppery
notes provide a funky backsplash to a swash of tequila and lends a silky mouthfeel post wash.
Below is a recipe where we bolstered the grassy/peppery notes of olive oil with a bit of epazote zorillo to
recreate the flavors of mezcal with blanco tequila.
Olive Oil Technique
250 ml
Mezcal
250 ml
Blanco Tequila
200 ml
Olive Oil
20g
Epazote Zorrillo
Instructions:
Add all ingredients together in vitamix blend on low gently pulsing on high for one minute
Pour into a cambro. Freeze overnight.
Strain with chinois and linen.
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Seeds/Nuts
Seeds and nuts are some of the most durable and valuable sources of nutrients. They’re rugged lifeboats
created after months of absorbing sun and carbon dioxide to carry a plant's genetics and create new
offspring. As a result, seeds and nuts are rich in fat and are carried in tiny packages called oil bodies.
We can harness this oil to transfer the green, floral, and mushroomy flavor of seeds to our spirits.
Seed/Nut Oil Technique
1L
Spirit
150 ml
Nut/Seed Oil
Instructions:
Add all ingredients together in vitamix blend on low gently pulsing on high for one minute
Pour into a cambro. Freeze overnight.
Strain with chinois and linen.
Essential Oil Washing
Volatile aromatic chemicals and integrating the myriad of sensations create a perceived scent and is the
primary driver for flavor and many pleasures in life such as perfume, aromatherapy, and candles.
Aroma is also a huge driver in memory recall. The waft of fresh baked pastries, the smell of popcorn at a
movie theater, the sulfuric smell of oil at a gas station. What if we could harness such aromas in a quick
and easy way utilizing the myriad of essential oils out there? Luckilly for us, essential oils which have
aromatic compounds dissolved in fat are readily available and easy to utilize in beverages. All you need is
a separatory funnel. The recipe below is an augmentation of a recipe found in Modernist Cuisine: Vol.2, pg
332.
Essential Oil Technique
100%/1000ml
Blanco Tequila
0.5% /5ml
Grapefruit Oil
Instructions:
1. Using a funnel, combine ingredients in a separatory funnel with the stopcork closed.
2. Stopper the funnel and shake until the mixture becomes cloudy.
3. Let stand undisturbed until the mixture separates. Oil rises to top. Once the liquid is clear, the
essence is ready. Longer sit time equates to a more intense extraction.
4. After three days, remove the stopper and open the stopcork. Drain the flavored liquid through a
coffee filter. Close the stop corck before the oil starts to emerge.
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Coconut
Coconut oil, solid at room temperature, is a great way to add coconut flavor to a cocktail. You can fat
wash high-proof spirits and dash them into cocktails in small amounts much like you would with bitters
or coconut wash the entirety of a cocktail to lend a gentle coconut flavor as well as clarify.
For infusing high proof spirits, we like to use pure coconut oil and for washing entire cocktails, we find
coconut milk best due to its high protein content. The protein creates a raft with the cold fat and can
clarify cocktails fully.
For coconut oil we like using organic, unfiltered coconut oil and for coconut milk washing we like Savoy
Coconut Cream but the following are also good:
●
●
●
Arroy D Boxed (has more coconut content than the can [100% vs 75%], clean, neutral flavor
Chaokah Canned, woody with intense coconut flavor
Arroy D Canned, neutral flavor but not as bright.
Other brands, while do work, often lend a sun tan lotion-y flavor that is undesireable.
Coconut Oil Technique
Coco blasting, a technique made popular by The Rockwell Place in Brooklyn, NY, is an easy way to add a
tropical surge of flavor to any drink.
1L
450m (1 jar)
Neutral Grain Spirit
Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil
Add water to a sauce pan with a steamer insert up to a boil. Bring down heat to a gentle simmer. Add jar
of Coconut Oil and let simmer until oil has completely melted.
Take jar out and pour the oil into a glass container large enough to fit both oil and spirit. Slowly add spirit
to the oil. Place lid on glass container and shake vigorously.
Let sit in cooler overnight.
Strain through linen covered strainer and discard the fat.
