I've been playing with watermelon juice, which is one of my favorite mixers this time of year. We have been using watermelon juice to modify standard cocktails for a while, and watermelon mojitos are particularly refreshing at a hot Austin summer party. This time I was trying to come up with something a little more interesting.
(Unfortunately this year I have heard that the local watermelon crop will be short b/c of the unseasonable monsoon weather we've been experiencing.)
I mixed this up and it came out the color of the zinnias out in the garden.
Zinnia
1 oz Pisco
1/2 oz Pear liqueur (like Mathilde)
1/2 oz Pimm's No. 1
1 1/2 oz Fresh watermelon juice
Dash each Fee Bros Orange and Lemon Bitters
Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish w/ lemon spiral

On Saturday we attended a dinner given by the supper club Dai Due. Dai Due (pronounced die DO-ay) serves up a multi-course menu composed entirely of locally-produced ingredients. The duo behind Dai Due are Jesse Griffiths, who once chefed at Vespaio, and his partner Tamara Mayfield, who has a background in sustainable agriculture and who now owns a Green cleaning service.
The theme, menu, and location change for each of the 3-4 dinners they serve monthly. Ours was an Italian menu consisting of 19 different dishes. The meal was amazing, and so was the ambience and setting--this time a private residence called the Dragonfly House.

Many Dai Due dinners are served al fresco at local farms such as Boggy Creek

The dinners are BYOB, and the hosts send out an email suggesting which Texas wine they recommend for each particular meal. They also serve a market-fresh cocktail before the dinner. This week they infused Tito's vodka with local pears and topped it with Topo Chico.
Because of the popularity of the dinners and limited seating capacity, it is recommended that you sign up for their mailing list and register quickly upon receiving the dates.

There are a number of different ways in which I measure the worth of a mixology manual. Is it authoritative, or does it offer up unique or historiographic insight into the craft? (Dale DeGroff's The Craft of the Cocktail and Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails are examples of this type of book.) Does the book have features that are unique to it, or does it otherwise organize the information in such a way that it provides the mixologist a new way of understanding the construction of cocktails? Of this sort of work, Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology is a perfect example. Other books are entertaining, and others are encyclopedic in scope. Written by globe-trotting cocktail enthusiast (and former publisher of SauceGuides) Simon Difford, DiffordsGuide Cocktails #6 offers something of all of these characteristics.

The book is sexily laid out and illustrated, beginning with a brief section on basic bartending technique and supplies, an outline of essential ingredients, cocktail recipes A-Z (each with its own photo, which though not necessary, serve to prevent ennui from setting in as you scroll through 2k+reciptes), an ingredients index, and finishing up with an overview of the great cocktail bars of the world--a subject which would make a great book of its own.

The cocktail recipes, over 2000 of them (with even more in the upcoming 7th edition), are arranged alphabetically, which is most logical and helpful to the working bartender--more useful, in this application, than organizing by main ingredient. Difford's assortment of cocktails is unique in that it includes a smart mix of classics, updated classics, and modern classics, gathered from Difford's global travels. I am not aware of another cocktail curator who has travelled as extensively as Difford and crew in search of the best cocktail recipes; is it a stretch to wonder if he may be the Charles H. Baker Jr. of the current era, his Guide the modern-day Gentleman's Companion?

One feature that is (as far as I know) unique to the Diffords Guide is the rating system, which ranks every drink on a scale of one to five from "disgusting" to "outstanding/exceptional." Though I haven't found any one-star cocktails yet, it gives his book credibility that the Dry Martini #1 (with the substantial vermouth component and the optional orange bitters) recieves the rare outstanding/exceptional ranking. I like the rating system because it informs the novice mixologist for the unhandsome reality that just because a drink has entered itself into the cocktail canon does not necessarily mean that it is actually good (Slippery Nipple, anyone? Difford's rating: Best Avoided).
Most recipes also include a brief "Comment" on the flavor profile of the drink, and many include notes on the origin of the drink. I also like the book's ingredients appendix, which is a great way of cross-referencing and figuring out "what all can I make with...?"

