Archive for the ‘Drinking supplies’ Category
December 12th, 2009
Give a man a drink, and he’ll drink for a day. Give a man some quality hooch and cocktail tools, and he’ll drink for a lifetime. I think that’s an ancient Chinese proverb.
In time for the holidays, I have (finally) added to drinkboston a Supplies page listing liquor stores and other retailers who stock the kind of ingredients that today’s classically minded cocktailian demands. Merry Christmas!
Many of us prefer going out to Boston’s best bars for good cocktails, but I know that, especially in this crappy economy, some imbibers are doing more mixing at home. In fact, they are the good people who have helped compile this list of places that stock often hard-to-find ingredients, such as rye whiskies, amari, Haus Alpenz liqueurs, various types of bitters, falernum, Old Tom gin, rum agricole, shrub and good vermouth — plus, all the equipment and instruction you need to set up your home bar (hello, Boston Shaker). And since we in Massachusetts suffer the curse of being banned from ordering liquor through the mail, these sources are especially helpful.
Just for fun, you may want to revisit some of the posts that inspired the Supplies page:
If there are any Boston-area stores with a good selection of classic-cocktail ingredients and mixing equipment that you think deserve to be included, make your case at drinkboston at comcast dot net.
Here’s a to a pleasantly lubricated holiday season!
Tags: cocktail equipment tools ingredients, liquor stores
Posted in Drinking supplies | 2 Comments »
September 4th, 2009
Wow, has it really been two years since I wrote the original Operation 1919 post urging Boston imbibers to demand pre-Prohibition and other rare cocktail ingredients from their local liquor purveyors? Well, some positive developments since then indicate that our voices have been heard.
Several stores have beefed up — and in some cases continued to stock — their selection of classic cocktail spirits, including BRIX Wines in Boston (South End and Broad St.), Downtown Wine & Spirits and the Wine & Cheese Cask in Somerville, the Wine Gallery in Brookline and Boston (Kenmore Square), Gordon’s in Newton, Liquor Land in Roxbury, Mall Discount Liquors in Cambridge (Fresh Pond), and Julio’s in Westborough.
The Boston Shaker at Grand in Somerville opened this past year and has become a Mecca for those seeking bitters (could you imagine buying celery, cherry or whiskey barrel-aged bitters two years ago? Ha!) and non-alcoholic ingredients like Luxardo maraschino cherries, fruit shrubs, real grenadine, orgeat and falernum, not to mention cocktail tools and books. Many people have chimed in here and elsewhere about specialty-food and international stores that carry stuff like orange flower water, passionfruit juice and pomegranate juice. These include Christina’s spice shop in Cambridge, Super 88 grocery stores, and assorted Brazilian, Caribbean and Asian stores in a neighborhood near you. (Also check liquor stores in these ‘hoods for stuff like cachaca, pisco and funky eaux de vie.) Then there’s Cirace in the North End for hard-to-find aperitivos, amaros and digestivos (Cynar, Averna, Fernet, etc).
Just for fun, here’s a wish list of items culled from comments on that first 1919 post, as well as from myself and various other cocktailians since then. I divided the list up into rough categories of availability. I say “rough,” because a lot of this stuff is still only available at a handful of places, and is often unpredictably stocked. So please don’t take my word for it — call ahead. And I know a few people out there who have more comprehensive knowledge of Boston-area liquor store inventories than I do, so please let me know of a) any hot new finds or b) unavailable items to start a new wish list.
More or less available at some/most of the places above
(Starred items available at the Boston Shaker)
Batavia Arrack
Bitters (other than Angostura and Fee’s orange)*
Bluecoat Gin
Creme de Violette
Falernum (Fee Bros.)*
Genever (Bols, Anchor)
Herbsaint
Luxardo Maraschino cherries*
Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
Old Tom Gin (Hayman’s)
Orgeat*
Pimento Dram (St. Elizabeth Allspice Liqueur)
Rye whiskey
Shrub (fruit syrups preserved with a little vinegar)*
Sloe Gin (Plymouth)
Vermouth (Vya, Dolin)
Sighted locally but generally hard to find
Amer Picon/Torani Amer
Bonded Applejack
Carpano Antica
Kummel
Marie Brizard liqueur (particularly Apry, or apricot)
Velvet Falernum
Unavailable or should be easier to find
Bitters (clones of Abbott’s or Boker’s — some bars are making their own)
Byrrh wine
Kola tonic
Raspberry syrup
Swedish punsch
One “hard to find” item that was mentioned more than once by commenters on that first post? St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. Hard to imagine, since its ubiquity now has earned it the nickname “bartender’s ketchup.” Also, is Cherry Heering really that hard to find, or is it just me?
