Dolce Vita was a raging success tonight with a sell-out crowd showing up for the 20th anniversary event. As far as crowds go, the Tipsy Texans entertained a sizable line of party-goers in the Scotch & Cigar Lounge, which was a $20 upgrade to the regular ticket--a steal, in my opinion, because that means you get to drink high-proof hooch instead of just wine.

We originally planned to do the Debonair Cocktail but there appeared to be a shortage of scotch, so we switched gears after the first hour and focused our attention on the case of Paula's Texas Lemon that they'd given us to work with. Tipsy came up with a refreshing Port punch.

I didn't get a glamour shot of the Debonair but Jennie Chen managed to catch me drinking one

Paula's Porto Punch
2 oz Paula's Texas Lemon
3/4 oz Port
3/4 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime
Angostura bitters
Shake all in a cocktail shaker and strain into a bitters-rinsed glass

We were also fortunate to have a guest barista at our table, none other than Dan Streetman of Cuvee Coffee. He brought his La Marzocco espresso machine and did some great coffees. We debuted a new coffee cocktail that I have been working on, a brown butter-infused Macchiato with Strega and absinthe:

The Brown Witch

The Brown Witch
1/2 oz Brown Butter
4 oz Whole Milk
1 oz Espresso
1/2 oz Strega
Barspoon (scant) St. George absinthe
Pour spirits into a demitasse. Steam the brown butter and milk, pour artfully into demitasse. Serve.

Time is running out to submit recipes for the second annual Tipsy Texan Drink Local Cocktail Contest. The contest takes place Sunday, December 6, as part of Edible Austin Magazine's Eat Local Week. Last year's contest featured some of the best talent in the state, with Bobby Heugel (Anvil, Houston) taking the gold. Who will take the top prize this year? The contest is open to professionals and amateurs alike, as long as you follow the rules.

Contest Rules are adapted from the United States Bartenders Guild official contest rules, and follow the jump.

Today is the deadline, midnight Central Texas Time. Send in recipes for Drink Local Cocktail Contest or watch some douchebag with a crappy drink rake in all the prizes that could have been yours.

Get to shaking! Complete rules and directions are here.

The results are in for the first round of this year's Drink Local Cocktail Contest. The judges expressed great difficulty in selecting just five contestants and an alternate. Here are the finalists in no particular order:

Jeff Boley (Paggi House)
Bill Norris (FINO)
Lara Nixon (Boxcar Bar)
Benjamin Craven (Perla's)
Garret Mikell (Some place that hasn't opened yet. What's it called?)

Alternate:
Nate Wales (La Condesa)

The contest takes place this Sunday, Dec 6 from 6pm-9pm at Palm Door, 401 Sabine in Downtown Austin. The event is open to the public. A suggested donation benefits Urban Roots.

The Tipsies and some of our mixological colleagues will be hosting a Beignet Breakfast at Frank on Friday morning, 9-11am March 12. We will be sampling some new and classic Chartreuse cocktails. Event is open to the public but it is advised to get there early, as when the Chartreuse stops flowing, it's over.

This Chartreuse neon sign is the only one of its kind, and hangs on the wall of the Texas Chili Parlour. Although we will not have this neon sign at Frank on Friday, we will have plenty of Chartreusey treasures that they do not have at the Parlour: Chartreuse and Chocolate; Chartreuse Bloody Mary with Chartreuse-pickled veggies; and the Green Witch--Brown butter macchiato with Chartreuse. Mmm! Compliimentary cocktails and beignets from 9-11am, first come, first served.

NY Times food columnist Amanda Hesser has taken a tipsy time travel through that paper's considerable archives and excavated a whopping 40 pages of drink recipes for her new book, The Essential New York Times Cook Book. If this book is true to the form of the Craig Claiborn-era Times cookbooks, it will have a thousand+ recipes and be approximately the size of a major city's phone book (speaking of time travel). Even in that context, this is an impressive showing.

America has never quite settled the question of whether it’s a wine- or beer-drinking nation, so our liquid preferences have always been a free-for-all. Wine for the erudite. Cocktails for the adventuresome. Beer for the mainstream.

