We received a number of great recipes for next week's Drink Local Cocktail Contest, and had to narrow them down to five finalists. The judges had a hard time settling on just five contestants, given the total variety of great recipes received. Here they are, in no particular order:
Bobby Heugel, the Anvil (Houston) Billy Hanky, the Good Knight (Austin) Ben Craven, Starlite (Austin) Bill Norris, FINO (Austin) Will Earls, Gypsy (Austin)
These five finalists will compete live next Tuesday night at the Drink Local Night event at the Monarch*, from 6-9pm. The event is open to the public. Anyone who is interested in great cocktails with local flair should come check out this event; it will be one of the best gatherings of bartenders in Texas this year, and definitely worth checking out. In addition to the contest itself, all of the Texas spirits producers will be there sampling their wares, many with their own bartenders presenting signature cocktails. Congratulations to these finalists and a big Thank You to everyone who submitted recipes--we'll see you at the Monarch!
*The Monarch is the condo tower on 5th St. that looks like it is wearing a tiara
Tonight we pick up the Dale/David Project with the Waldorf, a cocktail consisting of Bourbon or Rye and Sweet Vermouth, stirred with Angostura bitters and strained into a cocktail glass rinsed with Ricard. The astute observer will note that this is basically a licoricey Manhattan. Dale points out that the version in Albert Stevens Crockett's Old Waldorf Bar Days (1931) is made with equal parts absinthe, sweet vermouth, and whiskey. Dale's adaptation calls for Ricard, since the book was published before the contemporary re-birth of true absinthe.
The Waldorf will slap you around a bit, whether you make it with Absinthe (l) or Ricard (r)
We decided to make two versions, one following Dale's recipe and the other following that found in Patrick Gavin Duffy's Official Mixer's Manual (pub. 1934, reprinted 1956), which looks like it may have been lifted from Mr. Crockett's volume: 1/3 Bourbon Whiskey, 1/3 Pernod, 1/3 Sweet Vermouth, 3 dashes Angostura Bitters, stirred well and strained into a glass. In this latter recipe we substituted Lucid absinthe for the Pernod. We used Wild Turkey Rye for the whiskey in both cocktails; Martini & Rossi for the sweet vermouth. I think I favor the Ricard version, in that the glass was only rinsed with the spirit before the rest of the ingredients were added. Either of these cocktails will put hair on your chest if it's not already there.
He looked carefully at the barman. "A dry martini," he said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet." "Oui, monsieur." "Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?" "Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.
-Ian Flemming, Casino Royale (1953)
With those fateful (one could argue fatal) words, the future of the gin martini was spelled out. In another decade, the mastermind behind the marketing of Smirnoff will have found the James Bond movies to be the perfect vehicle for the placement of his comparatively new product, vodka, in a popular culture setting that would forever change the landscape of spirits consumption in America. The king of all cocktails, the noble gin martini, with the introduction of a measure of vodka in Bond's Vesper, would eventually be diluted and reduced to the "martini" that is so tragically consumed today, in and out of Bond movies: Vodka--shaken, not stirred.
This story is well known in cocktail circles, but is concisely described in Dale's beautiful new book,The Essential Cocktail. Dale points out that he erred in pandering to vodka drinkers in his first book, wherein he reversed the ratios of vodka and gin. Thankfully for him he had the opportunity to correct himself in this volume; thankfully for the rest of us, Dale wrote this gorgeous book for us to drool over, as we read it in bed, falling asleep with visions of sugar rims dancing in our heads.
The reason why we decided to make the Vesper is because Tipsy's Dad had recently attended a Bond-watching party where the cocktail had been made.
The Big Event is finally here... the Tipsy Texan Drink Local Cocktail Contest, tonight at the Monarch from 6-9pm, as part of Edible Austin Magazine's Eat Local Week.
There was a short spot on KXAN news this morning featuring Paula Angerstein of Paula's Texas Spirits, Bill Norris of FINO (who is also competing in tonight's event) and Me...although it may be a stretch to say that I am "featured" since I only say about 10 words.
Check it out:
The drink that Bill is making is a Basil Meyer Lemondrop, made with fresh Meyer lemons from our friend Jim Evans's backyard; Tito's Vodka; Paula's Texas Lemon; simple syrup and a little fresh basil. We threw this drink together for the Equality Texas event last week (also at the Monarch), and the idea was to present a very simple drink that people can make at home and which features fresh and local ingredients.
