May 4th, 2007
A couple of drinks articles this week made me really thirsty. The first was Eric Asimov’s gin roundup. He and his NY Times tasting panel rated 80 (!) gins, and the way they did it was super smart: they made martinis.
“…because gin is often consumed in a martini, we decided to taste the gin as expressed through the world’s most famous (and perhaps least understood) cocktail. We discovered that while great martinis require great gins, great gins don’t necessarily make great martinis,” writes Asimov.
You got that right, brother. The panel’s number-one gin for martinis? Supple and balanced Plymouth English Gin, no surprise.
The second article was Boston drinks/arts writer Liza Weisstuch’s size-up of artisanal tequila. I don’t know why I can say “artisanal beer” or “artisanal cheese” without batting an eye, but the concept of “artisanal tequila” still makes me smirk. I know, I should get over this prejudice. If a tequila producer uses good ingredients (aka 100 percent blue agave) and proper barrel aging, his spirit is just as worthy of respect as good brandy or whiskey, right? Right. It’s just the trendiness of the stuff that makes me roll my eyes. As with every other spirit, there’s great tequila, and there’s overrated tequila that comes in a neat bottle and is priced to make poseur boys look cool in the eyes of poseur girls.
So, I was surprised to find myself thirsting for tequila while reading this article. Actually, I was thirsting for cocktails made with tequila. Apparently, Eastern Standard’s Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli has created something called the Jaguar: “a blanco mixed with herbaceous Green Chartreuse, Amer Picon, and Fee Brothers Orange Bitters and garnished with a flaming orange rind,” writes Weisstuch. Now that’s a cocktail that would make me stop laughing about tequila. See you soon, Tom!
Permalink | 3 Comments | Filed under Booze in the news, Gin, Tequila |
May 2nd, 2007
A reader named Dan recently emailed, “Do you know of any stores with decent pisco selections? I ran out of the bottle I brought back from Peru and the warm weather is giving me an itch.” (As we know from drinkboston’s Pisco and Peruvian Soul party, pisco is a clear, grape-based spirit originating from Peru and Chile.) To answer Dan, I consulted an expert.
“I understand that itch,” answered Mr. Pisco, aka Brother Cleve. “Martignetti’s on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton has about the largest selection I’ve seen, including the highly recommended La Diablada and Macchu Pisco brands from Peru, as well as some Chilean brands. Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits on Charles St. and Federal Wine & Spirits (downtown by the old State House) often carry more esoteric spirits as well. Unfortunately, there are no local Peruvian/Chilean neighborhoods/stores here, so it’s not as easy as finding good Cachaça or Aguardiente. Also … for excellent Pisco Sours, etc, please visit the Alchemist in JP, Green Street in Central Sq., and No.9 Park downtown (and probably Eastern Standard shortly as well).”
Eastern Standard definitely — bartender Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli mixed me a Pisco Sour back in March. More recently, I had a Pisco Sour at Cuchi Cuchi in Cambridge. Seeing this classic Latin American cocktail on so many bar menus makes me wonder, ‘Is this a sign of the end of the Mojito’s dominance?’ Probably not. Mojitos are hard to screw up. Almost any bartender armed with a muddler can take rum, mint leaves, lime, simple syrup and a splash of soda and make a tasty drink. The bits of mint leaf look festive — even healthful — and they can mask an imbalance of flavors.
Mixing a good Pisco Sour, on the other hand, takes some skill. The ingredients are simple — pisco, lemon (and/or lime) juice, sugar, egg white, Angostura bitters — and balance is key. So is shaking the bejeezus out of the egg white. That’s how you get the ethereal, foamy crown on which the drops of bitters bleed, lending a piquant contrast to the drink’s softness. I had a nice straight-up version of this drink at the Alchemist and a perfect on-the-rocks version at Eastern Standard. Cuchi Cuchi also serves its Pisco Sours on the rocks. Here, the drink was good but not perfect. I don’t know if it’s because they use pasteurized egg white, or what, but the texture lacked softness and the bitters were dispensed with too heavy a hand. Meanwhile, Mojitos were being cranked out about every five minutes.
Permalink | 1 Comment | Filed under Cocktails, Pisco |
April 30th, 2007
Robin Chase, the founder of the car-sharing company Zipcar, has launched a new transportation service called GoLoco. The Globe wrote about it last week. A sort of Facebook for carpoolers, GoLoco “fuses ride-sharing and social networking,” says the article. “The online service … brokers trips between friends, neighbors, and strangers, then automatically divvies up the cost, the seats in the car, and the carbon dioxide emissions.”
I’ve been a member of Zipcar for several years, and this GoLoco business sounds great — especially for bar-hoppers like me! How many times have I wanted, for instance, to get from a bar in east Somerville to one in Jamaica Plain and thought, ‘If only I could find two or three other people who wanted to do the same thing, I wouldn’t have to spend $35 taking a cab by myself across greater Boston!’