(...And all three if you're a Tipsy Texan.) So begins the chapter on Drinks, Cocktails, Punches and Glög. Hesser notes that the Times began publication a decade before Jerry Thomas's game-changing 1862 manual on cocktails, and has borne witness to the codification and mainstreaming of American mixed beverages.

Apropos of its nickname, "the newspaper of record", the Times has also witnessed other major milestones in American history, like, oh, the Civil War, for example. Which is why it pisses me off when intellectual lightweights attempt to slander the Times as "liberal media", irrespective of the fact that it pre-dates our contemporary understanding of such distinctions, and will hopefully outlive it. When I was a fledging journalism major at the University of Texas, I took the intro class from Dr. Stephen Reese, a legend in his own right. The A Section of the Times was required daily reading, and we had to subscribe to the print edition as part of the course. On the first day of class, a girl asks the professor, "If we live in Austin, TX, why do we have to read a paper from New York?" Dr Reese seemed a little surprised by the question (one would think an aspiring Journalism major would be able to differentiate between the Times and the Statesman, or worse, the East Bumblefcuk Reporter), but responded kindly, "The NY Times is one of the finest journalistic institutions in the world...". The paper still shows up on my doorstep each morning, along with the local rag.

Hesser will be in Austin for the Texas Book Festival, and will be doing a book signing event at Rainlily Farm on October 16, 7-9pm, where the Tipsy Texans will be proudly demonstrating cocktails from the venerable newspaper's past. (And, one may hope, sampling a cocktail or two). Tickets available at the link above. Thanks to Marla Camp of Edible Austin magazine for help with coordinating this event.

*Note: this site's comments feature tragically does not work but you can email me at info at this url

Tonight we helped our friend Jeffrey Lorien of Zhi Tea celebrate his third anniversary. Though he does not himself partake, we celebrate with cocktails, and so that is what we made. We thought we were very fancy since we spent a long time playing with these drinks, until we looked at the results and realized that we basically doctored a Margarita and a Daiquiri, in reverse. One of the teas we selected, Lapsang Souchong, smells like beef jerky or leather, and I thought Joe did a great job taming this beast. See recipes below. I swear to G-d we weren't trying to make a smokey tea margarita, but that's what we came up with. And it was good.

Note: Crappy iPhone photographs by yours truly

Joe behind the bar, modeling his Texans for Gun Control Button

Jeffrey jammed with one of his homeys--when it's your party, you can do whatever the F--- you want to

The highlight of my night (with no offense to Jeffrey's lovely playing) was the Best Wurst trailer parked in the back. The only thing better than Best Wurst is FREE Best Wurst, a total fantasy that I never thought I'd actually get to entertain.

Firepit
1.5 oz Tequila
1.5 oz strong-brewed Lapsang Souchong
.5 Paula's Texas Orange
.75 Fresh-squeezed lime juice
.5 simple syrup
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and shake vigorously to chill, strain onto fresh ice and serve

Julius
1 oz white rum
1.5 oz strong-brewed Coconut Assam
.5 simple syrup
.25 Fresh-squeezed lime juice
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and shake vigorously to chill, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve

This Wednesday USBG Austin will be hosting our first open-to-the-public event, Bourbon, BBQ & Bluegrass at Stubbs. Taste 30 bourbons; half a dozen bourbon cocktails created by Austin's best bartenders; food by Stubbs & music by Clyde & Clem's Whiskey Business, all for $25 (half price for USBG members)

Last year a colleague of ours started a fancy shoe company called Helm Handmade. I ordinarily do not set aside much in the way of a budget for shoes, but when Joshua Bingaman called me with this proposition, it was pretty much an offer I couldn't refuse.

JB: David, we're about to have a launch event for our shoe company and we'd like to have you make drinks for the party. How much will it cost?
DA: (Undisclosed sum)
JB: Will you work for trade?
DA: F--- yes I will work for shoes.

And that's how it played out. We worked, we got fitted for shoes, and they were very sexy. The first time I went out in public in my Helm Handmade shoes, I got a compliment the first place I stopped.