To conclude, I think we’re getting there. But one-stop shopping for much of the above still seems far away. Is a huge, unfussy liquor warehouse that features Rittenhouse 100, Herbsaint, Luxardo cherries, grapefruit bitters and Creme de Violette, along with the usual 97 flavors of vodka and econo-sized Mudslides, too much of a pipe dream?
Tags: hard-to-find cocktail ingredients, pre-prohibition cocktails
Posted in Bitters, Cocktails, Drinking supplies | 28 Comments »
June 10th, 2009
It’s the moment cocktailians have been waiting for. Bittermens bitters are finally going to be available in stores and more widely in bars. After years — yes, years — of battling various authorities to make and sell their bitters, all the while providing their products to select bars in Boston and elsewhere on a “pre-release” basis, Avery and Janet Glasser have finally and happily entered a partnership with the German bitters producer the Bitter Truth.
The first Bittermens products being released under the partnership are Grapefruit Bitters and Xocolatl (Chocolate) Mole Bitters. Hopefully the Glassers’ other artisanal flavors, like ‘Elemakule Tiki Bitters, won’t be far behind. The goods won’t be available for purchase stateside for another few months; for now you have to buy them through the Bitter Truth website (and pay dearly for overseas shipping, I’m afraid). The price of an individual bottle is listed at 10.90 euros, which is about 15 bucks.
The Boston Shaker already sells several varieties of Bitter Truth bitters (Celery, Jerry Thomas’ Decanter, etc.) and hopes to begin offering Bittermens bitters as soon as they are available.
Tags: Bitter Truth Bitters, Bittermens Bitters
Posted in Bitters, Booze in the news, Drinking supplies | 3 Comments »
June 3rd, 2009
Things to drink and places to go:
I have happily been following Dann Paquette’s brewing career since about the mid-’90s, when he was at the Northeast Brewing Co. in Allston. Numerous brewing stints later, including a recent couple of years in Yorkshire, England, Dann started his latest venture: Pretty Things Beer and Ale Project. Look for Pretty Things beers in your local bar or packie, and drink them. They are really good. I’m partial to the American-style saison, Jack d’Or (left). It’s distinctive and delicious, yet versatile enough for everyday use.
Downtown Wine & Spirits in Davis Square, Somerville, has fairly recently expanded the “spirits” part of its name with hard-to-find bourbons, liqueurs, rums, etc. It also has the best combination website/blog of any liquor store in greater Boston. And they have regular tastings.
Scott opened the June Esquire, featuring the annual Best American Bars list, and asked me, “Which Boston bar do you think they picked?” “Drink,” I said. No brainer. (There’s also an RIP sidebar that bids farewell to the B-Side.) Speaking of Drink, on a recent visit I tried Josey Packard’s homage to the Marconi Wireless, the WiFi: Bonded Laird’s Applejack, Lillet Blanc, Drambuie. Strong, complex, stunning.
Todd Maul has rather quietly been insinuating craft cocktails into the Boston fine-dining scene. He recently moved from Rialto in Cambridge to Clio in Boston, where he has livened up a cocktail menu based largely on vodka and sake infusions with classically inspired mixtures using gin, tequila, whiskey and rum. As you can see from the pic, he also makes a helluva Ramos Gin Fizz. Go check this guy out.
Finally, an observation and a question: remember when people who patronized bars and restaurants were called “customers?” In the last few years, in some establishments anyway, they have become “guests.” What’s the origin of the switch? I suppose it’s nicer to be considered a guest than merely one end of a cash deal, even though being someone’s guest has traditionally implied that you enjoy their hospitality without having to pay for it.
Tags: Pretty Things Beer & Ale, Todd Maul, WiFi cocktail
Posted in Beer, Boston bars, Drinking supplies, Nips | 10 Comments »
April 7th, 2009
Finally, a bartending class for the armchair mixologist. It’s called Home Bar Basics, and it’s happening on April 13 at the Boston Shaker, Adam Lantheaume’s store within a store at Grand in Union Square (374 Somerville Ave.). Remember? He’s the guy who’s selling hard-to-find cocktail ingredients, books and tools. Well, now he’ll show you how to mix a proper drink. From the course description:
Want to start making cocktails at home but are befuddled by the different tools, ingredients and recipe instructions? Do the drinks you make at home never come out as well as the ones you have out? Want to understand some of the “hows and whys” of making cocktails? Check out this hands-on workshop!
