Camper English's Blog, page 65

An Icy Reception for National Amaretto Day April 19

A few days before National Amaretto Day #NationalAmarettoDay aka #DisaronnoDay I gave a talk to the San Francisco chapter of the US Bartenders' Guild about ice.

 

 

Disaronno commissioned this fancy ice sculpture and I spent some time making some ice projects in advance of the talk. More on those in a later post. 

We had some Godfather cocktails and another specialty cocktail, The Cloud 9, with Disaronno, Kikori Whiskey, lime, toasted coconut and infusions of rice and miso  courtesy of Dirty Habit where the meeting was held thanks to Bar Manager Raul Ayala. 

 

And then I got down to business.  

On actual #DisaronnoDay April 19th in San Francisco, look out for cocktail specials at bars including:

Dirty Habit – Cloud 9 - See above

54 Mint – TBD 

Elixir – Twisted Morgenthaler 

Nihon Whiskey Lounge – The Godfather

 

The Twisted Morgenthaler, of course is a take on the ever-so-humble Jeffrey Morgenthaler's amaretto sour recipe made famous by his post "I Make the Best Amaretto Sour in the World."

Elixir will be making it like this instead:

Twisted Morgenthaler Disaronno Sour by H. Joseph Ehrmann
1.5oz Disaronno
.75oz Elixir “Kentucky Pilgrim-infused” Wild Turkey 101
1oz Lemon juice
1 tsp rich simple syrup
.5oz egg white
Amarena cherry

In a mixing glass, add all ingredients, close and dry shake hard, releasing gas every 2-3 shakes. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass (or a short glass of ice) and garnish with a cherry floating on the foam.

Kentucky Pilgrim Infusion: In a wide-mouthed glass infusion jar place 1 liter of Wild Turkey 101 and 2 barspoons of cardamom seeds. Close and leave in a dark cool place for 1 day. Strain out cardamom and add 1.5 cups dried unsweetened cranberries and 3 sticks of cinnamon. Close and leave for another two days, agitating once per day. Strain solids and store in the original Wild Turkey bottle. 

Mixologist’s Notes: Portland bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler adds .75 of cask strength bourbon to his Amaretto Sour recipe in order to enhance it, and we’re big fans of this idea. So we took the cardamom, cranberry and cinnamon bourbon infusion from our popular Kentucky Pilgrim cocktail and used that instead. The result is a spicy, complex and delicious sour cocktail!

 

 

 

An Airline Drink Menu from 1980: Sherry, Martinis, and Six Different Whiskeys

Alcademics reader Alan R. scanned in the drink menu from a Continental Airlines flight he took in 1980 to share. 

He wrote, "The flight was from Auckland through Pago Pago; Honolulu to LA and return. This Menu was from the outward journey until we reached Honolulu. After that of course it was a domestic flight. I suspect that plane arrived in NZ from Australia, since the beers listed are mostly New Zealand or Australian - Michelob - Leopard - KB - and Fosters."

So let's analyze it: Looks not so different from many of today's menus at first: Bacardi, Beefeater, Smirnoff, Jack Daniel's, Dewars.

But then you realize there are 1 gin, 1 vodka, 1 rum, and 5 or 6 types of whiskey! 

I'm not sure if Jack Daniel's is horribly mislabelled, or if there are two separate items - JD and a generic "Premium Kentucky Bourbon." I would suspect those are different items, making it 6 types of whiskey aboard one plane. 

Looking at the Cocktails and Aperitifs section, it's interesting that they were still serving Dry Sack (sherry). And I'm dying to know if the cocktails they can mix - Martinis and Manhattan - actually had vermouth in them or if they were perhaps those old bottled cocktails from the 1960s. 

And finally, notice that tonic water is just labelled as Quinine. Fun stuff. 

 

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Fun with Limes Inside Clear Ice Balls

Using this method of directional freezing (developed here on Alcademics) with thermos containers and ice ball molds to maximize the clarity of ice balls, I have been playing around with putting objects inside ice spheres. 

I first did a spiralized lime that you can see here - it came out pretty awesomely. 

Then the other day I made some lime wedges and lime slices and put them in my ice ball molds. 

When you freeze limes, it squeezes out some of the juice so the ice ball isn't crystal-clear as it is using this method with solid objects, but it still looks great and inside a cocktail you'd probably not notice. 

To keep up on my ongoing icesperiments, follow along on my Instagram page. 

 

 

Summer Cooler Cocktails to Enjoy in 1967

My friend gifted me a 1967 "Friendly Host" calendar from a liquor store in upstate New York. On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.

The dates from 1967 align with this year, though the drinks are a little bit different to what we enjoy now.... or are they? (Yeah, for the most part they are.)

This page is for Summer Coolers. I'm not sure I would categorize a Jack Rose or this "Five-Legged Mule" as summer drinks, but hey I'm just a guy living in 2017. 

 

Plus as a bonus, here's the calendar's Party Preparation Guide. The Tips for "Good Mixing" start out well and then.... you'll see. 

 

Related articles



Popular Scotch Cocktails of 1967 - Alcademics.com

Pie to the Face, but Instead of pie it's Liquor

Lest you get the impression that I sit around all day buried in important literary cocktail research, I should let you know that I enjoy really, really dumb things just as much as really smart ones. 