A few weeks ago I received the call I'd been waiting for: the launch of the new line of Helm shoes. New shoes = cocktails by me = new shoes. Tonight was the night. I worked and got paid in shoes. It was awesome. I wish more people would make offers like this. The event was at Stag, the men's clothing store on S. Congress. Stag is the type of place that should make every man feel sexy about being a man.

These are the shoes I got tonight. The are called the Dapper Dane. I'm not sure I can pull off this look but we'll give it a shot. I actually got to meet the Dapper Dane himself, who i believe is the gent who took these pictures

The cocktails I did tonight were ones that I'd created for various reasons but had not yet had the opportunity to serve in public (as opposed to my usual formula, which is to beat a drink into the ground until people say, "Harvest Punch, again?", for example). Two cocktails that showcase the spirit and flavors of fall:

Macintosh
2 Luxardo Marasca cherries, plus 1
barspoon of their syrup
¼ c. diced apple
2 oz. Maker's Mark 46
¾ oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 barspoon simple syrup
Dash Bitter Truth Creole Bitters
Apple slice for garnish
In the bottom of a mixing glass, muddle cherries, apples, and syrup. Add remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously with ice to chill. Fine-strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a slice of apple
*This cocktail appears in the current (Fall 2010) issue of Edible Austin magazine

Pear Noel
1.5 oz Tito’s vodka
1.5 oz Mathilde Pear liqueur
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Barspoon St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and shake vigorously with ice to chill. Garnish with a slice of pear
*This cocktail was created for Tito's and ran in the trade publication In The Mix magazine last year. I was trying to do a fall/holiday drink featuring Tito's, but keeping it light and refreshing instead of playing in to some of the holiday drink stereotypes

David and Joe with Amanda Hesser

It was a sold-out crowd for the Essential New York Times Cookbook launch event at Rainlily Farm, sponsored by Edible Austin as part of the Texas Book Festival. The book harvests recipes from the history of the Times, and has a healthy selection (40 pages) of cocktails. We had the pleasure of presenting the drinks for this event, and we chose a selection from across the history of the Times: Rum Punch, the Astoria Cocktail, and the Delft Blue cocktail, excerpted below.

The event was full of local luminaries from the food and beverage scene: Paula and Paul from Paula's Texas Spirits; Dorsey Barger and Susan Hausman from Eastside Cafe/Hausbar Farms; Rebecca Rather from Rather Sweet in Fredericksburg; Gina Burchenal from Movable Feast; Kevin Stewart from Blue Javelina in Marfa. And many many more.

Joe Pours an Astoria while Zach makes a funny face. Thanks to Bacardi for providing the Bombay Gin and Noilly Prat vermouth for this cocktail.

Astoria Cocktail (p.18)
1 ounce gin
2 ounces dry vermouth, preferably French
2 dashes orange bitters
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add all the ingredients, and stir. Strain into a martini glass or similar glass.

OCTOBER 23, 1946: “NEWS OF FOOD: CLUB AND HOTEL COCKTAIL RECIPES SHOW AMERICANS’ PREDILECTION FOR MIXED DRINKS,” BY JANE NICKERSON. RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL IN NEW YORK CITY.
—1946

Joe is wearing a hat that once belonged to my grandfather, who drank more vodka than gin. He was a Swede so I've never held this against him.

Thanks to Bols for supplying the Genever for this cocktail; and thanks to Paula's Texas Spirits for the Limoncello

Delft Blue Cocktail (p.43)
For the Syrup
1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
2 grinds black pepper

For the Cocktails
8 ounces genever (Holland gin), chilled
2 ounces limoncello (I recommend using Paula's Texas Lemon)
Angostura bitters
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
4 lemon twists

1. To make the syrup, combine the blueberries, sugar, and pepper in a small saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the berries collapse and release their juices, about 5 minutes. Force through a sieve into a metal bowl. Place the metal bowl in a bowl of ice and water to chill the mixture. This makes enough syrup for 4 drinks.
2. For each single drink, place 2 ounces genever in a cocktail shaker and add 2 tablespoons of the blueberry syrup, 1 tablespoon limoncello, a dash of bitters, and a few drops of lemon juice. Add ice, shake, and pour into a cocktail glass—serve straight up or on the rocks, with a twist.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2008: “MALTY AND COMPLEX, THE ORIGINAL GIN IS MAKING A COMEBACK,” BY FLORENCE FABRICANT.
—2008