It’s $30, and the best thing is you can buy tix online.
Tags: Boston Shaker, cocktail classes, Grand, home bartending, somerville
Posted in Books & resources, Drinking supplies, Events | 3 Comments »
March 1st, 2009
A few spirited nips for you on this snowy Sunday…
Tremont 647 director of operations Joy Richard, aka Bourbon Belle of the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, deserves a shout-out. She recently traveled to L.A. to compete in the Hendricks gin Marvelous Limerick & Cocktail Competition.
You may remember how Richard qualified for this gig: by winning Hendricks’ Beantown Bartender Battle at Green Street last summer. Contestants mixed an original Hendricks cocktail that highlighted the botanicals used to flavor the gin, and they penned an accompanying limerick about their potion. Check out the recipe for Richard’s drink, Nobody’s Darling, and her limericks at LUPEC Boston’s blog.
“The competition itself was in this incredible bar called the Edison, which I believe was L.A.’s first electric company. The space was like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Richard said.
“We were judged on the following points: 1. costume (theme: Victorian Steampunk); 2. limerick; 3. cocktail name, and why you named it what you named it; 4. cocktail taste; and 5. showmanship.”
Alas, our clever Bostonian did not take home the trophy that night. It went to Peter Vestinos from the Wirtz Beverage Group in Chicago for his drink, A Cotswold Afternoon.
Meanwhile, a group of amateur mixologists competed in TV Diner’s annual cocktail contest on NECN. The entries in this competition fall largely in the silly-vodka-drink camp — first place went to the jailbait-appropriate Dreamy Banana Tini — but the classic cocktail revival made a showing with the second-place finisher, the Father’s Advice.
“I couldn’t believe that I placed at all. Seriously: gin and raw egg?” quipped the drink’s creator, James Slaby, who has been a regular at drinkboston.com and LUPEC Boston events. He presents his cocktail — “halfway between a Ramos Fizz and a Gin Flip” — in this clip from the show.
Father’s Advice (a morning-after tonic)
1 ½ oz Plymouth gin
¾ oz Baines pacharan (a Spanish cordial)
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz light cream
½ oz simple syrup
½ teaspoon Regan’s Orange Bitters
8 drops Fee’s Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters
1 fresh, whole egg
Healthy grind of fresh black pepper
1 dried star anise
Pour liquids into shaker half-full of cracked ice. Add egg and fresh pepper. Shake vigorously for 60 seconds. Strain into a well-chilled sour glass or rocks glass. Float star anise on top.
Finally, check out this Bostonist interview with Adam Lantheaume of the Boston Shaker, a first-of-its-kind boutique for Boston-area cocktailians that I wrote about not long ago.
Tags: cocktail contests, ingredients, LUPEC Boston, mixology, Recipes
Posted in Bartenders, Cocktails, Drinking supplies, Gin, Nips | 7 Comments »
December 3rd, 2008
If you’re looking for mixology tools, exotic bitters and newly reissued cocktail books of yore, head to Grand in Union Square, Somerville (374 Somerville Ave.). The Boston Shaker, a fledgling local enterprise headed by Adam Lantheaume, recently helped Grand set up a section for these items amidst the store’s merchandise for devotées of design.
The photo above gives you an idea of the sort of cocktail accoutrements you’ll find at Grand: Fee Bros. bitters (orange, mint, whiskey-barrel aged, etc.), syrups (orgeat, cassis, etc.), bar spoons, shakers, ice crushers, jiggers, cocktail books. No spirits, however — Grand is not a liquor store. (Bitters contain alcohol, but, like extracts used in cooking, they are not consumed in great enough quantity to warrant regulation.)
You can also contact the Boston Shaker directly to order these goods, as well as to get info on procuring hard-to-find spirits. And, note to industry folks: the Boston Shaker would love to talk to you about supplying your bar with specialty cocktail tools and ingredients. So, if you’re in the market for, say, an absinthe fountain or cherry bitters, give Adam a shout.
Tags: cocktail ingredients, cocktail tools, shops
Posted in Bitters, Books & resources, Drinking supplies | 3 Comments »
April 25th, 2008
By Scott N. Howe
In these times of global unrest and economic anxiety, I’ll admit that my concern over what is the proper platform on which to set my $10 cocktail is frivolous at best. Still, I continue to be plagued by the fact that, in the finest bars across our fair city, my drinks are consistently placed on flimsy paper napkins that quickly become wet and stick to the bottom of my glass, creating a moist mess that deeply dampens my enthusiasm for the entire cocktail experience.