My criticisms of this book are few. First, and this is really just a minor annoyance more than a serious defect, Difford refers to several spirits by brand name throughout the book. This implies that a proprietary spirit is required where it is not. A Rusty Nail may require Drambuie, but does a Screwdriver really need to be made with Ketel One? Does a Margarita require Sauza Hornitos? Specifying spirits by name conflates the issue of when a proprietary spirit is necessary and when it is not. As a Texan and native-born Margarita enthusiast, I know that a good Margarita should be made with 100% agave reposado Tequila, of which Sauza Hornitos is just one of many. But someone who is not in margarita country may not realize this. The constant name-brand dropping also has a scent of sponsorship and product placement, and detracts from the unbiased authority of a work such as this one. (Although if Difford has received any dough from the liqour companies, more power to him. If somebody wanted to give me money I would be a name-dropping FOOL.)

I also think that the book can be at times somewhat Euro-centric, which is understandable since Difford is British. For example, the book's recipe for a Mexican Martini is for a drink discovered in Scotland, consisting of Tequila, creme de cassis and pineapple juice. It is probably good, but in a restaurant or bar in Texas when you order a Mexican Martini you get a top-shelf Margarita, shaken and strained into a cocktail glass, garnished with jalapeno-stuffed olives . I think this is the type of thing that will correct itself as the project carries on, and as more information from more regions is gathered.

Overall I think that Diffordsguide Cocktails #6 is a great addition to the cocktail library. It is full of classics, and yet it is more up-to-date than any book I've seen. It provides historical background, but not to the point of making the book unwieldy. Using Difford's rating system on himself, I give him 5 stars--Outstanding/Exceptional.

I am going to have take back all of the self-pitying things I said about how of all the cool new products we tasted at Tales of the Cocktail, none of them are available in Austin. As of this week, Q Tonic is available at Whore Foods in Austin, and soon nation-wide, which is very exciting. (The tonic, not the Whole Foods) Nevermind that we can't get St. Germain elderflower liqueur. Jade Absinthes? Feh! We have Q. Q is a luxury tonic made w/o corn syrup or any other nastiness. I wrote about it here.

As much as I would like to take credit for this beautiful pictures of Q Tonic on the shelves at Whole Foods in Austin, I did not take it.

At $9.99/4-pack, it may be more expensive than many of the beers you drink. But you will need to get over it and make the investment. It will change the way you think about tonic water. Or something.

Today we tried a classic Blood & Sand, but substituted Watermelon ("sandia" in Spanish) juice for the oj.

Blood & Sandia
3/4 oz. Scotch
3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth (we used Vya)
3/4 oz. Peter Heering Cherry Heering
1 oz. Fresh-pressed Watermelon juice
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

Please excuse this momentary lapse in judgement. On Tuesday night my friend David and I participated in the Wall of Flame 25 hot wing challenge at the Pluckers restaurant near my house. Pluckers is a local chain of chicken-themed sports restaurants. Pluckers is a guilty pleasure to me, to say the least--bordering on a guilty sin, a dirty secret shame.

Toasting the Wall of Flame challenge

In order to achieve the honorable Wall of Flame distinction, you must eat 25 of the hottest wings in one sitting. Dubbed "Fire-in-the-hole," you can only imagine the kind of havoc these wings wreak on your digestive system. Hotter by many degrees than anything on the menu at Hooters, these wings are truly miserable. But when there's a challenge issued, resolve trumps reason.

Doping for the Wall of Flame challenge

To assist us in ingesting this many hot wings, we employed the help of The Mother Plucker. This is the 34-oz draft beer which is a gluttonous portion, but nonetheless a perfect way to kick back on a hot summer night. On this night it was not just a libation but an analgesic.

A Mother Plucker of Fireman's 4 Ale, a welcom ingestif

We opted to order our wings first in increments of ten, then the final five. We took on the challenge on a Tuesday night because that is when the wings are only $.50/ea. (It may surprise some readers that participants who succeed in this challenge still have to pay for their wings--in more ways than one. There is no free dessert, no t-shirt or koozie. Just a Polaroid picture on the wall, and a day of g-i distress.)

Getting pinned at Pluckers

Though it was an absolutely disgusting experience, I am still glad that I did it, however I suppose I will never know what prompted me to channel this inner frat boy. Whatever it is, I'm glad its gone, that my inner Brett is safely stored away--that is, perhaps, until the next gastronomical idiocy challenge.