Thanks to Bacardi for providing the rum for this cocktail

Rum Punch (p.24)
2 ounces medium-dark rum
Juice of 1⁄2 small lime
1 teaspoon raw sugar (such as Sugar in the Raw or Demerara)
Pour the rum, lime juice, and sugar over an ice cube in a tumbler. Stir to dissolve the sugar. (Note: instead of a tumbler, we used a big ass silver punch bowl!)

On Friday night we hosted some very special guests, Kendall and John Antonelli of Antonelli's Cheese Shop. This meeting has been trying to happen for several months. Quite some time ago I suggested to the Antonellis that we host a cocktail/cheese pairing event, but we could never figure out exactly how to pull it off. I actually wasn't even convinced that a cocktail/cheese pairing was a very good idea, but John and Kendall were hip to it. We batted around some ideas, and managed to synch our busy schedules for just one night, and so it happened that this weekend we made cocktails and they brought cheese, and cocktails and cheese happened.

As Joe and I cranked out the cocktails, Kendall and John started to make the rough pairings. Then we sat down and tasted them as a group. Some very obviously belonged together--before I even tasted it with the Fig Daiquiri, the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar had a distinctive rustic figiness. The "brown, bitter, and stirred" Prefect Cocktail was paired with the Caveman Blue from Rogue Creamery, because they are both big and bold in their own respective ways.

We started with ten drinks and ten cheeses, with the idea of narrowing it down to half of that, since nobody needs ten cocktails or ten cheeses (at least not at the same time). However, since we can't really help ourselves, we nudged it up to seven cocktails--two will be short portions and served simultaneously as two interpretations of the same drink, the other will be an "amuse" before we get started--and seven cheeses.

No date has been set yet for this event. Please email tex at this URL if you want more info, since the comment feature on this web site stopped working long ago :(

Thanks to my fabulous Tipsy Tech interns for the photos

I can't believe it's that time of the year already--no, I'm not talking about the time of year when the stores start playing Jingle Bells the week after Halloween. I'm talking about the third annual Drink Local Cocktail Contest, our celebration of Texas spirits and seasonal flavors. Drink Local Night is an event of Edible Austin magazine's Eat Local Week, a week-long celebration of local food and beverage, now in its fourth year. See the complete calendar of events here.

Drink Local Night is being hosted at Peche/Cedar St this year. Drink Local is in my opinion the premier cocktail contest in Texas. Not because of the big bling prize money, or the fancy travel incentives, neither of which we have to offer, but because of the awesome judges and contestants that we have been fortunate to have the last couple of years: Bobby Heugel (Anvil, Houston), Bill Norris (formerly FINO, forthcoming Haddingtons), Sten Lilja (Remy), Moxy Castro (Awesome), Addie Broyles (Austin American-Statesman), Lara Nixon (Tipsy Tech), Billy Hanky (formerly The Good Knight), Nate Wales (La Condesa), Ben Craven (Perla's) and many other fabulous folks have made this one of the top cocktail events in the region.

For images from last year's event, check out the blog of Dustin Meyer, who is the fabulously talented official photographer of Eat Local Week.

The contest is open to both industry professionals and home enthusiasts alike. Complete contest rules follow the jump

Last night I attended a lavish industry event hosted by Diageo/Don Julio. Buses picked us up downtown and escorted us out to Villa Antonia, a special events facility on the outskirts of Austin near Lago Vista/Jonestown. The Villa was pretty posh in that Narco-baron fantasy sort of way. I was glad to be on a chauffeured bus instead of driving myself (especially after the mountain of tequila that was consumed at the event). Upon arriving at the venue we were greeted by a variety of drinking stations, which of course did not disappoint. The first one we stopped off at was staffed by our friend and colleague Michael Martensen, a bar man based in Dallas who does a lot of special functions for the Diageo "reserve" brands. Martensen wetted our whistles with a few shots of Don Julio, and gave us a preview of the Luxury Drop concept. Basically Don Julio has reached out to bartenders around the globe to find the best modern interpretations of the classic ritual of taking salt and lime with tequila. I personally don't like that ritual, classic as it may be, and prefer to drink my tequila straight. (I also don't dance at weddings, and am a confirmed asshole on this subject, so perhaps this event was better suited for someone less a party pooper than I? One would think, but hold on to see how this story develops...)