Coconut Milk Technique
Below is a modified recipe for a clarified pina colada we made with easy to source ingredients.
400ml
400ml
600ml
180ml
250ml
Coconut Milk (1 can)
Simple Syrup (1:1)
Pineapple
Lime Juice
Dark Rum
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750ml
Silver Rum
Add Coconut Milk to a 1GA glass container. Then add sugar and spirit. Gently add lime juice into the
mix.
Store in a cooler or refrigerator overnight.
Strain with a linen covered strainer. Keep topping off the strainer with product. Eventually the coconut
milk will have created a filter cake.
When the cake is dense enough, you should see that your product is crystal clear at the other end. Once
this has happened, transfer the strainer to a clean vessel so it can continue straining. Add the cloudy
strained product to the strainer in the new container so it can refilter.
Strain until everything has been clarified.
Peanut Butter
Thick and goopy, peanut butter is nostalgic and delicious. The easiest way to transfer its flavor is with a
blender. Simply blend a bottle of spirit with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter and strain. While
flavor is immense and rich, we find filtration to be difficult.
To produce a spirit that is clear with peanut butter, we find that increasing the surface area and doing a
slower maceration is best.
Peanut Butter Washing Technique
1 jar
Peanut Butter
1L
Spirit
Line a fullsized sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter over the parchment
paper. Pour spirit over the spread peanut butter until just covered. Repeat until all spirit has been poured.
Seran wrap to prevent evaporation.
Take the sheet pan of peanut butter and spirit and store in the cooler for one week. Strain through a linen
covered strainer.
Butter
Butter is the collection of the suns rays, collected by the grass and then fostered by cows. It’s golden,
creamy flavor comes from a volatile compound none as diacetyl. Diacetyl is what contributes to the warm
flavor of puff pastries to the plush flavor of movie theater popcorn.
Butter, being composed of a thick web of triglycerides, can also be browned. The grassy cream flavors can
be activated with heat and be transformed into something nutty and toasty through the maillard reaction.
Washing with either melted butter or browned butter will lead to different results.
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Butter Washing Technique
250g
Butter or Browned Butter
1L
Spirit
Instructions:
With a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, take off heat and add to a glass container.
Pour spirit over the melted butter. Store in freezer overnight, Strain off juices away from the frozen puck
of fat over a linen covered chinois.
Cheese
Cheese is the concentration of milk proteins preserved and transformed over time with acid and salt. The
long, casein proteins of milk are broken down by enzymes into various protein blocks and amino acids are
created which lend to the either sweet or savory flavors of cheese. This includes the flavor of spoiling
meat (putrescine), ocean fish (trimethylamine), and funky blue cheese molecules (methyl ketones).
During this transformation, cheese also loses moisture the longer it ages, allowing protein molecules to
bind tightly together. As a result, hard cheeses tend to be more protein dense and need a higher
temperature to melt and softer cheeses need less heat.
In order to cheesewash we find that heating up spirits in accordance to a cheese’s melting point is the best
way to extract its flavors. To do so, we combine cheese (be sure to break it up to increase surface area),
with spirit in a vacuum sealed bag and reheat. In a way, we are repasturizing the cheese with spirit.
Use the following temperatures below as guidelines. Water content of those cheeses are to the right to aid
in calculating the best temperature to melt cheese:
●
●
●
55C/135F for Soft Cheeses (45%-55% Water Content)
65C/150F for Cheddar and Swiss types (40%-45% Water Content)
82/180F for Parmesan and Pecorino (30%-40% Water Content)
Cheese Washing Technique
20g
Semi-Soft Blue Cheese
1L
Spirit
Immersion Circulator
Create a water bath and set Immersion Circulator to 60C/140F.
Crumble the Blue Cheese thoroughly to increase surface area. Combine Blue Cheese and Spirit in a vacuum
sealable plastic bag. Vacuum seal. You may have to split your product into multiple bags depending on the
size of your bag.
Immersion circulator for two hours.
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Remove sealed bags from water bath and throw in freezer overnight.
Open bags and strain product through a linen covered strainer.
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