This holiday season I kept seeing ads for this Pie Face kids game, which is pretty much Russian Roulette with whipped cream. I thought, "But what about shots?"

So I taped a shot glass to it and ran an experiment.  

(This is embedded from Instagram, so it's possible it will take time to load or not work correctly if you're getting it in email.)

 

 

I "hacked" the Pie Face children's game for adult use. #pieface #shots

A post shared by Camper English (@alcademics) on Mar 3, 2017 at 4:49pm PST

 

Not super sure I'd recommend trying this at home, at least not without safety glasses to keep liquor out of your eyes. 

 

 

How to Freeze a Spiralized Lime Inside a Clear Ice Ball Sphere

You can freeze pretty much anything inside a clear ice sphere using Directional Freezing, the technique I pioneered here on Alcademics.

 

As I've written previously, to make clear ice spheres you can use directional freezing with an ice ball mold on top of a thermos-style insulated container.

Specifically, I use a Thermos Funtainer and this 2.5" ice ball mold as they work perfectly together. 

Fill both the ice ball mold and the container with water (I use filtered water; no need to distilled or anything). Place the ice ball upside-down atop the thermos. It takes 20 or so hours to freeze in my freezer. 

 

 

 

Then you can simply add objects inside the ice ball mold. Make sure to shake them to get any air bubbles out and fill them to the top. 

To make this lime spiral, I used this little tool called the Chef'n Lemon-Aid Citrus Spiralizer. I was trying it out and couldn't think of what to do with the spiralized lime once I'd made it. So I popped it into my ice ball mold, froze it overnight, and BEHOLD!

 

 

So, that came out pretty awesome. 

 

 

Resources for Cocktail Events: Edible Flowers, Dry Ice, and More

As I do more and more cocktail events in the Bay Area, I find myself turning to Facebook for advice on where to procure bulk items for them. It would be rude of me not to share! 

Edible Flowers

I was looking for edible flowers for an event. One cannot just stick regular flowers into drinks as they contain pesticides and other nasty stuff, so you need to be sure they're appropriately designated as food-safe. 

You can often find edible flowers in small packs at places like Whole Foods and even Safeway, but should one be looking for a few hundred flowers you need to go bulk. 

Ultimately I'll probably just end up going in on an order of one of my local bars, but here is what my research turned up: 

Restaurant Depot - Business account required

San Francisco Produce Market 

Marx Foods

Chef's Garden

http://wholesale-tropical-flowers.com/ (don't look edible)

Bay Cities Produce in San Leandro 

 

Dry Ice

Dry ice is a great party effect, and it turns out it's a lot easier to find than I would have thought. Note that like any ingredient that might go into food, you need to sure you're purchasing food-grade dry ice. I have not fact-checked these except for the first four. 

Cash & Carry

Molllie Stone's (Castro location for sure - you need to ask at the register)

SF Ice

Ben's Dry Ice

Michaelis Wine & Spirits

Bait and Tackle shops

Air gas

Praxair

Smart & Final on 7th Ave in the Richmond

Lucky's st Fulton & Masonic

 

Juices

I've had a real problem making same-day lime, lemon, and other fresh juices not available in stores (or even juice shops). In one instance I was able to source some from a local bar, but generally speaking for squeezing fresh juices I seem to be on my own.

I have in the past used a manual juice press to make up to 3-4 liters of juice, but this takes a long time and a lot of effort. Bartenders in the know have recommended that for bulk juicing in the future I purchase a Sunkist juicer. 

 

 

 

Are there any other bulk event supplies you'd like to know where to source in San Francisco? Please let me know and I'll try to help.

 

 

 

 

Another Podcast with Camper English

I recently made a glorious return to the Educational Drinking Show podcast sponsored by Anchor Distilling. 

Alan Kropf and I mostly spoke about my Gin and Tonic book and G&Ts in general. I was highly caffeinated so what seemed like 10 minutes, it tuns out, was half an hour.

Give it a watch or a listen here.

 

Popular Scotch Cocktails of 1967

This year my pal Mike gave me a 1967 calendar from a liquor store. The dates from 1967 align with 2017, and it turns out the liquor store is from my hometown, so as far as gift-giving goes, Mike knocked it out of the park. 

On the backs of the calendar months are helpful advice for cocktailing and hosting.

Here is the page for Scotch Drinks to Please Your Fancy. I haven't heard of most of these.

 

Here is the calendar front.

Mixer Picks 2017

Over at New Booze, I keep track of the spirits that have launched over the year. Here at Mixer Picks I'll keep track of new mixers. 

 

 

Q Drinks launches Q Indian Tonic Water

Q Indian Tonic Water varies from the original Q Tonic Water in that it is purpose-built to complement juniper-forward London Dry gins.  While the original Q Tonic Water pairs well with subtler gins because it allows these subtleties to shine, Q Indian Tonic Water, as a more bitter and slightly sweeter tonic water, provides a better balance to stronger, more juniper-forward gins. Additionally, the new Indian Tonic is sweetened with organic cane sugar as opposed to the agave used for the original Q Tonic. 

The line of Q drinks products also have an updated look and size.  The new bottles are 6.7 ounces, down from 9 ounces. The new 6.7-ounce Q Drinks bottles will continue to be sold in 4-packs, but the suggested retail price will be reduced from $7.99 to $5.99. 
www.qdrinks.com