If work could always be this fun...
Last night we had the pleasure of "working" at the Taste of the Nation event, the annual fancy food fundraiser/high-class drunkfest for Share Our Strength, the hunger relief organization. The template is a familiar one: A high-tone venue is selected--in this case the Four Seasons--and several dozen of the best restaurants in town present a bite-sized morsel of their food, often on a crisp of some kind. A major booze purveyor or two (this time Republic, who represents Patron, Stoli, among others) poneys up some bar supplies and the upper crust pay big money to eat and shmooze and support a nonprofit, but most importantly to drink.
Usually as a coffee vendor I do not have much to do at these events because people want the booze. I get a small rush at the end of the evening when people are getting ready to leave, but for the rest of the evening I have plenty of time to eat and drink and schmooze with the WASPS. Last night was an entirely different story, however, because I have changed my formula. Realizing that people come for the booze, I decided several events ago to befriend the booze sponsor and work their product into a coffee drink (a Cofftail, a cafftail?). During the (supposedly) cooler Fall when most of these events take place, I have no trouble adding booze to hot coffee drinks. There are numerous variations on these. The problem though is that a spiked cappuccino does not offer much in the way of refreshment on a hot and humid August evening such as last night.
So I perused the selections that were available to me. I should say that sharing a table with the Patron people is a fortuitous fate indeed, since I had numerous bottles of Patron, Patron XO coffee liqueur, Patron Citronge, and Pyrat Rum at my disposal (this is a much better selection than the countless flavored rums and vodkas that usually get donated to events such as these.) We got to work shaking up a cocktail that would be a contrast to what the girls next to us were serving, mostly Patron "cosmos" and Patron "mojitos." I use quotation marks because I feel that if you change the base spirit you could probably rename the drink, but as I learned myself at that event, the use of the familiar standard cocktail name is a source of comfort to these patrons who are more affluent than they are adventurous.
We made two drinks that were a hit among Austin's finest, and I'm not sure if that speaks well or ill of this drink. For the moment we will assume the former.
The first cocktail was a creamy concoction that we dubbed the Mexical Freetail, in honor of the famed urban bat colony that takes residence under the bridge a few yards from the hotel where this event took place. It is basically a chocolatey Patron White Russian, a description which I realized was more appealing to our audience than the clever name we came up with.

Mexican Freetail
1/2 oz Patron Silver
1/2 oz Patron XO
1/2 oz 1883 Chocolate syrup (or similar, like Torani or Monin)
1 oz Half & Half
1 oz Cold-brewed coffee concentrate (pre-diluted Toddy process coffee; chilled espresso would work)
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This is a short one, y'all. We recently ended up in the bar of one of the more internationally known hotel chains in the city. Hotel bars, for me at least, represent a tangible link to the cocktail past. They were the original lounges where people conspired and affairs began and ended. So, when you have the opportunity to go you must do just that.

Upon entering we see that this particular bar is filled with mid-week revelers. The couches, chairs and tables are packed and the air is alive with conversation. A quick look at the cocktail menu doesn't offer what I'm looking for. When the wonderfully cordial waitress arrives and asks what we'd like I respond with, "a Martinez, please." Not being familiar with it, and saying as much, we give a quick history. A bit later she arrives back at the table to tell me, "The bar is not familiar with the drink." I go ahead and tell her the recipe I would like and she heads back to the bar and ultimately returns with a Martinez cocktail. In my mind, the bar should always have some sort of basic reference materials around to use in these instances. Interestingly, Mr. Boston, one of the books a bar is likely to have, would have ended up providing me with a dry vermouth Martinez Cocktail, which wouldn't have been what I was looking for at the time. At any rate, if a bartender (bar chef) doesn't know, look it up and certainly ask the patron. More than likely they're happy to tell you and you will have added a new drink to your repertoire. Chris, at Botticelli's, is one bartender who comes to mind. He is delightfully interested in learning new cocktails and is equally eager to check the references he keeps behind the bar in the event someone asks for a cocktail with which is not familiar. The fellow has created a few delicious creations of his own, too.