On a recent Monday night in Dallas, some of the top bartenders in Texas convened on the Joule hotel for the invite-only Bacardi Legacy event. Legacy is an event designed by Bacardi to educate bartenders on the history of Bacardi's iconic Superior rum, led by Brand Master Apprentice Aaron Rodonis. Part of the event includes a deconstructed tasting of the distillates that go in to the blend, at various stages in the production cycle.

Of course the cocktails make up the other part of the event, and bartenders are invited to craft a new cocktail in the style of Bacardi's "legacy" drinks--such classics as the Daiquiri, Cuba Libre, and Mojito. The challenge is to make a new drink that has the potential to become a ubiquitous drink, one that can be made in any kind of venue, across time. Because we are in Texas and brands cannot award prizes to bartenders in contests, this was a "showcase", in which no official winners were declared. Although it sounds trite, everyone at an event such as this truly is a winner, in that we get an incredible opportunity to enjoy great drinks, food, and camaraderie in a beautiful setting (and of course it doesn't hurt that we didn't have to pay for any of it--thanks, Bacardi!)


Myself (no mustache), Mindy Kucan (fake mustache), Michael Martensen (real mustache)

There were a number of great bartenders from across Texas, and many great drinks came with them to this event. In the end, only three cocktails were chosen to be considered for the Legacy Showcase that will take place on the national level next year. I'm happy to say that one of those was mine. I am joined by Michael Martensen of Dallas, and Mindy Kucan of Houston--and I can't help but point out that each of the three of us either is or was a USBG chapter president!

A few weeks ago I had the honor of taking part in Nerd Nite, a monthly gathering of nerds whose motto is "Be There and Be Square". The topics change every month, and guest speakers discuss topics about which they are nerdy. For me, at least on this nite, it was the Martini. I would have posted this a few weeks ago but I realized that on this past Monday I was teaching a Tipsy Tech class on the same topic, so didn't want to spoil the surprise all Wiki-Leaks style by broadcasting this too early. I looked back over the footage, I could only find a few things that are sketchy/possibly untrue but nothing seemed egregiously so. If you find any boldfaced lies or historical untruths please bring it to my attention and I will post a correction. You will have to email me since this blog still has a broken Comments feature :(

David Alan - History of the Martini from Nerd Nite- Austin on Vimeo.

Click play to see me blab on for almost half an hour about the Martini

We had an overwhelming number of entries this year and so the judging took a little longer than expected. This is the third year for this contest, and it has picked up an amazing amount of momentum. It was challenging to narrow the entries down to just five, so we picked five contestants and an alternate. In the case that one of the five contestants is unable to compete, the alternate will take his or her place. We also received a very interesting dessert drink, which wouldn't show fairly with the others, so we have made the decision that after the contestants compete, the judges will be treated to a special dessert cocktail.

And this year's finalists, in no particular order:
Nate Wales, La Condesa/Malverde
Bill Norris, Haddingon's (Opening Soon)
Ace Manning, Peche
Nancy Mitchell, The Backyard Bartender
Bryan Dressel, Bar Congress (Opening Soon)

Alternate: Garret Mikell, Peche
Dessert: Josh Loving, FINO

Thank you to everyone who entered a recipe. We look forward to seeing you all at Drink Local Night, next Tuesday December 7 at Cedar Street (below Peche). Tickets can be purchased here.

The fourth annual Drink Local Night is tonight! Benefitting Urban Roots, Drink Local Night is a celebration of Texas spirits and seasonal flavors and is one of the signature events of Edible Austin magazine's ambitious Eat Local Week. Event runs 6-9pm tonight.