At beer joints, this problem does not exist. Those places have stacks of sturdy cardboard coasters at the ready. After you take your seat and place your order, an attentive bar guy or gal will deal out coasters like a Vegas pit boss. Shortly thereafter, your frothy mug or frosty glass is plunked atop one of these colorful, practical discs and — no muss, no fuss — the bon temps can roulez.
In a cocktail establishment, the process is, of course, more refined and more involved. A drinks list is studied, the mixologist on duty is, perhaps, consulted to offer a recommendation or clarify a question on ingredients, history or flavor profile. Then, when the decision has been rendered, the magical matters of mixing, muddling, shaking and stirring commence, resulting in a custom creation that is carefully poured in the appropriate vessel and placed ever so delicately on (wait for it) a thin white paper napkin.
Look, I understand where our city’s serious bartenders are coming from. If I just spent 10 minutes crafting a drink based on an 1890 recipe found in an obscure pamphlet I discovered at a Paris flea market — a recipe that, after much experimentation, I had altered to incorporate a drop of liqueur made by Austrian monks from tulip stems and a dash of my own secret stash of homemade bitters — I would not want to serve said drink on a cardboard coaster trumpeting the “2008 Coors Light Spring Break Ultimate Swag Giveaway.” I get it.
Still, can’t we come up with a compromise? Sturdier napkins, perhaps? Custom doilies bearing, subtly, the logo of some high-end liquor company?
Let’s work on this problem, people. Once we settle the coaster conundrum, we can take a look at this global warming thing.
Tags: coasters, napkins
Posted in Drinking supplies | 9 Comments »
February 29th, 2008
“Shake well with ice.”
The vast majority of recipes for straight-up cocktails instruct you to do this, but what does shaking (or stirring) “well” really mean? I occasionally give advice to home bartenders, and the main thing I find myself repeating is, “Shake/stir your cocktail until it’s really, really cold. You can leave a cocktail on ice longer than you think.” People are always surprised to hear this, because they heard somewhere once that bartenders are shiftless characters who will carelessly “water down” your drink unless you keep them on their toes. It’s not until these misguided drinkers have tasted a cocktail that’s been properly watered down, by a skilled bartender who knows his/her way around a shaker, that they realize what they’ve been missing during all those years of drinking tepid, poorly mixed booze.
But I find myself at a loss when the person I’m advising asks, “OK, but for how long do I shake the drink?” Well … it depends on the cocktail, the ice, the vigorousness of the shaking … In short, there’s not really a standard response. So I’m offering here the next best thing: expert advice. I posed these questions to several of Boston’s best bartenders: “How do you gauge when a cocktail’s cold enough — when your hand aches from holding the icy shaker? Do you count the number of shakes/stirs? For the home bartender’s sake, can you estimate the number of seconds (or even minutes) a typical cocktail should take to chill perfectly?” Their responses are below. Read them, and you’ll be able to wow the guests of your next cocktail party by demonstrating a “dry integration shake.”
NOTE: I didn’t really get into the whole matter of different types of ice, which some bartenders obsess over in their quest for the perfectly chilled drink. (That’ll be the subject for another day — this post’s long enough). That said, if you don’t have a Lewis Bag in your house, make sure you read to the end.
Rob Kraemer, Chez Henri
I go ’til my hand sticks to the shaker, probably under 20 seconds if shaking hard. Too long dilutes the drink fast, but I’m interested to see what other responses you get, as I don’t even think about it.
Ben Sandrof, No. 9 Park
As far as shaking a drink, I usually give egg drinks about a minute of shaking, unless of course it’s a fizz, in which case it’s a bit longer. If it’s a stirred cocktail, about 20 seconds does the trick. The key is that we are looking for approximately 20 to 30 percent ice melt in the cocktail, as well as the appropriate amount of chill. I could be a real nerd and tell you that there is a thermometer on hand to make sure the drinks are, as finished products, between 28 and 30 degrees, but let’s not go there yet…
Brother Cleve, freelance mixologist and cocktail historian
“When your hand aches from holding the icy shaker.” That’s really when I put it down. I recall going to the Blackbird in NYC when Dale DeGroff and Audrey Saunders were the bartenders, back in the late ’90s. I was really impressed with Dale’s shaking technique (over the shoulder, very fluid movements, and for a long time). I asked him about the length of time he would shake for, and he explained that he felt that the longer shaking time added, and mixed, the additional water the drink required to be balanced, especially since they used pretty large ice cubes. Generally, frost on the metal shaker indicates that it’s ready. I guess it works out to be a minute or two. I’ll shake longer if there’s dairy or eggs involved.