Basil Meyer Lemon Drop
1 1/2 oz Tito's Vodka
3/4 oz Paula's Texas Lemon
1/2 oz Meyer lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
4 basil leaves
In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle 3 of the basil leaves with the simple syrup. Add vodka, PTL, and lemon juice. Shake vigorously with ice and fine-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (The fine strain will catch all of the basily bits). Garnish with remaining basil leaf.
Me with Bobby Heugel, winner of the inaugural Tipsy Texan Drink Local Cocktail Contest. Bobby is the taller one. With the sh*teating grin on his face.
The Drink Local event and Tipsy Texan Cocktail Contest last night was a blast, another successful piece of Eat Local Week. There were an estimated 200 people in attendance. Paula Angerstein of Paula's Texas Spirits led the charge in the tasting room with fellow Texas producers Tito's Vodka (Tito himself was holding court most of the night), Treaty Oak Rum and proprietor Daniel Barnes, Savvy Vodka (whose owner must have had another engagement, or not realized the significance of the night's event), and the gentlemen who are making the Texas whiskey that is waiting in casks right now for a release in 2011.
Judging the contest, from l-r:
Austin locavore chef Jesse Griffiths, of Dai Due Supper Club (who was, incidentally, featured in today's Austin American-Statesman)
Cocktail writer and spirits maven Moxy Castro
L Style/G Style magazine editor Chantal Outon
"Tipsy" of TipsyTexan.com, Joe Eifler
Food & Beverage Director of the Driskill Hotel, Tom Beaty
I was the host for the evening. Does that red tie make me look too much like a Republican politician?
Contestants, in the order they competed: Will Earls, Gypsy (Austin) Billy Hanky, the Good Knight (Austin) Ben Craven, Starlite (Austin) Bill Norris, FINO (Austin) Bobby Heugel, the Anvil (Houston)
Will Earls kicked off the night with his Temecula Tea cocktail, featuring three different types of citrus juice captured in frozen juice "popsicles". The cocktail was topped with a passion fruit espuma (a flavored foam that floats atop the finished drink) which gave it a nice creamy finish. There was a lot going on in this cocktail, and Will did a fabulous job describing his techniques, garnishes, and personal philosophy.
Temecula Tea By Will Earls
1 1/4 ounce Tito's Vodka
3/4 ounce Siete Leguas Reposado Tequila
3 ounces organic Mexican infused iced tea
Satsuma orange, blood orange, grapefruit and Paula's Texas Orange infused (3 Ice cubes, or 1 ounce infused simple syrup)
Topped with a passion fruit espuma
Garnished with grapefruit, blood orange, and Satsuma orange supremes
The second contestant, Billy Hanky of the Good Knight, served up the restaurant's eponymous cocktail, which you can taste (k)nightly at the little restaurant on East 6th. This was Billy's first time to compete in a cocktail competition and he put forth a great effort.
The Good Knight, by Billy Hanky of the Good Knight restaurant/bar
The Good Knight By Billy Hanky
1 1/4 oz rye whiskey.
3/4 oz Paula's Texas Lemon
1/4 oz lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Combine in a shaker, shake, and pour into a glass washed with sweet vermouth. I use Martini & Rossi. Garnish with lime wedge.
Ben Craven was up next with his Rio Star cocktail, which he crafts from grapefruit-infused Tito's vodka, and a homemade honey liqueur, with lemon juice, grapefruit juice, and Sweet Leaf Tea. Ben's garnish was a show-stopping candied grapefruit peel. Delicious to taste and stunning to behold.
Ben Craven shaking his Rio Star cocktail
Rio Star By Ben Craven
1 ½ oz Tito’s infused with Big Star Texas grapefruit
1 oz local honey liqueur
Splash lemon juice
Sweet Leaf tea
Shake first three ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with Sweet Leaf tea. Garnish with candied grapefruit peel.