Tonight's contestants include, in no particular order:
Nate Wales, La Condesa/Malverde
Bill Norris, Haddingon's (Opening Soon)
Ace Manning, Peche
Nancy Mitchell, The Backyard Bartender
Brian Dressel, Bar Congress (Opening Soon)

Alternate: Garret Mikell, Peche
Dessert: Josh Loving, FINO

The judging panel will consist of:
Lara Nixon, Tipsy Tech/Balcones Spirits (and winner of last year's contest)
Joe Eifler, TipsyTexan.com
Adam Harris, Maker's Mark Distillery Diplomat
Emma Janzen, curator of Austin360's cocktail database
Ben Craven, Perla's

Last night we conducted the third annual Drink Local Cocktail Contest. Every year I am amazed to see the amount of talent that is developing in this community, and this year was no exception. A record number of entries, and a very enjoyable time watching these great folks present their drinks.

Here are the winners, and recipes for all seven drinks presented last night follow the jump:

First: Bill Norris
Second: Brian Dressel
Third: Nate Wales

Special thanks to Peche/Cedar St for hosting; to all of the Texas spirits producers for showcasing their products and supporting this movement; to Trio at the Four Seasons, Perla's, and Twin Liquors for sponsoring our contest prizes.

Note: Photos from the event coming soon, when I receive them from the event photographer.

A few people have been asking me about the drink we did for Wine & Swine Weekend, the three-day orgy of "pork and cork" events sponsored by the Hill Country Wine & Food Festival. I had the good pleasure of serving the Swine Flu Shot at the kickoff event at the fabulous courtyard at the ATT Executive Education & Conference Center, the awkwardly-named but beautiful home to Josh Watkins's Carillon restaurant on the UT campus.

Josh Watkins's pig. Some people, like my mother, would consider it in poor taste to display a cooked pig on the table where pork is being served. She also never liked the taxidermy displays in certain BBQ establishments. It makes some omnivores uncomfortable to be reminded that they are eating animals. I think it is the omnivore's responsibility to acknowledge as much; but maybe I've been drinking too much whiskey...

Festival Director Erika White emailed me suggesting that we do a Swine Flu shot for the event. At first I thought she was being cheeky, so I didn't give the idea much consideration. But when I realized she was serious, I jumped to action and came up with this little concoction, a portable and easy-to-inject variation on the Old Fashioned.

Swine Flu Shot
2 oz Maker's Mark
.5 oz Blueberry/Black Peppercorn Syrup (or experiment with your own flavored syrup)
Dash Angostura Bitters
Dash Fee Brothers Barrel-Aged Bitters
Expressed lemon peel
Stir to chill and strain into a shot glass; garnish with the expressed oil of a lemon peel, but do not drop the peel in the glass unless you intend to sip this shooter.

Maker's Mark has been a big supporter of the festival and sponsored the contest for Official Cocktail of HCWF 25 this year

My colleague Adam Harris and I drawing the numbers for the raffle prize. Raffle proceeds went to USBG Austin

We recently hosted our annual Derby Day Austin party, and as usual there more casualties than just the wrecked cases of Bourbon. Usually the casualties are of a sartorial nature, and this year was no different. Last time around we saw the suffering of Bill Norris, bar man at Haddington's and owner of a fine vintage seersucker suit that took a beating in the Dizzy Derby (the lesser known cousin of the Kentucky Derby, wherein you are the rider and your mount is a stick horse).

The fillies line up for the Dizzy Derby

My mom came to the party this year. My mom never comes to the party. And she drank Juleps too! But I won't divulge how many (Photo by Gerald Rich)

Paula Angerstein and Paul Grosso of Paula's Texas Spirits (Photo by Gerald Rich)

Graham Wasilition of Tenneyson Absinthe (Photo by Gerald Rich)

This year, Joe and I both invested in new white seersucker suits. Mine was attacked by a rogue mint julep that I had perhaps unwisely placed next to me on the chair swing at Rainlily Farm. Joe's was besieged by a flying piece of chicken from the delicious food trailer at the Grackle. Both suits were rushed to the cleaners on monday morning for emergency care, but I can sadly say that only one emerged fully recovered.

Marshall Wright of EatThisLens.com captured this shot of me dropping my Julep the first time. The perils of texting and drinking...