I’m guessing GoLoco isn’t exactly going to bill itself as a designated driver locator for tipplers — the scenario the Globe article uses to illustrate the service is an oh-so-clean-cut carpool to a contra-dance in Concord, MA — but isn’t it a great thought? Like, what if cabs got in on the network? A driver could pick up three or four people in the same neighborhood and take them to a general location they’ve all requested via cellphone or Blackberry. Traveling between Boston’s far-flung neighborhoods would suddenly be faster and much less expensive. Not to mention much safer than drinking and driving.
Permalink | No Comments | Filed under Misc. |
April 25th, 2007
LUPEC invaded my home last night — and it was good. The Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails launched a few months ago and has already created cocktails for and otherwise helped promote several local benefits, like the Operation Frontline Dinner at Tremont 647 and the Taste of the South End. Every month, the Ladies get together for a cocktail party celebrating a theme of the hostess’ choosing. Last night’s theme was Drinkin’ Dames in Classic Cinema, and several attendees dressed for the occasion in polka-dot blouses, pillbox hats, fishnet stockings and Mary Jane pumps. I am proud to say that these discerning tipplers approved of the five dame-influenced cocktails I served.
Ginger Rogers
1 oz dry gin
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz apricot brandy
4 dashes lemon juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. The liquid equivalent of Ginger floating elegantly in a feathered gown.
Barbara West
2 oz dry gin
1 oz dry sherry (Amontillado works well)
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist. Thanks to Ted Haigh for resurrecting this excellent aperitif cocktail. (Who the hell was Barbara West? No one knows. When serving this drink, make up your own story about her.)
Roman Holiday
1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
splash of fresh orange juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Thin orange slice. Refreshing!
Ann Sheridan
1 1/2 oz Myers dark rum (recipe called for Bacardi dark rum; other recipes call for Bacardi light rum)
1/2 oz orange curacao
1/2 oz lime juice
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Marlene Dietrich
2 oz rye whiskey
1/2 oz orange curacao
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake well over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist and flamed orange peel. (OK, I took liberties with the original recipe, which called for 3/4 wineglass (!) of rye and only two dashes of curacao. A lightly adulterated glass of rye was probably just right for Marlene, but I wanted a little more balance.)
Permalink | 8 Comments | Filed under Cocktails, Gin, Rum, Vodka, Whiskey |
April 17th, 2007
A sober friend said to me a while ago, ‘You should write something on mocktails.’ He was getting pretty tired of ordering O’Doul’s every time he went out and was looking for other options. I sympathized, filing his idea away in my brain’s to-do list. Well, that to-do list quickly became buried by other to-do lists filled with my usual booze-centric topics. Then, about a week ago, I developed the most hellacious cold; my doctor actually prescribed Vicodin to numb my cough. Ginger ale, tea and water are all I’ve been drinking, and I’m damn sick of it. That mocktail idea is back at the top of my list. My friend is right: those of us who are on the wagon, temporarily or permanently, should have more drink options. And I’m talking adult options (not sugary kid’s drinks like Shirley Temples) beyond NA beer, virgin Bloodys, or soda with lime.
The Arnold Palmer, a classic quencher of half iced tea, half lemonade, is a simple, good drink that seems surprisingly under the radar. However, it is listed prominently on the drink menu at the All Star Sandwich Bar in Inman Square, Cambridge. Thai and Indian restaurants also offer interesting non-alcoholic beverages, like Thai iced tea (cold, spiced red tea with sugar and cream) and Lassi, a south Indian yogurt-based drink that can be sweet (and mixed with mango, etc.) or savory.
Eastern Standard has one of the few cocktail menus around that feature a list of Mocktails — actual made-to-order mixed drinks, only without spirits ($5 each). They are:
- Stormy Monday (a play on the Dark and Stormy): ginger beer with lime and bitters.
- Abbey’s Punch (ES’s Papi’s Punch without the rum): Fresh lime, pineapple and orange juices, housemade grenadine, splash of Sprite.
- Lemmy Tum Tum: Great for the tummy, ’cause it’s full of Peychaud’s bitters. “It’s basically fresh lemonade with tons of Peychaud’s, served as an up drink. Medicinal, tart and flavorful,” says bar manager Jackson Cannon.
- Sophisticated Lady: Cucumber muddled with a sprinkle of salt, shaken over ice with cranberry juice, lime juice and simple syrup, then filtered and served over ice. This one’s Jackson’s fave, “a real cocktail. It just doesn’t have alcohol.”
Finally, Jackson suggested a Mock Toddy for my froggy throat: pour boiling water over two lemons cut into eighths and dusted with cayenne pepper, and a spoonful or two of honey. Strain into a mug and drink.
Got your own mocktail suggestion? Let me know.
Permalink | 10 Comments | Filed under Mocktails |