Ben's cocktail, with its candied grapefruit peel, is almost as photogenic as he is
Following Ben was Bill Norris, the barman at Austin's FINO restaurant. Bill's Tea Time in the Valley cocktail was complex and balanced, featuring Treaty Oak Rum and sour orange juice (from a "secret location in East Austin"), with a homemade honey darjeeling syrup. The cocktail was beautifully garnished with a ruby red grapefruit supreme that appeared to be speared onto a piece of lemongrass.
Tea Time in The Valley By Bill Norris
1.5oz Treaty Oak Rum
.5 oz Paula's Texas Orange
.5 oz Dubonet Rouge
.25oz Honey-Darjeeling Syrup
.5 oz Texas Grapefruit Juice
.5 oz Sour Orange Juice
Dash Absinthe
Garnish with flamed grapefruit peel and grapefruit supreme.
Bobby shaking it like he means it
The last contestant of the evening was Bobby Heugel, who came out fired up like he was preaching the gospel (which in a way, I suppose, he was). Speaking a mile a minute and rattling off an improvised manifesto of local cocktail mixology, he shook up a fabulous fizz that featured Railean XO rum which is made in San Leon, TX, and is the only aged Texas spirit currently on the market. Shaken with lemon juice, honey-lavender syrup and egg white, the fizz takes on an ethereal consistency. After pouring the cocktail, Bobby finalizes the presentation by misting half of the surface of the cocktail with Angostura bitters sprayed from a Misto mister, and garnished with a lemon twist. A fabulous drink.
Bobby's False Dichotomy cocktail
False Dichotomy By Bobby Huegel
2 oz Railean XO Texas Rum
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
.75 Honey-Lavender Syrup
1 Egg White
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake all ingredients except for the bitters in a shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and mist the bitters on top, over half of the surface. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Mindy Kucan of the Hilton was my co-host and technical judge for the evening.
For those of you who have not had the pleasure yet of enjoying a Tipsy Texan cocktail, come see us at The Art of the Cocktail. It takes place at Z'Bar each week, featuring the Tipsy Texans. We do a short menu of selected classic cocktails, and some of our own creations.
As far as I can tell, the Orange Blossom is what would be known in modern parlance as a Gin n' Juice. According to Dale, David A. Embury refers to this cocktail as "the spawn of the Prohibition toad." Embury's recipe consists of gin, orange juice and simple syrup in a ratio of 2:1:1/2. I don't have Embury's volume so I do not know what else he had to say about this drink.
There's really not much going on in this drink except... orange.
Dale's version of the Orange Blossom subs Cointreau for the simple syrup and tones down the gin from Embury's version.
The 1946 Old Mr. Boston recipe consists of equal parts orange juice and gin with a pinch of powdered sugar; the recipe in Barflies & Cocktails (1927) is a straight up Gin & Juice. My personal favorite can be found in Esquire Drinks (1949), in the section titled, "Something for the Girls." It is the classic gin and juice with the addition of sweet vermouth--the conception of what the girls like has changed somewhat from those times to the present.
The Lust for Life cocktail features Galliano and therefore has an express pass to my heart. I received a voicemail after my last Galliano cocktail post from a friend of mine who used to direct the bartender training program at Columbia university. She told me, "I'm glad you're taking a stand for Galliano. I remember telling my classes, 'This is the grossest of gross, if you want your customer to hate you, make a drink with this in it.' " Well, sister, I am going there--and my customers don't hate me. They say, "Thanks, TipsyTexan, that was fabulous, may I have another?" Galliano worshippers, all of them.
This desserty dream consists of Galliano, peach liqueur, orange juice, and heavy cream, garnished with freshly grated nutmeg. The recipe is credited to Jeff Becker, with whom Dale worked at New York's Rainbow Room
The Leo Special consists of gin, Cointreau, and lime juice with a dash each of Pernod and green creme de menthe. I don't know about the origin of this cocktail; at first I thought it might be named after Dale's son, who is named Leo. But that theory was shattered when I found the drink in Patrick Gavin Duffy's Official Mixer's Manual (1956). The Duffy version does not include the creme de menthe. I had made this drink once before and find it to be quite tasty. Tastier than the name, I would say, which reminds me of something you would see on the menu of a strip mall Chinese restaurant.