(Photo by Gerald Rich)
Lara Nixon wrangled all of the student juleps, which were an impressive lot this year

Each year we feature two Julep tents--the first pours the traditional mint julep, and the second showcases experimental juleps from the students of Tipsy Tech, and from various other friends and colleagues in the industry and the community at large.

The show stopper was from San Antonio's Matt Moody, who brought out the liquid nitrogen-frozen julep.

The students did a great job with their "class projects", the recipes for which follow the jump.

I'm doing an event with my peeps at the Esquire, Bar Manager Jeret Peña and Chef Brooke Smith, along with our friends at Tito's, including the man himself.
Only 40 seats available so if you are a fan of Tito's or a fan of the Esquire, it is a good idea to book soon!

(Back where it all got started, me and Daniel at the klosing party for Katz's, where we met in 1999)

When I was in my early twenties and starting to get really fired up about the food & beverage industry, I had the good fortune of getting to work with a curious and energetic young man named Daniel Curtis. He was one of the first people I ever worked with who I thought loved the business as much as I did, and one of the only ones since. Daniel has gone on to have a great career in the industry, and is the assistant F&B Director at the AT&T Center & Carillon restaurant. Although we've never worked together since those early days, I have always had great affection and admiration for him. About a month ago Daniel suffered a life-changing accident, and although he is enthusiastically on the road to recovery, the rehabilitation process will be long and costly. Several of Daniel's coworkers and hospitality community friends are putting on a benefit at the Carillon at UT, where he works with chef Josh Watkins. Please consider purchasing a ticket for this event and coming out to support my friend Daniel, a wonderful human being who is in need of all of our help right now.

Event Details:
Wednesday, July 13 6:30-9:30pm
Grand Ballroom, AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Suggested donation $75
Click here for tickets/reservations

If you are interested in being a volunteer bartender or donating a silent auction item for this event please email me at Tex at this url.

We are less than 18 hours away from the benefit for Daniel Curtis, our industry friend who suffered a debilitating accident at the beginning of the summer.

Great food from some of the best chefs in town (David Bull, Shawn Cirkiel, Philip Speer, and of course Daniel's coworker and friend Josh Watkins). Music by the Derailers. Drinks from the Tipsy Texan volunteer corps. Raffle, Live Auction, and Silent Auction, all benefitting an incredible cause. 6:30-9 PM Wednesday at the AT&T Conference Center and Hotel on the UT campus

The response has been immense--over 300 tickets sold, great pouring of support from volunteers and sponsors. Word is Daniel himself will probably be able to make an appearance. I was looking through some old boxes in the office this week and came upon some pictures of myself and Daniel from the late 90s when we worked together at Katz's.

I definitely can't wear those pants anymore.

Daniel may actually be this skinny again, according to his rehab blog he's lost a lot of weight at the hospital. I wish I could bring him a Katz's reuben to fatten him up but the deli is RIP.

Please be sure to check out the benefit site, even if you can't attend, contributions of all sizes are welcome.

Tito Beveridge and Tony Abou-Ganim are figures of giant stature in the world of spirits and cocktails, and are familiar faces to many people in our industry. I think last night was the first time they shared the stage to tell their stories, which are more entwined than many people know.

Around the turn of the millennium, Tony was heading up the extensive bar program at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. At the time, the Bellagio was one of the most expensive, most talked-about entertainment properties ever built. Tony had challenged himself to apply the same fresh ingredient/classic technique approach to the Bellagio's bars in Vegas that Dale DeGroff practiced to much acclaim at the Rainbow Room in New York. Fresh juice was still a revolutionary concept in those days, and the Bellagio experiment proved to be a huge success for Tony.

Tony recalling the fateful phone conversation with Tito that led to their decade-long friendship

While flipping through Bob Emmons's book on gin & vodka, Tony saw a piece about a little-known distiller in Texas, making a handmade vodka called Tito's. He had tried the product and liked it, but when he called Tito himself to invite him to the Bellagio to do a staff training seminar on Vodka, Tito was initially hesitant. Until, of course, someone explained to him the importance of the Bellagio and of Tony, at which point they began to make arrangements for the proposed seminars.