If I’m shaking with crushed ice, I do it for less time, as it adds more water at a more rapid rate. Same thing with blender drinks. Most tropicals should be done at high speed for five to 10 seconds, max.
Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, Eastern Standard
In all honesty, I would say that both shaking and stirring are, at this point, second nature. It is really about feel, tasting a drink … is it balanced? Does it need more water to balance it out? Shaking or stirring are, at their most basic, about waterizing. I would say, in most scenarios, it is not necessarily about getting “appropriately cold” (though that is a wonderful secondary side effect). Instead, I think about properly waterizing that drink first, and how that usually offers you the proper temperature.
There are a number of different of types of shakes as well, each depending on what it is you are actually shaking. Many of Boston’s bartenders use a “dry shake” [a shake without ice, usually followed by a shake with ice] on egg drinks, arguing that it creates better texture in a drink. Some of us don’t necessarily buy into that philosophy. Then there is the “integration shake,” basically a quick two or three shakes, used to make the different liquids come together better. It’s one we use a lot, both for drinks like the Whiskey Smash, which ends up being strained over crushed ice, and for a lot of sparkling cocktails, like the Belle du Jour or even a French 75. In the Whiskey Smash example, you even use one further breakdown, a dry integration shake. It is for this reason that I think it is really hard to give an answer to “how long?” With a sort of mainstream everyday cocktail it is probably in the range of 30 or so shakes, maybe somewhere around 20 seconds.
In terms of stirring, I usually teach new bartenders to stir their cocktails until the shaker frosts over. That, to me, is kind of an easier distinction, particularly if you are stirring out of a [metal] shaker rather than a glass.
Now, a piece of advice from little old me: Before you make a cocktail at home, crack your ice. The cubes from your standard freezer tray are nice and hard and dense — much better in quality than most “quick-melt” bar ice, I’ve heard bartenders say — but, with their smooth surfaces, they’re a little too slow to melt in your shaker. So empty a tray of cubes into your Lewis Bag, and give the bag a few hard wacks with the accompanying wooden mallet. Cracked ice + ample shaking/stirring time = great cocktails.
Tags: coldness, ice, shaking, stirring, temperature, water
Posted in Bartenders, Cocktails, Drinking supplies | 5 Comments »
September 20th, 2007
After I learned from my more with-it colleagues in drink that obscure cocktail ingredients could be found at BRIX Wine Shop in the South End, I ventured over there with notebook and camera in hand. I just had to interview Carri Wroblewski and Klaudia Mally, the two self-described “chix” who own the place, and find out what they were up to.
If you’re used to the typical Massachusetts package store with its motley hodgepodge of wines o’ the world and dusty bottles of Leroux cordials, you might walk into BRIX and think, ‘Ooops, wrong tax bracket!’ Each bottle here seems to occupy its own special place on the sleek shelves, the way individual sweaters are displayed in high-end clothing boutiques. But take a closer look, and you’ll find reasonably priced wines along the bottom shelves, just like in any other liquor store. Luckily, these wines have been certified Not To Suck by Wroblewski and Mally, who forsake the usual suspects in favor of offbeat stuff they truly like, culling their selection from 39(!) different distributors.
The ladies are industry veterans — Wroblewski worked for J. Lohr Wines and Frederick Wildman & Sons importers, Mally waited tables at Grill 23 before working in mergers and acquisitions for a software company — and they’re all about education and service. They hold weekly public tastings and offer private ones by invitation or appointment. And they network with influential people in the Boston bar industry to stay on top of in-demand but hard-to-find spirits like Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, Amer Picon, Van Winkle bourbon and Peychaud’s and orange bitters. If you can’t find some oddity necessary for an obscure cocktail, BRIX will do its best to special-order it for you.
If you, like me, are closer to downtown Boston than the South End, you’re in luck — Wroblewski and Mally are opening a new store on Broad Street in October. It will look similar to the four-year-old mothership, but it’ll have a private tasting room for events. If you want up-to-date info on tastings and special offers, get on the BRIX mailing list. Oh, in case you were wondering, “brix” is the name of a scale used in winemaking to measure the sugar content in grape juice.
Posted in Cocktails, Drinking supplies, Wine | 6 Comments »