Cheers!

Has anyone ever wondered why the drink options are so sucky at all the festivals? In Austin it seems like there are a dozen festivals every month, and the abundance of festivals coincides with a directly proportional sucky festival drink selection.
Here is a micro-sample snapshot of recent festival drinks in Austin:
Last weekend there was the Austin Ice Cream Festival. Drink options consisted of Bud Light, Budweiser, Shiner Bock (in a can, warm in our case) or some frozen dacquiris of the bottled mix/cheap well rum (or maybe even wine, not sure) variety. $4 for a warm can of Shiner, and that was the best offering.
This past weekend we had the Red Bull Flugtag on Saturday, where people make up some flimsy flying contraption and run it off a ramp into the lake. Though I was initially very excited about this, it was one of the most hateful events I can remember in my long a critical history of Austin festivals. Too many f*cking people, where they came from I can't even imagine. After advertising heavily for this event, the turnout was so great that they were turning people away at the gate. The gate was part of the problem--the only reason why they needed to have a gate around a very spacious public park was so that they could profit off of beer sales, and so our draconian Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission could have its way regarding venue boundaries. After being turned away at the gate, a few determined festivalgoers decided to bound over the fence. A more determined Robin Hood of festival equality decided to tear down the fence altogether, and the crowd flooded in. At the beer tent, about 15 minutes after the event started, they announced that their awesome selection (of Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Lone Star) had already been depleted: All that would be available was 12 oz. cans of Lone Star, for $4. For readers outside the Lone Star distribution area, it is the "National Beer of Texas", which is only slightly more flavorful than the bigger national beers (which is to say not flavorful at all) and sells for $7.99/12 pack or thereabouts. For as much as I detest it, there was not even a Vodka Red Bull available at the Red Bull event.
What happened to Austin as the City of Ideas? What about Austin as one-of-the-best-cities-in-the-country-to-live-in? What about the Austin that cared about supporting local independent businesses and their products? Here's an idea--how about a good drink at one of our countless festivals? How about better-cocktails-for-better-living? Why hasn't City Council acted on this? (Probably because they only respond to the developers, but that is another story...maybe if we concerned cocktailians created a Better Beverage Bureau we could get somewhere.) Kidding aside, it is silly that with all the great local breweries in this area we have to put up with Anheuser Busch crap at every event we go to, with only a few exceptions (Eeyore's Birthday being a notable one, where the locals dominate.)

Tonight we tasted a cocktail called The Stargazer, by Robert Hess of Drinkboy.com
The cocktail was created for the 2006 Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans, the 2007 version of which we attended in July.

This drink consists of Lillet Blonde and Rye Whisky, I used Old Olverholt though there are also Ryes from Jim Beam, Wild Turkey and Sazerac that are available at Twin, Specs, and Wiggy's. From what little I know about Rye, I thought OO tasted kind of rustic. At TOTC I asked Robert Hess and he told me that it wasn’t bad, “for the price” (about $11.)
We were prompted to pick up a bottle of Old Olverholt after sitting at the bar at Katz’s Deli one night and owner Marc Katz was telling us about how in New York in the 1950’s real men drank Old Overholt. “That was a man’s drink. My father was a rye man.”

This conversation took place during the big “ice storm” that hit Austin back in January, which might not be identifiable as a big ice storm to anyone who has actually seen an ice storm. But by sunny Austin standards, it was huge, and when the city shut down, Marc’s deli was one of the only businesses open. Apparently all this talk of rye enlivened a taste bud in the spirited restaurateur, and he stumbled to the liquor room in the back of the restaurant to retrieve the bottle of Old Overholt, which he thought he had procured, but it was nowhere to be found. After the city thawed out we made our way to Spec’s where I found the bottle of OO, though I had to go through three or four before I found a bottle that did not leak when laid on its side in the basket.
Regarding Lillet, it says that once opened it can be stored in the refrigerator for “up to a week.” I was thinking it would be one of those use-a-splash-here-and-there-for-years kinds of bottles. Of course, there are worse fates than being rushed into consuming more cocktails more faster…
The drink consists of equal parts Lillet and Rye, a dash of Angostura, shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. You can find the exact recipe here.