The success of Tony's program has extended far beyond the Bellagio, as people like Bridget Albert have taken the good word and spread it far and wide. In that same regard, Tito's investment in relationship building with the Bellagio staff has paid a tremendous dividend, in that as those bartenders--and especially Tony Abou-Ganim--have established themselves in markets around the country, one of the things they have taken with them is Tito's Handmade Vodka. I live in Austin and started working in this industry around the same time Tito was launching his product. I have watched in real time as their grass roots approach to marketing has taken them from being an obscure local brand to being one of the most successful independent distilleries in the country.

I had the pleasure of spending time with Tony talking about Tito, the industry, life in general. He is definitely one of the most down-to-earth people I've ever met, in or out of this business. I was glad that in his presentation he made a point to talk about the importance of the customer, the experience, the interaction between bartender and guest. No matter who we are or what our particular proclivities are as a bartender, at the end of the day it is the guest who we serve, and if we lose sight of that then we have lost our purpose. Some other pearls of wisdom from TAG:

1. Make and ask for recommendations. Many customers do not know what they want to drink. Let them know what you like to make, what think might satisfy them. As a customer, ask for recommendations--let the server or bartender know that you want to try what they're excited about, what they think the establishment excels at.
2. Have fun. At the end of the day, that is why people go out. For camaraderie and relationships. Tony can make a better Negroni at home, but the reason to go have one at a bar is for the companionship of others.
3. Be happy. If you do not derive pleasure from this industry, maybe your calling is in another industry
4. Give back. Tony has created a charitable organization with USBG in honor of his cousin Helen David, whose Brass Rail bar in Port Huron was an early inspiration to him. Helen successfully battled two rounds of breast cancer and lived a fulfilling 91 years. The Helen David Bartender Relief Fund will support bartenders who are fighting breast cancer.

Thank you to Tito and Tony for sharing your inspiring stories.

Note: If you are in Houston tonight (8/30) or Dallas tomorrow night (8/31) I recommend that you do not miss this appearance!

In the mid-2000s, nobody seems to recall exactly when, Tito's Handmade Vodka formed a partnership with the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau and created an event called the Official Drink of Austin Contest. ACVB is the primary cheerleader for the City of Austin in the national media market, and the Official Drink contest proved to be a popular marketing vehicle in their campaign to showcase Austin has an Eating & Drinking city (the recent announcement of a Food & Wine magazine-endorsed festival in Austin could be seen as the fruits of their labor). It was also a fabulous promotional event for Tito's, which at the time (and for about a decade) was the only distillery in Texas. Lastly, the event was an early showcase for what has become a vibrant creative cocktail scene in Austin.

Over the years, as the Texas distilling industry expanded, and as Austin's cocktail bartenders became more sophisticated, the city began to outgrow the original format of its Official Drink contest. I was a judge in the 2008 contest, and was eager to offer input (some would call it nagging, unsolicited opinion-giving) into the running of the event in subsequent years. Some suggestions were heeded, and the ACVB, especially Beth Krauss, was patient with me even when they needn't have been. In the winter of 2008, Tipsy Texan and Edible Austin started the Drink Local Cocktail Contest as a way to put a focus on the craft side of cocktails, the importance of fresh/local ingredients, and the diversity of spirits that had started to pop up in recent years.

This year the ACVB was not able to provide a budget for the event, and so they called me to ask if I was interested in running it. Obviously I was honored to be asked, and delighted to say "Yes." It occurred to me that we now had two cocktail events that in many ways overlapped each other, so we have merged them into one. I think the format of the old Drink Local contest is a good one, and we have consistently had some of the best talent in Austin and Texas compete in our event. Obviously the high profile and fun nature of the Official Drink contest has tremendous appeal. I think in merging the two events, we have created something that exceeds the sum of its parts: an Official Drink of Austin Contest that focuses on the craft of the cocktail, showcases the diverse talent in Texas distilling, and is open to all Austin bartenders--professional and amateur alike. I hope you'll agree--contest rules after the jump

The new Official Drink of Austin contest will be held on Drink Local Night, part of Edible Austin Magazine's Eat Drink Local Week