We made this drink at our friend Joe's house, Tipsy Manor-in-Exile. Joe had this to say of the cocktail: "It tastes electrical! Just like it looks." (I read today in William Safire's column that F. Scott Fitzgerald believed that using an exclamation point was akin to laughing at your own joke. Thoughts?)
We are rolling out a new menu for Art of the Cocktail tonight at the Z'Bar. Classic cocktails served from 5-9 pm, with live Jazz in the background and half-price Appys on the bar. We will be making the Vesper martini in celebration of the new Bond movie which we saw last night (you will not, however, be ordering six of them, as 007 did in the movie.) We will also be shaking the Corpse Reviver No. 2, since we have to use up that Lillet somehow.
A couple of weeks ago I gave the shortest radio interview ever on Heath Riddles's OutCast radio program. Riddles hosts the only LGBT issues radio show in Austin (maybe Texas? Not sure) and has been active in the community for a long time. He does not, however, drink. So the interview was on the brief side (about 2 minutes), but fun nonetheless. (As a former Boy Scout, I am always prepared, and so arrived at the studio with all of the equipment and ingredients needed to make a Corpse Reviver No. 2. I thought maybe they would want me to make a cocktail on the air. But apparently the radio studio people don't look favorably upon liquids in the control room, especially liquids being shaken vigorously with ice and strained into clumsy cocktail glasses. Who knew?) OutCast airs every Sunday from 6:00-6:30pm on KOOP 91.7 FM
Thanks to Chuck Smith for sending me this fancy little play button thing
Video by Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon for the Austin American-Statesman
Today my New Year's Eve cocktail feature ran in the Austin American-Statesman and online at their Austin360 Web site. I interviewed a couple of my favorite Austin bartenders, but most importantly had the pleasure of interviewing my personal cocktail hero, Dale DeGroff. DeGroff is the author of The Craft of the Cocktail, which is the subject of the Dale/David Project here. He is also the author of The Essential Cocktail, which is one of my very favorite books on the subject (and I have about 100 or so). I included recipes from Austin mixologists Bill Norris (of FINO), Will Earls (who has a new cocktail menu premiering this month at Gypsy, which will hopefully put that restaurant on Austin's diminutive cocktail map), and myself. And two great recipes from Dale DeGroff.
*Photos are by Ricardo B. Brazziell for the Austin American-Statesman*
This shot of me flaming an orange peel for the Ritz Cocktail looks like an accidental tribute to Dale DeGroff's cover shot from the Craft of the Cocktail. I assure you this was not intentional, as the photographer has never seen the book
Dale DeGroff created the Millennium Cocktail for the millennial New Year's Eve celebration but I think it is a good choice for any celebratory occasion. It consists of Cognac (DeGroff originally specified Courvoisier Millennium but says that any VSOP will work), orange curacao (for local flavor, try Paula's Texas Orange), usweetened pineapple juice, and Angostura bitters. The Millennium Cocktail
From The Essential Cocktail, by Dale DeGroff
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 ounce orange curacao
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
Dash of Angostura bitters
Flamed orange peel for garnish
Nutmeg, for grating
Bill Norris did a Holiday Hard Cider Punch which goes down quite easily. Keep an eye on your guests! If you see anyone taking a horizontal position on your coffee table, do not give them any more punch. Norris said that he served this potion at his Thanksgiving party and festive frivolity ensued (though I can't say for sure whether or not any coffee table slumbering took place). Because it was in the 70's-80's in Austin on Thanksgiving, Norris served this drink on the rocks. It also does well served hot.
Hard Holiday Cider Punch
2 cups Rye whiskey
2 cups Bourbon
1 cup Paula's Texas Orange
4 cups Fresh Apple Cider
3 Cinnamon Sticks
Juice and Peels (no pith) of 3 Lemons
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
10 Dashes Fee Bros Aromatic or Angostura Bitters
1 cup boiling water
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peels from the lemons over your punch bowl, being careful to avoid pith. Set aside fruit. Add Cinnamon, sugar, ginger and bitters to bowl. Top with boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar. Using a muddler lightly crush all ingredients and allow to steep until water begins to cool.
While it's cooling, juice and strain the lemons. Stir in Rye, Bourbon, PTO, lemon juice and Cider. Refigerate for 30 minutes to an hour and strain out solids.
Serve on the rocks with a cinnamon stick for garnish.
